ESOC Patch Update & Tournament Information

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ESOC Patch Update & Tournament Information

Post by n0el »

Tournament Information
​In addition to the news regarding the patch update, ​its time to start talking about the next ASC event. Based on feedback we received from the community from the last Summer tournament, we have decided to wait until after the majority of the summer holiday season before the next event. We are targeting the next tournament starting in September, and will open signups in August. In the mean time, everyone should be looking forward to the conclusion of the Strong World event.

ESOC Patch Update
The ESOC team is glad to share that a new update to the ESOC Patch is ready! The new patch features many changes, most importantly it introduces the first balance changes since the initial release. The detailed balance change list can be read here.

[spoiler=Balance Change Comments from GoodSpeed]Balance Changes
Remember this is an open beta, and the changes are not final. As we explore new options in the beta and allow the meta to settle for a month or two, we will likely end up tweaking some of the changes or even making new changes before the upcoming event. Please continue to use the existing public forum for discussion, we are curious to see what you all think about the changes and the state of balance.
Expect another balance update within a couple of months.
Below is an explanation of our thinking process behind all of the balance changes.

Native snare
This was removed because there is – for the most part – a consensus within the community that it gives too much control in discovery age
It also gives the french player an unfair and unwarranted advantage in the early game, which now is slightly nerfed by this.

Mass Cavalry
This is a change focused on late game team games. We are seeing a heavy reliance on cavalry in late game team, and this works to negate that somewhat. It also disables the possibility of instant cavalry in some cases.

Dragoon ranged resistance
In all game types and game times, we see heavy use of the Dragoon. We feel the unit is slightly too strong for its cost and inhibits innovative play with alternative unit choices. We also noticed that the civs which have access to the Dragoon are all strong, and many of the civs who don't are weak. This way we are also balancing the civs slightly. This is also a change with team games in mind, where Dragoons dominate throughout the mid and late game.

Chinese
As it was, China was able to fatten animals as they teched to fortress age and secure a massive food income for much of the early fortress period, giving them a strong boost. We felt this made them too map dependent, as well as too strong on the maps with herdables.
We also notice that China relies heavily on the forbidden army (4 cavalry) and that its train time is relatively low. We increased it to hopefully balance out their army somewhat and encourage diversity.
Old Han Reforms has been one of the best shipments in the game for a long time, and it's a problem in team games as well as the occasional long 1v1 game. Considering the strength of the card we are starting by halving its cost and effects.

Dutch
As Dutch is still facing problems, we decided to give them a boost where it counts: in their boom. Banks are 50w cheaper which in a typical Dutch game will net the Dutch player 200 wood in the early game.
We also saw in team games that Dutch was dominant after the bank limit change to 6 and the 20% gather rate cards in discovery. These cards have been restored to what they were previously, and the initial bank build limit reduced to 5. We are still keeping this at 5 instead of 4 because we feel that without this change, Dutch (being a boom civ) have insufficient tools to keep their economy ahead of the other player's in 1v1 games.

French
On top of the (small) scout nerf we decided to also test removing 100f from France's starting crates, as recent trends indicate that they are similar to Germans in overall strength. We expect that the French will still be able to build an early Market or Trading Post and remain a competitive and versatile civilization.

Germans
We are seeing an overwhelming amount of uhlans in German games. Rather than touching the civ bonus we decided to tweak the unit, hoping to encourage different compositions while slightly weakening Germans' best builds.

Iroquois
We feel Iroquois are on the weak side right now, so we can start slowly restoring them to past glory until they are balanced. To that effect we are undoing the War Chief aura change and the Aenna cost change.

Portuguese
We saw in teamgames as well as prolonged 1v1 games that Genitours are dominant in the late game. Their range makes them almost cost-effective against skirmisher-type units which are supposed to be their hard-counter. To start, the range boost has been reduced to +5 which, along with the Dragoon change, should balance it out somewhat.

Ottomans
We haven't seen a lot of Ottomans being played, but we do feel they are on the weak side at this time. For starters we are undoing the accidental Janissary HP change, and we are hoping to see more players play this civ so that we can properly gauge where they are on the balance scale and how we should change them. Ottomans still face a lack of long-term options, and we intend to address this problem in future releases.

