Purpose of this blog

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

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

[WoT] Moar Tanks!

Regarding the most recent poll: What new tanks do you expect most?

  • Expansion for current trees  - 815 (40%) - I believe to high extent this is because of yet incomplete British tree. Anyway it coincides with the current content plans. 
  • Mixed EU tree (all in one) -  492 (24%) - Combined with 4th option, EU tree in any form is a runner-up. It's not in plans for 2013.
  • Japanese tree - 338 (16%) - getting some solid 16%, Japanese tree is going to be the next to arrive. 
  • Separate EU tree (any country) -  252 (12%)
  • Smth else (specify in comments!) -  120 (5%)
 As always the new poll is up. 

131 comments:

  1. OL, can you provide some more info on the WG/WOT content plans? There's been lots of speculation and rumors as of late. I dont expect an accurate time line, or even an accurate order, but an idea of what you're looking at/"considering"? For example, I dont think anyone saw a new LT/MT line for germany line coming, and rumors suggest a possible new german heavy line down the road.. anything from you would be nice. Like the old days :)

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    1. @Like the old days :)@

      we have got multiple sources of info nowadays and I tend not to share that kind of info in blog anymore. Division of labour as it is :)

      You already know what is coming for 8.4, I guess. What we have for this year more British tanks, German MT line with Leo (soonish), stretching SPGs to 10 tiers, prolly Japs if they make it.

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  2. Any comments on this would be appreciated
    http://ftr-wot.blogspot.nl/2013/02/leaks-more-leaks-oh-my-god.html

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    1. You don't wanna know more on it just now. :)

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    2. That tier 10 german tank looks like the imbreed result between a drunk FV215b and a drug addicted Lowe.

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    3. What do you expect Overlord to say about this, guys? I am a dick because I leaked an unfinished content, that might not even make it to the regular test (let's hope so), not much else to it.

      But personally, I'd really love to know, how some WG people think, because the very fact the tank actually exists in the supertest means that somewhere, at some point, some Wargaming person really went and thought stuff like "Oh, let's put another cumbersome heavy German tank into the game, let's give it that very popular E-100 150mm and oh, yea, let's add the rear turret setup and 0 depression as a bonus". Who in their right mind would actually DO that?

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    4. As an owner of the E-100 and somebody that played it through it's peak performance time, right when it was released and through the times after that, when it was the worst tier ten tank in the game, when you didn't use gold and I didn't, but a very good tier ten when you did, I have to say, that I still like the E-100. It could have been a good tank with any ammo (not OP), but WN refused to see the problem, that gold ammo rocked and regular was terrible.

      Despite the E-100 debacle and the Jpz E-100 following the E-100 right in it's tracks (pun intended) as a low performer, I still love cool (read weird) heavy tanks, like I said in another post "Japanese defence fortresses FTW".

      So to make a long story short, if this Superlowe isn't totally broken balancing wise, I still really really want it, because it looks pretty unique ;)

      A good effort in the "Big balancing patch", that was promised might change things for the better, when it comes to the obsolete German tier 10 tanks (one can still hope)^^

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    5. Frank Davis:
      I am wondering too, why they have to do another big tank with big cannon.

      I am afraid that new TDs will be same. I was hoping for something faster with lower and more accurate calibre that 170mm. But when I was it will have again hull from E100 I was disappointed. I would prefer something on E-50M hull.

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  3. BTW, I meant to post this in one of your other threads, but here are my 2 cents on future "things", some are just ideas and I am sure some are harder than I think to implement.
    -I think it would be interesting to see some maps changed to reflect seasons; for example if some lakes were frozen over in a winterized map that light tanks can cross over (maybe heavy tanks fall through the ice?) Or if winterized maps flooded in the spring.. Things such as this 'might' make developers jobs slightly easier and add a new dimension to some already nice maps.
    -An option to turn any researched tank into a premium? Maybe after it's fully researched the user can pay x amount of gold and it will then generate free xp and credits at 1.5 times for the user? This way any tank can be a premium, but you still get income by forcing the player to pay for it. I'm sure with some effort you could make this work without screwing up your existing premiums.
    -Others mentioned skirmish matches with like 3-6 players on a team and smaller maps. Love that idea. I'm sure there are some challenges to implementing this, but could be nice.
    -I know you mentioned that the WOT Assistant App is in new hands now and being reworked. I hope the latest update wasn't what you were talking about. It can be so much more. I would love to be able to do some basic maintenance in my garage; ie sell/mount modules, exchange gold, etc.

    That's it for now. :) Btw, thanks for the blog, and thanks for a great game.

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    1. Thanks for the ideas.

      Regarding WoT assistant app - the latest update is only a minor part of what is planned for it.

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    2. I mentioned skirmish battles the last time, and I'm glad there is support of this idea here ;). It shows tgat we really need that, as players and as the WoT community in general.

      I really like Your seasons idea. Some areas flooded or turned into giant mud pit that slows tanks down? Great idea! About frozen lakes - I guess collapsing under havier tanks is a great idea, but it might require some additional mechanics to indicate if it is safe or not, so that ppl don't start rioting and crying about random ice breakung only because they don't understand the echanism behind it.

      What I would add is drought in summer, so that most bushes are dried out, and do not privide almost any cover, same with trees.

      Anyway, great idea! :)

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    3. Don't give him the idea for rasputitsa mud maps. It's already bad enough slowing to 10 km/h on the beach as it is.

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    4. Yeah, but this could have additional features like heavy tanks unusable on mud maps, or something like that. There is a lot of potential there to play with.

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    5. The news feed in the updated iPhone Assistant app is broken. Since I installed the update, immediately when it came out some weeks ago, the news feed has updated only once. So that part of the app is now useless. :(

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  4. I voted for the EU Tree in general because I'm an Italian patriot and it hurts my pride that not a single Italian tank is implemented in game, even as a premium.

    If I had more votes I would have also voted expansion for the current tree's simply because I'd like to have a German Nashorn tank destroyer and AMX 30 French medium tank.

    As a third option I'd also have picked something else, I'd like to see an Israeli tree with Super Shermans and an up armored Centurion Mk.5 Shot Kal with a reliable American engine. Or at least see them as Premium's attached to other trees.

