Twitchy Questioning 6: The Undiscovered Question

As requested by DiscoBabaloo (Fernando Melo), for him and /u/BWE_ehlien (Billy Buskell) and /u/BWEBastiaanFrank -- here are all the questions I gathered for this week's Twitch chat. Including some that were already answered in case any elaboration is necessary.
1 June 2017
INTRO
As usual I have gathered up questions from fellow players on uBSN (the unofficial Bioware Social Network forum). This week we have more hard-hitting questions, then follow ups, and then questions around design intent and the user interface (U.I.).
HARD HITTING QUESTIONS
Can you talk about why the pre-launch beta test was cancelled? ANSWERED by DiscoBabaloo: lots of reasons, still wish we could have done it, but in part we had already done a few previous smaller private ones and with the remaining time we wanted to focus on other risks
For DAI, both SP and MP had patch and DLC community beta testing. Is this something being considered for MEA? If not, why not? ANSWERED by DiscoBabaloo: yep we've been looking into it
FOLLOW UPS
Regarding EA Answers HQ -- a few weeks ago we suggested you split bug reporting between SP and MP which you acknowledged as a good suggestion. Any movement on this? ANSWERED by DiscoBabaloo: ya, on our end we have diff folks looking at sp vs mp, but as a tool everyone at EA uses its harder to make a change just for us :/ for now keep adding things for both there and we'll split it on our end to get it to right folks
A few weeks ago you said you were looking into unlocking FOV (field of view) settings on console. Is that still a possibility? ANSWERED by DiscoBabaloo: i'll need to follow up now that i'm back, but that was something on the list to look into
A few weeks ago you said you were looking into allowing console players to re-map powers. Is that still a possibility? ANSWERED by DiscoBabaloo: ya same
A few weeks ago you said you were looking into allowing PC players to re-map the console button (currently tilde) away from other buttons that are used for powers. Is that still a possibility?
Deeper into the Ruins was popular and everyone liked the dynamic map. Can this map or others like it be added to the regular map rotation?
Can the 'Random' matchmaking filter be changed to search specifically for lobbies also set to 'Random'? Currently, 'Random' acts unintuitively like 'Any' which severely limits joining options. ‘Any’ appears heavily weighted towards Apex and popular maps/enemies, instead of being more varied as the proposed ‘Random’ would be.
DESIGN INTENT
Did the design team intend for combo detonation to discourage team play by having the detonation end team-wide debuffs? Ex: Cryo Beam’s substantial debuff to enemy armor is ended when a Cryo Combo is detonated. But the players are not told this anywhere. ANSWERED (paraphrased): Bastiaan: Of course not intended to discourage team play. It's a skill question. How do I want to equip my powers, for combo or raw damage? Generally Bioware designs for playing with friends, which may not work as well when playing with randoms. There are certain consequences. There are a lot more detonators, but this does mean depending on how you spec this can be better or worse. I really like the extended debuffs that some powers give you. Billy: costs vs. benefits. Some people play differently with differently styles.
Some actions have unintuitive priorities. Landing interrupts a reload. Rockets, cover vaulting, and revive interactions cannot interrupt a reload. Almost anything interrupts and puts away an equipped rocket. Is this something you will look at, to improve game flow? ANSWERED by DiscoBabaloo: will check, but i think in this case some things are not easy to tweak (not without touching a lot of other systems) :/
Shotguns are fully blocked by Shieldgate: all pellets’ damage is blocked by even 1 remaining hitpoint in shields. Is this intentional design, or something that should be reported as a bug? ANSWERED by DiscoBabaloo: pretty sure that's being looked at
Chain Overloads do not detonate Combos (they did in ME3). Intentional design or bug?
Throw and Shockwave have combo detonation penalties -- is that intended? If so is it also intended for other area detonators to not have a combo detonation penalty?
For weapon accuracy, is there a cap or point of diminishing returns? Ex: stacking a weapon scope, the Turian Soldier passive tree, Turbocharge, and Fortify accuracy.
Certain enemy behavior seems suicidal, particularly dogs, who will charge through weapons fire or sustained powers (Flamethrower) to get to the player. Is this the intended design?
