A few weeks ago we invited ten of our top community members from around the globe to visit us at the studio, where they spent time playing the latest work in progress version of the game, as well as engaging in daily conversations with the development team to share and discuss their feedback. Our goal was to collect their feedback in order to tweak gameplay elements and improve both the Closed Beta and launch version of the game!
[](//www.youtube.com/embed/HIjckKBjFgU?rel=0)
Below, you will find a list of some of the changes which have now been made, based on the feedback that we received during Road to Montreal.
In addition, we’re also happy to provide more information on what options you will be able to customize in custom matches.
Please be aware that this is not an exhaustive list, however we wanted to give everyone a glimpse into what we’ve been working on.
In-game changes based on Road to Montreal results:
- Removed flash, stun, and smoke grenade indicators. - Available in Closed Beta
We understand that grenade indicators felt obtrusive, and made avoiding them easier than intended. To counter act this, indicators for flash, stun and smoke grenades have been removed. However, indicators on frag grenades remain, as the players were not aware that they could cook grenades nor did they know that they could throw them back at the enemy. Cooking the grenade and throwing it at the enemy with perfect timing makes it so that avoiding it is not possible anymore, even with an indicator being present. This feature was not communicated to our players clearly enough and we will need to make sure that they aware of this gameplay possibility as we move forwards.
- Increased vulnerability while ADS and holding a riot shield. - Available in Closed Beta
Players felt that opponents equipped with a riot shield, such as Blitz, were too difficult to kill. We agree with this and have decided to change the Operator stances while holding a riot shield. In fact, we have inverted the stance. When our guests came to the studio, the shield would be pulled up and protect the Operator while in ADS. Now, while in ADS, the shield is held to the side, which exposes more of the Operator’s body.
When in hipfire stance, the player will carry the shield upright, increasing defense, but severely decreasing their accuracy.
The riot shield is something we will keep an eye on during Closed Beta, as it is one of the main things we want to test.
*Updated shield stance brings some balance to Blitz and other Operators carrying it*
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- Increased enemy AI count for Terrorist Hunt across all difficulty levels. - Available in Closed Beta
In previous iterations of Terrorist Hunt, enemy count had been limited to 20 enemies on the map at one time. The feedback we received told us that this didn’t give our players enough of a challenge.
To help make Terrorist Hunt more challenging, additional enemy AI spawn waves have been added (which increase based on the difficulty level) and AI can now also spawn outside of the main building.
- Terrohunt game mode(s) officially renamed "Terrorist Hunt" - Available in Closed Beta
We received a lot of feedback about Terrorist Hunt getting a new name in Siege, and the Road to Montreal playtesters echoed these concerns during their time here. After some thought, we agreed it would be best to keep the name of the classic game mode to Terrorist Hunt.
- Changes to the end-of-round win conditions whilst playing Disarm Bomb in Terrorist Hunt mode. - Available at launch
Previously, even if all members of your team died whilst playing Disarm Bomb in Terrorist Hunt mode, you could still win as long as the Defuser countdown had started. This is no longer the case. Now you must have at least one team member alive to win. This change will come into effect with the launch of the game on December 1st.
- Additional update to the Cardiac Sensor (previously known as Heartbeat Sensor) - Available in Closed Beta
With the last update to the Cardiac Sensor, we added a moment of warm up when using it, which was added to help balance the gadget.
Now, on top of this change, the gadget will no longer track opponents in real time. It will now act more like a sonar – with a ping appearing, disappearing, and the new location appearing seconds later.
[The Cardiac Sensor is one of the main things we want to further test during Closed Beta. Note that the version you will be presented will still be a work in progress.]
- Improvements to shotguns and secondary weapons. - Available in Closed Beta
Through additional play testing and feedback, we discovered that shotguns and secondary weapons felt a little underwhelming compared to the other weapons. Here are the tweaks we did in order to improve this:
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We’ve upped the close range damage and reduced the dispersion for shotguns by approximately 12% (varies per weapon, case by case).
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We’ve upped the damage for pistols, especially over longer range, by approximately 10% (varies per weapon, case by case).
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One of the most frequently asked questions from our community has been ‘What options will be customizable in custom matches?’ This is a question that we’ve been wanting to answer for a while now and we’re happy to confirm a few options with you. Keep in mind that, like the rest of this blog post, this is not an exhaustive list. These are just the options we are able to confirm at this moment:
Custom match options - Available at launch
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Maps
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Time of Day (day, night)
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Game Modes
- Hostage DBNO, no DBNO, invincible
- Secure Area Capture duration & stopping the capture action duration
- Bomb Defuser placement duration, Defuser duration, and stopping the Defuser action duration
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Phases: preparation phase duration, action phase duration
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Number of rounds
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Role change every X rounds
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Overtime rounds
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Overtime score difference
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Overtime role change
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Player health %
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Friendly fire damage %
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DBNO on/off
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Sprint on/off
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Lean on/off
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Kill Cam on/off
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Minimal HUD setting, turns off:
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Crosshair
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Scoring update
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Grenade indicator
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Threat indicator
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Kill confirm indicator
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Reload indicator
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VS notification
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Teammate outline
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Finally, we’d also like to take this time to say thank you so much to the ten players who participated in the Road to Montreal event. We’re incredibly grateful for all of your input and learned a lot during our time with you.
In addition, we’d also like to say a big thank you to the greater community for watching the live stream, and being a part of this ongoing discussion with us. If you want your voice to be heard, please stop by our official subreddit and forums to join the conversation.
We look forward to seeing you in the Closed Beta starting September 24th, and we’ll have more updates for you in the future as we get closer to launch on December 1st.
**[DISCUSS ON THE SUBREDDIT](https://www.reddit.com/r/Rainbow6/)**
[](https://www.reddit.com/r/rainbow6)
Chase “Electr1cPanda” Straight - Community Developer, Ubisoft Montreal
Chase is a goofy American ex-pat living in Canada who loves music, DJing, blogging, and obviously gaming for hours. No discrimination here, Chase loves consoles as much as playing on his homebuilt gaming rig. Say hi and send cat pics (bonus points if they're wearing R6 gear) on Twitter at @R6ComDevs.
Genevieve "Livinpink" Forget - Community Developer, Ubisoft Montreal
Gen goes by the handle Livinpink in the gaming industry. She is known for her involvement in multiple competitive gaming communities through her work as eSports media and personality. She participates in weekly livestreamed Dungeons and Dragons sessions. She also tweets from @R6ComDevs.
