Changelog, Hotfix, Wednesday October 21st (21.2838)
Build #: 21.2838
Changes
Added Matchmaking rules to the help text.
Changed the description of Abilities in the glossary. The previous description stated that Abilities ignore Shields, which is not the case.
Improved the UI for the Manpower card on use.
Removed the sound from cards on hover (at least temporarily, since the rapid sound on changing cards could be irritating – we’re looking for a more permanent/better fix).
Fixes
Corrected the Oktoberfest cardback not showing in the store or the settings screen.
Corrected problems that caused hangs in PVE battles.
Fix for some discard screen hangs.
Fixed an issue that caused some vehicles to play attack effects on death.
Changelog, Friday October 16th (21.2732)
Build #: 21.2732
New
Many new gameboards have been created. From a vast jungle to an arid desert, your battle experience will now change when you start a new battle!
The targeting icon has been improved to show a crosshair on mouseover, so that you can more easily see which units can be attacked.
Domination Damage now displays a total at the end of the arrow, so that you can see more clearly how much damage you or your enemy can potentially deal at turn start.
Domination Damage’s arrows are now greyed out and lowered visibility, unless they have a unit providing damage in their column.
New cardback: Oktoberfest #3. This is the third in a series of 4 Oktoberfest cardbacks. Collect all the pretty beer ladies!
Changes
The domination damage effect has been changed. This is no longer a blue ball, but instead a series of artillery impacts.
The Republic and Alliance Command Centers have been remade with significantly improved graphics, to be brought more in line with the quality of the Empire Command Center.
Fixes
Empire Doomsayer no longer triggers retaliation with her ability, and no longer retaliates herself.
Fixed missing voices for Empire Stalwart Warriors and Immortal.
Balance Changes
Spotlight Preview: UI Redesigns
Today, we’re going to give you guys a special treat with our Spotlight Preview. As you know, we’re working on a lot of enhancements to our gameplay and the player experience. The first and most important change has already been implemented: the battle screen is gone. While we know some people enjoyed it, most feedback toward it was negative, and it ended up being noisy more often than not – so we replaced it with the signature map images we use as backgrounds through most of our game.
But this is a placeholder, because we plan to redo a lot of the UI in a more elegant fashion. That’s what our preview is. These are the WIP screens for the main menu and the store, which are being restructured to be more organized and just generally more polished.
As with our current version, the folders will pull out. Headlines will be news posts, changelogs, things of that nature and will open in your browser, while the quests (which are not changing from live – this is just a placeholder) will display on the left side.
Some elements of these may change before the final release, but we thought you guys would appreciate having an update. We’ll also be updating some major elements of the 3D game to improve clarity, and you should be seeing a patch on that soon.
Hope everyone likes the new design!
Behind the Scenes: Meet Silanja
Hello, players! We’ve got another installment of Meet the Dev for you. This time? Silanja! We asked her some questions, got her answers, and put it all together for you. Enjoy!
What is your official title and what does it mean for the game?
I am lead stick shaker. My job is to chase people with sticks. No, officially the title is ‘Project Manager’ which actually encompasses a lot of things; I play a heavy role in the management and organization of the game’s direction as well as design influence. But mostly my job is to chase people with sticks.
Pick one of your snakes, provide a picture, and tell us why you picked them / what you like about snakes.
Pick ONE?!?!!?! Okay.
This is Koi. He’s a “black-eyed leucistic” ball python (also known as a Super Fire). His name comes from the yellowy pattern on his back. I picked him for this, because he was my Christmas present from Onyxandria and is one of my favorite morphs altogether. Also because he’s really pretty.
It’s too long for me to even begin to explain what I like about snakes, but the shortest version is that they’re beautiful, they’re interesting, and they’re really low-maintenance animals. They make good companions.
You’ve been a strong advocate for the game from the beginning. Why?
