• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Rainbow Six: Siege free DLC (Operation: Black Ice) out today

LjGlmJ7.png

Continue the Siege with our first major content update, Operation Black Ice, which gives you access to the new Yacht map, two new JTF2 operators, new weapon skins, a spectator camera on all platforms and more.

Today is the launch of Siege's first (of many) free DLC, "Operation: Black Ice". Check the launch trailer!

iR6o7l.gif


Note that all of the content is free (except for one skin), but there are some restrictions--see the highlighted text in red for details.

Detailed info:

Two new JTF-2 Operators - exclusive to Season Pass owners (or for purchase) on 2/2; available for everyone on 2/9
HwhOUU6.png

JTF-2 operators are trained to work under extreme conditions, where over-reliance on electronic devices can be your doom.

Operators have immediate and exclusive access granted to Season Pass holders for seven days, before being made available to all players to unlock with Renown or R6 Credits.

New Yacht map - available for everyone on 2/2
R6-game-info-map-yacht-02_236384.jpg

R6-game-info-map-yacht-03_236385.jpg

R6-game-info-map-yacht-04_236386.jpg

In the Baffin Bay, a luxury yacht has crashed into an iceberg breaching the hull. Rainbow has been sent to secure the stranded vessel as an unidentified submarine has docked near the vessel.

The new Yacht map is available for free to all players.

New weapon skins
TOl0gmj.png

Each season brings its load of new weapon skins, such as the JTF-2 skin, USA winter camo and Dwyer Hill.
Weapon skins can be purchased either with Renown or R6 Credits. Check the Store to see all new weapon skins on offer.

Additionally, the Black Ice weapon skin is exclusively for sale with R6 Credits for the duration of Season One and can be applied to all weapons in your arsenal.

Spectator camera for all platforms
JGvN9q1.png

The Spectator Camera is now available online on all platforms and the keyboard/mouse controls have been integrated for PC.
Players can now create 5v5 multiplayer custom games on with an 11th player acting as an observer in real time.

We have also integrated some visual feedback for the Spectator Camera in this update, with the goal of helping the viewer better understand the ongoing action while watching gameplay.
To learn more about the Spectator camera, watch this video.

We hope the Spectator Cam will not only make matches fun to watch, but also help players learn more about our game.

All of the above is great, but they also performed a ton of core game tweaks (really love the buffs to stealthy play):
BALANCING

Operator shouts are now muted for enemy team
From now on, the enemy team will not be hearing your team’s automatic character shouts. This will allow for stealthier approaches while maintaining non-verbal communication within the respective teams.

Defender objective rotation (for Ranked and Custom Games)

In Ranked and Custom Games, Defenders can vote for the objective location they want to defend. We noticed that certain maps have objective locations that are considered easier to defend than others, and that those are frequently being chosen. We believe that it will make for a more competitive and interesting experience to force variety upon the Defenders. From now on, when on the defending side, if a team wins an objective location, they won’t be able to pick it again until they’ve won the remaining locations. If the match goes into overtime, all objective locations become available again.

Reduced bullet trail intensity, especially for suppressed weapons
Reduced the visibility of bullet trails for all weapons, with an additional reduction for suppressed weapons for a stealthier approach. We believe this tweak will make silenced weapons more useful, as the damage reduction trade-off will now be more worthwhile, on top off the sound reduction.

Increased the flashbang range of effect

We are roughly doubling the range of flashbangs, making them more effective.

Reduced noise levels of multiple Defender gadgets
  • Reduced the noise levels of Mute’s jammers. It will now be considerably lower for Defenders and we reduced the verticality of its sound (will not be heard from two floors up or down anymore).
  • Reduced the electricity noise levels on electrified gadgets.
  • Reduced the noises levels of the Kapkan trap.

Reinforced walls and Castle barricades now block bullets while being deployed
It used to be possible to get shot while deploying reinforced walls and Castle barricades, even if they seemed to be covering the players. From now on, there will be collision on those surfaces even during deployment and therefore the bullets will be stopped.

Thatcher now has a shotgun available in his loadout options
We added the English shotgun M590A1 to Thatcher’s loadout options.

Removed Bandit’s unique gadget’s (CED-1) electricity damage on the hostage
Removed electricity damage on the hostage. This will avoid some edge cases where it wasn’t clear who was responsible for the hostage’s death.

PLAYER COMFORT


Added map and mode name display during loading and planning phase screens
Reduced screen dust effect

When surfaces break or explosions occur, nearby players get a dust effect on the border of their screen. We reduced it to be less intense and occluding.

Altered matchmaking timer display
Timer now counts up to estimated time.

Fixed weapon damage numbers in menus
We have changed the damage numbers in the menus according to the light armor values.