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  5. I voted for EU but it is obvious that all those tanks should appear in game. But for me tanks from European nations are currently the most attractive future feature of this game and to be honest, when War Thunder add tanks and they will be ok, then EU tanks can be the only thing that will keep me interested with WoT. You know, German, Soviet and US tanks are in many games. But playing with Czech, Italian, Hungarian, Swedish or Polish tanks can be your great asset in Europe and probably also in USA (all those nations have migrants there), which keep players in WoT.

    It will be also nice to see Japanese of course, and some still not added vehicles from big trees. The only ones I am not interested with are Chinese TD's and SPG's.

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  6. Regarding the "esports" poll question: I couldn't possibly care less about it. Watching other people play video games holds no allure for me at all. If you includes WoT tournaments in "participating" then I do that, but I do it for the gold, not because I consider myself an "eathlete."

    Do gaming companies think it's the future? A big revenue stream waiting to be further exploited? Haven't people been trying to turn it into an "industry" for decades with little success?

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    1. Yes, esports is now commonly regarded as a way to promote the game and increase its lifetime. I'm not a big of esports myself, however I watched replays and online battles for some games to improve my own tactics when I was playing (Warcraft, LoL, etc)

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    2. Is it possible that you publish the big top battles from these tournaments as WoT replays? I think they should be interesting to anyone who wants to learn from the best players.

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    3. Sure thing there should such an option or better - an opportunity to watch it live on portal or via game client.

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    4. Late reply but I can see the lifetime extension now, not really sure why that didn't occur to me before. I *still* play Company of Heroes on a pretty competitive level.

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  7. Screw esports, give us proper endgame content (oh and Leo, Leo is the only thing I'm waiting for this year).

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    1. "Proper" endgame content is in the works.

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    2. Yeah ... it starts to feel like it just prefers to tay there, and does not really feel like getting published any time soon. We are waiting for proper end game content for two years now ...

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    3. You have been waiting for it since day 1? come on :)

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    4. I actualy was missing some endgame in beta already ... of course there was some endgame added, but how long can You play. CW? ;) I had my first T10 in 2-3 weeks after the beta ended, and so I started CW pretty early, I also got tired of it relatively early. Some new tanks were fresh air in CW to some poit (bat chat changed a LOT!), but now no new tanks add any dramatic change at all.

      I may not be bored since day 1, but I know the problem since closed beta!

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  8. For me WoT + E-Sports is a big joke as long as that +/-25% RNG is in place.

    Just imagine a "Shot Put" competition were one participant uses a 4kg shot, the next 3kg and on other one 5kg.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shot_put

    A small RNG like +/-10% would be ok but what we currently have in place isnt fun in randoms and absolutly not suited E-Sports.

    As long as you are more worried about the avg noob and his experience of success, there wont be any respectable E-Sport.

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    1. Thanks, I know what "shot put" is (a big fun of RL sports :)).

      Randomization is huge and inherent part of many games, including some that are successful on esports. And btw, you have a much higher RNG within your aiming circle - multiple armour groups raning from X to Y mm.

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    2. OL - I was pretty sure you know what shot put is. I justed linked for everyone who isnt that good with english.

      Back to E-sports. A few days ago I had the following situation: I encountered a french t7 TD with 600 HP left in my JgdPanther (680 HP) with 10.5cm. That resulted in a frontal shot out above short range.
      I was the first to be ready and fire - > 280 damage, he returned fire for 350 damage, I fire again below 300 damage, he survies and finishes me of with an other high damage shot.

      his avg damage - 300
      my avg damage - 320

      So dispite the fact that I had the better equipment for that situation, gained a better position by beeing able to shot first, I still lose because of RNG-BS.
      If I want to play roulette I visite a casino - this big RNG makes every kind of sport a joke, because guys who take that E-Sport thing serious know about weakspots, armour groups and all the other stuff.

      As long as luck decides who wins and not skill/knowledge - no E-Sports.


      I have proposed it in the past and I will do it again:

      When the test-server isnt used for regular public testing of a new patch, open it and let it run with a rng of ~10% for a while for testing purposes. COllect data and players feedback on it ...

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    3. Luck factor should be in place, otherwise it gets boring sooner or later imo. And its especially important for random (on esports side I tend to support you more here).

      As for your situation, always think for two sides - when someone wins, someone loses - that's the rule and we need to account of both.

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  9. Personally, I find the term "e-sports" ridiculous. As if bashing a keyboard was ever a sport - about as much as chess is. It's competitive gaming, nothing more, nothing less.

    Anyway, I wish WG would just focus on content (regardless of what content - maps, tanks, bug fixes) for everyone. If a bunch of guys want to make "e-sports" competitions in the game, fine, whatever. As for competitive gaming itself - the model I always like the most is the World of Warcraft arena, 2v2. Two people versus two people, in a brutal firefight. It's not so hard to get one other person to fight with. Two other people, that's much harder. 14 other people - impossible, unless you're a clanner, at least on regular basis.

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    1. I may be wrong but in WoT esport tournaments teams are composed from 7 players, so you need to find only 6 guys :)

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    2. Yes, 7/42 is promoted as main esports format.

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    3. Will the 7/42 take over for companies? And will they be limited to max tier 8 like in ESL today?

      ESL as of today is done in a training room, and i have played some matches where we have lost due to admin rulings and somewhat unclear rules, so if its implemented all the rules and regulations should be done by system for consistensy. Is that the plan overlord?

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    4. ofc it shouldn't be done via training rooms - we are going to provide a decent, built-in support for this mode in-game, including logic and interface. We are planning to involve much more players into competitive play.

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  10. Isn't it better to focus on refining the game a bit than to just add new material? I know new tech trees and tanks are mainly there for generating revenue, and I don't mean to be rude, but isn't the monthly premium accounts enough to sustain the company while issues with the game is taken up?
    The gold shell for credit thing is a noble thing, as it allowed free players access to gold shells, but it also meant that people with tier 8 prem tanks could easily shoot as many gold shells as they want.
    It also means people are much less reluctant to use gold shells in general, thus creating a bigger gap between prem players and non prem players.

