As we prepare for patch 2.1.2 and the Season rollover, we wanted to share some important information regarding the timing of these two milestones.
Patch 2.1.2 And Season 1:With respect to Seasons, our goal is to avoid implementing major balance changes towards the end of a Season. Ideally, patches and significant hotfixes will occur between Seasons or early enough in the Season that players have ample time to adjust to the new environment.
However, we discovered some technical risks in executing a simultaneous launch of patch 2.1.2 and the upcoming Season rollover, and it’s clear that trying to do both in tandem or close proximity would jeopardize both processes. This left us with two options:
A) We launch patch 2.1.2 after the Season rollover. In this scenario, Seasonal players wouldn’t have access to any new 2.1.2 items including updated Set items, updated Legendary items, and the new Seasonal items for at least a couple of weeks after the Season went live.
B) We could launch patch 2.1.2 before the Season rollover. In this scenario, this would impact Seasonal Leaderboard progression.
Not giving Seasonal players access to new items right away in Season 2 would take a lot of the excitement out of the start of that new Season. With this, we believe that by giving players a few weeks to adjust to patch 2.1.2 changes, and by allowing them to test existing changes on the PTR, the impact on the existing Leaderboards can be minimized.
After weighing both options carefully, we have decided to launch patch 2.1.2 three weeks prior to the Season rollover. This should provide players enough time to adjust to the patch changes before the Season ends as well as ensure that Season 1 is not prolonged further for those looking forward to Season 2.
Future Season Rollovers:Season 1 has been a great learning experience for us and we aim to provide a smoother transition at the end of Season 2. In fact, our intent for future Seasons is to have the current Season end, the corresponding patch deployed, and then the following Season start—in that order. While we will not be able to do that for this inaugural Season rollover, this will be our plan for all rollovers moving forward.
For more information about the upcoming Season rollover,
click here. To get a sneak-peek at upcoming patch 2.1.2 changes,
click here.
Thank you for your patience and support. We hope to see you in Sanctuary and Season 2!