0.7.0 is, as I like to call it, the "Distinction Update", and aims to polish the frames and overall licenses of FTL's UF/A, including a complete overhaul of the Magpie and, to address the elephant in the room, the addition of two more licenses that have been on the back burner for some time now. With the obvious exception of the two newest licenses, every license in UF/A is functioning far closer to what I would expect from a finalized state. That's not to suggest they are beyond reproach, just that almost everything has been addressed with feedback in mind to make it feel more…distinct. Almost everything. The Gruidae remains largely the same due to having received a major update in a previous release, this early distinction update due to the large influx of Player and GM feedback at the time. Other licenses with little changes are either fine where they are or are still being tested. But since then, during the mechanical update release hiatus taken while working on the FTL Campaign *"Funeral Rites Withheld"*, a lot of feedback regarding other licenses had continued to pour in. Changes to be made once mechanics were actively being worked on again began to pile up, and in-between progressions to the plot and details of FRW, I earnestly worked to try and remedy the targeted concerns of the feedback.

Again, as suggested by this updates "title", these mechanical changes were made in an effort to make everything feel more distinct. Whether this was through simplify systems and effects, buffing weaker things, nerfing others, or generally bringing the mechanics of a license item closer to the language and structure of LANCER. There are still assuredly some oddities unique to FTL; call them Monadisms if you like. This is somewhat unavoidable as a singular creator of the entirety of FTLs content. As mentioned before, the license most affected by the Distinction Update is the Magpie. Previous versions of the mech and its license never "sparked joy" for me. The license items and frame had received little negative feedback regarding its balance (though whether this was due to the frame feeling well balanced or just not being played a lot is hard to say) but I always found that the Magpie lacked...(here's that word creeping up again) distinction.

Its weapons and systems didn't really feel like they meshed with the Frame and its traits and core system. The Magpie was ultimately a failure in my eyes; it failed in having distinctive weapons (aside from one), or systems that felt relevant to the Frame itself, or even Frame Traits that felt consistently useful. It was bogged down by suggested narrative that, while important to the frame, had weird implications to its mechanics. And unfortunately, it had been like so since its inception. The Magpie was the last of the initial frames I cobbled together from the mechanical scraps left in my burnt-out head after making the original versions of all the other mechs at the onset of this passion project. This is before even alt frames, when the Anis was a ramshackle amalgamation of itself and what is now the Bateleur. This vapidity felt towards the Magpie is what led me to holding back the release of the two most recent licenses, as I never wanted to repeat the mistake of releasing something so poorly defined again.

All that being said, to support the changes and additions to FTL, UF/A has been bifurcated so to speak. I want to ensure that the content present would be seen as a wealth, not a bloat, and a single Manufacturer with a number of licenses eclipsing some Vanilla Manufactures didn't feel right to me. It also failed to acknowledge that UF/A *isn't just Union.* It's Albatross as well, who would realistically bring their own wealth of content to the table.

I wanted to use this expanding ecosystem as a way to define what exactly Albatross in UF/A means; their unique combat doctrines, engineering priorities, and more. You can expect there to be some narrative changes due to this, but the core of this update is still focused on the mechanical evolution of the expansion as a whole. Speaking of narrative though, that is something unavoidable in its changes due to this greater emphasis on Albatross present in this update. A lot, though not all, of the flavor text found in the "Compendium Entry" sections of Frames, Weapons, and Systems felt a little...campy to me. I recognize my writing style is very referential, which is fine, but I wanted to lean more into the same sensibilities and tone found in the campaign. An air of mystery, if you will. And if those references are actively pulling your attention away from that sense of dread, and ambiguity to bash you on the head and point at itself, then...

This is still a work in progress, but many of those small tidbits of narrative are due to change if they haven't already been updated. Some things are just becoming more subtle, others more referential to the Campaign. It's an evolving process.

Frames, License Items, and their Manufacturers aren't the only things to receive major overhauls in this update. Talents, GMS Gear, and Exotics have also been given a lot of attention in this update. Like the Licenses, the Talent's have largely been changed to make them punchier, clearer in effect, balanced, competitive, and in line with the language of the LANCER system. Bird of a Feather and Dredger should feel more consistently powerful, rather than being relatively weak with huge spikes in power. Nimbus should feel a lot more balanced, complimentary to flight instead of making PCs untouchable in the air. As well as just generally cleaner. And speaking of things being cleaner, ODR and especially Marauder Tactics should feel far more approachable. Marauder Tactics in particular should feel a lot more concrete in its conceit.

