Hey SpeedStars, Season 8 of [i]Disney Speedstorm[/i], inspired by Disney and Pixar’s Inside Out is approaching fast and we hope you are as excited as we are! In today’s Community Pit Stop we are going to share details on a highly requested new game mode that will see you teaming up with friends to compete. We will also break down some very important changes and improvements coming to Ranked Races in Season 8. [h2]TEAM MODE[/h2] Your eyes are not playing tricks on you, that’s right, a team vs. team mode is finally coming to [i]Disney Speedstorm[/i]. Team Mode is an exciting and social new way to experience the thrills of [i]Disney Speedstorm[/i] that will see 2 teams of 3 players competing against each other out on the racetrack. Team Mode is an additional competitive mode in [i]Disney Speedstorm[/i] and as a result, you will now be able to select Solo Mode or Team Mode from the Main Menu when queuing for a Ranked Race. [h3]REWARDS AND PROGRESSION[/h3] One of the best features of Team Mode is that you can earn rewards and progression for both your individual Racers and the brand-new Player Rank system, but more on the new Player Rank system later in the article! Team Mode races grant slightly less progression than Solo Mode Ranked Races, however, the MPR points lost in a Team Mode Ranked Race are also less than in a Solo Mode Ranked Race. Team Mode is not only a great new way to play competitive [i]Disney Speedstorm[/i], it’s also a great new way to progress in the game for players who find Solo Mode challenging. Teamwork makes the dream work! [h3]MATCHMAKING AND PARTIES[/h3] When queuing in Team Mode, players can queue alone or with 1-2 other players. Players who queue alone (solo) will be automatically paired with 2 other players. There are also no restrictions on the Racers that can make up a player’s team in Team Mode. [h3]RACE ACTION PHASE[/h3] During the action phase of Team Mode races, there are a number of important differences to know about when it comes to gameplay mechanics. [h3]COMMON AND UNIQUE SKILLS[/h3] The effects of both Common and Unique Skills will only affect the relevant team. For example, the charged activation of Racer Anna’s Unique Skill “Love Thaw” will only grant invulnerability and Manual Boost to Racers on her team and will not affect Racers on the rival team. Consequently, using the charged activation of the Common Skill “Fire” will only stun Racers on the rival team who are within the Area of Effect (AOE) and will not stun Racers on your own team. A key strategy is to build the perfect team of Racers, with complementary Unique and Common Skills. Some Racers can shine even more in Team Mode so make sure you try as many combinations as you can! [h3]DASHING IN TEAM MODE[/h3] Successfully dashing Racers on the rival team in Team Mode works exactly how it does in Solo Mode. For example, Brawlers stun rival Racers when dashing and Tricksters receive a random Level 1 Common skill from their loadout. Successfully dashing Racers on your own team in Team Mode is where the fun really begins! Dashing Racers on your own team will not stun or apply a knock back effect, but you can both benefit from the different Racer Class dash bonuses. [list] [*]When a Defender Class Racer dashes a teammate, both players will receive a Shield. [*]When a Speedster Class Racer dashes a teammate, both players will receive a speed boost. [*]When a Brawler Class Racer dashes a teammate, both players will receive Manual Boost. [*]When a Trickster Class Racer dashes a Trickster Class teammate, both players will receive a random Level 1 Common Skill from their respective loadouts. [*]When a Trickster Class Racer dashes a non-Trickster Class teammate, the teammate will receive one of the following Level 1 Common Skills: Boost, Rush, Shield, Shot. The Trickster Class Racer will receive a random Level 1 Common Skill from their loadout. [/list] [h3]VICTORY CALCULATION[/h3] In Team Mode, each individual player is awarded a score based on their finishing position in the race. The team with the highest cumulative score will win the Race. This means that you should compete until the very end of the race as every place counts! That’s a wrap on the exciting new way to play Team Mode in Disney Speedstorm. We cannot wait to see all of the incredible teamplays and strategies the community comes up with! We’re not finished however, as we have a lot of information to share on changes and improvements coming to the Ranked Race game mode in general. [h2]RANKED RACE IMPROVEMENTS[/h2] We have been hard at work making improvements to Ranked Races to make competitive Disney Speedstorm a more rewarding and fulfilling experience for all types of players, while tackling some of the most common points of frustration with the game mode.  