Observers still feel frustrating to fight -- their detection range is enormous and they seem to lock onto the player instantly with a hitscan weapon. Is this the intention with this enemy?
Charge-up weapons (ex: Venom) don’t hold their charge when the player performs any other action, which makes those weapons frustrating and not fun to use in this fast-paced game. What was the design intent behind this mechanic?
Projectile tracking for the Thokin is significantly more detrimental to the weapon in MP than it is useful. Is there consideration to make the projectiles travel faster or make the tracking more forgiving? (like able to hit an enemy by shooting over cover they're ducking behind)
How does matchmaking work? Does it take into account geographical distance (like Europe to U.S.A. or vice versa)?
BUGS
Are you aware of the issue that a downed ally who can be revived within view will prevent melee use? (This happens even on PC where revive and melee are on different keybinds!) This is extremely frustrating and cripples melee dependent classes. ANSWERED: They are aware of melee bug when ally is downed.
When reporting bugs, is there a way to know what game patch / version to report them? Ex: Common weapon challenges were partially fixed in the last live update but most Common weapon challenges are still not progressing. Under what patch / version should the latter bug be reported?
USER INTERFACE
Can the U.I. text size be made adjustable, primarily for console users? The current text size is too small to read on TVs from more than a few feet away.
Would you consider adding an optional, more detailed killfeed with detailed damage information and timings? This would make testing much easier for both you and the dedicated fan community.
Is there any inclination to unhide the "hidden" stats on weapons? For example, reload time (in seconds), headshot multiplier, modifiers against defense types, etc. Previously you stated this might fit into a U.I. update.
Various timers are not shown in the game’s U.I. Why is this information hidden from the player? (Examples: time until next Saving Barrier, Rage / Ascension kill count to goal, Rage countdown timer, Martial Artist killcount / bonus amount & countdown timer, Biotic Warrior countdown timer)
Would you consider allowing player to purchase multiples of the same pack using Credits / APs, or multiples of the same item using MFs? This would be a big help when you need to refill Consumables.
Would you consider adding manageable loadouts to the Character Customization screen, to allow players to save multiple sets of weapons and equipment?
JUST FOR FUN
What does Ryncol taste like? ANSWERED by DiscoBabaloo: never touched the stuff - at least that's my story and i'm sticking to it
Will will ever get to fight an Architect in MP? ANSWERED by DiscoBabaloo: haha, i'll admit we've entertained that idea on our end - that's as far as I'll go
Why do all the Asari MP characters have the same face?
Any chance of more, and different, melee options being added?
Thank you very much for answering our questions! Keep up the good work.

/u/The_hezy asked me to cover the Twitch stream for him this week. I replied that I was normally swamped in the chat but I don't think he saw that in time, so here goes.
All of my usual questions that I asked in the chat are in another thread. The below is just what I remember from the stream itself.
link to Twitch stream
Billy and Bastiaan hosting as usual.
Deeper into the Ruins mission again, but this time on Gold difficult due to community requests. (See, they do listen!)
The Twitch Streamers playing with Billy are littlesiha , Drake2304 , and starbuck2190
First match: Billy with level 20 Salarian Architect designed by Bastiaan. Sweeper and Ushior.
Bastiaan talked about the S weapons. "Strait up damage boosted weapons, ready to go for your Gold matches."
Bioware put up a death counter for Billy. Each death, he had to donate to charity. After a while he stated that he would have to skip lunch because of how much money it was costing him. Hah!
Specifically the charities are listed on this Bioware post.
Bastiaan advises that we fall back on this map and take to the sides to control the spawns.
In answer to a question about why can you not play Apex missions on any difficulty -- Bastiaan stated it's a config that includes the difficulty level. They can make duplicates of the mission at different difficulties, but this would increase how much MF is available, so they normally won't.
Billy had 9 deaths in first match. (Kind of like when I play.) Yet he topscored. Way to go, Billy!
Bastiaan: if it were completely up to me there would not be a scoreboard. Scoreboard says 'I want to be high' and kits get evaluated by how high they are. 'I'm never in the lead so the kit is bad'. Hard to grasp some kit's concepts with points. Concepts of supporting. Concepts of staying in the back guarding against Fiends or dogs but their role is important. Always a trick to reward those behaviors without introducing exploits or creating a "perverse incentive" (my words).
