Purpose of this blog

Dmitry Yudo aka Overlord, jack of all trades
David Lister aka Listy, Freelancer and Volunteer

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

[ALL] Overlord? Yes, please!

I have been getting numerous questions and comments both via private messaging system on EU forums (both World of Warplanes and, especially, World of Tanks) and even here, on the blog, on my current status, i.e. whether I still belong to WG dev team and has my status been changed lately or not.

That's, I believe, because of the recent change in my forum profiles here and here - as you can see, the current member group is set to Military reserve which may be regarded by some as retired dev or something. With over 9.500 posts on WoT EU board and over 220 on WoWP EU (and growing steadily as the project moves forward), I do understand that many of our players have sort of got used to communication with me personally and demand more direct replies and feedback. 

However, due to the most recent policy change, all related communication on official resources including forums will be carried out via EU representatives while I will still be providing my services over here - at Overlord's blog.

So, if there is something that, from your standpoint, should be brought into my attention, feel free to poke me here, on the blog, not being afraid to go off-topic (just keep in mind WoWP NDA which is still active :)). Blog has many advantages comparing to regular forums, you don't have to use your main game account to post something (e.g. to give negative feedback), it supports OpenID authentication, conversation mode, and what's more important, both EU and NA players can use it as a single resource.

As a reminder, my primary focus these days is World of Warplanes, however I welcome any WoT-related discussions, not mentioning other projects.

Ask!


Best regards,
Overlord aka Dmitry Yudo
Producer @ Wargaming.net

PS: I apologize to NA folks in advance, I have kinda abandoned them earlier only due to time zone difference which is 7-10 hours. Regardless of this gap, I'm pleased to communicate with you, guys, and I have more visitors from the United States than from any other country. :)

104 comments:

  1. Are you looking forward to WoWS?
    And will you do something about the WOWS EU forum as i think it may have terminal cancer.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 1. Yes, definitely. The game will be good for those who find aerial pace too fast to cope with, so it's more tankish than WoWP. Plus romance of naval battles... It's going to be epic.

      2. What's up with them?

      Delete
    2. 1. Great News

      2. The EU WoWS Forum is almost dead.

      Delete
    3. That's ok for the current stage, I believe. No playable build for audience, not much to discuss. Production is not even at full swing. It takes time.

      Our current focus is WoWP.

      Delete
    4. Drop into the WoWS NA forum
      ;)

      Delete
    5. Since we adhere to the concept of "separate forum for each server", it would be painful to split them again in future.

      Delete
    6. Sry, kinda misunderstood you. :)

      Ok, when I have time.

      Delete
    7. Tuccy, the only Community official we have there i think, is missing since october 17th.. and as usual, on the NA forum there is a Q/A section where people receive answers daily.

      Anyway Ovi, we miss you on WoT EU too, everything you did for us have been much appreciated, you better know that, regardless of some people ending up bitching about it.

      Do you know anything related to the WoT Q/A topic?

      Thank you

      Delete
  2. There will be a World of Tanks collectors Edition in Russia:

    http://forum.worldoftanks.eu/index.php?/topic/162721-world-of-tanks-collectors-edition/

    Do you plan to release one in EU? Viktor kisly recently said, that there is such a version produced in Germany (only 1.000) units. Could you please provide more details?

    Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's more of a publishing issue, I'm not really knowledgeable on it.

      Delete
  3. Overlord, are you remember my M3 Lee/Grant Suggestion? (Kolaski and PzgrenKdr)

    I post this Suggestion 1 1/2 Year ago. I made then many Changes on the Suggestions, all 1-2 month, and sent then this to you.

    But you stopped than the answering/reading 3/4 years ago.

    I know, its a long time ago. :)
    What is now with the Suggestion? Any News? Declined? Accepted?


    (Yes, i am insane)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. M3 one? It wasn't put into production due to low priority mostly. Sorry.

      Delete
  4. ok I have a question then, could you share your opinion of how this is not destroying balance: http://forum.worldoftanks.eu/index.php?/topic/169567-5-games-of-hetzer-derping-with-credit-gold-ammo-only/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. For some vehicles (or even guns) access to prem ammo for credits can have bigger impact on balance - low tier TDs are a good example here. We are currently monitoring the situation after the patch. RU got it a few days earlier, EU - just recently. Feedback is still to be analyzed.

