Are The Rainbow Six Changes Actually Good For Esports?

Ping 2.0, reinforcement pools, weapon sights, the Hard Breach Charges… Ubisoft have certainly thrown a lot of stuff at us with Operation Shadow Legacy. We have taken a look at the changes and try to measure the impact they’ll have on the competitive scene.

THE HARD BREACH GADGET

Between Thermite, Hibana, Maverick (and recently Ace), the attackers have only had limited possibilities when it came to opening reinforced walls and making their way to the bomb spots. This has now changed, as eight operators have been given a hard breach charge as a secondary gadget. This piece of equipment works like a mini version of Thermite’s Exothermic Charge. But instead of a human-sized opening, it only leaves a small hole, which one has to either crouch or vault through. So this charge isn’t really meant to serve as a direct entrance to a bomb spot, because players can’t really defend themselves upon crouching or vaulting.

Still, this item now has an important place in the attackers’ arsenal. In many situations, players just need a sightline or an opening to chuck nades and equipment through. Overall, this charge won’t replace a Thermite or Hibana in the long run. But still, the offense is now less reliant on picking so many hard-breachers and can make place for other useful operators in their compositions.

PING 2.0

While pinging, this feature conveys more information than just the tiny yellow marking that we know. Upon pinging a certain gadget, a specific and unique symbol will be shown to you and your teammates. For new and inexperienced players, this is a fantastically useful feature. They can now give much more accurate information to their colleagues without knowing each and every gadget or spot by name.

But the community is divided on this new addition. For pro players, like Niclas “Pengu” Mouritzen, it’s a feature that deemphasizes communication too much. In their opinion, talking to one’s team is an important and critical aspect of the game, and shouldn’t be substituted this much by the click of a single button. This way, young players learn even less how to work in a team environment.

REINFORCEMENT POOLS

When it comes to the wall reinforcements, virtually all players are on board – so Ubisoft have certainly done everything right with this addition. Until now, each defense player had two reinforcements to spend on either a hatch or a wall segment. But now, instead of two per player, there are ten per team. This means that some players can now stay on spot, while the roamers set up outside. Before, operators like Kapkan or Frost had to quickly do the reinforcements, so that they still had enough time to set up their traps. If they didn’t do this, the team missed out on some crucial reinforced walls or hatches. Now, these operators can roam freely from the first second on, while the work on spot can be left to the likes of Mute or Bandit.

NEW SIGHT OPTIONS

For ACOG players, a lot has changed. Ubisoft have taken all the sights with 3.5x magnification out of the game. The likes of Thermite and Doc are now restricted to a maximum of 2.5x. Ubisoft have also added new 1.5x and 2.5x options, but the community is split on this new addition as well. While players generally like the decrease in magnification for Thermite, Thatcher, Doc, Rook, and so on, they often dislike the look of the sights themselves.

 

FUTURE UPDATES

Even though we have just received a fresh batch of changes to the game, there is more stuff on the horizon already. The replay system is being heavily tested right now. Competitive players are surely excited about this feature, after all they’ll be getting a tool similar to what CS:GO and League of Legends pros already have. They won’t have to watch VODs anymore, with the casters’ voices and the single perspective. In a replay, they’ll be able to see everything from every angle.

The reinforced top hatches are also on Ubisoft’s to-do list. If this proposal gets through, then all roof hatches will be reinforced automatically. At the moment, the developers are trialling this feature on the testing servers to see how it plays out. After all, this will once again put additional focus on hard breach operators.

WHAT DOES THE ESPORTS COMMUNITY WANT?

For the competitive players, there is still a lot left to do. Many say that Ping 2.0 should be removed entirely. They’ll probably settle for this feature eventually, as it doesn’t really harm them. But there is a much bigger problem within Rainbow Six: Siege, which Ubisoft haven’t adressed so far – that of sound issues.

Players regularly complain about being unable to accurately locate steps and sounds within the virtual space. Games like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive have proven that this is possible to achieve, even with just stereo headsets. Sometimes, certain sound cues are not broadcast at all, which can be fatal when a player is being backstabbed, for instance. Or what if a player has to clutch and needs to decide on which angle to hold? If they then get a false sound cue (or none at all), this could severely disrupt their ability to come out on top. These bugs can potentially hit all players and do so on a regular basis. Accordingly, it is the pro players’ highest priority to get Ubisoft to deal with the sound issues.

The changes have already had lots of consequences for Rainbow Six: Siege. Some gameplay aspects have been changed entirely – and even more is yet to come. Overall, Ubisoft have gotten a positive response to their recent updates. The game is moving in a good direction and remains engaging for both casuals and professionals.