    Also, while normal AP shells are somewhat balanced pen wise (Maus and E-100 are still a bit on the low side, but its somewhat bearable), the prem shells are by far not.
    If you compare the prem shell of IS-7 and T110E5, the penetration difference is a holy nutty 81mm. Let's put this into a scenario.

    A Maus is known for its fair difficulty in playing right, angling is the major key as it has the lowest DPM at its tier, having almost the same reload time as object 268 to load a 490 dmg shell as the latter has for loading a 850 dmg shell.
    Maus players angle their tank and counterattack enemies that bounce on them as looking straight at enemies leaves the turret cheeks vulnearble. The turret is angled at a steeper angle than the hull due to the turret cheek weakness, while hull is angled at approximately degrees.
    40 degrees angle on 180mm side armor means horizontal effective armor of 180/cos(50) = 280, meaning a fairly high chance of bouncing the 260mm pen shells of standard AP of IS-7, T110E5 etc. In city maps, the angle can be at around 30 degrees (very steep on sides) as you can rely on hard cover to protect the weak lower front hull. This is one of the main things Maus is good for.
    Now, if we put that into math, 180/cos(60) = 360mm, oh wow, this is where Maus shines, it's impenetratable to anything but a max roll from object 268 this way. What are the downsides? You're effectively immobilized, you are vulnerable while shooting and if enemies have arties, you're quite vulnerable, also enemies can just outright avoid that path.
    Now, 360mm armor... that's less than the premium pen of T110E5, this pretty much means Maus cannot even fire on the enemy T110E5 unless it wants to angle itself in a way that it gets penetrated. So, is there any reason not to pick T110E5? I'm not saying the T110E5 is OP, it's fine the way it is with normal AP shells in my opinion, as it is technically weaker in terms of armor compared to the lower DPM IS-7, less hp than both E-100 and Maus etc, but with gold shells, it doesn't make sense anymore. Another point to why Maus suffers very hard from gold shells, is that unlike other tanks like E-100 and T110E5, the tracks don't count as a part of the tank itself and doesn't absorb the shell as spaced armor as on the others, this is a severe disadvantage for a tank that no longer has significant side armor.

    Let's list up the prem shell pen differences with AP shell differences to see the balancing issue. I'm only going to do the heavy tanks just to give an example.


    AP/Gold Difference
    IS-7: 260/300 40
    IS-4: 268/400 132

    Maus: 246/311 65
    E-100: 235/334 99

    T110E5: 269/381 112
    T57 Heavy: 369/381 112

    AMX 50B: 267/351 84

    FV215B: 269/352 83

    113: 257/400 143

    Interesting notes:
    Max difference between AP shells: E-100(235) - Many (269) -> 34mm diff.
    Max difference between Gold shells: IS-7(300) - 2 Tanks(400) -> 100 diff.

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    1. Also, the gold shells all cost 10-12 gold, but yield so different pen advantages compared to each other. IS-7 has ti pay 10 gold for a 40mm difference, whereas T110E5 can pay the same for a whopping 112 difference.
      I'm not saying the tanks are imbalanced, I'm saying the gold shell performance are imbalanced. This further complicates matters, because where IS-7 and Maus are slow aimers with relatively poor accuracy, they already need time to deal damage. Tanks with great stabilizers such as FV215B and T110E5, whom on top of that have higher DPM and much higher pen with gold shells, can easily shoot and pen almost wherever they want.
      When gold shells reaches this high amount of pen, armor no longer have an effect on gameplay, its more about aimtime and damage output.

      I sincerly advise WG to take my arguments into consideration, as with the gold shells for credits change, made the end game content change completely. No longer are players either unable or reluctant in using gold shells in clan wars, so the balance between the end game tanks now has to take into consideration that AP shells are no longer the standard shell, gold APCR or HEAT are now the standard shells of clan wars. Gold shells can stay in game as wargaming.net does need money, I'm not being unrealistic here, but please do balance their penetration values to reflect upon the normal AP penetrations.

      Also I agree with some people above, WoT cannot seriously think of being part of eSports as long as the huge random factor exists. While some randomness are accepted (critical hits in arena games or dispersion in FPS games), world of tanks already have dispersion as random factor. 25%-+ on both damage and pen makes it completely unrealistic to call the game highly skill based, as luck rolls highly determine if a tank lives an extra shot or not. 4-6 extra high rollers on one team can mean the difference between a victory or defeat, such as how just a few moments ago, my team lost because I failed to finish off 2 (amx 90s) x 330 hp enemies with my conqueror (rolled 320 and 300) allowing them to destroy the rest of my team from the flank. Another would be the issue in autoloader tanks, as one expect the dmg to be somewhat near the average dmg, say if you're an amx 50B, and you see an enemy with 1300hp, you'd honestly estimate you can easily destroy that person with your full salvo with average 1600 dmg. However, since the "insecurity" range is so extremely big, if one has to think from eSport mindset, that's a big risk, as you risk having to reload and potentially die. If the range was 10%, it makes the game more exciting, as with just 10%, gambling is much more rare, and much more about calculated risk taking. Having 25& just clouds the game, you have no real estimate of what kind of damage you will deal. Sometimes you'd just roll your 300 hp object 268 out, seeing an enemy tank with 700 hp, and thinks your 850 dmg average should be able to salvage this game if you're quick with the trigger, and just to be slapped in the face with a 650 dmg roll.

      A main income source is from prem accounts, and if you wish for people to stay, you have to address the issues the game has rather than just releasing new purchasable content (yes, new tech trees are gold generators).

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    3. Eh. my apologies, I'm aware there are some faulty statements, such as "all gold shells cost 10-12", as the big one on E-100 obviously costs more, and the 122mm on IS-4 costing 13, but minor correction.
      Big correction is at the Maus section, the tracks count as part of the hull, not the other way around, it was my mistake putting the 't after don.

      Also it would be very nice if Overlord replied to my arguments for once :C

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    4. Huh, so many controversial statements above.

      What exactly is the main point?
      Sorry :)

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    5. x_x;; Uhm... did you read anything of the above? I'm not sure what's controversial about it, I'm merely comparing game stats.

      Main points: Credit shells are fairly balanced regarding each other, gold shells are by far not.

      Point 2: Certain tanks become pointless with certain gold shells.