Because I love the game. I honestly, truly believe that Face Off does something different than most games of its genre; it’s different and has a lot of potential for growth. Getting to see the development on this side of the fence, I can see where we’ve improved massively from the game we were when we first started. I think most people will agree –
You know a lot of the things that are planned for Mow: Fo, the secret inner workings of the machine, so which would you say you’re most interested in? Do you think the players will agree?
Probably the new game boards. It’s no secret that, being a stereotypical girl, I like my environments pretty. I don’t think our game board is appealing at all and I can’t wait for new ones. I don’t see anyone disagreeing with me on those being an improvement, either :P
Where did Silanja come from?
I play World of Warcraft. My Death Knight’s name is Silanja. It’s pronounced ‘Sil-ahn-yah.’ I liked the way it looked and it’s never in use, so it’s my go-to title when I’m signing up for something new.
If you could have any super power which would you pick?
Probability alteration. Chance of winning the lottery? Suddenly 100%. Chance of finding a tyrannosaurus rex skeleton in my yard? 100%. It’s only logical!
Which upcoming faction are you most interested in seeing? What new ability would you like to see them with?
I have always been an Empire fan. Even in March of War classic, I played Empire. So, like Spoon (Hi), I was most looking forward to Empire. But from a gameplay perspective, I think Junta will be one of the most interesting additions, so I can’t wait to see our jungle warriors make their debut.
People get bored on Netflix a lot and have trouble picking something new to watch. Why not help them out and suggest a show? Why should they watch it?
I am a bad person to ask this because I don’t watch a lot of TV shows, I like to marathon horrible horror movies because they are my favorite thing in the whole wide world. But if I had to pick a show that is currently on Netflix that I think most people would enjoy, I’d probably have to go with Worst Cooks in America. Food Network is amazing.
With all of your enthusiasm for the game what is the biggest thing you have hopes for? Tell the readers a little about it!
I’m really excited for us to launch on mobile platforms. I personally think the game looks incredible on my iPad and I think players will agree.
Is there anything not asked in this interview that you would like to say to the readers?
I’ve spent the last three days buried in design documents, new user interface elements, cardbacks, art for our next faction, getting asked questions about removing the blue balls (spoiler: we’re doing that), and planning for the next platforms we’re going to launch on. We have some really incredible stuff coming in the next few weeks – and I hope most of you will stop by and keep an eye on the news for what’s coming!
Also: Totally just ate a brownie
Look forward to our next interview! See you on the battlefield!
Changelog, Hotfix, Thursday October 8th (20.2431)
Build #: 20.2431
Fixes
Zeppelin Supply Drop will no longer be able to (pointlessly) target the command centers.
Corrected several problems with Arena's deck builder displaying incorrectly by the cards appearing all at the same time.
Fixed the Progress Bar displays in the profile.
Fixed the wording of the Mechanized Infantry card.
Changes
When you hover on a unit in battle, it will now display that unit's base stats.
Brightened the colors on the Arena stats chart.
Added "Shelter - No damage!" when Shelter's effect is consumed.
Changelog, Hotfix, Wednesday October 7th (20.2363)
Build #: 20.2363
Fixes
Corrected a problem that caused cards to sometimes get ‘stuck’ in battle.
Fixed a problem where the player would sometimes be put in a game where it said player 1, player 2.
Changelog, Monday October 5th (20.2301)
Changelog, Monday October 5th
Enter the Arena 20.2301
New! Welcome to the Arena Our newest gamemode is finally here. Arena introduces a playstyle that allows you to draft a deck from a series of random draws: three cards are offered at one time and you must pick one of the three to move on and continue to build your deck. Arena decks do not obey the same rules as our primary game modes: you can have as many of silver/gold cards in your deck as you want if they happen to come up in your draft. The draft is also not based on the cards you own, but simply all that exist - meaning that even new players can go toe-to-toe against some of our veteran players in this particular game mode.
