I feel like there are a lot more XL engine-equipped machines around. Players are upgrading to XL engines (and faster engines in general). Players are deciding more and more that they need to take even machines like a Hunchback and make them faster. The extra speed is bringing the teams to shooting range that much sooner. And the XL engines themselves are easier to knock out because the left and right torsos are vulnerable to engine destruction. And players are using the saved tonnage to load up on more lethal weaponry, so there's more firepower on the battlefield. So the fight comes faster and so does mech death. Net result...shorter matches.
That said, I also feel like I'm seeing more medium-class machines in games (used to be dominated by fast lights and slow heavies/assaults with fewer mediums and when there were mediums it was sometimes slow mediums like the Hunchback). Machines like the Shadow Hawk are relying on mobility and speed as much as firepower and they race off to find a vulnerable target. And it just turns into a brawl that much faster.
Finally, people's understanding of the maps are improving (though stupidity and noobness remains). I routinely see both sides go racing off for the key areas of a map, like a tunnel entrance/exit, or a circular platform, or a big mountain top with a view. And the result (sometimes, not always) is a quick and intense fight for that piece of real estate. Sometimes because of ECM the two sides don't even realize they are about to smack into each other until they are already well within weapons range. Then there's some individual players who have mastered the maps will take up an ideal position for sniping or ambushing and just be hell for the other team.
So I don't necessarily think its the latest patches and updates. I've been noticing some trends for a while now. I took about a year-long vacation from this game and came back to it only recently and sooo much has changed. Its definitely faster.
I can still remember when MWO was in Open Beta, all the dev talk about how they had to tweak some things in the design phase, because combat tended to be short, matches ended too fast for their liking. They wanted to make the fights longer. So they nerfed and tweaked how the game mechanics worked, they made mechs more durable and harder to hit. Well now with things like XL engines and players getting more and more savvy with "optimizing" mechs to peak "damage dealing" efficiency, the players are taking the game in the direction that the Devs were initially trying to steer away from. That's my thinking on this anyway.