      Point 3: The tanks with heavy armor that's made redundant by gold shells, in return have the gold shells with lowest pen.

      Point 4: Pen gain for the same amount of gold is too vastly different from each other (IS-7 40 gain compared to T110E5 112 gain)

      Point 5: Gold shells for credits just widened the gap between gold spenders (those who have tier 8 prems) and free players, and made them spammable for those players who only need 1 tier 8 prem game to stock up on 15 gold shells.

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    6. Oh, forgot point 6:

      Dispersion + 25%+- pen + 25%+- damage makes the game too random to be considered professional.
      When a very large portion of the game is decided by sheer luck, it cannot enter the competitive branch that easily.

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    7. Prices of premium ammo are unbalanced, thats fact. For example derp ammo is cheap comparing to damage - 2800 creds for 350 dmg in US and German 105 mm gun with 150 pen in tiers 4-6, while ammo for short 88 mm German gun is much more expensive with lower damage (220 dmg and 4000 credits, the more so penetration is only 170 mm so you still bounce quite often playing in tiers VI-VII). So if you are using premium ammo on derp gun, you still can make some credits, while if you use premium ammo on short 88, you are losing credits very fast.

      [data are from memory so there can be some small mistakes]

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    8. I did read you message, but failed to get the idea of it.

      Regarding your points:

      1. With the option of buying prem shells for credits you can always find the price that is fair for you.

      2. Generally speaking, it's inevitable and acceptable that "certain" tanks are becoming more/less popular over time. Balance is not set in stone.

      3. Armour still matters, even tho its importance was decreased by prem ammo usage growth. We have further plans on how to improve things here - that will be done in one of the upcoming updates.

      4. "Pen" is not the only parameter of ammo.

      5. Nope, everyone has opportunity to take advantage of prem ammo now. You don't necessarily have to spend your money, especially for random.

      6. Again, this. Look through your aiming circle on T29 standing 250m away - enemy armour is stretching from 102mm (hull) to 279 mm (mantlet) - that's what matters, not some pen randomization which follows normal distribution.

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    9. It's funny that I didn't notice much difference when it comes to gold ammo ... pen values may be high, but most of the times I aim for weak spots anywya, so I don't seem to have a big problem with most of these things You are talking about Mimei.

      Inoticed that I get hit more in randoms, that's true, because playera that had no skill in aiming for weak spots now jua do not have to do that anyway, but on the other hand I was used to that because I was playing CW long before premium ammo became available for credits ... in CW everybody aim for the weak spot anyway.

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    10. This is fairly infuriating to defend clear issues with the game.

      1: Price that is fair? Do you really imply that I'm forced to buy certain tanks to get a "fair" price?

      2: Balance is not set in stone, but when it got issues, one better address them, not just accept that they're supposed to stay that way.

      3: Good

      4: Shell velocity and explosive radius for HE etc are all parameters, but penetration still remains a very vital core. And you honestly want to discard the main point, that it's a huge difference between the penetrations? Damage is balanced regarding to damage per shot and reload time, but if you want to argue that the 90 average dmg extra justifies giving the other shell 72 more pen, you might as well wonder why 2 shells of same damage (400 dmg british vs 400 dmg US) has a 29mm difference.

      5: Everyone has the "opportunity" but who takes advantage of this "opportunity"? For as far as I see, anyone with a tier 8 prem tank can easily spam 5-10 shells per random game without affecting their plans too much (exp can be worth more than credits for those players), whereas free players can barely afford them for emergency situations unless they want to be stuck with an elite tank for a long time.

      6: I find this very offending, this is a grave insult to my person and I did not expect it from a WG employee. if you notice from ANYTHING I've written above, I've mainly addressed the issue about end game content. You've taken a tier 7 heavy that has the armor of a tier X heavy on the turret, and compared it to the shells of its tier. I used the flat armor tanks specifically to make this point, many tanks have "border value" armor, say for example the Maus turret front or E-100 turret front. Shooting them with a standard AP shell of tier X caliber, can bounce or not bounce highly depending on roll on the penetration, of course made redundant with gold shells atm.
      With over 13000 games and having owned a T29, you think I'm just a part of some random troll rabble that only types random junk?
      If you want to play the "fool" game like that, I might as well tell you, aim at the upper superstructure of a Ferdinand with the 8.8 Tiger gun, or hey, aim at the upper glacis plate on a tiger P with a 90mm AMX M4 gun, or perhaps... bloody address that while you want to counter my argument by using the most extreme difference between turret and hull armor, you still ignored the whole fact that damage has 25% randomization.

      I own most of the tanks I've described, I'm not here trying to convince buffs on my tanks, I'm here to simply state my opinions on what can improve gameplay as I see certain parts of the game that struggle, if you're just going to insult me for that when I'm TRYING to give constructive criticism, then I can only conclude that WG treats its playerbase as a source of money, and nothing else.

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    11. Przemyslaw, you might want to state what tanks you encounter in CW
      :D

      Prem shells open up alot more "weakspots" on certain tanks. The armor around the mantlet of IS-7 for example, or consistently being able to penetrate E-100 turret cheeks, or just outright penetrate the front plate of Foch 155 without having to consider any realistic angles or aiming for the rangefinder or cupola.

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    12. Mimei Otonashii,

      you are taking things too personal, I wasn't criticizing you directly. A friendly advice - be prepared that your ideas may not be shared and accepted by others.

      And no offense intended in the first place.

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    13. Mimei Otonashii, you must also consider the fact that part of those premium ammo shells are HEAT (as you said you are already experienced player so you definitely know the differences). So they must have more penetration (well not sure if they are not overdoing the pen. thou), but they also have you could say advantage as they cant bounce so "side scraping" tactics in some tanks becomes close to impossible (for example FV215b as it has 50mm of side armor which can be penetrated by IS4 in 80 degree angle while (not overmatched) AP or APCR would auto bounce)

      As of interesting fact I have noticed, it seems that there is like the old and the new generation of tanks (till E100 old, after new gen.). All tier 10 tanks in new generation have higher penetration guns than the old, and that is not so only with regular ammo, also the prem. ammo of new gen. has much higher pen. values. If you compare you can see really great differences. Hope something will be done about this, as it can be clearly seen the tanks were balanced a bit differently back then and things have changed. IS7 was considered to have of the greatest pen. values time ago, but know it just close to the new gen. tanks (even all tier 10 medium tanks have greater pen.) and the gold ammo pen is also way behind the new gen.