Russians
This civ is weak, but it does have some redeeming qualities. Step one for us is tweaking their civ bonus to be slightly stronger, we will see how well they do. The abysmal 17 strelet shipment has also been changed to 20, in order to slightly improve Russia's fortress build orders.

Spanish
Spain, while not a very bad civ, is facing some problems with long-term options. The unction change will hopefully improve them there. Their shipments have also been changed so that their civ bonus is no longer counteracted by the bad quality of their shipments, which we felt was unnecessary and made the civ less fun to play.[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Map Changes]Map Changes
The following are changes to the random map sets in order to balance them somewhat. These changes are from the previous update (v1.2). Its changes can be found here.
On top of these changes, several improvements have been made to balance individual maps.

ESOC maps
  • Bonnie Springs and Klondike will appear slightly less
  • Florida added

Standard maps
  • Bonnie Springs, Klondike and Patagonia will appear slightly less
  • Florida added

Team maps
  • Colorado, Klondike and Himalayas removed
  • Florida added
[/spoiler]
In addition to the balance changes, this update features an extensive bug fix update and the FFA Diplomacy.

[spoiler=Bug Fixes]Bug Fixes
  • Japanese end isolation now correctly reduces unit attack by 5% (down from 10%).
  • "Repelling Volley" card now grants (x1) increased bonus damage against Eagle Runner Knights.
  • "Close Combat" card now grants (x1) increased bonus damage against Light Infantry as well as Cavalry.
  • Aztec fortress age "Shaman" politician now grants 2 Nobles huts instead of 1.
  • Berry Bushes will have a max villager limit of 8 per bush to prevent idle villagers not appearing.
  • The Chinese Consulate Blockhouse can now properly train Banner Armies.
  • Bolas Warrior now have proper multipliers against Light Cavalry and Eagle Knights.
  • Flail Elephant build and kill XP properly adjusted to 25.
  • Flaming Arrow now have proper artillery penalty against Arrow Knights.
  • Flying Crow now has proper penalty against Light Infantry.
  • Galleons can now train Gurkhas.
  • Gatling Gun now has correct icon.
  • Howdah and Mansabdar Howdah now have standardized modifiers and Howdahs now get proper bonus against Coyote Men in melee mode.
  • Light Cannon now have proper artillery penalty against Arrow Knights.
  • Mongolian Army banner army now has the correct population count.
  • Native Treasure Tomahawk now has proper multiplier against Light Infantry.
  • Oprichnik now have proper modifier against SiegeTroopers and Artillery to Defend and Trample modes.
  • SettlerNative now has the ability to build ypCaravanserai for Indian allies who get the Aztec Team 3 Villager shipment.
  • Siege Elephant and Mansabdar Siege Elephant now have proper penalty against Light Infantry as they do against Cavalry.
  • Tiger Claw siege attack and hand attack in cover mode now decreases properly.
  • Turkey now are able to gather at Japanese Shrines.
  • Wakina Rifle build and kill XP properly adjusted to 10.
  • Sufi Native War Elephant now has an AbstractElephant flag.
  • 3 Galleys card now has the correct icon.
  • Aztec Chests of 500 Coin card now has the correct icon.
  • Aztec Shaman for the Fortress Age now mentions that it delivers 2 Nobles' Hut Travois.
  • Blood Brothers card now upgrades everything in the correct order so unit names are correct.
  • Cheyenne Fury now properly grants a bonus against Light Infantry.
  • Close Combat card now properly grants a bonus against Light Infantry.
  • Exalted Meteor Hammer now properly upgrades Meteor Hammer base damage by 50%.
  • Heavy Fortifications card now upgrades in the correct order and displays correct names. It now properly includes the
  • Reventment tech.
  • Infantry Breastplate now correctly effects Mercenary Blowgun Warriors, Blowgun Ambushers, Blind Monks, and Iron Troops.
  • Klamath Work Ethos now correctly effects Rice Paddies and Mango Groves.
  • Professional Handlers now works properly with War Elephants.
  • Repelling Volley card now applies increased bonus against Eagle Knights as listed.
  • Stone Castles card now properly upgrades the range of Castle cannon attack.
  • Tercio Tactics now correctly displays 'Rodeleros' as opposed to 'Redoleros.
  • Rifling tech properly effects Renegados and Thuggees.
  • Caracole now properly effects Comancheros.
  • Bayonet tech now properly effects Pistoleros and Dacoits.
