Titanfall is taking steps to reduce assaults on ejecting pilots

Titanfall is getting an update today that adds private matches and a host of balance changes. It’s always nice to see patch notes that explain the developer’s reasoning behind the changes they’re implementing. For example, a particularly hard progression challenge is getting nerfed based on player feedback. Players will only need to kill 5 ejecting pilots instead of 50 to fulfill the “Gooser” challenge going forward. Killing an ejecting pilot isn’t easy. You have to have some skill and luck to be in the right place at the right time to pull it off. It’s like waiting to spear toast with a fork as it pops out of the toaster – if the kitchen appliance was 50 feet tall and shooting at you.

We had a couple of design goals for Regeneration. One was to give players a structured way to discover and experience ways of playing the game they might not have otherwise tried on their own. The second was to recognize players’ mastery of various skills, going beyond just ‘time played’. We went a bit too far with this challenge, especially considering the unique conditions that have to be met just to have the opportunity to get a kill on an ejecting Pilot. We understand some players have already completed the challenge, or have already earned more than the new requirement so we will be internally noting those players so we can recognize their accomplishments in a future game update.

Those kind of patch notes are interesting to read. It’s a small peek into the minds of the game designers and certainly more engaging than a list of bullet points.