Arena doesn’t consider Glicko rating when matching up but it does respect our Swiss matchmaking: you won’t be matched to someone you just played. There are no PvP bots in the Arena queue, so while our player base is small, there’s probably going to be some wait time - sorry in advance; that is something we’re working on correcting.
Prizes for Arena vary from tickets to coins to cards and packs. The first entry is free. You can win up to twelve times and you can lose up to three. There are even some Arena-related Achievements you can accomplish. Disclaimer: Arena has no “arena-specific” rewards at this time - but you are guaranteed at least one booster pack regardless of how many games you win or lose. It does, however, have a statistics page associated with it under your profile and all the associated bragging rights.
Achievements Tab - There is now an Achievements tab under your profile for you to track which Achievements you’ve completed and which have yet to be unlocked. There’s also a statistics bar which shows how many you’ve done out of the total. We’ll be adding more as time goes by, too.
Boosts - Boosts are sold under a tab in the store. These are purchased for Coins or Gems, and they increase the amount of XP you gain from all battles - yes, including challenges. This should make the grind toward max level a little easier for those in search of their faction’s Gold card. There is a tab for boosts on the menu page.
Achievements - We’ve added 12 new Achievements for this release, associated with both Empire and with Arena!
Halloween Cardbacks - Three new Halloween cardbacks have been put up for sale. Inspired by March of War’s StormSiege event, these cards are the Titan Ant, the Whipspider and the Zombies (Zombie and Zombie Spider). They’re available for 1500 gems and will be available for a month. Let us know what you think!
Changes
New players now start out with 3000 Coins and 500 Gems.
XP total now shows on level up, instead of just the bar.
The battle background is gone and has been replaced with our usual “map” scene. We’ll be redoing our UI’s frontend soon; we’ll offer previews of that in the coming week.
The store screen now has explanations of what each pack is and offers, as well as explanations on Cardbacks, to remedy confusion.
The algorithm for card drop rarity has been tweaked some, so that rare cards (gold cards in particular) drop a little more often. Please note: they’re still rare for a reason.
Fixes
Alliance Odin Super-heavy Tank overrun damage can no longer be reduced by attack debuffs.
Balance
Republic USMC Assault Recon Gained Advance Deploy, now moves target ally forward 2 tiles instead of 1 on deploy.
For a Gold card, it was underwhelming. Now it can get into the action faster and has a more powerful Assault ability.
Republic 101st ‘Screaming Eagles’ Attack increased to 3 from 2, move cost reduced to 0 from 1 (gained Fast).
Another underwhelming Gold card, which now has more mobility and a bit more punch.
Alliance Storm Troopers Cost reduced to 7 from 8. Gained Advance Deploy.
They generally arrived in the game too late to make a difference given their standard movement, short range and high cost. This cost reduction and Advance Deploy means they can get into the action faster.
Empire Daimyo No longer damages allied units when boosting their damage. Attack boost reduced to 1 from 2.
Dealing damage when boosting allies made the Daimyo hard to use with many of Empire’s units, which often have low health.
Empire Tsuwamono Cost reduced to 8 from 10.
It was too expensive for what it offered.
Empire Imperial Consort Gains health when attacking or using her ability. Damage taken on moving increased to 2 from 1.
This change is partly a result of technical issues with her ability, and also to simplify how she works.
Empire Doomsayer Health increased to 2 from 1.
After her ability health gain was reduced to +1, she became a little too fragile.
Republic Advance Warning Can now target allies as well as enemies. When targeting an ally, give +1 Attack for one turn instead of removing all attack bonuses.
Alliance Sonic Destabilization Now restores the Attack values of targets to their initial values instead of only removing buffs. This means you can both use it to remove Attack from buffed enemies, or clear Attack debuffs from your own units (or even both at the same time if your units are in the right positions).
These utility cards were too specific, and since you didn’t draw another card after use they could just end up taking up space if there were no worthwhile targets. Now that you can buff or restore your own units with them, they should be much more potentially useful.