We will break down all of the changes and improvements coming to the Ranked Race game mode in Season 8 below: [h3]NEW RANKED RACE PROGRESSION SYSTEM: PLAYER RANK[/h3] The community gave feedback that they would like for there to be more incentives to take part in Ranked Races outside of earning rewards for individual Racers. To address this, we are introducing a brand-new progression and reward system to Ranked Races that adds incentives, outside of the rewards attached to the individual Racers themselves. [b]Player Rank[/b] is a new progression and reward system that is coming to the Ranked Race game mode in Season 8. This new system is in addition to the existing individual Racer reward and progression paths which will continue as normal in Season 8. Players can earn [b]Player Rank Points[/b] by progressing through Ranked Race leagues with all of their Racers. At various Player Rank milestones, players will unlock rewards including Racer Unlocks, Racer Shards Crew Shards, Upgrade Coins, Reward Capsules, Customization items and more! Racer Steamboat Mickey will now be exclusively unlockable via Player Rank progression. At the start of Season 8, your Player Rank will be calculated based on the sum of the current MPR Points Score of each of your Racers. You will be able to claim the rewards associated with the Player Rank milestones you have reached at this point.  The rewards in the new Player Rank progression system will include nearly all the rewards previously granted by the Collection Level progression system. Some customization items will be reallocated to other areas of the game such as the Multiplayer Boxes. Tokens and some Racer Shard rewards will also be granted through Reward Capsules. We want to emphasize that rewards are not being removed from the game and , existing players still have the opportunity to earn these Collection Level rewards again via Player Rank. Players are still able to progress their Collection Level by upgrading and unlocking content in-game, there will just not be any rewards directly associated with it. This new system places renewed focus on the Ranked Races game mode for all players. In addition to the new Team Mode that allows you to progress in Ranked Races more easily with other players, we are also making several general changes to the game mode to make it a more engaging and rewarding experience while reducing the frustration associated with certain pain points. [h3]CPU RACERS & MPR GAIN/LOSS[/h3] Previously, CPU Racers were not factored into the calculation of how many racers were in the lobby, often resulting in players gaining less MPR Points than they deserved at the end of a race. Starting in Season 8, CPU Racers will be treated as if they were real players when it comes to the calculation of MPR Points gain/loss. This should reduce confusion while also making it easier to progress in the early stages of Ranked Races. [h3]MPR POINTS GAIN/LOSS[/h3] The community has flagged that the amount of MPR Points earned based on your finishing position are not high enough while simultaneously, the amount you lose for lower finishing positions can be too punishing. This sentiment is exacerbated at high MPR levels, especially in lobbies with fewer than 8 players. We identified several goals we wanted to achieve: [list] [*]Make it easier and faster to progress in the early stages of Ranked Races. [*]Make it easier and faster to reach higher leagues.Make losses in higher leagues less punishing, particularly in races with fewer than 8 players. [*]Make it easier to pick up where you left off at the beginning of a new Ranked Race season. [/list] With this in mind, we have redesigned our entire MPR gain/loss tables to make it easier for players at all levels to progress in Ranked Races. This also extends to lobbies with fewer than 8 players. We have also taken the opportunity to reduce the MPR Points scale. You’ll notice that you are now gaining/losing smaller numbers of MPR Points from Ranked Races. There is no material change here as we have also adjusted the scale of the total MPR Points needed to progress through the different Ranked Race leagues. This will ensure a cleaner UI. A great way to visualize how this makes progress in Ranked Races quicker is that previously, the average number of races required to reach Diamond League was 81. Under the new system, it will only require an average of 48 races. [h3]NEW SEASON MPR RESET[/h3] Starting in Season 8, only Racers in Champion League and above will have their MPR reset at the beginning of new seasons. In addition to this, the reset is restricted to 10 Racers. The 10 Racers with the highest total MPR score in Champion League and above are the only ones affected. These changes will make it much easier for you to pick up where you left off at the start of a brand-new season. The MPR reset does not affect your Player Rank in any way. [h3]COUNTRY LEADERBOARDS[/h3] Season 8 will also see the introduction of a “My Country” filter to Ranked Race leaderboards. So, get ready to compete with your compatriots for bragging rights! [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/42404188/791ba97df344199d7cf96689ebabe4520fe2e9be.png[/img] That’s all the details we have for you on the exciting new Team Mode and Ranked Race reworks coming to [i]Disney Speedstorm[/i] in Season 8! 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