  • YPHCGurkhaAid card now properly effects Mansabdar Gurkhas.
  • XPRevolutionOHiggins now properly displays units as Imperial Hussars.
  • NatXPKlamathHuckleberryFeast now grants 10 food crates properly at 30 minutes.
  • Indian and Sioux Surgeons can now construct Field Hospitals.
  • HCMusketeerGrenadierHitPoints now properly effect Janissaries.
  • NatMercHuronMantlet now has missing AbstractInfantry tag.
  • Outpost Wagons can now build War Huts for Native Civilizations.
  • xpAztecWarchief now has proper Damage flag added to hand attack, and should not hurt allied units with the Smoking Mirror card.
  • German Advanced Dock now correctly makes ships train faster.
  • Spanish Consulate Nanban Trade tech now correctly effect Asian trading posts and XP from trading posts.
  • Wokou Junks now have their intended broadside attack.
  • 3 Li'l Bombards shipment now has the correct icon.
  • Consulate artillery units now upgrade their names correctly in the Industrial and Imperial Ages.
  • Chinese can now research the Imperial Cannon upgrade at their factory.
  • Upgraded Carib units now receive proper names once upgraded.
  • British, Chinese, Indians, and Japanese can no longer ship Mercenary Loyalty twice.
  • Longbow range upgrade (Yeomen) only applies in to all unit stances.
  • Andes now correctly spawns 2 Cherry Orchard Rickshaw.
  • ChurchQuatrefage (Spanish) and ChurchStadholders (Dutch) no longer move Barrack upgrades. ChurchKalmucks,
  • ChurchBashkirPonies (Russian) and shipping Card HCShipWingedHussars (German) no longer move Stable upgrades.
  • ChurchGardeImperial 1,2,3 no longer move Artillery upgrades.
  • Chinese, Japanese and Indian surgeon now have correct sound file.
  • Iroquois discovery travois now has correct sound file.
  • Sufi Pilgrimage Goats now have correct sound file.
  • Consulate Portuguese Ironclad now has correct sound file.
  • Silk Road Map trading posts now has correct sound file.
  • Russian church Kalmuck (Dragoon) now has correct sound file.
  • Indian consulate Ottoman villagers now have correct Ottoman voice.
  • TEAM Native 3 villagers now have correct unit voices when used by other Civilizations.
  • Spanish Quatrefage Halberdiers now have correct Spanish Pikeman audio.
  • Japanese consulate Church now has correct Dutch texture.
  • Japanese consulate Arsenal now has correct Dutch texture.
  • TEAM Early Dragoons now enables German War Wagons, Aztec Eagle Runner Knights, and enables Aztec Noble's Hut.
  • Dutch Consulate Church can now train spies.
  • Russian Consulate Blockhouse bug now limits the Chinese Blockhouse to a build limit of one when using any rescued villagers,
  • TEAM villagers, and Cree CDB.
  • French TEAM Ranged Infantry Attack card no longer increases the attack of cavalry archers, bow riders, keshiks, and yabusame.
  • Surgeons from the British Consulate can now build Field Hospitals.
  • TEAM 5 Manchus Card now correctly takes 60 seconds to arrive.
  • Arsonists and Repentant Arsonists now have correct 'Mercenary' tag.
  • Asian Consulate Bank is now inline with Dutch Bank.
  • Repentant Fusiliers now have correct 1.5x bonus against Light Infantry in defend mode.
  • xpTomahawk now throws a tomahawk.
  • Native Settlers throw spears correctly.
  • China Record Game bug caused by ypMonasteryDiscipleAura was changed to have no aura effect and increase Disciple base HP and base Hitpoints by 10%.
  • Aztec Eagle Knight now throws a spear.
  • Native Eagle Warrior now has correct modifiers against Cavalry, CoyoteMen, Light Cavalry, and Eagle Knights.
  • TWC and TAD, including all Revolt Flags, now have new High Quality images to match the original flags.
  • Abus Guns have correct modifiers vs Light Cavalry or Eagle Knights in stagger and defend modes.
  • Asian versions of Elmeti, Mamelukes, and Li'l Bombards are no longer available in the Fortress Age.
  • Japanese Shogunate wonder grants listed 600 XP to Industrial.
  • Japanese end isolation correctly reduces unit attack by 5%.
  • Units tagged as LightInfantry are affected by British Consulate hit point boost.
  • SaloonOutlawRider now deal correct hand attack damage in melee mode.
  • Gates properly reduce to the new HP of 1500 and 0 LOS
  • Flame Throwers damage cap correctly adjusted to 35 so it deals the correct amount of damage to units.
  • Warriors from the Alarm Dance now fire arrows.
  • Wokou Horseman Guardians now fire arrows.
  • Spain's Fortress age shipments now display the correct numbers.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=FFA Diplomacy]FFA Diplomacy
Dear Generic (but esteemed) AoE3 FFA Player.