Alliance Half-track Gained Overrun ability: Adjacent enemies suffer -1 Attack for one turn.
These units gained abilities to give them a bit of a boost.
Full Disintegration
Empire Daimyo
Empire Imperial Consort
Spotlight Preview: Upcoming Gameboards
We’ve been working heavily on the Arena patch - which, full disclosure, we planned to release this week. Through a bizarre quirk of fate, we ran into a few problems that prevented that release - but you should already be feeling the effect of some of the fixes. One of those problems was server-side and resulted in major lag that was the source of some of the PvP freezes people experienced. How much of an effect it will have, we’re not sure; we’re still investigating other causes. We do know many are fixed.
Still, since we promised Arena soon and had to delay it because of bugs, we wanted to give you guys a snippet of what else we’re working on.
Everyone loves previews.
One of the biggest requests players have had is different boards. This varies from “make it look different” to gameplay changes per map. The second part is obviously pretty hard to implement on the short term, but making the gameboard look different on the whole? Well, that’s something we can do relatively quickly. The trick is making sure those boards fit the theme and the mood of Face Off.
For our spotlight preview today, I’m going to show you some of the WIP map improvements. Keep in mind that these are still very much ‘work in progress’ but already you can see an improvement from the one we currently have.
Like ‘em? Hate ‘em? Want to see something different? Comment on this news post for input and once we have some finished drafts, we’ll shoot ‘em your way.
Thanks guys!
Behind the Scenes: Meet Majik
Hello, players! We’ve got another installment of Meet the Dev for you. Today we’re taking a look at Majik! You might have played against him or talked to him. He wanders into the chat sometimes like most of the devs. More often than some of the anti-social ones. I assure you they’re just anti-social. It’s not like we have them chained to their desks in the basement working on bugs or anything. That’d be crazy!
The long awaited update came out, plus a server side update, and we’re hoping that it helped a lot of the issues that you all had been experiencing. Also, the United Republic Crest cardback is available in the store if you wanted to go take a look at it. The Oktoberfest card is there as well and both of them are only on the shelf for a limited time. Without further ado, Majik!
Describe your job on the team for us, please, so we can have a better idea what you do!
My job is breaking things so they cannot be broken during the live version of the game. One of the latest things I happened to break were cards in the game which was interesting, fun to see, and fun to do. You can see an example here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeUMao9EE7E This is not fixed up yet but is in the process of being fixed by the correct people in the team. Other things that I do are sorting out the many bug reports you guys send in (thanks for them) and make sure they get to the correct people to fix up. Remember sending those reports does help us :). You also see me in chat helping out with questions here and there and playing some matches! You can call me a ninja as I will be in one spot and poof gone to another hence the name Majik :)
Is it legal in the country of Canada for a man to marry his widow’s sister?
Interesting question, I do not know the answer to this. Never been in this situation or heard of anyone in one, though I do believe it is legal if they are widowed as they can move on and re-marry. Marriage is a strange thing and in the end it is just paper to me.
This was a riddle and the answer is no. In order for his wife to be a widow he would be dead!
Has there been a nerf or card change in the past that you disagreed with? Do you have a better solution?
Not per say disagreed with but during the time I was away on vacation, before being part of the team, I was used to AT Ambush Team of Republic being advance deploy and charge. These abilities made them nice for early game. I came back, played a PVP, and lost not knowing of the change (it’s important to read changelogs). :D A better solution would have been to take charge off. He was more suited and better for advanced operations.
Do you think someone will hit 12 wins without 3 losses on their Arena card the first day it comes out, whatever day that is, or do you think it will take a couple of days?
I do think getting 12 wins without losing 3 will take some good dedication and thought. I think the 1st person to do so will be a week after it is released. IF someone does somehow get those 12 wins in the first two days they are sure lucky and deserve the good prize coming to them and we will have to trap them and interrogate them on their deck ideas. Joking, but I would enjoy talking to them about how, what choices they made, and why they made such choices.