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    14. Mimei ... TBH we encounter all tanks with exceptiin of 50B, but maybe we are just fighting weird clans ;). On th other hand in my clan we use E-100 quite often, and sometimes Maus a well. I agree that with gold arround these do not have the same bunker characteristics, as wiithout gold ammo, but these two are still beefier than most tanks out there, and well placed bounce off quite a lot of incoming GOLD projectiles. This of course requires a.lot.more efford than just a regular angling, but still.

      As for "opening" of.certain weakspots: You got me a bit wrong on that one. What I wanted to say by that is You do not need any ammunition for gold at all if only You know weak spots and You tanks penetration potential. It's just a matter of experience I guess ans thousands of shots against each tank ot there. I'm not saying You lack any skills or anything, but many ppl out there players do.

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  11. Second German TD line and second German Medium line.

    Those should have priority over EVERYTHING. But since WG devs HATE GERMANS we know they won't get it.

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    1. If you get an answer to this you get double thumbs up from me!

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    2. svartmetall,

      sounds pretty unbiased. Thumbs up.

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    3. Its funny because the germans got there two heavies first and infact got the first tank ever MODELED in WoT's (PzIV if I remember from that quiz) so shush.

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    4. Yes yes, we have our 2 Heavys and do you see them in ClanWar??? No, why should you, they suck, go and take IS-7 and 4 and some american heavys, 5 BatChats 25t and you got your force.

      AND NO, no thumbs up for that, not one. What timeline is soonish???
      I want to hear clear statements, the second german TD line was first to release in December 2011... hmmm...

      Another question, will Leo have Laser Sight? Through witch branch will I be able to research it? Will it be playable?

      It's not that I want to piss u off, I just don't like surprises that much! That I get enough when I fire at a tanks side and nothing happens because there is no bullet comming out of my gun!

      Delete
    5. Mauses are used on city maps like Himmelsdorf and Erlenberg, while E100s are even more popular on CWs.

      Can't say they are not used at all.

      No laser sights, sorry.

      Delete
    6. Overlord and is it a coincidence that the russian tanks are the most used in cw?

      Delete
  12. I'm missing the option to vote for "We really don't care about new tanks".

    I'd rather love to vote for multi core support (in 2013, really WG?), fixing match making, invisible tanks and so much more.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Oh man, here we go again ...

    I once again have to post my opinion, that we already have so many tanks in the game, that every new tanks is nit that much of "new" at all. I hope thats only a small part of Your team working on it, and we can expect some fresh air in terms of gameplay ;).

    We need new maps, new game modes, new mechanics that add more possibilities. Some new elements on maps would also be nice, like tall grass that can be trampled, but is not a transparent sprite, maybe buildings that create piles or rubble that You can use to reach new places, some environment interaction. Whatever that would be, fog, dense smoke cliuds in the streets from burning buildings on city maps, mire destructiles ... that all would bring more to the game, than just another tank.

    I'm from Poland, and at this point, I just don't care for polish tanks as a new vehicle branch or tree. There is already so much out there, that I want new ways to use what I already have. What good comes from 3 more tanks, if I can only do with them the exactly same thing, that I already did with tens of other tanks? :(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We have got a dedicated team that is working on tanks only. Anyway those guys can't do anything else - so will be adding new tanks in parallel with everything else. :)

      Delete
    2. Could you pl hire some one to create the extrimely difficult task of adding a tir choice button in garage.I know its a major investment and as difficult as time travel but any one whit more then 50-100 tanks will be for ever greatful,It fells rely silly that this basic option still haven't been added.
      Also a option to swich between standard ammunition and CW load out wood be great ad.

      Delete
    3. We are planning to rework hangar filters for WoT.

      Delete
    4. Yeah, tier filters are one, but scrolling that list with mouse wheel is another thing that is just horrendous and slow. Why is it like that? It feels like it's trying to resist scrolling :(

      And about other teams working on other stuff: They need more man power apparently! Every single thing except tsnks is AWFULLY slow. And is there snybody working on remaking all buildings in the game? These are crying for reworking and adding more details! Send them all to the tanks team, so they can learn how to work efficiently! :-P

      Delete
    5. Sorry but the planning part worries me... same answer i seen since i start playing 18 moths ago. Also i know some one said that you wont add option to alter garage (think it was storm), which i find disappointing. Getting rely tired of seeing my tanks standing in a boring flight hangar.... i know it small things but the background and sound you had this winter was a great up lift of setting the tank mode before battle.

      Other wise thanks for keeping this blog running.

      Delete
    6. Przemysław Majkowski,

      because it's requires far less effort to add new content rather than add an entire new feature - even relatively small. That's why content DLCs are so popular nowadays.

      Delete
    7. Cribb,

      I believe a lot have changed for the last 18 month. or you mean the tier filter alone? :)

      Delete
    8. Cribb,

      You have tons of mods that alter Your garage to one of the previous garages from events, and there has also been some that just place You tank on one of maps, just look for it :)

      Ovi,

      That does not explain anything ;), that just states that tanks are the lazy and easy way out of "nothing new" problem. New content on the ther hand is what keeps the game fresh, and draws more attention to the game. With tens of tanks and just several game modes You can count the value of each thing in a simple way ... lers just multiply these two, and we get hiw much each things brings to the game. Adding one tank will make only "seversl points" in our fake equation ... on the other hand adding one small game mode can make our score get tens and hundrets more "content points" in that calculation.

      Delete
    9. Yes i men´t the tier filter. Fells like a simple thing to add in comparison to other stuff.

      And yes a lot have change. A big + especially for the new Physics, unfortunately its the way of forum, that most we are replying to here is things we want to change/imp and not the things we pleased whit :S
      And as the Eu portal/forum is so below the the Russian and NA this is like the only place we can get any respons :(

      Delete
    10. Cribb,

      you know how it works: "we don't want to improve a minor thing right now cos we are planning an entire new system" and afterwards it appears that new system takes quite some time to be delivered.

