HMW Mission Ghosts: What we've observed so far
Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2021 12:56 pmPer request I'm writing down everything we've (the FB HMW Chat) figured out about the so called Mission Ghosts that have been showing up all day.
Around 17 hours ago something happened that cause a partial mission log reset.
As best as we can tell the log counter reset but the actual logs were not deleted.
After that every time the system generated a new mission it imports the lists of characters from the old mission log to be in the new mission.
These Ghosts are not visible from the main mission select page but clicking on a mission will reveal that there are more than just the characters that have deployed since it was (re?)generated.
The counters in the corners of the faction side columns remain accurate in that they show how many characters of each faction have actually deployed into the mission and do not count the Ghosts.
Before the missions start the Ghosts show the characters current level. Once the mission starts the ghost will show the level that the character had at the time that the old log was created. Despite this the Ghost still acts as though it has it's current level setup, weapons and , presumably, armor.
As new characters join missions the Ghosts do not seem to be replaced so it is at times possible to have more Characters in a mission than should be allowed. It is unknown as yet if the system would treat the extra Ghosts as SL'd or not. More observation required.
Any ghost whose level (old level) is outside the bounds of the current missions level restrictions is disregarded by the system and treated as if it is SL'd from the beginning of the match.
Any remain Ghosts will interact with the current players (and each other at times).
Because the Ghosts levels revert to their older state they almost always will be a lower level than their current setup. This means that when a current player damages/repairs the ghost they recieve XP/Energon rewards equal to that lower level. The Ghost however will deal & absorb damage equal to their newer(most likely stronger) set up.
This means the current players are doing a lot of work for little reward.
This would certainly be a bad thing if it weren't for the fact that they could be earning nothing at all given how few people are playing these days.
The Ghosts earn no XP or Energon despite what the logs show.
So far it seems that if a player has a Ghost in a mission then the system will not allow them to see/join that mission with the exception of players that have switched factions. In that case the system seems to switch them back to the old faction for that mission (more observations need to be done here for a further and more accurate understanding of this situation)
-addition #1
It seems likely that the ghosts are starting the new missions with the hitpoints that they ended the old missions with. This would account for many doing nothing, repairs done before Ghosts take damage, & easily SL'd Ghosts.
I will add to and edit this as we learn more.
Around 17 hours ago something happened that cause a partial mission log reset.
As best as we can tell the log counter reset but the actual logs were not deleted.
After that every time the system generated a new mission it imports the lists of characters from the old mission log to be in the new mission.
These Ghosts are not visible from the main mission select page but clicking on a mission will reveal that there are more than just the characters that have deployed since it was (re?)generated.
The counters in the corners of the faction side columns remain accurate in that they show how many characters of each faction have actually deployed into the mission and do not count the Ghosts.
Before the missions start the Ghosts show the characters current level. Once the mission starts the ghost will show the level that the character had at the time that the old log was created. Despite this the Ghost still acts as though it has it's current level setup, weapons and , presumably, armor.
As new characters join missions the Ghosts do not seem to be replaced so it is at times possible to have more Characters in a mission than should be allowed. It is unknown as yet if the system would treat the extra Ghosts as SL'd or not. More observation required.
Any ghost whose level (old level) is outside the bounds of the current missions level restrictions is disregarded by the system and treated as if it is SL'd from the beginning of the match.
Any remain Ghosts will interact with the current players (and each other at times).
Because the Ghosts levels revert to their older state they almost always will be a lower level than their current setup. This means that when a current player damages/repairs the ghost they recieve XP/Energon rewards equal to that lower level. The Ghost however will deal & absorb damage equal to their newer(most likely stronger) set up.
This means the current players are doing a lot of work for little reward.
This would certainly be a bad thing if it weren't for the fact that they could be earning nothing at all given how few people are playing these days.
The Ghosts earn no XP or Energon despite what the logs show.
So far it seems that if a player has a Ghost in a mission then the system will not allow them to see/join that mission with the exception of players that have switched factions. In that case the system seems to switch them back to the old faction for that mission (more observations need to be done here for a further and more accurate understanding of this situation)
-addition #1
It seems likely that the ghosts are starting the new missions with the hitpoints that they ended the old missions with. This would account for many doing nothing, repairs done before Ghosts take damage, & easily SL'd Ghosts.
I will add to and edit this as we learn more.