PLAYLIST CHANGES

Individual spawn location selection for Attackers (Ranked, Custom Games setting)

In Ranked (and as a Custom Game setting), each Attacker can now select their own spawning location instead of having to vote as a group. This will give more tactical flexibility on approaching the building and will also greatly reduce the amount of instances in which Attackers get picked off as a group by the Defenders right as the Action phase begins (team spawn killing).

Ranked population repartition tweak
Our data tracking shows that the upper ranks (Gold, Platinum, Diamond) are less populated than expected. Therefore, we have reworked how our players are distributed through ranks. This means that many players will see their ranks change instantly after the February 2nd update.

Here’s how it was before this update:
  • 1.17% Copper (1-4)
  • 34.6% Bronze (1-4)
  • 58.8% Silver (1-4)
  • 5.27% Gold (1-4)
  • 0.1% Platinum (1-3)
  • Less than 0.001% Diamond
*Note: Players in Platinum were often matched against Silver players, almost always against Golds and rarely against other Platinums, which gives the impression that matchmaking is unbalanced.

Here’s the repartition we are aiming for with this update:
  • 15% Copper (1-4)
  • 25% Bronze (1-4)
  • 35% Silver (1-4)
  • 20% Gold (1-4)
  • 5% Platinum (1-3)
  • 0.2% Diamond
We will be closely monitoring how the rank repartition evolves over time and will be doing additional tweaks if needed. To learn more about the Ranked System, read this forum post.

Ranked fluctuation parameters tweak
From now on, players ranked Silver 3 and below will have a higher fluctuation rate compared to the ranks above that threshold. For example, Bronze 3 could contain players that have skill ratings between 15 and 16.5 while Gold 3 would have a larger spectrum, between 32.5 and 35. The intention behind this is that players from the lower ranks can climb out of them faster. This will make it more fun for newer or less experienced players, while the constant, highly skilled players will be able to maintain their rank.

OTHER IMPROVEMENTS

Web feature: Tactical Board improvements
Auto-save.
The Tactical Board will now automatically save tactics in progress every 30 seconds. This will prevent you from losing your work if any disconnection or bug occurs while working on a tactic. It will also allow you to leave the Tactical Board without having to hit the Save button. Just make sure you noticed the “Autosaved” text popping on the top of the Tactical Board, to the right of the tactic name.
Maintenance alerts.
The Tactical Board will alert you of upcoming maintenances 15 minutes prior to downtime. Fixing the Tactical Board bugs requires us to switch off the servers for some minutes. When a maintenance is upcoming, you’ll see a warning on the bottom of the board. As we also have the autosaves ongoing, there will be less risks to lose your work, which will occur only if you edit the tactic 30 seconds or less before the maintenance starts.
Texts are now easier to select and edit.
Bug fixes.
Fixed an issue preventing users to validate the removal of the tactician.
Fixing an issue making undo/redo actions sometimes unresponsive until a change of tool was made.
Inviting someone in the tactic will now correctly update the Attendees panel (top right).
Fixing an issue preventing to dismiss a share notification from their dashboard when clicking "See it later".

MAIN BUG FIXES

Please be aware that this is not an exhaustive list and that we are only highlighting fixes that were done about the most commonly raised bugs.