      Delete
    11. Good that we did in WoWP initially btw

      Delete
    12. What about more visible information in the platoon window like tier of chosen vehicle, its class, its battle tier spread and so on.

      I´m so tired of new players forming silly platoons, like 2 tier 5 mediums and a tier 5 arty, where I have the fun to usually have in my team, well its no fun at all...

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

    ReplyDelete
  15. Judging after participating in multiple tournaments, winning gold and prizes in some... Well, I'm not interested in them at all.

    Why?

    Because the regular fuckups by the organizers:

    - 98% waiting for shit to happen, 2% playing (when you are dead tired)
    - waiting for 3-4 hours is simply unacceptable,
    - lack of information
    - restarting tournaments after finished rounds, because a techical/organizer fuckup, playing same battles again
    - did I mention waiting for hours?

    It's just brain numbingly bad experience, not a Esport, but a waiting game...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. See your point. What tournaments did you take part it?

      Delete
    2. From the top of my head:

      - Last T1 tournament was an absolute utter failure, countless hours of waiting, people literally revolting on forums, then organizers restarted the whole event, because an operator forgot something, so we had to repeat the first round later... In the end we even got gold as compensation, but nothing can compensate my wasted free time.

      - All Super 6 tournaments I participated in resulted in horribly long delays. 1st round of most recent one resulted in a 4+ hour delay. When we finally got to fight, people started to leave (we had provinces to defend on CW map), morale got very low... 2nd round started with 2 hr delay.

      Delete
  16. Hey Overlord,

    how can u say, that the HESH ammo of the FV215b 183 is not op and tell us in the same sentence, that the HESH ammo of the FV4002 is balanced, too!
    Because for the pen the FV4002 loses around 25% and the FV215b 183 only ~11% and for the damage its the same! The FV4002 gains only ~23% but the FV215b 183 gain even more than 50%! So how on earth can u call this balanced?

    So can we get ~240mm pen and ~600 damage for the FV4002? Because without real gold ammo the FV4002 is totally useless in the situation where u need the real gold ammo!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Just a thought but a while ago you produced a developers diary where you listed the planned mods and game changes in a yearly diary format as to what was definatly on the agenda. as I only saw this now and it ansered a question of mine straight away :) "Mixed EU tree (all in one) - 492 (24%) - Combined with 4th option, EU tree in any form is a runner-up. It's not in plans for 2013" so at least now I am not in the dark about this comming in this year which is fine and ateast I now know :)


    While you got some backlash as the dates werent met due to whatever reasons, this would be a good communicqation tool for us devoted fans.... just dont put them in any kind of date order but rather in a current priority order.

    exaple:

    Mods/ parches and uopdates planned for 2013 (no dated but in priority order)
    1 patch 8.4 - a listing of features included
    2 British spg and TD trees
    3 German light and medium trees

    Etc etc

    You get the idea... this would be great with obviously a little more detail about each one and it would give us all something to look forward to and get excited about :)

    What do you think Overlord?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's slightly out of my scope right now - as a company we are currently not eager to share long/mid-term plans on a particular project because of the generally negative or perceived as negative reaction on such announcement in the past.

      Can't say I fully support this, but I do agree that it's better to do dose out the info not revealing much at once.

      Delete
    2. So you prefer negative reactions after you implement something? I don't mind a surprise in the tech tree from time to time, but not like that Lowe, it looks useless and hideous...

      Delete
    3. I prefer positive reaction over everything else. The fact is early announcement doesn't guarantee that.

      Delete
  18. Dear Overlord,

    i would love to see a Mixed EU-tree and having the Swedish Strv 103 , Tank destroyer with it's unique design and totally awesome hull-down capabilities

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stridsvagn_103

    ReplyDelete
  19. Dear Overlord, can we expect the second German Medium Line with 0.8.5? And can we expect the second German TD line in autumn?

    Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. German mediums are to come in 8.5, as for TDs - late autumn - winter I'd say.

      Delete
    2. Witch branch will I have to choose to research them? Through VK 3002 DB or VK 2801???

      AND THIS IS AN ANSWER I LIKE! Thumbs up!

      Delete
    3. VK3002(DB) as seen here: http://wiki.worldoftanks.eu/images/archive/9/9c/20130217225318%21German_Tank_Tree_Full.jpg

      Delete
    4. The question is: is this still Up-To-Date???

      Delete
    5. OL already confirmed that the VK2801 will lead to a RU 251 (tier 8 light) so that branch is busy. This leaves the VK3002(DB) as the most plausible starting vehicle for the new medium branch.

      Delete
  20. Ovi, i am still waiting for that experience reduction for the object 268, any newsssss?

    Thanks :P

    ReplyDelete
  21. Hi Overlord.

    I am concerned by the amount of tank types getting into WoT. This introduces 2 negative properties:
    1) It is less realistic, you are moving away from giving the atmosphere of a WW2 tank battle. There are plenty tanks in game now which have not fought a single battle or even were not in service or even were not produced at all.
    2) There are 2 main aspects of this game to learn for a player. One is the strategy: spot, scout, ambush, support, flank, bait, cooperate, rush, defend, sneak in, choke points, ... . I think this is the real fun in this game, this is why i got addicted. The other aspect is the knowledge of your tank, your nearby teammates' tanks and the nearby foes' tanks. It is VERY important to know the different armor plate thicknesses and gun characteristics of all tanks. Really. It is crucial for a player who wants to get good. And this is bad, because it is not fun. Nobody want to learn those numbers. Even more not for such many tanks. And especially not for never-existed tanks! Look I play WoT for 1-2 years, have about 58% win ratio, so i am a relatively experienced player. So if this bothers me, imagine what a new player can say! I know about the penetration help feature in the game by the crosshair, and it helps, but does not solve the problem.

    But there is a solution. You just need to achieve a popularity rate between the tank types similar to what their numbers in real life battles were. Tanks which never saw service could get a minimum rate. I remember that in the past WarGaming planned this policy, but apparently you dropped it. Then you were planning to achieve this by (de)motivating by credit income balancing of the tank types. I understand that this feature has serious negative properties too, but still believe that the gain would be larger than the pain.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You have brought a very good point, we are thinking in a similar direction.

