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It's too bad the player base seems to be evaporating. I'm likely part of the problem as I haven't played that much recently, but Titanfall is a game that I want to be able to slip into for a few rounds when the mood strikes me.

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http://www.polygon.com/2014/5/16/5723996/titanfall-pc-ctf-pilot-hunter-removed-private-match-variety

 

I guess this is another sign that the PC player-base is too small to support so many modes.  Great that they're analyzing the data and making bold changes, though I assume this is going to anger whatever subset of players had a love for CTF.  Pilot Hunter is just Attrition with a different scoring system, right?  I personally tend to go for the campaign first as I haven't been able to finish up the militia side, then (when that usually fails) go straight to variety pack, so I'm not smarting from the change.

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I don't think you can say with certainty that the base is too small (even if that is the case), just that those modes were the least popular. If a lot of people were playing variety pack and dropping when one of those modes came up, it doesn't matter how big the user base is if no games are starting.

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I don't think you can say with certainty that the base is too small (even if that is the case), just that those modes were the least popular. If a lot of people were playing variety pack and dropping when one of those modes came up, it doesn't matter how big the user base is if no games are starting.

 

Of course I'm not speaking with any certainty. :)  Just thought it was a coincidence that people were noting here this morning about not being able to find matches anecdotally, then Respawn goes ahead and makes the changes to the match type selection screen.  Sorry for my hyperbole!

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Pilot Hunter isn't just Attrition with a different scoring system--it plays much differently. There isn't as much reason to farm grunts and you usually call down a couple more titans per round than in Attrition. The change in focus makes the mode stand out, and it is actually a lot of fun to play (and seemed to be where some of the best players were congregating).

 

I have to wonder if the "improved" matchmaking system fragmented the player base all to hell.

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Whatever the situation, I hope that Respawn and EA are focused on maintaining a high enough population that I will be able to play in the morning. It's my opinion that a beneficial design goal for the rest of their DLC and mode-changes should be "Make it more likely that clyde will be able to easily get into a game at any time of the day for years to come."

Initial impressions of the new maps: I like the two that aren't the swamp one. I would have preferred something like new, different types of minions rather than new maps (personally).

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Pilot Hunter isn't just Attrition with a different scoring system--it plays much differently. There isn't as much reason to farm grunts and you usually call down a couple more titans per round than in Attrition. The change in focus makes the mode stand out, and it is actually a lot of fun to play (and seemed to be where some of the best players were congregating).

 

I have to wonder if the "improved" matchmaking system fragmented the player base all to hell.

 

Interesting that that's the case.  Being as terrible/casual as I am at the game, Pilot Hunter plays like "Attrition Without XP" for me: I've only gotten pilot kills over 4 in a match once or twice in my time with the game.  Cool that at a high-level of play it brings out a different feel!

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How do most people in here play? I've been using M&K constantly, but last night I tried out controller. It was actually really good. Normally it takes me a couple of games to get back into the swing of things but the controller plus smart pistol had me MVP 3 games in a row.

I even managed to get some kills while my girlfriend was messing with me, and that'd never happen using M&K.

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Controller. Sometimes I fumble trying to get into a window and the arc-cannon is a mouse-weapon, but I do plenty well just by knowing where to look and shoot.

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Mouse & keyboard, and I'm someone who spent the last decade exclusively playing console shooters. I can line up my runs much easier with the mouse and changing direction mid-boost is a lot cleaner as well. I have played a bit with the controller and while it's certainly a viable option, it's not the one I prefer.

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I haven't played it in forever but I really preferred using a controller over a k&m. I grew up playing CoD and Halo on a 360 controller so it feels way more natural. I managed to smash most people's faces on Titanfall, a large majority of which were most likely using keyboards and mousices. That may have also been due to the fact that most people were just getting used to the game, and it would probably end up way more negatively if I was to return as logic dictates that the more dedicated players will still be there.

 

To counter the natural advantage to traversal in Titanfall when using a mouse I just boosted the sensitivity really high and was flying around like a crazy person. 

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I favour the M&K personally too, but when my set up depends on it, a controller isn't a bad replacement, it's actually a rather good one. I too boosted the sensitivity up, put delayed sprint on an made sure that circle (B ) was kick.

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M&K all the way.

 

Well, I bought the DLC only to discover that matchmaking is utterly borked on the Aussie data centre now. 90% of the time I try and get a match, regardless of playlist, it'll shove me into a non-Aus server with 200+ ping. This wouldn't be so frustrating if it was actually as a result of the player base dwindling, except most other players in these matches have high pings too, and when I mention it in chat it seems like most/all of them have queued from Aus. So, what the hell? If there was ever a better time to introduce a server browser...