MOW: FO is a spin-off game from a parent game called March of War. Some of our players don’t know too much about MOW, though, but I’ve heard at one time you were a faction leader. Would you care to tell us a little about both?
Warhammer 40K meets WW II with more than a little of Command & Conquer: Red Alert tossed in for good measure along with some Risk. It is F2P, just like this one, but it is a turn-based strategy MMO with co-op. It has 6 factions Alliance, Republic, Empire, Warlords, Union and Junta each with different skill sets for units. To better know the back story on each faction you could check out the wiki.
This hopefully helps give some backstory on the faction you play in Face Off. Now onto Faction Leader. I became faction leader of the Latin Junta which is South America and Central America area. At the time the current leader was very busy with personal real life things and all the other factions were invading. No one was trying to defend or help so I rose up and gave orders and ended up kicking each faction out (all 5) with good commanders. In that time I gained respect from the other leaders in game and got voted faction leader. I served as faction leader for the good part of a year due to how well I did my job. Here are some videos of those times on my channel if you want to take a look!
My favorite bug in the game is ninja bugs. I call them this because they are very sneaky and like to hide and are not always wanting to happen at all. You’ve got to make them come out. These are the most fun to find and take care of as usually it solves many other chains of bugs.
How did you come to be a part of the team?
I knew a few of the team members through being a beta tester on the other March of War for a good amount of time as well as early access on March of War: Face Off. I was noticed for my long hours of dedication to find and kill bugs. I also did find a few exploits / major bugs that got fixed and saved them from going to live. I was/am giving good ideas to help improve both games and for making the community better for players.
Ignoring your ranking in the game, because you spend a lot of time on the testing servers, what rank would you say that your skill level should be?
Good question. To be very honest the league of gold, silver, etc. to me doesn’t matter. I'm an old school gamer that likes to play relaxed, enjoy games, and have fun with it. I could lose 30 games and still play because it’s fun. Skill level wise that varies as well as there are soo many combinations of faction vs faction deck builds. A person who is near the top now might be good with a certain deck build but once another person finds a better one, or one to counter it, they will more than likely not stay at the top. That is the fun thing with card games thinking, exploring the cards, and seeing what works good together.
In a continuing tradition I’d like you to tell us a little bit about what aspect of the game that’s still unreleased you’re most looking forward to?
I’m most looking forward to two things and both are factions from the other March of War. Those are, of course, Junta and Warlords as they were to me the most fun factions in MOW. I can’t wait to see how they play out here and have everyone enjoy some beautiful Amazonian women or crazy warlords with beasts. :P
What is your favorite game?
Hard to pick just ONE fav game so I’ll name the top 3 that I’ve had the best times with over the years.
1 - Final Fantasy Tactics - enjoyed this game’s strategy. I still play it and got nicknamed Mewt from the main character.
2 - ARK - this game has improved a lot and it’s very fun to tame dinos/prehistoric creatures while surviving and building a settlement. It’s not fully released yet but this will beat up Minecraft in competition. :P
3 - Pokémon - I have played a lot of Pokémon over the years and I have a huge collection of cards in books. Who can’t enjoy a smiling Pikachu looking at you or one of those cute animated creatures?
Thank you for joining us and I hope you enjoyed the questions. Arena is coming out likely at the end of this month. I know we’ve talked about it a lot but I’m hoping everyone is just as excited as we are. Have a good weekend guys! See you on the battlefield!
Changelog, Hotfix, Thursday September 24th (19.1876)
We released a new build earlier, server-side so all you need to do is restart your client; there’s no new version. It’s relatively minor but –
Fixes
Some PvP hangs are now corrected. Others still exist, but this should solve a couple of them.
Beginning a battle with a PvP Bot will now end existing PvE games.
The Republic Crest cardback is also for sale for a week – get it while it’s hot! (Uh… no pun intended…)