      Delete
    2. Derp guns on M4 and PzIV were a step in the right direction. They are really populer now :P.

      Delete
    3. Ok, the above post is a bit trolling, but I fully agree with Zoltan Toth. Good idea is to decrease running cost/unlock cost of historical tanks, while keep prototype tanks the same and increase for hypothetical never-were tanks.

      Delete
  22. Here again since it has been ignored in the other thread...
    Dear Overlord
    I and many others are still waiting for a server transfer.
    It is taking far too long and its just not fair.
    We dont get the possibility to make gold through clan wars and many events and tournaments due to the time zone difference.
    Furthermore there are still not many tank companies running, especially absolutes, in our time zone.
    First time I asked for a server transfer was about a year and a half ago.
    Now I have almost 15k battles under my belt and I own about 10 tier X tanks and other top tiers. I bought premium for more than a year until recently because I just got tired of it.
    There is a very very long thread on the NA forums requesting a server transfer and a Clan requesting it too but its just being ignored and we get no real news on it.
    The technical support service tells me there will be no possibility of transfer and you Overlord said some time ago that its being in the works.
    Can wargaming at least pretend to care and give us some information on it, some period of when it could happen?
    I want to be able to earn gold through clan wars and events just as all the other players.
    Thank you in advance and greetings from Germany,

    yours faithfully

    wostok

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't possess the info on when the transfers will be publicly available, but the "roaming" feature is in plans for 2013. It's the prerequisite for account transfer.

      Delete
    2. Is the plan only for moving your account to another server or will i be possible to play all server with one account?

      I would like to be able to play on RU or US server to se if they have different style of play, with my current EU garage.

      Delete
  23. Why is behind every nickname a _RU or _EU on the testserver?

    wouldnt it be better to but nothing behind it, to prevent the teamkilling, because of the nationality.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There can be players with same name on EU and RU server and it could make some problems.

      Delete
    2. thy could maybe create a hiden RU/EU/NA/SEA tag, that the normal player doesnt see it!

      Delete
    3. It looks like players dont have some hidden ID but their ID is their nick. So current solution does not need any change in program code. And when you want to test something you should not test version with another code cause than you will not know how it will be working on other version.

      Delete
    4. Maybe Overlord can tell us, if our nickname is really our ID or if there is a hiden one!

      Delete
    5. But why there will be another unique ID (hiden) in database when we have uniques nicks?

      Delete
    6. Technically the region tag can be hidden, but I think it should be visible for all. I think it brings extra fun that you are fighting in an international team against international enemy.

      Delete
    7. Ofc there are some negative exceptions to that, but that's inevitable, I believe.

      Delete
    8. lol so i should ignore it, that i get killed rather often by a russian player, who thinks that a player from the EU or NA server is not worth getting the last kill!

      Delete
    9. I never had such a problem on test server.

      Delete
  24. Please, release the Leopard as soon as possible. Screw more SPGs, we want less SPGs, not more. Bring the Leo first...... oh, and please, don't let it be a huge let down like its fat brother, E-50M.

    Also, you could do one of these things:
    1 - Remove silver premium rounds.
    2 - Rebalance tanks that rely on armor. As it is now, they are completely useless and imbalanced. Other tanks got speed and firepower, while others get to be amazing arty magnets.
    3 - Allow us to have a full XP and credits refund for making armor useless.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As awesome as it would be for them to implement all that, I bet they never will, not even 1 thing on that list.

      Delete
    2. @warstore "Also, you could do one of these things:
      1 - Remove silver premium rounds."

      I've got better idea. Cause some tanks were historically balanced for "premium" ammo (like M47 and M48) WG should leave gold ammo but they should limit usage of it. This can be achieved by two ways:
      - ROF with gold ammo should be lower about 50%
      or
      - gold ammo should dmage gun after 5 shots and then destroys it after 10 shots (something like speed governer).

      Delete
    3. Are you sure about this? Storm said Leo wouldn't come before summer. And 8.5 is scheduled for April.

      Delete
    4. Gold ammo shouldn't be limited, it should be completely eliminated. It is not like ppl shoot gold all the time, they just load a few rounds to easily pen those tanks that rely only on armor.

      Other options could be considered. The new SU-100Y introduced an interesting concept, trading damage for penetration. The same should be applied to every tank. A thin rod that boasts more penetration shouldn't be doing the same damage as a larger projectile. Derp HEAT shells shows how broke is the current concept. It has more penetration and 3x the damage of other gun options. And the devs don't think it is broken. Of course they don't, because they just look at some statistics instead of playing the game with a player's eyes.
      Anyone who is crazy enough to drive a VK4502P now will find that his tank can be easily penned through the mantlet but his speed is the same, rate of fire is the slowest of all nations, the gun is still inaccurate, has the lowest penetration, but the armor is now useless. Gold rounds didn't help this tank at all, only fucked it up.

      Delete
    5. @warstore "Gold rounds didn't help this tank at all, only fucked it up."

      It was fucked up already, with introduction of new high-penetration T9-T10 guns for US, French and USSR. Current gold ammo issue shows that:
      - not all tanks should have gold ammo
      - not all guns should be able to fire gold rounds
      Of course I would limit it to the historical data, no fantasy ammunition and no ammunition developed after some tank was retired.
      Still, I think it's good idea but it should be limited by gun capabilites.

      Delete
    6. Superbabs84321eu,

      think it's outdated.

      Delete
    7. Apart from the Leo that we know about is every tree getting a MBT like the French I saw had a AMX-30 on the tree for a time?

      Delete
  25. Hello,

    I think one of the most important improvement will be the new end-game content. Not only the CW but some other thing. The game become older and older, and the number of old player will increase. But old player need some new challenge not only grinding the new tank line.

    5v5 ranked deathmach
    Only tier X allowed, with pre-made group.
    You must selec the maps (only the smallest can work, like Mines or Province)

    Winner gain rating, and the rating will be public.
    Enemy was other random (but premade, like comany) team and the result was calculated based on the rating of teams. (something like ELO point system)

    If you have enough rating you can purchase (for credit) some extra stuff.
    This stuff maybe only visual or minor upgrade for tanks (f.e: unique camo)

    Other reward:
    You have extra nickname which is visible in your name when you go to random battle.
    Fe:
    Sergeant Schundi (with low rating)
    General Schundi (with high rating)
    etc.