Tired of getting triple teamed? Want to make a formal alliance with that guy who's massing Gendarmes but they keep 'accidentally' killing your stuff? D:

Or, simply loved the idea of this map? viewtopic.php?t=6304
(or this one that faded into obscurity: http://aoe3.heavengames.com/downloads/s ... =3296)

Well, EP 2.0 has just what you need!

Introducing Diplomacy options in FFA Games!
The best diplomacy options in AoE3 you've ever used!

Image

Now, when you play an FFA game on EP 2.0, the following rules will be forcefully applied without your consent:
1) Everyone starts off as NEUTRAL diplomacy to everyone else
2) *gasp* there's a tiny black box in the top right, to the left of your Menu bar...
3) Clicking on that black box brings up the diplomacy UI!
4) Change your diplomacy with someone instantly by fiddling around with the shiny buttons
5) Click OK or Cancel to close the diplomacy UI (It doesn't really matter, your changes were applied the moment you clicked on the button thingies)
6) Have fun flaming or getting flamed!

Best Regards,
Aizamk

FAQ:

Q) Why dis black box so ugly?
A) The intention was to avoid conflicts with other UI modifications. The button to bring up the Diplomacy UI already exists in the default UI, so it's convenient this way. If there is a good enough response to this mod then it can be worked on a little more.

Q) I set my friend as an ally but he can still attack me! D:
A) The alliance is one way. This means that both players need to set as an ally to the Alliance be created.

Q) Doesn't this mean that unrated 1v1 games and obs games which have FFA will be affected?
A) It's been set up to only work when there's more than 2 players and every player in the game has an Explorer, so this shouldn't be an issue.

Q) Team cards don't affect me, and I can't ungarrison my units from my ally's buildings...
A) Deal with it. The first bug can be patched at a later point in time, the second one I don't really know a work around.

Q) Can I expect to see an improvement on this in the future?
A) That really depends on how good the community response is.

Q) OMG it doesn't work, did you even test this in multiplayer?
A) Only the concept, not the final product! No refunds, sorry! Bye![/spoiler]
Finally, what patch update could be completed without an outstanding contribution from the ESOC Map Team.
In addition to several updates to existing ESOC maps, we are proud to include an new ESOC map, Florida, which was created by @Garja .

And perhaps a function that some people were waiting: compatibility mode for recorded games that were played previous versions of ESOC Patch.
To use this tool go to "Tools > Recorded Games Recognition" and follow the instructions

Thanks to all the contributors on this project, especially @Buckethead , @iCourt , @tilanus , @Aizamk and the ESOC Patch Team!
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Re: ESOC Patch Update & Tournament Information

Post by saveyourskill »

Pretty nice pretty nice... Thank you
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Re: ESOC Patch Update & Tournament Information

Post by forgrin »

Looks good thus far. Something I think worth looking into might be decreasing the train time of the Imperial army for China (3arq 2 flail) to compensate for cav batch nerf. Iirc the train time for that army is quite long (could be wrong though).
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Re: ESOC Patch Update & Tournament Information

Post by zoom »

It's fine I think. With this change, the Imperial, Territorial and Forbidden armies are all at 33tp. Basically, the Forbidden Army was an anomaly which we find unwarranted even before considering the high prevalence of this army.