Billy switched to Avenger S and Predator S for the second match. Still the Salarian Architect.
Someone (@ Bioware in the chat) stated that the S weapons won't show up in the pool until you max the non-S versions. To clarify we believe this means: The Rare S weapons won't drop until you have maxed the corresponding Common. For example, the Rare Avenger S rank I won't drop until you have the Common Avenger (regular) rank X.
The S weapons were originally spelled SE for Special Edition but the rank X version led to an unfortunate series of letter adjacent to each other.
Oh man the Avenger S sounds awesome. Still one of the best sounding guns in ME history.
B&B talked about how slight differences in skill evolutions can lead to vastly different playstyles. For example Bastiaan slightly re-spec'd Billy's Salarian Architect for this week's stream.
Billy YOLO'd off by himself and died, which led to a discussion about "there is no 'I' in 'team'", and then this gem:
Yuanrang: There's no Billy in team, but there's a bit of Salsadips in Billy.
May 11, never forget!
Finally Billy death count: 14 in 2 matches.
Matobar's questions:
Matobar: @bioware Will we see more weapons from the Single Player being added to MP?
DiscoBabaloo: @matobar if/when it makes sense
Matobar: DiscoBabaloo Have you thought about adding new weapon traits to existing weapons, like you recently did with the Cyclone?
DiscoBabaloo: @matobar yep - thought about it
Matobar: DiscoBabaloo Thanks for the responses! In a related vein, have you guys considered adding shields/armor to different enemies (Outlaw armored enemies for example) to give them more personality?
DiscoBabaloo: @matobar np. sort of - we've looked at possibly adding either more variety or introducing new mini-bosses which could include that
Matobar: DiscoBabaloo There are a lot of complaints about the mechanics at work for charging weapons (Hard to tell when they are charged, can't charge them again right away, etc.) Any insight to offer?
DiscoBabaloo: @matobar ya, looking into ui/info improvements - priority was more on stability etc initially
Matobar: DiscoBabaloo Next question: Why are the batarians so whiny all the time? Do they just like to complain?
DiscoBabaloo: @matobar haha, Batarian psychology is beyond me
Matobar: DiscoBabaloo Shoot, I had to ask. Well, in a related vein: If more skills are added to the game with more kits, will we see existing kits getting updated with these new abilities? I'm not asking for reveals, just want to know if that's something you look at
DiscoBabaloo: @matobar not likely, for us to change an existing kit's abilities outright would have to be a pretty serious issue
Some other people's questions from the Twitch chat that I managed to capture:
nindreams1979: are there any plans to introduce MP maps where you actually move thru a level, like in the Dragon Age MP?
DiscoBabaloo: @nindreams1979 not to same extent, but similar
(question about swapping abilities on characters)
DiscoBabaloo: @matobar not likely, for us to change an existing kit's abilities outright would have to be a pretty serious issue
KenjiJU: DiscoBabaloo It was mentioned in a tweet that custom colors for characters' lights would be coming at some point. Is that still a thing?
DiscoBabaloo: @kenjiju next patch
(not sure if wink means 'not really')
Dean_9889: DiscoBabaloo 3 things: 1. can we finally get a turian sentinel (my fav me3 char)? 2. i suggested to get a setting for having tech armor always visable. bioware replied to that but will it be there in the next patch? 3. can we get fuctionall armor to unlock in mp? (something like in sp)
DiscoBabaloo: @dean_9889 maybe. i'll have to check. not likely, but you never know.
DiscoBabaloo: @thefengo possibly - but focus is more with team based (but we know esp later folks will want to do this)
I think this was in response to a question about solo'ing, but I can't find the question for some reason.
DiscoBabaloo: @dean_9889 not likely - we're not doing dlc like ME3, we add & unlock things each week vs going 6-8wks or more and then a big drop. so re that, you'll see more kits but probably not in a big single drop
And that is all I got. Sorry this is not up to The_Hezy's usual standards.