      Delete
    2. Not forgetting metrics as well.

      Delete
    3. ok, good to know you're keeping an eye on it :)
      What do you mean by metrics? Stats?

      Delete
    4. Yup, various paramaters, figures, statistics that are being tracked. And player feedback for sure.

      Delete
    5. Goldamo for Credits was a bad idea

      - armor becomes less usefull and speed rules even more making certain tanks less usefull on the battlefield (T95, german heavies ...)
      - instead u should have made premium consumables available for gold
      - now its possible to shoot premium amo half of the time and still make profit if u have a premium account and know what you are doing

      When can we expect proper Antialiasing instead of this horrible looking FXAA? Is it worked on???

      What are the guys thinking who are redesigning the maps? The all become bumpy and filled with obstacles so that german tanks (snipers) are in a disantvantage most of the time, while russian tanks can hide their hull only showing their turrets and tanks with gun depression like americans ones can play hull down mostly.
      The next problem is the map balance - reworked Lakeville for example became a desaster, because the guys from southern base cant hide an arti anymore in K1/2 to support the valley defense.

      Delete
    6. Overlod you have hacks!! you replied to my post before it was made: angrybananaNovember 1, 2012 12:06 AM, OverlordNovember 1, 2012 11:31 AM

      Delete
    7. I have hacked google! That's something.

      Delete
    8. Folterknecht,

      1. ammo experiment is still to be assessed. Now it's to early to make final judgements.

      2. What's wrong with the current FXAA?

      3. Germans seem to be always disadvantaged, huh?

      Delete
    9. to angrybanana: 12:06 AM means 6 minutes after midnight ;)

      Confusing, I know. But that's the whole AM/PM format... Damn shame the clocks here don't use 24h format. :D

      Delete
    10. Overlord

      1) remove goldammo completly and increase pen of E100 to 245 mm and Maus to 255 mm (+ higher accuracy for Maus gun) - case closed

      2) FXAA just gives fuzzy edges nothing more, while real MSAA gives a much better AA with the option to go straight to SGAA, which makes the whole "picture" much more crisp without any flickering

      3) no - but the only german heavy which is good balanced is the KT in t8 (best balanced tier in the whole game - french op tanks excluded)

      Delete
    11. forget something

      1.1) Maus and E-100 would need a decreased amount HP in that case ofc

      Delete
  5. Hello Overlord, just wondering if there has been any progress made toward a release date for the second German TD branch, as well as for other French tank branches, specifically the one that begins with the Renault R35. Well thanks for your time and have a good day.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Currently we have shifted our priorities towards British tech tree and new US vehicles (plus some other :)). Looks like, the rest will have to wait a bit, especially we will be reducing the amount of vehicle content per update.

      Delete
    2. "some other": you are talking about the chinese tanks right?
      please make them available for all players, not only the chinese servers.

      Delete
    3. Please do not make them available on EU server :). There was no Chinese produced tanks in the world for very long. China meant nothing in tank industry and development in 1930's-1950's. Those tanks are introduced to game only because Chinese players are - as I suppose - more numerous then players on all other servers. Chinese tree will be full of copies, thats all.

      Delete
    4. Omega,

      ofc we are thinking of that. Personally, I'm not a fan of holding back the content from players.

      Delete
    5. Dead_Skin_Mask,

      no doubt, the Chinese took a lot from other major nations, and especially, the USSR, however they still have got a few curious vehicles which could find there niche in game. We really need to account for all pros and cons here.

      Delete
  6. Any news about the new US heavy tree? Where will it start: M6, T29?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There is a chance that it will start in a totally unexpected spot, ie both suggested are wrong. :)

      Delete
    2. found something on wikipedia:

      The T57 was based on the T32 chassis, the T54 on the M48 Patton chassis. T69 had the T110 chassis.

      They will come with the next patch?

      Delete
    3. Nope, not in the next update. And not all of them.

      Delete
    4. M7 Medium is my guess as to where it branches off

      Delete
  7. Would we be able to exit from the battle with our tank some day ? Why players need to wait until the battle is over to play again with our tanks ?