Fucking buff Reforms though!
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Re: ESOC Patch Update & Tournament Information

Post by zoom »

I love those sexy flags and Florida is great too.

Great work bois!
:flowers:
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Re: ESOC Patch Update & Tournament Information

Post by japanesegeneral »

Pretty nice! Can u give us the exact numbers for each change?
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Re: ESOC Patch Update & Tournament Information

Post by WickedCossack »

japanesegeneral wrote:Pretty nice! Can u give us the exact numbers for each chance?


Click the link where it says detailed balance changes can be viewed here. :flowers:
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Re: ESOC Patch Update & Tournament Information

Post by japanesegeneral »

Thx
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Re: ESOC Patch Update & Tournament Information

Post by Mr_Bramboy »

@incog
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Re: ESOC Patch Update & Tournament Information

Post by momuuu »

Omg is this update live yet? Ive gotta slay some scrubs with my balanced dutch. The rekking is going to be epic.
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Re: ESOC Patch Update & Tournament Information

Post by zoom »

Don't fool yourself; Dutch are still bottom civilization, along with Iroquois, Ottomans and Sioux.
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Re: ESOC Patch Update & Tournament Information

  • Quote

Post by momuuu »

Hard to say, I think this will go a long way in solving some specific problems for them. At least I hope so.

Once I lose some games Ill surely agree with you.
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Re: ESOC Patch Update & Tournament Information

Post by zoom »

I would like to emphasize that all constructive criticism is most welcome. Please use the ESOC Patch forum for this purpose, outside of brief, general thoughts you're naturally welcome to post ITT.

Please keep in mind that play-testing and recorded games are the most concrete and effective means of feedback. Please record your games and submit them if you feel they indicate something is unbalanced.
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Re: ESOC Patch Update & Tournament Information

Post by momuuu »

Whats the naming convention for this patch? EP2.0?
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Re: ESOC Patch Update & Tournament Information

Post by deleted_user »

tanks
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Re: ESOC Patch Update & Tournament Information

Post by Mimsy for President »

It's not with those 'balance changes' people will start to play EP.
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Re: ESOC Patch Update & Tournament Information

Post by Atomiswave »

Jerom wrote:Hard to say, I think this will go a long way in solving some specific problems for them. At least I hope so.

Once I lose some games Ill surely agree with you.


Pls report your findings. I think they could easily go for 300f/300w bank cost without overbuffing Dutch.
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Re: ESOC Patch Update & Tournament Information

Post by zoom »

Jerom wrote:Whats the naming convention for this patch? EP2.0?

That seems a very sensible piece of information to disseminate:

2.0.0.3 I believe.
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Re: ESOC Patch Update & Tournament Information

Post by MCJim »

Very nice!! People from now on should just host on EP and not on RE. Just do it otherwise everyone falls back to RE again.
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Re: ESOC Patch Update & Tournament Information

Post by Gichtenlord »

You might consider to extend signups for 1 more week (~1.-7. septembre), so ppl ,which just came back from travelling the whole august, are also able to signup.
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Re: ESOC Patch Update & Tournament Information

Post by Papist »

How were uhlans changed exactly? It seems to me that Germany is the only civ in dire need of a nerf that did not receive one, but I could me mistaken.

I would also like to express my utter amazement and gratitude to Aizamk. Diplomacy has been something we've been missing for a long time, and it's awesome that you were able to finally make it happen - my hat goes off to you.
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Re: ESOC Patch Update & Tournament Information

Post by Mr_Bramboy »

WickedCossack wrote:
japanesegeneral wrote:Pretty nice! Can u give us the exact numbers for each chance?


Click the link where it says detailed balance changes can be viewed here. :flowers:


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Re: ESOC Patch Update & Tournament Information

Post by zoom »

Atomiswave wrote:
Jerom wrote:Hard to say, I think this will go a long way in solving some specific problems for them. At least I hope so.

Once I lose some games Ill surely agree with you.


Pls report your findings. I think they could easily go for 300f/300w bank cost without overbuffing Dutch.

Definitely!
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Re: ESOC Patch Update & Tournament Information

Post by zoom »

MCJim wrote:Very nice!! People from now on should just host on EP and not on RE. Just do it otherwise everyone falls back to RE again.

Don't you try coercing me!

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