Important NSL Balance Merge to vanilla

Season 9

Season 9 is paused until further notice. As of this posting (May 6th, 2016), comp mod and NSL mod do not operate properly with vanilla NS2. Dragon is busy at the moment and unable to resolve the issues the mods have with the base game. There are also more changes coming next week (pending) that will further cause compatability issues. Therefore, even if the immediate issues are resolved, they are only going to happen again next week and the week after. UWE/PDT is going to continue to make changes like these, and we don't have the resources to keep up with it and maintain comp-mod. 

Any matches that are scheduled can still be played if both teams agree beforehand and understand that the game may be imbalanced or buggy. 

The admins are going to see what happens in the short term with comp-mod and vanilla NS2, and we will determine what will ultimately happen with season 9. Options include:

1. Season 9 resuming after balance changes settle. This is only realistic if the balance changes by PDT/UWE settle soon, and there are no game-breaking issues.
2. Mod owners are able to resolve compatibility issues for the remainder of the season, and are willing to revert broken balance changes in vanilla until the season is able to conclude. 
3. Season 9 resumes without comp-mod. Teams are expected to adjust to the new balance, and play within the rules with the new changes. 
4. Season 9 is terminated without completion.

A final decision will be provided on the status of season 9 by no later than May 15th (CEST).

Regarding Season-9 NS2 release branch

Using this will be very difficult to do and coordinate. As such, we have decided that it is not a realistic option. Reasons:

1. Coordinating 150 players to switch to a separate branch of NS2 is annoying and painful for each person to do. Some people will refuse to do this, and might force match forfeits as a result. Some may have technical difficulties. 
2. Coordinating modders to have versions of their mod that is compatible with our branch is going to be difficult. We would have to get versions of comp-mod, nsl mod, and ns2+ working at the minimum. 
3. Coordinating server operators to switch to use the right branch of NS2 and the right branch of mods will be a logistical nightmare. Any technical difficulties are going to take a lot of time to resolve, and we're all volunteers here. 

Visions for Comp-Mod

Over the next few months, UWE and PDT are going to be changing balance and a relatively large scale that will directly conflict with the comp-mod. Some comp-mod changes are going to need to be phased out as a result. 

The NSL has become very dependent on our modders, and this puts us in a bad place when modders choose to stop working on their projects. As a result, it's logical that the NSL try to move away from it's dependence on modders. This will be a slow process, obviously. 

For the short term, the NSL is going to stop looking at new features or changes to comp-mod. If we manage to get support on development of comp-mod, the NSL is also going to start looking at features of comp mod that will likely never make it into vanilla, and remove them (phase them out). Certain changes in comp-mod that are fundamental to balance of NS2 will be pressed to UWE and PDT to implement or address in vanilla. PDT and UWE have already committed to working with us on certain issues that can be shown to be game-breaking. The end-goal being the complete phasing out of comp-mod. 

Balance Changes in NS2

There are a large series of balance changes coming to NS2. Most of them are going to completely shake up how NS2 is fundamentally played. PDT and UWE have reached out to the NSL with these changes, and we are included on the discussion. It is apparent that these changes are going to conflict majorly with the comp-mod. We cannot stop this from happening, but we can be a part of the shaping of the future on NS2. We encourage constructive discussion and feedback of ideas and issues, and we will be soon looking for a select few volunteers to participate directly in those discussions. These volunteers will have direct channels of communication with the developers about balance issues. Further details will come.