http://www.pcgamer.com/street-fighter-v-is-going-free-for-a-week-to-test-season-two-and-cfn-changes/

SFV will be free to play on PC from March 28 to April 3. All DLC characters will be unlocked throughout the testing period.

Capcom is bringing a number of new features and enhancements to the "Capcom Fighters Network online experience" for Street Fighter V, including improvements to matchmaking, faster loading times, more updates to the rage quit penalty system, and better friend management options. To show them off, it's also offering a free week of online play, running from 1 pm ET on March 28 until 12 pm PT on April 3, with all fighters unlocked including the newcomer Kolin.

The free week is actually an open beta intended to test the CFN updates, and also the balance changes made for the upcoming Street Fighter V season two. "We understand that Street Fighter V’s server performance has been a less than optimal experience for many of our players. The improved CFN experience is the result of rebuilding it from the ground up to address the most pressing issues that will ultimately result in a better online experience," Capcom wrote on Steam. "That said, we want to collect feedback and ensure everything is optimized for launch. We will be giving PC players a sneak peek of what’s to come while putting the new CFN through its paces with an official PC Beta Test."

Once the beta is wrapped up, "Capcom will make further adjustments to optimize the new CFN and it will make its official release to both PS4 and PC players soon after," the studio said. The freebie is limited to Steam players (is there anyone who doesn't play it on Steam?) and online modes only, but otherwise it's completely unlocked and free to play as you like. A full (and very long) breakdown of the season two balance update is available at capcom-unity.com, and you can get a look at the coming CFN changes below.

- Matchmaking Improvements: For most players, it will take less time to find an opponent in online matches.

- Matchmaking logic will help players avoid being frequently matched with the same opponent.

- Ranked and Casual Match Loading Times: There will be a shorter transition when going into a Ranked or Casual match.

- Interactive Timeline: On the new CFN home menu, a live feed of Friends’ activities will be presented on an interactive Timeline. Using the Timeline, players can immediately add a recent match to their Replay List, view a Fighter Profile, manage Friends, and adjust Timeline display settings.

- Friend Management System: In addition to adding someone to Favorites, players can now blacklist players or add friends and follow them on CFN.

- “Rage Quit” Penalty System: Special “rage quit” player profile icons will appear on profiles with frequent disconnections. Matchmaking logic will take into account online behavior and frequent disconnectors will be matched with similar opponents.

- Training Mode – User Settings Saved: Training Mode settings will be saved and will carry over to the next time the mode is accessed.

- Battle Lounge Country Flags: Country flags will appear in Battle Lounges, allowing players to locate competition in their region.

- Country / League Based Rankings: Players will be able to filter leaderboards based on Country or League.

- In-Game Announcer Voice: The in-game announcer will provide players and opponents with stats using data pulled from the server.

- Fighter Profile Stats: More detailed stats will be tracked and presented on Fighter Profiles.

A big step in the right direction, if you ask me.

I found a copy for $20, so I went ahead and bought it + Season 1. Playing through right now, tied between Karin and Ibuki for my favorite fighter.

I found a copy for $20, so I went ahead and bought it + Season 1. Playing through right now, tied between Karin and Ibuki for my favorite fighter.

hype

Never played Karin before, 'cause I'm unlocking characters the hard, slow, yet financially non-committal way. She does look fun.

Nooo, my b, I got her mixed up with Kolin. Karin is available at the start. She's pretty tricky.

The art for the character stories looks downright lazy btw, but that's probably an old complaint all things considered. Laura looks nothing like herself, and they managed to fuck up Ryu's jaw line.

Quote from: Aria on August 04, 2017, 03:04:16 PM

The art for the character stories looks downright lazy btw, but that's probably an old complaint all things considered. Laura looks nothing like herself, and they managed to fuck up Ryu's jaw line.

Yeahhhhh, it's really not great at all. The NPCs don't even put up a fight—it's kind of a joke.

Have you done the actual story mode, A Shadow Falls? Beating it on both difficulties nets you a lot of FM.

For the love of GOD, though—don't do anything that awards you FM if you're not connected to PSN. You won't get it.

Not yet, I'm doing the character stories to acquaint myself with everyone.

A bit disappointed that Ibuki's Necksnapper isn't in the game. Well, in the game by technicality, but not as an actual move.

Not yet, I'm doing the character stories to acquaint myself with everyone.

A bit disappointed that Ibuki's Necksnapper isn't in the game. Well, in the game by technicality, but not as an actual move.

I miss her tsumuji (spin kick), too, but she's actually one of the stronger characters right now, albeit one of the more technical ones. Wasn't like that before. And she's still quite flashy.

Karin has always been strong, but I could never play her well because my fingers just don't agree with her motions.

I still play Balrog, who (unfortunately) is the best character in the game right now. He's kind of OP.

I wish you could buy nostalgia alts with FM. I don't really want to shell out $12 for the Juri, Alex, and Ibuki outfits.

I wish you could buy nostalgia alts with FM. I don't really want to shell out $12 for the Juri, Alex, and Ibuki outfits.

Akuma, too.

It sucks, a lot, but I actually prefer this method to how SF4 did it. Back then, you paid a lot of money for a whole bunch of costumes at once, even if there's only one costume that you're interested in. SFV has more of an à la carte system, where you're not paying extra for stuff that you won't ever use.

But yeah, honestly, all the DLC should be obtainable with FM. That's how I thought it was going to work from the beginning.

Just got Kolin. I love her LMH pokes.

If I had to guess, she's the character I assumed you would like the most.

That or Mika, because that's just my luck.

Overall the artstyle is an improvement over IV, but some characters just look odd (like Kolin's face in story mode).

Quote from: Aria on August 04, 2017, 03:54:32 PM

Overall the artstyle is an improvement over IV, but some characters just look odd (like Kolin's face in story mode).

Kolin's face was actually altered from her original model.



It was an improvement, imo, but it may have created some awkward inconsistencies.

She's not the only character to get a facelift, either—I don't know why they couldn't have gotten it right the first time.

Everything about the original release screamed "rushed", so they probably did a hackjob on secondary characters (since she didn't have a fighting role yet), so they likely just used the time after the game went gold to finish her character model.

>Nash - Bison fight


REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Quote from: Aria on August 04, 2017, 10:17:19 PM

>Nash - Bison fight


REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

I love how it's just the only fight in story mode that's even remotely challenging

Spoiler

hard mode fixes that problem real good

I tried to cheese him to death with sonics, but the match ran out of time. I had to get off because my wrist was cramping too hard.

>super

sorry, "critical art"

Quote from: Verbatim on August 04, 2017, 10:50:50 PM

>super

sorry, "critical art"

I don't understand why they changed the name, super is more easily recognizable

cripcam