    There is enough players to make sure that we would see all tank in battles , So what stops you from giving players their tanks back ? "In Battle" then give another battle mod we can respawn or something . And also if you would give us tanks back , You may get much more battles per minute , and that's what you want ? isn't it ? to make more money .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. because the end of the battle is not decided yet, and therefore the xp and credits neither.
      not to mention if you put simultaneous battles with the same tank this would make the coding a nightmare.

      Delete
    2. Generally speaking - correct, this goes in the depth of technology and engine. Even though this feature is possible to overcome, it's not worth it.

      Delete
    3. Not worth it ? Excuse me , yes it is worth it . Players do not want to wait and may leave the game before the end of a battle .

      It's not about money "worth" , its about player's fun and less rage from waiting each battle .

      And also i wanted to suggest that you may multiple the HP for ALL tanks by same factor (i mean *3 for instance) then every player will die only after some combat , and also the campers will get some close battle fight inside their bushes .... for scouters especially , to make them more survival , and scout some TD and Heavy campers .

      What do you think about that ?

      And the last third thing , PLEASE REMOVE THESE RAYS FROM ARTIE'S SHOTS omg , i understand that arties must have a view from the top , but they cant have info such this "where from the bullet comes exactly" it's unfair . even when i move after each shot i can be traced .

      Please think about it .

      Delete
    4. 1. The feature is too expensive in terms of resources. The benefit from it is doubtful. Plus we really want to promote diversity and going multiple tank branches.

      2. I think, garage battles with up 5 vehicles per player to be used in one match will cover this situation.

      3. Again tracers prodive diversity that is needed for SPGs as an independent class.

      Delete
    5. Overlord , can you please tell which importer the engine uses to load .premitives model ?

      Is there any way to import them back without buying your indie game engine version from BigWorld ?

      I've edited some models of certain tanks and never success to import them back to the game .

      Also , thanks for the replies .

      Delete
    6. @DD

      Please, do not speak in the name of all players :).

      I have nothing against inability to play with destroyed tank till battle ends.

      More HP for tanks? There are already numerous players, who do not like, that tanks do not die after one penetration (in real life in most cases one penetration is enough to exclude tank from fight).

      And in the end - tracers are OK. Even with them artys survive usually longer then most tanks in team and deal huge damage during battle. There is rather big problem with too many artys in top tier battles, so making artys life easier is not good idea. Many players just stopped playing with X tier tanks cause they don't like arty partys. I am among them. No fun to hide all battle and be raped in seconds by 3 Batchats 155 and T92, when you finally get bored and decide to play more aggresive to have some fun (my last X tier battle more then month ago). Even when you survive and win such battle, you get few creds because most damage is done by arty.

      Delete
    7. In the last thing i agree with you , You right , its not fun to play with 5 arties each team .

      I've also stopped playing my tier X and IX tanks just because of arties .

      So lets get some conclusion ,
      1) Max 2 arties each team .
      2) Delete ray traces .

      Then nobody will raging on arties\playing arty .
      so its the best way i think .

      Delete
    8. Arty issue is acknowledged and we are planning to see to it. This somewhat decreases fun in such battles.

      Delete
  8. Just a quick question about multi-core support. I realize it got fast tracked so will it be coming out in any recent patches or is it more of a long term thing?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's definitely a long-term goal, we need a common effort of WoT and BW teams here to enable it properly - with notiecable performance boost for multi-core systems, not just boasting that we have it.

      Delete
  9. Hey, man,
    as a many others Italian, Polish, Hungarian, Czech, i.e. players, am waiting for european tree. How I read, British, Chinese, Japanese and new US are the highest priority. So, what do you think, when the european tree will come?
    Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Probably next year at summer or something around it .

      Delete
    2. Would like to hear (read) it from Overlord, bcs, sorry, dont know who you are.

      Delete
    3. http://world-of-kwg.livejournal.com/86408.html

      there should be some information about it in the discussion, sry I dont speak russian, so no translation from me.

      Delete
    4. You wont find any dates there. :)

      As we promised initially, EU tree is most likely to arrive after Japanese. Its a bit more tricky and we need more time to finalize it. Plus there should be some gap between such huge content portions.

      Personally, Im looking forward to EU tree myself.

      Delete
    5. Well, thanks. Is there possible to obtain some premium EU tanks before the tree will be launched? Polish, Italian...
      At least some ideas about that?