The GMS LMG has the only major change, in a small name update as well as range and weapon tags. There weren't any Unique GMS weapons aside from its earlier incarnation. That Unique tag was a balance compromise due to how powerful its equipment effect could be, even after it was changed from being a Rifle to a Cannon. Instead, the *Chain-Fed* LMG is now Ordinance, a Weapon Tag sparsely seen, especially on Main weapons. I believe these changes keep the weapon balanced as well as bringing it a lot closer to the idea behind it. The Chain-Fed might be a main weapon, but it does not exist to be a run and gun tool. It's a mobile platform meant to deliver a wealth of firepower to an area it can control, but it still needs time to set up. The relationship between the LMG and the Heavy Machine Gun now kind of parrot their real life counterparts. There have also been two additions to the weapon pool: A Multi-Profile Main Rifle and a Heavy Nexus with a SP cost, Cone, and Burn. These might seem like strange or potentially unbalanced additions, but I want to assure people that, just like with the other Far-Field GMS weapons, these two guns don't step on any toes and were made for a reason. As I have always seen it, GMS, especially weapons wise, exist to onboard players to the mechanics that they can expect to see throughout the rest of the game. The GMS weapons added previously are in accordance to that idea, filling out niches not tackled in vanilla content. The revolver is an introduction to Variable damage. The PR represents accurate, further ranged weapons that aren't heavy. The LMG and Shield are weapons with unique Equipment Effects. I wanted to create a way to onboard PCs to weapons with multi-profiles, weapons with SP cost, Cone effects, and Burn. Changes to the shield tackle the lack of Burst in GMS.

I hear a lot about how GMS is supposed to be simple, and while I agree with that, I revoke the sentiment that these traits inherently make the weapon complex. The Terashima Blade is a complex weapon. It has a wealth of profiles, each with specific weapon tags, damage, and range that change between all of those profiles as well as a conditional equipment effect. Complexity is not found in an individual aspect of a weapon, but instead, I'd wager, in how each of those aspects interact with one another. I want my GMS weapons to exist to onboard PCs to more complex weapons, where equipment effects, SP cost, damage types, weapon tags, and profiles all interact, in a more wholistic way then what Vanilla Lancer does on its own.

There's much less to say about GMS systems in this update. Several systems have gotten buffed, or been given slight narrative changes. I've added a weapon mod that I think is interesting, and useful, but not particularly strong enough to have any desire to build a license around. I've also added two more Grenade/Mine systems. I wish I could say that this is because I'm filling some niche not strong enough for license material, but not covered in GMS. It's not that that isn't technically true, but the overall reasoning is just due to how limited the scope of grenades really is in LANCER. Grenades are kind of weak, even on the Frame built around using them. It wasn't really until Demolitionist that they've been able to shine, and while I understand not wanting the functionality of the systems to overtake the practical use of weapons, I think there's a vast untapped well of ideas for grenades that act effectively as spatial deployable systems. Tackling this idea is...difficult though, as you don't want to step on the toes of other systems, weapons, grenades, or the Iskandar itself. So these two grenades are my small foray into the subject, though anymore advancements that agenda won't be made here in FTL.

And finally, there are Exotics. As far as weapons go, there are two new arrivals: The Tractor Cannon, previously from the old Magpie license, and the Synaptic Spear, a weapon that outs me in terms of games I played and when, but also just a general Boredom Brain Rot product. The Tractor Beam has been updated and buffed somewhat for its addition into Exotic standing. It's the only thing I could eve say I liked a little from the Magpie, and something that a lot of people seemed to find fascinating. While I felt the overhaul to the Magpie was necessary, I couldn't bring myself to destroy something that so many people had expressed endearment towards. Sentimental of me, I know. So now the Tractor Beam lives on, immortalized by a golden star. E for my Effort in class. The spear on the other hand is still connected to the Magpie, but as it was post Overhaul, not pre. It's effectively a buffed for Exotic alternative weapon made for Overhaul Magpie License. Instead of the spear found in the new Magpie license, it could have been the Synaptic Spear. Ultimately though, the Starling won out due to me feeling like it was a more interesting addition to the license that too forced other aspects of the license to also be more interesting. And all of this created a far more complimentary package that was still viable for other Frames.

The only additional exotic is the ICHOR-CLASS NHP, which I have found deeply interesting, but due to it's narrative significance and the problem of balancing its unique mechanics, has been in limbo till now.

I haven't even touched on Core Bonuses but I'm not going to. Honestly, if it wasn't already clear from my loquaciousness up till now, I could speak at great length about the changes in this update and my reasoning behind them, but I want to give people a chance to explore that themselves. My design philosophy as a creator is very much so to start big and whittle things down. I find it easier to take a strong feeling or mechanic and bring it in line rather than a weak one and try and raise it to the standard. Ultimately, Far-Field Transmission Log is still a passion project, but I hope that through this update people can gain a better appreciation for the time and effort put into to refining this content. In bringing a veritable cornucopia of off-meta but still highly viable options to the system. In making all of this extremally accessible through its price point (All things Player side being Free) and medium (The FTL-MURO and Official License Documents). But more than anything, I hope you enjoy.

-Thank You, Lancer Community

           MONAD