GAMEPLAY FIXES
  • Right stick dead zone is resetting to default after exiting the game - FIXED
  • Thermite can’t place an Exothermic Charge on damaged and reinforced walls - FIXED
  • Attackers win if a teammate kills Fuze as soon as he detonates his cluster charge on the hostage – FIXED
  • Guard break does not work if a shield-wielding Operator moves while receiving a melee hit - FIXED
  • When in rappel mode, the Operator does not have collision under specific structures and clips through textures when moving upwards – FIXED
  • End of round camera clips through the Operator – FIXED
  • PVE: on rare occasions one of the AI doesn’t spawn at the start of a match - FIXED
  • PVE: AI Engineers end up in a loop between evade and idle reaction for every damage tic received from poison gas – FIXED
LEVEL DESIGN FIXES
  • Defenders are able to pass through red blocker walls during the preparation phase - FIXED
  • Players in support mode sometimes don’t get a correct replication of the watched player’s point of view. For example, the player could have destroyed a wall and seen through it while the player watching in support mode would see an intact wall. - FIXED
  • On the Hereford Base map, players are able to get out of the building through the red blocker wall when vaulting over the sandbags during the preparation phase. - FIXED
  • On the Oregon map, players can see through the ceiling when vaulting over the bunk bed. – FIXED
  • On the Kafe Dostoevsky, character can remain stuck when vaulting on a recycle bin in EXT Park Alley – FIXED
  • On Consulate map, character can remain stuck between chairs at the Visa Office location – FIXED
  • On the Kanal map, players can see out of world through the ceiling if he placed his drone over the air vents in the Hallway. – FIXED
  • There are minor lighting issues on our maps. – FIXED
ONLINE FIXES
  • The game sometimes boots on CENTRAL-US data center instead of WEST-EUROPE – FIXED
  • Some players don’t receive renown after a match. – FIXED
  • 0-0x00000602 error is sometimes being received when returning from a matchmaking game to looking for players step - FIXED
  • 2-0x00000067 error is sometimes being received when trying to join a squad having previously went through a direct disconnection - FIXED
  • 2-0x00000068 error is sometimes being received when accepting a party invite. - FIXED
  • Some players from a squad are left in the main menu when searching for a match if specific steps were not followed - FIXED
  • There is no timer present during the lobby screen - FIXED
  • Player gets stuck indefinitely loading a lobby when joining in progress if a player of the same game got killed and then quit the lobby first. - FIXED
  • Some users are getting the "Connection Failure" error every time challenges reset while in-game – FIXED
  • PVE: On some occasions, players are not awarded XP points and Renown after finishing Terrorist Hunt sessions. – FIXED
  • Ranked: Players leaving for any reason except a network disconnection receive no warning and are automatically banned for 2 minutes – FIXED
  • PC, Ranked: Players leaving match using F10 don’t receive reconnect message – FIXED
  • PC, Ranked: Players leaving match using ALT+F4 don’t receive reconnect message - FIXED
UI FIXES
  • A placeholder appears on the prompt with the abandoned match message after quitting a Ranked game – FIXED
  • On the House map, missing location indicator in Laundry Room - FIXED
MISCELLANEOUS FIXES
  • PC: If the player switches Aiming settings From Hold to Toggle, the player can’t ADS in Tachanka’s Turret - FIXED
  • PC: Some keys are hard binded in the game involving movement and chat box - FIXED
  • PC: Push-to-talk functionality is missing in the Options menu - FIXED
  • Uplay: Alpha Team Uplay action is not unlocked after completing 50 ranked matches - FIXED

RhIfeur.gif


Siege for consoles is $40 on Amazon right now.

FYI, Ubi's DLC plan:
YearOneRoadmap_227421.jpg
 
Now just to clarify is the map out today for both season pass holders and normal people and the operators are restricted until the 9th or are both unavailable for free people until the 9th?

Wait, the new map is out today too?

OH FUCK YES

Okay cool just double checking.
 
Seriously impressed with the patch notes, and the way they deployed them (on their own slick little page). I'm a Tech Writer, an industry where there really isn't any standard for release notes, so I love seeing this kind of creativity :)

Now just to clarify is the map out today for both season pass holders and normal people and the operators are restricted until the 9th or are both unavailable for free people until the 9th?

Map is available for all players; Operators are Season Pass/purchase-only until 2/9. I'll add clarification in the OP.
 
Aren't the new operators like 25,000 renown each?

That's fucking insane. Way too expensive.

Not really. From Ubi:

“The data we have suggests that the average FPS player spends 8-10 hours a week playing their favorite FPS (also in-line with our observation during the closed beta), so it should only take between two to three weeks maximum to unlock an operator,” Ubisoft said explaining the unlock requirements. “With about three months between each Season of content, we hope players with regular game time won’t have trouble saving up enough Renown to unlock both new operators upon their release.”

I have a Season Pass but also have close to 50k renown saved up. Bought at launch and play pretty regularly, though not every day.

They also literally just gave us a 50% extra renown weekend to help players catch up, this past weekend.
 

Podge293

Member
This is great. Just simply great. Favourite game in a while and it's just getting better.

Might have misread or just missed, are the maps available to all today?

Edit: nevermind I've seen additional comments
 

Krappadizzle

Gold Member
We should do a custom match and I'll commentate and spectate as the 11th man.

I'm really looking forward to the new maps and operators. I've never played a shooter like R6 and it keeps me coming back every day.
 

Razyl

Member
Great update! Many fixes and improvements (thatcher got a shotgun now!!) and a nice looking map. Can't say anything to the new operators, because i don't have a season pass. Frost with her traps looks strong: You are instant down if you got catched and killed if you got 50 HP or less.
 

Miker

Member
I'm pretty happy with my purchase at $32 on PC, especially with post-release support like this. The core game is absolutely fantastic, although I have some complaints about some of the crap surrounding it (not microtransactions - more matchmaking and UI).
 
God damn those patch notes are beautiful. This is shaping up to be one of the best mp games. Did a quick test on the shield quick-ADS thing and it seems to have fixed that too. You can still fire really fast but not at 100% accuracy.
 
The actions taken on community feedback for this R6 release have been awesome. It's fantastic seeing the devs listen so intently to what the community has to say, and it's surprising that it's coming from Ubi of all people.

