Rainbow Six Siege players are delighted to hear that the development team will not be pushing updates related to Smoke into the live version of the game.
These specific changes, which are currently on the test servers, change what the developer’s refer to as a “hidden passive” on the operator Smoke. The passive in question gives the gas-mask-wearing operator an immunity to poison gases in-game. The proposed change would have removed this immunity, making Smoke vulnerable to gasses just like all of the other operators.
This so-called hidden passive is one of many that the Rainbow Six team has been focused on removing in the previous few seasons. These mechanics, which aren’t directly listed in the description of an Operator and their abilities, are often lore-based mechanics that are added to give the character a bit of personality, not necessarily with the health of the game in mind. The Rainbow Six team’s attitude on these hidden passives lately is that they have a negative impact on the health of the meta, and that flavor mechanics probably shouldn’t exist.
The decision to make an exception for Smoke’s lore mechanics comes from heavy feedback from the community. In their Twitter post, the Rainbow Six development team says “Your passionate feedback has shown that his toxic gas immunity is important, both narratively and mechanically, to his character and to the wider community. For that reason, this change will not make it to the live servers.”
This sets an example for the development team to pay attention to the community, and make decisions based on feedback from the game’s dedicated player base. This is a fantastic precedent to set, and one that the community has overwhelmingly shown their appreciation to the development team for.
The Tweet also ends by stating that they will be looking into the community’s concerns about LMGs, further showing the team’s appreciation for community feedback.
Comments