CQC Reloaded: Features and Improvements. Tod McQuinn Approved!

[CMDR SoldiersFortune]

It's probable that my original post on Reddit hasn't gone anywhere because the ideas are bad and misguided. Or it might simply be that the general Elite population has written off CQC as a dead feature that should be left alone to die in peace. I am hopeful that once Odyssey launches some TLC can be directed to Arena, so I figured I'd copy my original post here.


The first time I played Elite Dangerous was when I received the standalone version of Arena for free. It is safe to say that without this initial taste of the game I would never have bought the full game or Horizon. It hurts to see what could be a great game mode languish from neglect, so despite knowing this is probably a futile effort, I decided to compile a list of feature and balance changes in the hope that one day CQC might receive some TLC.

1. Get rid of 'gimballed' hitscan laser weapons. The name says 'fixed' but the function in Arena is gimballed. The only meta in arena is gimballed laser weapons because they require little effort to track and hit a moving ship. Arena should be about skill. Gimballed weapons that have a projectile are fine. Make laser hitscan weapons actual fixed weapons and give them the fixed damage buff to boot.
2. Add the Alliance Taipan, Guardian Fighters, Imperial Eagle, Viper III, Viper IV. Only allow the bigger ships to use 2 small hardpoints for their weapons to maintain balance.
3. Replace the level-dependent module unlock system with an Arena voucher currency that can be spent to unlock the modules and upgrades the CMDR chooses. The vouchers are earned based on performance in matches and awarded post-match.
4. Add cosmetic customizations. Let players apply liveries, decals, engine and weapon colors, and ship kits to their ships.
5. Improve rewards. 1st Place should be worth 500K to 1M credits. Those credits should apply to the CMDR's wallet in Horizon. Matches should also count toward the weekly Arx reward.
6. Prestige rewards. Players should be able to earn unique liveries and decals for achieving specific goals/milestones with specific ships. These cosmetic items should also be transferrable to Horizon.
7. More maps and race mode. Add more maps to diversify combat with different environments. Add an additional game mode where players can race around a track made up of checkpoint hoops with smaller powerup hoops scattered throughout.
8. Introduce rotating weekly "sponsored" matches on the weekend. These matches would award double voucher rewards and XP. Each week one of the Powerplay factions would sponsor the matches. The specific Powerplay Module of the sponsor faction would also be available during the weekend for purchase using Arena vouchers. Powerplay modules purchased with vouchers would be stored in the CMDR's home station storage in Horizon.

Feel free to add your own suggestions. This probably won't gain any traction but I figured I'd give it a shot just to say I tried.

 

[Ian Doncaster]

I like most of these ideas, definitely.

1. Get rid of 'gimballed' hitscan laser weapons. The name says 'fixed' but the function in Arena is gimballed. The only meta in arena is gimballed laser weapons because they require little effort to track and hit a moving ship. Arena should be about skill. Gimballed weapons that have a projectile are fine. Make laser hitscan weapons actual fixed weapons and give them the fixed damage buff to boot.

They had this one in as a bug for a couple of weeks once.

It wasn't as fun as it sounds - veteran vs veteran matches were often lucky to land more than one or two kills, because it's a lot easier to dodge (in an Imp or Condor, at least) than it is to aim a fully-fixed weapon ... while veteran vs beginner matches were even bigger walkovers for the veterans than normal. It did work okay for vet-vs-vet but I think it would need to be an optional mode.

The silent running utility (or for early unlocks, the Eagle heat sinks) makes weapons act as if they were fixed against you, at a cost, which is well-balanced against chaff.

1. Replace the level-dependent module unlock system with an Arena voucher currency that can be spent to unlock the modules and upgrades the CMDR chooses. The vouchers are earned based on performance in matches and awarded post-match.

Interesting idea - though there's so few unlocks that are actually useful I think all this would do is get post-prestige veterans back up to maximum killing potential faster [1], while the beginners who didn't look at a guide repeatedly wasted their vouchers.

[1] Not a big deal since prestiging is optional in the first place and can't be done more than 8 times anyway, of course.

1. Add cosmetic customizations. Let players apply liveries, decals, engine and weapon colors, and ship kits to their ships.

Yep. I don't use the main-game fighters at all, so this is the only way they're getting me to buy cosmetics for them...

[...] would be stored in the CMDR's home station storage in Horizon.

How would they determine that? Just whichever station with outfitting they last docked at?

 

[gorankar]

Give people in game reasons to actually play CQC. Credits, Arx, Engineering mats/data, build a story up around the league in Galnet. Top players should be making 10-50 million an hour playing, and be know far and wide due to Galnet. As it stands, CQC is like a totally separate game that offers you the one perk of a system permit in the actual game.

Fill out empty lobbies with bots. Have them count less towards rank progression.

Improve matchmaking. With bots filling out matches, there is no longer any reason for a new player to end up in a match with someone that has prestiged multiple times. It's not fun if all that ever happens is you die over and over again. Of course, if it's not fun they are not going to keep playing.

 

[CMDR SoldiersFortune]

[Fixed weapons] wasn't as fun as it sounds - veteran vs veteran matches were often lucky to land more than one or two kills, because it's a lot easier to dodge (in an Imp or Condor, at least) than it is to aim a fully-fixed weapon ... while veteran vs beginner matches were even bigger walkovers for the veterans than normal. It did work okay for vet-vs-vet but I think it would need to be an optional mode.

If the 'true' fixed weapons in Arena were due to a bug, most likely they were doing gimballed dps, which is lower than true fixed dps. So it makes sense that you'd have a bad time. I compared the weapon performance on Arena's Condor "fixed" pulse with the Condor in Horizon. The ROF of the lasers was consistent with the Rogue G configuration. The Rogue F had a higher refire rate.