      Delete
    6. By the way, that's the way we usually do things. You have got the hint, I suppose. :)

      Delete
    7. yeah, 1st the premium so people can grind crew for the tier X

      Delete
  10. Dear Overlord, can you then please confirm or deny that the Chinese tree will come before the EU tree?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Who needs these ugly Chinese tanks ?
      We want something square and European ! LoL

      Delete
    2. I agree, but I'd prefer to ask Mr. Overlord himself, not another player :) Thank you

      Delete
    3. DD, please let reply Overlord himself. Okey? We are here to ask him, not to read some trolling... Or say who you are, where you get the info. Thx

      Delete
    4. rumour in the german section of EU server said chinese tree will come in 8.2

      Lights:
      Renault NC-31 (Prototyp D1), Tier 1
      Vick. mk.e type b/t26, Tier 2
      type 97 chi-ha, Tier 3
      M5 Stuart, Tier 4

      Mediums:
      Type 59-16 (Type 62 prototype), Tier 5
      WZ-131 (Type 62), Tier 6
      WZ-132 (Type 62-G), Tier 7
      T-34-2 (T-44 variant), Tier 7
      T-34-3 (Type 59 with less armor), Tier 8
      Type 59 (WZ-120), Tier 9
      WZ-121 (Type 69), Tier 10

      Heavies
      T-34-76/85, Tier 5
      T-34-1 (T-34-85), Tier 6
      IS-2, Tier 7
      WZ-110 (IS-2u), Tier 8
      WZ-111 1/2/3, Tier 9
      WZ-111 4/5, Tier 10

      Delete
    5. picture of tier 7 medium

      http://wg-news.ru/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/%D0%A2-34-11.jpg

      8.2 scheduled for december, perhaps before christmas

      Delete
    6. Serious work on EU tree, when we are stacking reference materials, preparing ti model new vehicles, etc hasnt started yet. At this stage we are working in overall concept and unique features of the tree. Hope, it answers this one for you.

      Delete
    7. The Chinese content is at totally different stage, as you see.

      Delete
    8. Overlord: Thank you for your answer, I understand the Chinese part first, however given the fact there is no Japanese server while there is a massive Polish/Czechoslovak community just itching for its own tanks, I find the preference of Japanese tree hugely disappointing.

      Opferlamm: Can you provide a link to the German discussion where these vehicles are mentioned? I can't seem to find it in the German section... thank you

      Delete
    9. sure I can:

      http://forum.worldoftanks.eu/index.php?/topic/153865-fragen-an-radio-eriwan

      Delete
    10. Davian Thule,

      we do need to maintain some balance. We have announced Japs earlier (ok, prolly not announced, but mentioned at least), plus we need to maintain some balance, e.g. we have just release Brits - EU tank nation. However, this yet can be changed in future.

      Delete
    11. @Overlord ,
      From the list below i see that all the Chinese fiction uses\based on clear soviet tanks , (t34\is2\t54\is3)

      Then why do you think it's proper to make another soviet tree just with different decal ?
      Is this because of the Chinese community ?

      @Jiří Vojáček
      Did not wanted to troll , just said my opinion on the Chinese tanks . Anyway , I understand that was my bad , so i am sorry for that .

      Delete
    12. David Diamond,

      I have covered this is replies below.

      Delete
    13. Thank you for your answers and your time, Overlord
      Sincerely, Silentstalker (EU) (sorry for the silly name, I had actually no idea it's assigned to my spare gmail account)

      Delete
    14. @ DD

      Of course that because of huge Chinese community :). This is the only reason for this tech tree. China is probably best market for WG with more players then RU, EU and US together. Also Chinese players probably spend a lot of money (I had seen screenshot from random battle with 29 Type 59 and one poor Tiger ;) )!

      Delete
    15. @Dead_Skin_Mask

      OMG , 29 Types ?!? This is madness .
      I would never ever play in this server .

      Delete
    16. Chinese server is totally different, mostly because of the people's mentality there. Of course we are not using the same requirements for all regions.

      Delete
  11. Well, Chinese tree in 0.8.2 would be totally strange move, cause so far there were big gaps between introductions of new nations.

    I more believe in some US tanks in 0.8.2 :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Same. I am actually surprised how far the Chinese tree is, but I very, VERY much doubt they'll make it till the end of the year. I mean - people have to have time to enjoy the British tanks, right?