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I can't decide if I want to get the map pack or not. The last few times I played (maybe three weeks ago or so) I wasn't really getting too many matches.

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As shitty as this reality is, today I can get into the map-pack exclusive games more easily than the regular games. This is a disaster.

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That's fairly common I'd say. The more recent Halo games have been like that as well. Would you say it's easier to get in a map-pack exclusive game now than it was to get in a regular game before the pack came out?

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No, but my schedule changes regularly. I was having trouble getting into games in the morning, and now I'm not trying to get into games in the morning.

 

Edit:

I'm sorry, I am actually letting my emotions determine my answer. I am not a good source for this information. I feel entitled to a healthy player-population when I buy a game and it pisses me off when paid-content splits the player-base like this. It happened in Halo 3 and Reach and it's happening here too and I find it frustrating. I think the amount I enjoy Titanfall is a bigger factor than how much I paid for it though. I want it to survive.

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So is Titanfall officially dead now? At least in the EU? I don't have the DLC, so that could be something to do with it, but I waited 10 minutes for a game tonight. I gave up and played something else. Talk about a fast burner!

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Ouch. I have the dlc, live on the eastcoast of the United States and have been able to get into games consistently as of yesterday. Usually it tries for about 1 minute, then it seems to switch servers and I get into games very quickly from that point on.

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Which system? My understanding is that the Xbox One community is still quite active, while the PC one isn't so much.

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So is Titanfall officially dead now? At least in the EU? I don't have the DLC, so that could be something to do with it, but I waited 10 minutes for a game tonight. I gave up and played something else. Talk about a fast burner!

 

Origin is weird and doesn't like to automatically update Titanfall.  The last time I had a ton of trouble finding games it was because I hadn't updated.  Here's hoping it's that for your sake!

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Yeah I updated it before I jumped on. I'm on PC by the way. 

 

It's probably the DLC, I saw an "Attrition: Expedition" game mode. This really highlights the problem with map DLCs for mutliplayer stuff. It completely fragments the user base. I was really disappointed, I've been using Titanfall as a game to fill an hour or so, but not finding a game at prime time sucks. That experience also makes me not want to buy the DLC in case I still can't find a game. 

Seems like a poor business model to make people pay for maps. 

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I can still get into a match on Xbox One, without the DLC, but it takes a while and it really drags the experience down. It took a good 10 minutes to get a game going. When it is going it is great.

 

I am definitely not going to be the first to say this but I will say it anyway: I really wish they would include a bot match option or the ability to setup an empty map. Because there is no single player there is no time for me to get familiar with the mechanics or maps. 

 

This became clear to me when I spent 4 games in a row being ground into the dust by more experienced players only to play two matches with inexperienced players around my level and not killed at all for two matches.

 

In the current guise I have no time to get used to the maps or how the wall running works so I just have a lot of frantic shooting instead when I go up against someone who knows exactly what they are doing.

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Yeah I updated it before I jumped on. I'm on PC by the way. 

 

It's probably the DLC, I saw an "Attrition: Expedition" game mode. This really highlights the problem with map DLCs for mutliplayer stuff. It completely fragments the user base. I was really disappointed, I've been using Titanfall as a game to fill an hour or so, but not finding a game at prime time sucks. That experience also makes me not want to buy the DLC in case I still can't find a game. 

Seems like a poor business model to make people pay for maps. 

 

Bummer!  I tried last night after not playing for a solid 2 weeks, and when I chose "Attrition: Expedition", I couldn't find a game for a good 3 minutes.  When I switched over to just plain old "Attrition", I was thrown immediately into a lobby with 8 seconds left before the game started.  Of course, it was for one of the DLC maps, so if they're rotating DLC maps into the regular queues, that means that the player base is going to be even more split.  I had figured that the DLC maps were going to be only in the completely separate queues.  This means that buying the DLC gives you more of an opportunity to find a game.  (This is the first COD-style online FPS I've played, so I don't know if this is par for the course)

 

But yeah, we're only 3 months after release.  Not a great sign that we're already facing long matchmaking times.

 

According to Zampella:  "On PC it started off really strong and it's starting to dip a little bit now more than we expected. We're looking at that. What are the reasons? Is it something we're doing wrong? Is it the matchmaking? So we'll pay attention to that and figure out what that is. We want to see it go up."

 

And he also stated in the interview that once the next free patch comes out the team is going to take a break, so I can't imagine that if people aren't interested in playing now, they won't be given a new reason any time soon.  I'm still enjoying my time.  Inching my way up to level 50.  :)

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