Also, I would like to point out that I am specifically stating that lasers (hitscan) weapons should not be gimballed. Weapons with projectile speeds like rapid cannons and plasma cannons should absolutely be gimballed due to them being harder to use.

[Arena vouchers.] Interesting idea - though there's so few unlocks that are actually useful I think all this would do is get post-prestige veterans back up to maximum killing potential faster [1], while the beginners who didn't look at a guide repeatedly wasted their vouchers.

As I have not yet been able to achieve prestige I do not know the value of all the different items. However, I would assume that if the current gimballed pulse laser meta was changed, other modules would become useful.

How would they determine [a player's home station]? Just whichever station with outfitting they last docked at?

I would guess that they would just have the game look at where the majority of a player's ships are being stored in Horizon and place the modules in that station's item hangar.

Give people in game reasons to actually play CQC. Credits, Arx, Engineering mats/data, build a story up around the league in Galnet. Top players should be making 10-50 million an hour playing, and be know far and wide due to Galnet. As it stands, CQC is like a totally separate game that offers you the one perk of a system permit in the actual game.

Fill out empty lobbies with bots. Have them count less towards rank progression.

Improve matchmaking. With bots filling out matches, there is no longer any reason for a new player to end up in a match with someone that has prestiged multiple times. It's not fun if all that ever happens is you die over and over again. Of course, if it's not fun they are not going to keep playing.

I think it could be great if there was no cap to how much Arx you could earn in Arena (granted the rate at which it would be earned would be painfully slow). They could always implement a reward system that gives the top 3 victors three options for their reward; Credits, Engineering Mats, or Extra XP/Vouchers.

I would love to see weekly Galnet Articles recapping the victors of the Arena like an actual sport's channel would.

Bots would be a good fix for empty matches provided that they weren't god-tier. With one exception. I think it would be awesome if there was an Easer Egg where there was a 0.01% chance that a max level bot named "Tod 'The Blaster' McQuinn" could join the match in a rapid cannon Condor.

 

[Ian Doncaster]

If the 'true' fixed weapons in Arena were due to a bug, most likely they were doing gimballed dps, which is lower than true fixed dps. So it makes sense that you'd have a bad time. I compared the weapon performance on Arena's Condor "fixed" pulse with the Condor in Horizon. The ROF of the lasers was consistent with the Rogue G configuration. The Rogue F had a higher refire rate.

Also, I would like to point out that I am specifically stating that lasers (hitscan) weapons should not be gimballed. Weapons with projectile speeds like rapid cannons and plasma cannons should absolutely be gimballed due to them being harder to use.

Even with gimballing on those weapons you're not going to land many hits on a vet in an Imp or Condor who knows you're there, so fixed lasers would still be the meta.

Reduced damage per shot from them not being intentional fixed weapons? Sure, if done deliberately they could do more damage, but that then ends up being a nerf to silent running - an unlock which it's already tricky to get the best out of, but can be very good if used well - because it reduces the times it actually makes a difference.

As I have not yet been able to achieve prestige I do not know the value of all the different items. However, I would assume that if the current gimballed pulse laser meta was changed, other modules would become useful.

It might increase the variety of weapons used, but I don't think it'd make much difference to the other unlocks - it'd make chaff and silent running less useful, but not to the extent that anything else was better.

(If you've got to rank 25ish I think you have access to all the useful unlocks, though not necessarily all on the same ship)

 

[Ytterium]

Get rid of 'gimballed' hitscan laser weapons. The name says 'fixed' but the function in Arena is gimballed. The only meta in arena is gimballed laser weapons because they require little effort to track and hit a moving ship. Arena should be about skill. Gimballed weapons that have a projectile are fine. Make laser hitscan weapons actual fixed weapons and give them the fixed damage buff to boot.

Fighter Hitboxes are too small to do this and not have strong players curbstomp less strong ones. Optional fixed may be a smart idea tho

Add the Alliance Taipan, Guardian Fighters, Imperial Eagle, Viper III, Viper IV. Only allow the bigger ships to use 2 small hardpoints for their weapons to maintain balance.

I for one, Welcome our new Viper IV overlords. These are gonna be nuts. The Viper IV boost multiplier and flight model is absolutely nuts. (7.2, only ship higher than FDL)

As for PP modules I dont agree with this because you're just going to be nailing the last spike into PP as a system. Also some modules are absurdly expensive compared to others (see 8A prismatic), and letting you buy them for no credits and then reselling them in main game is just flat out nutso.

 

[Treya]

Biggest problem with CQC is of course the lack of players, so first order of business should be a focus on that. Increasing the weekly limit of 400 ARX by an additional 100 when participating in CQC could work. People already bend over backwards for free stuff (like those Twitch drops) and ARX has a broader appeal than modules or more Cr.

I really like the idea of a racing mode - the assets are already there (for the main game tutorial) and combined with the power up mechanic this could turn into something like Wipeout

 

[BobJP]

The fact that the Taipan isn't already in CQC should give you an idea of how disinterested Frontier is in improving CQC. But good luck anyway I suppose.

 

[Alreech]

let's raise this thread from the grave:

Give CQC an other chance, and:

1. add Bots for training and while waiting for other players
2. make it free to play / advertise it for VR players & joystick users
3. host regular events on twich
4. allow crossplay (PC/X-Box/Playstation)
5. allow paintjobs & ship kits

Especially bot support is realy needed to get new players.
IMHO a free 2 play CQC could attract new players, especially from games like Star Wars Squadrons / World of Warplanes / Warthunder.

 

[BubblesUSMC]

100% agree.
CQC free to play is marketing 101 gold.