    You lost your ranks, if you leave the group. (The purchased camo do not lost, but you cannot purchase again if it is expired. If you buy extra camo for gold it is not expired ofc.)
    Avoid the decreasing activity in random of top players the deathmach battle gives you no XP and/or credit, only rating.

    Changeable nickname
    You can farm some nickname during the game. For example: 40 steel wall= XY the ironman.
    40 sniper = XY the Eagle Eye
    You can swich between your nickname in the garage and it is visible in the random battle.

    Other important point:
    More effective in-clan communication is neccesary
    Must be implement some new tools:
    In-game clanchat. Across this you can reach your clanmate in the random battle.
    Clan - calendar
    Everybody can see the clan-events (CW, training etc)in the garage.

    ReplyDelete
  26. If not an EU tech tree, then please release those premium Italian tanks planned for the French tech tree. They may be in French colours, but they're still Italian tanks nonetheless. The Japanese already have their own tank, the Chi-Ha (in Chinese colours), so give the Italians one as well.

    For premium tanks, please prioritize the British and French trees as they are still greatly lacking in choices. It has been agonizingly slow and it's very disappointing that only one premium will be introduced in 8.4, not to mention yet another high tier Russian TD when there's already the SU-122-44. Preferably historical tanks as there are far too many prototype/blueprint tanks already.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Fiat M13/40, Marder III (Sdkfz 139) and Type 95 Ha-Go tanks are a few examples.

      Delete
  27. Overlord, just a quick question please, because some people moaned about my interpretation of your words: is the 7/42 company mode considered being "endgame content" by you, or did you have something else in mind, when you said the endgame content is being developed?

    ReplyDelete
  28. Why don't you implement a ladder league for 2vs2 or 3vs3 fights. Platooning up with a friend and clicking on a battle button, just choosing appropriate league. Record stats for 3 months for example and give players who won some rewards and record their ranking in the current league into permanent stats history page. For example "season 1: 235 place with XXX friend in team".

    Players pay the silver fee to enlist themselves into the league on the start. You choose which tier to enlist( T1 vehicles, T2...T10).

    And there it is addictive new system that many would play.

    You don't need to make new maps, just "crop" some parts, or make non passable obstacles. For example, split himelsdorf in 4 parts with unpassable obstacles and make every part a separate field of battle with its own spawn points. You'd get a ton of maps this way without doing much.


    Id like to get more competitive but i don't want nor do i have enough time to search for in game friends, get social on TS and similar.

    I just have a few friends i see from time to time in the game and playing 2vs2 or 3vs3 with them would be a proper end game for me, as was arena in WOW for example.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Love it! I'd join it in a hearbeat. An open ladder that encourages teamwork and competition with a modicum of a reward.

      Delete
  29. id like to see finishing of the german tree b4 the rest tbo russian and german were the first 2 faction in game in beta im sure many others would like to see it aswell cant wait to see 8.5 nothing interesting in 8.4 cept for retarded op brit td and wont participate in that shananagin

    ReplyDelete
  30. I think wargaming went full retardet. Premium ammo for silvers and 5 nuke armed arty at almost every map make this game boring and i dont want to play it any more. I think War Thunder going to kick your dumb ass. Think a bit guys.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. @Eugen Suchon

      You don't say? :P
      Still flawed issues:
      - OP arty from tier 2 to tier 8 (even T57 and SU26 are too strong, arty should be kicked two tiers higher beginning with tier 2)
      - chinese tree
      - OP high tier tank destroyers (especially Foch, frenches should be kicked one tier above starting from tier 7)
      - OP revolvers, one bullte should be removed from chamber
      - OP KW1S since russian tree switch (see in tier 6 companies which tank is ridden most)
      - too powerful new premium destroyers (Dicker is better than JpzIV maybe you should switch them? Same with Ygrek)
      - SuperPersh should have lower dpm than standard
      - too powerful howitzers especially with premium ammo
      - premium ammo too easy to use
      - tanks shouldn't have ability to oneshot tank on that same battletier (except shooting against arty and scouts - but T50-2 swallows 4 bullets in 5 so I think this not concerns it :D)
      - scouts splitted from lights group
      - lack of proper end-game content
      - nonhistorical guns on tanks - maybe add new subtiers to better balance tanks? Lets say 15-20 subtiers, that move will allow to built additional variants (like panther a and g) in same tier but different subtiers
      - sack SerB or move him to another department to spoil something else

      Delete
    2. Also:
      - redefine scouts trees, t50-2 especially with premium is still OP
      - clear rules of balancing - some tanks gets nerf hammer after two patches (like vk28) some after year and not even a hammer but nerf cushion (like t50-2, yup soviet bias)
      - sack team from maps - serene coast, province, swamps, komarin, el- haluf are the dumbest projects i have ever seen (followed by slightly better murowanka or campinovka) - simply dont allow people to camp on 3/4 of map.
      - don't rely of newcomers, there are veterans too and they are tired with all issues above, I would gladly pay for premium if I know that I will get balanced game with good modes and enjoyable end-game content, new tanks to grind (especially as dumb as chinese, really throw it to bin now) will not make to pay.

      Delete
  31. Maps maps maps... Please stop bringing in new tanks and begin on fixing the current maps that do not work (plasot already stated some of the "crap maps")and create new maps. More variety in maps is very appreciated.

    One nice feature (most likely on distant future) would be weather changes. As an example, Dragon Ridge would have fog. Like in a jungle enviroment, there would be random changes of 0%-40% decrease on visibility and spotting range due to fog. The frozen lake idea is good.

    ReplyDelete
  32. ORIGINAL TANK CREW LANGUAGE OPTION!!! PLS!!

    Come on how hard is it to:
    1-translate roughly 50 short sentences from english to 5 other languages
    2-find some dudes to record the audio
    3-add a ''use original tank crew language'' option to the game

    at most 2 months' worth of work..

    come on, it's easy to make, and it would have a high game atmosphere reward for players..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Exactly!! I've been wanting this feature from day 1!

      Delete