      Delete
    2. Dead_Skin_Mask,

      we have to account for different regions so as to adjust content and feature plans accordingly. Global strategy sometimes doesn't coincide with regional strategy.

      Delete
    3. Well, this explanation looks like we will really get Chinese tanks in December.

      So my only hope is that EU players will use them very very rare :D. Please do not make them initially OP like French ones, cause then all rush grind them :) (not whine, I know that it was hard to balance autoloaders and test server is not good place for balancing ;) )

      Delete
    4. 1. Will see.

      2. No branch or tech tree is made OP intentionally. These are mistakes and game design faults, we don't tolerate at all. The aim is to deliver a balanced game.

      Delete
  12. Are you planing to buff the tier 10 heavy tanks? Having heavy armor seems pretty useless against 450mm penetrating HEAT shells...

    And are there any plans to buff the maus?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Common buff is not planned. Will consider it individually per vehicle.

      Delete
    2. Okay, are you planning buffs for the IS4 and the Maus?
      Those two are needing one IMHO

      Delete
    3. Need to check post 8.1 data for that.

      Delete
  13. Isn't the t-25 German prem medium the italian p-40?

    ReplyDelete
  14. Overlord,

    to give us some clarity about the upcoming new "big" content. I assume that we will see it in the following order:

    1. New US Heavy/Medium Tanks
    2. New British TD/SPG
    3. New Chinese Tech Tree
    4. New German TD Line with Waffenträger
    5. New Japanese Tech Tree
    6. New EU Tech Tree

    Could you please correct my biggest faults I made with my assumtions?

    Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hey Overlord, when is the souvenir shop going to open for US and EU players?
    I'm dying to get a WoT watch and coffee mug... but I'd really rather not pay shipping from Russia.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Personally, I have no idea about that. Sorry. :)

      This is a publisher authority and I don't know the details.

      Delete
  16. Here is some EU platers feedback about prem ammo after a few days of playing

    http://forum.worldoftanks.eu/index.php?/topic/170508-gold-ammo-should-be-removed-all-togetherchanged-drastically/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. @2 days spent 3 mils:))@

      That's the quintessence of this topic for me so far. Reckless use of silver prem ammo is too expensive in the long run, even for prem users with tier 8 prems.

      Delete
    2. I've already had a friend who was running gold ammo on an E8 comment on how it isn't sustainable.

      I wouldn't mind a general nerf on gold ammo though, but that's mainly as a tournament/clan wars metagame thing.

      Delete
    3. Another opinion from EU forum as my response Overlord :)

      http://forum.worldoftanks.eu/index.php?/topic/170959-random-is-completely-ruined/#entry3140466

      Delete
  17. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  18. hi overlord,
    can we expect a buff for the SU-101 in 8.2? Because its utter shit with the 100mm D-54S gun! a good buff would be if u give it the 122mm m62!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hello,

      will see based on 8.1 stats. It has been released recently and we haven't got much data yet.

      Delete
  19. Greetings Overlord,

    Any clue what new tanks might be introduced in 8.2? thanks! :D

    ReplyDelete
  20. I have one question concerning the MM of A-20 and Pz38nA. Will there be a reduction in battle tier spread for them?

    I never understood their MM anyway, with the introduction of the designated scouts there is simply no need for those tanks to be treated like scouts as they are very bad at scouting and mostly driven by inexperienced players that don´t know the basics of scouting and are forced to play like that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Neither of them is treated as a scout as far as I remember. Compare to eg T-50.

      Delete
    2. OK, they are not treated like the real scouts, but their MM spread is still to much.
      They get up to battle tier 8, where they can meet tier 8 tanks. Or even better they get a T-50 or VK1602 as counterpart on the enemy team.
      A reduced tier spread for them would be nice or at least some mandatory tutorial that shows the player what is expected from him.
      By the way you should add one for SPG players and please make it mandatory even for tier 6 artillery to show them how to get into arty mode....

      the chart:
      http://s2.ipicture.ru/uploads/20121031/TRkj273R.png

      Delete
  21. hi;

    are u someday taking away the 122mm gun of the kv-1s because as a tier6 tank this gun is way to strong and u are actually able to see it in the rising winrate since the matchmaking chance some month ago?

    ReplyDelete