This gives me hope/makes me think that the teams working on The Division could and should take note. There are certainly some things to be said about the beta and feedback is essential to correcting some of the stupid that's currently in place.

I'm congratulating the responsiveness of Ubi devs in a thread... WHO AM I?!
 

Grimsen

Member
Those tweaks are very impressive.

Time to use flashbangs again.

I also like that they reduced the sound on gadgets, and that the OPFOR can't hear your operative talking.

EDIT: Dat Quebec flag on Buck. Hell yeah.
 

Razyl

Member
What good is the season pass when DLC is free? I'm not familiar with the DLC plan for this game.

You get the new operators seven days early, 600 Rainbow-Credits (their real money currency), 5% renown boost (game currency), 5 challenges instead of 3 (like daily quests - you will get renown for), and two skin packages for weapons.
 

Skel1ingt0n

I can't *believe* these lazy developers keep making file sizes so damn large. Btw, how does technology work?
Wow!! Amazing patch notes. Can't wait to read all this tonight. Any notes on improved tick rate and/or clipping through geometry?
 
What good is the season pass when DLC is free? I'm not familiar with the DLC plan for this game.

It's positioned (rightfully so, IMO) as one of the least "essential" Season Passes of this gen. It gets you:

-Early access to Operators (they also don't cost any in-game XP/renown to unlock)
-5% XP/renown boost (lol)
-Free skins
-EDIT: someone detailed the perks above

That's basically it. I got it as a way to support the devs, but it really offers no big advantages, as far as gameplay goes. Early access to operators, I can kinda see IF any of the new operators are OP, but that's a big if.

God damn those patch notes are beautiful. This is shaping up to be one of the best mp games. Did a quick test on the shield quick-ADS thing and it seems to have fixed that too. You can still fire really fast but not at 100% accuracy.

Yeah, they note that there are other fixes/tweaks, in addition to that giant list. There is likely to be some hidden stuff (like disabling v-sync on consoles).
 

Ikuu

Had his dog run over by Blizzard's CEO
Not really. From Ubi:



I have a Season Pass but also have close to 50k renown saved up. Bought at launch and play pretty regularly, though not every day.

They also literally just gave us a 50% extra renown weekend to help players catch up, this past weekend.

Oh that's ok, only 160 hours to unlock the 8 operators when they get added. I thought it would be something crazy!
 

RobNBanks

Banned
the new seasonal weapon skins are a joke in terms of pricing

Regular CTU Bundles are 1800r which is $15, not bad. These "seasonal weapons" are 2520, which is over $20 and then you still have to buy it for each separate CTU despite it being the same skin for each CTU

should have just made it 2400r for an even $20 instead of trying to force people to buy 2400r and 600r (leaving them with 480 useless points, because all the good individual skins are 720r)
 
It's positioned (rightfully so, IMO) as one of the least "essential" Season Passes of this gen. It gets you:

-Early access to Operators (they also don't cost any in-game XP/renown to unlock)
-5% XP/renown boost (lol)
-Free skins

That's basically it. I got it as a way to support the devs, but it really offers no big advantages, as far as gameplay goes. Early access to operators, I can kinda see IF any of the new operators are OP, but that's a big if..
Nice. That's actually a really near way of handling season passes.
 

chubigans

y'all should be ashamed
Sooooo if I like Battlefront despite being relatively shallow will this game be a good pickup? It doesn't have single player right?
 

Psykotik

Member
reposting from the OT:

on PS4 (and xbone i guess), theres a new v sync option under the video tab.

disabling it makes situations and terrorist hunt feel like 60fps (but with screen tearing).

feels a whole lot better than 30fps thats for sure.
 
Sooooo if I like Battlefront despite being relatively shallow will this game be a good pickup? It doesn't have single player right?

I consider this game to kinda be the antithesis of Battlefront, so I don't know.

Oh that's ok, only 160 hours to unlock the 8 operators when they get added. I thought it would be something crazy!

Considering every DLC pack is released seasonally/quarterly, you have approx. 12 weeks between each pack.

If it "costs" 50 hours to unlock both Operators per pack, that's about 4 hours of game time each week, and that's not considering their promised events (we just had a 50% XP boost weekend prior to this DLC drop, which is significant).
 

Miker

Member
I consider this game to kinda be the antithesis of Battlefront, so I don't know.



Considering every DLC pack is released seasonally/quarterly, you have approx. 12 weeks between each pack.

If it "costs" 50 hours to unlock both Operators per pack, that's about 4 hours of game time each week, and that's not considering their promised events (we just had a 50% XP boost weekend prior to this DLC drop, which is significant).

It'll take me longer, because I suck and don't even have a 1:1 win/loss ratio :(
 
Top Bottom