There are times when you suddenly panic in "Rainbow Six Siege" because you can't tell where the footsteps are coming from. But Siege's echolocation may finally be improving, as Ubisoft has come up with a dramatic new plan to rebuild parts of the sound system.

"We know that the various sound issues in the game have been a problem for players for some time," writes a new blog post from Ubi addressing longstanding issues with Siege. The post explains that Siege's complex sound engine adapts to every new hole in the floor, ceiling, and walls, which is a big reason why sound problems are so difficult to diagnose. Sound reaches the player by calculating the optimal path from the source of the sound to the player (windows, door gaps, small holes in walls, etc.). If the player does not know that the hole is there, that sound cue can become a confusing obstacle.

Ubi says they are making incremental progress in identifying sound-related issues, but that eventually they will need to do more major rework." We have come to the conclusion that a large part of [the sound and propagation system] needs to be restructured, starting with the way sound is packaged and connected to the game." This repackaging of sound will take place in Season 3, but it is unclear if there will be any noticeable changes for players." However, the propagation of sound and the rebuilding of the entire sound interaction system is a major undertaking that will not be finalized in Year 5."

While it would be great to have fewer bugs and inconsistencies, it is doubtful that Siege's restructured audio will be different enough to disappoint veteran players; even slight changes, such as the loudness of footsteps 10 meters away, will force players to relearn a language they have spoken for years. They will be forced to relearn the language they have been speaking for years.

The Status Report post also mentions server latency and acceptable ping. Many players believe that the current threshold for acceptable ping - 110ms - is far too high. My lobby on the West Coast always has a low ping (14-30), but it is noticeable when players from different regions sneak into a match. In a game where accuracy is so important, even the slightest bit of lag can screw things up.

Ubi recognizes that many players find the current 110ms threshold "lenient," but it will not be changed in the foreseeable future. Instead, more server regions will be added and the average ping for everyone will be lowered." Our team is invested in reducing latency by adding game servers to additional regions, but this requires a proper assessment of whether the population of that region can sustain matchmaking and still get players into matches in a reasonable amount of time. As we add more regions and average player wait times decrease, we may re-evaluate the data and revisit the possibility of changing the ping thresholds."

While low thresholds are great for consistency, strict ping criteria have some unfortunate side effects; Riot's new Counter-Strike rival Valorant's ping thresholds are so strict that you cannot play with your European friends at all. I can't play; it's cool to see an overall lower ping on Valorant, but I'm not sure if the trade-off is worth it for me.

Unusually for UBI, the post also mentioned the accessibility features of "Siege". Of particular note was the possibility of a color blindness mode, which 'Siege' has badly lacked since its release." Our vision for accessibility is to solve full-blown color blindness as a system that allows players to change the color of claymores, laser sights, camera lights, etc.

In February, Ubi told me that a colorblind mode was in active development, but it appears to have been put on hold again. The test with the colorblind athletes did not meet our expectations. We needed to implement a suitable solution that would provide full-spectrum color selection." Customization at this level requires the separation of multiple elements for dynamic recoloring.

"We will be revisiting color blindness in the near future. We will start by focusing on improving the photographic experience first through looking at reticle color and what can be done there. We hope to have something to share in the near future." The reticle color enhancement is certainly a positive step for players who struggle to see red against the background. This is Ubi's most solid statement in support of colorblindness mode, but it is unfortunate that progress is still so slow.

Part of the reason, Ubi says, is that the accessibility team is working on features unrelated to color blindness. He says, "Much of our accessibility team's resources are currently focused on adding to the game what is described in the Communications and Video Accessibility Act (a U.S. law signed into law in 2010). This will be done along with other accessibility improvements that do not specifically target color blindness." The post does not specify what features will be included. Perhaps Siege will soon get a text-to-speech option for in-game chat and a proper captioning system for the hearing impaired.

Many more topics are covered in the full status report posting, including cheaters, smurfing, connectivity, and plans to rebuild smoke propagation (someday).