Relic has announced that the next patch (1.2.1) for their best-selling real-time strategy title, Dawn of War 2, will be going live at noon on April 13th. In addition to tweaking game balance and squashing bugs, the update also brings an impressive new 6-player map for online play.

The upcoming patch was reportedly completed by Relic sometime in mid-to-late March, however has been stuck in the Games for Windows Live certification quagmire since at least March 25th as evidenced by a statement in which Relic developer Jager first mentioned that it was being reviewed by Microsoft on the game’s public forums. If the patch drops according to schedule on Monday this will mean that GFWL has added 20 days to the patch development cycle at bare minimum. Ouch.

Despite getting in bed with the devil, Relic continues to prove that they’ve been paying attention to the community. Patch 1.2.1 skillfully addresses the four most pressing issues facing the community at this time: (1) lack of multiplayer maps, (2) faction imbalances, (3) drop-hacking, and (4) matchmaking.

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Patch 1.2.1
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PVP
• New Team Battle map added! “(6p) Tiber Outpost” is now available for play.

PvP Gameplay
• Implemented final fixes for the Population Cap issue as noted in Patch 1.1.3. This included reverting the temporary changes made in Patch 1.1.3.
• Tyranid Warrior Adrenal Gland upgrade damage reduced from 52 to 40
• Energy Shields no longer regenerate while active – This includes the Zoanthrope, Falcon, Hive Tyrant, Warlock, Force Commander, Mekboy and Techmarine
• Energy Shield conversion modifier reduced from .2 to .25
• Energy Shields now have an 8 second toggle on / toggle off time.
• Falcon Energy regeneration reduced from 3 to .5
• Melee damage reduction versus Rippers reduced from .25 to .3
• Zoanthrope Focus Blast now immobilizes vehicles for 12 seconds from 15
• Guardian Battle Equipment cost increased to 50/15 from 40/10
• Carnifex cost increased to 600/135 from 550/125
• Tactical Sergeant’s melee special attack reduced to 28 from 50
• “And They Shall Know No Fear” now debuffs Tactical Marine melee damage by .6
• Spore Mines can no longer enter Ravener Tunnels and Webway Gates
• Warp Spider deathspinner damage increased from 20 to 30
• Warp Spider Exarch dual deathspinner damage increased from 30 to 35

Achievements
• Fixed an issue where campaign completion achievements were sometimes not awarded

Ranking and Online Stats
• Fixed an issue where players were awarded a win in Ranked multiplayer matches after modifying local files.

Matchmaking
• Fixed an issue with automatching code to help provide better quality matches based on TrueSkill™ Rankings.
• Fixed an issue allowing players with mismatched data to be grouped together.

Miscellaneous
• Updated BugSplat error reporting to new version.

LACK OF MULTIPLAYER MAPS

One of the biggest concerns of players who had access to the beta during its four-week run was the shortage of maps available for online play. At the time only five maps had been created, however two more were added with the zero-day patch, bringing the existing total to seven. The new patch coming on Monday adds another 3v3 map to the mix, and the screenshots demonstrate that the designers have come a long way in terms of their skills and artistic ability. Not only is the map gorgeous, it also does an excellent job of capturing the look and feel of the Warhammer 40,000 universe.

On a personal note, I don’t see any problem with the current number of maps. Most online gaming communities tend to gravitate towards certain maps in these types of games, which then become overwhelming favorites to the exclusion of the others. Good map design always trumps variety, the best example of which comes from the popularity of Counter-Strike’s de_dust and de_dust2.

FACTION IMBALANCES

For as long opposing sides have been a fixture of gaming players have complained about their equanimity. The complaints can sometimes be dismissed as whining and safely ignored, but in other cases there are issues that require attention. Relic has decided that there is some merit to the stink raised by forum-goers and have consequently made changes to the mechanics of energy shields, Tyranids, and Warp Spiders (nerf, nerf, and buff, respectively).

DROP-HACKING

At present, players can make client-side changes to their local game files causing ranked (ladder) matches to not only end prematurely, but also ensure they will receive a win. This practice of disconnecting from a game, typically during loading or immediately thereafter, in order to cheat your opponent out of a possible victory is commonly referred to as drop-hacking. Though achieved through different means, this problem was also rampant in Relic’s Company of Heroes and was one of many serious technical issues that prevented the multiplayer mode from attaining popularity.

This issue is supposedly being fixed in patch 1.2.1, but similar promises were made about fixing the problem in Company of Heroes so it would be wise to hold off on accolades until testing in a live environment is performed.

MATCHMAKING

It has been remarked by Jager and Thunder, developer and community representatives who post on the official DoW2 forums, that the matchmaking service for ranked games is currently malfunctioning. Since the game’s release the chief complaint of Dawn of War 2’s online community has been the apparent randomness that Games for Windows Live utilizes when attempting to match opponents of similar skill (measured by the TrueSkill rating). It is not uncommon for new players to be matched up against experts, resulting in a brief one-sided match which is unsatisfying for both parties. What’s worse is that matchmaking often takes an exorbitant amount of time (sometimes 10+ minutes), particularly when searching for a team (3v3) game.

The following vague improvements are supposedly being made to the system, though neither offers any specifics as to what degree of improvement is to be expected:

• Fixed an issue with automatching code to help provide better quality matches based on TrueSkill™ Rankings.
• Fixed an issue allowing players with mismatched data to be grouped together.

You can view the full patch notes here.

Similar Posts:

• Dawn of War 2 Patch Finalized, Going Live Within 2 Weeks
• Games for Windows Live Receives Dawn of War 2 Update
• Dawn of War 2 Multiplayer Beta Patched - 2/5/09
• Dawn of War 2 Zero-Day Patch Update
• Dawn of War 2 Patch 1.1.3 Goes Live