Embark Studios has released the patch notes for The Finals update 1.7.0 and in a curious move, they are trying to force you to talk to your teammates by auto-enabling voice chat for all players.
The 1.7.0 patch notes reveal that for existing PC players, VOIP will be auto-enabled with push-to-talk as the default option, while console players will also have VOIP auto-enabled but with voice activation as the default option. You can of course turn this back off in the settings if you want, but for anyone who doesn’t read the patch notes this could be a strange surprise to hear their teammates answer back when they thought they were muted.
While forcing these options to be on seems like a strange move, Embark Studios claims that this is for a better experience in game. A couple of patches ago these settings were enabled for any new players, and in the most recent patch notes the team says this proved to be a success. The hope is that by changing these settings there will be more communication and team play, which apparently makes for a better experience. However, anyone who tried using voice chat in a shooter in the last 10 years might tell you a different story.
Elsewhere in the 1.7.0 patch notes, there are some big changes to XP and progression in general. Across the board, XP rewards have been boosted for certain actions such as completing a cashout or placing highly in a match. Contracts and goals have also been given an XP boost with the former going from 2000 to 4500 and the latter going from 4000 to 9000. Weekly goals will now only require six contracts to be completed rather than the previous eight.
The XP changes should make progression a little easier for players, with some complaining about how much of a grind it can be. While the in-game action of The Finals is fast-paced and great fun, the out-of-game progression can be a little slow and boring, so hopefully this change will even that up a little.
Rounding out the 1.7.0 patch notes is the removal of the Dead Go Boom event, which will return at a later date in a new form that is less punishing for melee users, and the addition of a play again button so you can queue for another match as soon as the previous one ends.
Anyone hoping for a nerf to the damage red canisters can do will be disappointed, as that change is nowhere to be seen in the update. However, the team has said they are aware of the balance issue and the unintended stacking damage they can have and will be addressing this in the next major update for The Finals. So you’ll likely still have a few weeks to throw explosives at people for easy kills before they are toned down.
