9.2.2013 - Storm Special

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Q&A - Storm Special

Source: http://world-of-kwg.livejournal.com/154975.html

Storm discusses what pisses people off. Basically it's a huge Q&A brainstorm. Here's the info, gleaned from the comment section:

SS: RU players are asking all sorts of weird and useless bullshit. The prevalent issue people have a beef with seems to be the "sticky" gun barrel (resp. aiming circle) when near some buildings.

- there are no more game modes planned (SS: apart from historical and garage battles), Storm states it's just too big an undertaking, while the developers have many small things to work on
- in the hangar, a mechanism will be implemented to allow players to pre-set their tanks into groups for easier selection
- the "bug" where the aim sticks to a nearby object and slides along them in arcade more (SS: nearby a building the aim goes up for example) cannot be fixed, as it is one of the fundamental flaws of the engine (SS: the issue originates in the fact that while the sniper mode works with the gun axis itself, the arcade mode doesn't, it works with different gun and camera angles and the corellation between them causes the issue)
- the "invisible" flat rail wagons in Ensk will be made brighter
- there will be a new "tank is burning" effect to make the fact the tank is on fire more clear, when it's done it's done
- text chat in battle is not planned to be switcheable off, because it would reduce team interaction
- tracers will recieve a complete overhaul
- it could be possible to remove one map from the random pool - two and more create bad issues during the teammaking phase
- the bug where when you buy gold ammo for silver and switch turret on the vehicle, the currency switches back to gold will be fixed in 8.4
- Storm states that night battles look cool, but gameplay-wise they are really bad
- there will be a sound effect remake, for example special sounds when tracks are hit, when gun is hit etc.
- no random battles skill MM ever!
- no solid gun barrels
- vertical tech tree won't return
- there will be no general limits on the amount of one type of vehicle in companies/CW/etc
- Storm has an idea already how to fix the excessive gun swinging when the vehicle moves over broken surface
- devs are okay with the amount of "paper" tanks and with the game economy
- CS-strike modes (bomb-defuse, VIP assassination) cannot be handled by random players, the game is aimed at casuals, a part of the game playerbase never played games before
- the platoon flood in some battles is not regarded as an issue
- serial AFKers will be punished more, devs already worked out some measures to fight them
- no special client version needed with lowered textures, Storm thinks it's enough to set the textures to minimum
- tank position update frequency (so tanks don't "teleport") won't be changed
- the plans to introduce popular mods directly into the game are being studied, it's not yet sure which mods, it's also not clear whether these mods will be introduced for everyone (SS: as in "maybe only for professional progamerer accounts?)
- no new shell types are planned
- applique armor module won't come in 2013 - takes too much work
- Storm likes the "Strategist music" battle chatter soundtrack, but states it's not for everyone and some find it distracting
- all tank visual models will be re-worked in the future for better detail
- the premium hightier Soviet medium tank will be a T-44 prototype with 85mm gun, won't come in near patches, but it will come in 2013 (SS: So I was right :))
- teamdamage punishment system (from ramming) can't be fully automatic as it is impossible to always determine who's to blame
- working lights on tanks (weather etc.) - not in forseeable future
- ingame MP3 player won't be implemented
- dynamic tank naming (SS: Panzer IV with short 75 = Ausf.D, with long Ausf.F2 etc) got scrapped, it would cause confusion
- devs didn't get any proper suggestions how to handle the impact of heavy shells on very light targets (apart from the 3-caliber rule). A player suggested that during a ricochet of very large shell on thin armor, the shell does 25 percent of damage. Storm replies: "And players will whine: 'Why did the tank reflector/box/armor screen/crewmember/dog ate my shell damage?' It would lead to confusion. We thought about it and refused."
- the battle start timer won't be made shorter, as many players use the time to identify the team and tactics
- armor cracking (SS: thinner armor on spots that have been hit previously) won't be implemented
- realistic engine sounds (from real tanks) - not anytime soon, as it is really too complicated, there are very few running condition tanks left
- +-25 pen/dmg random factor won't change
- crewmember models won't be implemented into the game
- trollplatoons won't be disabled (eg. no limit on what tanks can platoon with what)
- multiturret mechanism is not planned until 2015
- low-tier HEAT shells will get a nerf
- Sixth sense won't be remade so it would keep the lightbulb icon lit for the whole time the tank is spotted, it would be imbalanced

9.2.2013

- apparently there are not enough British turretted tank destroyers for a whole branch (Q: "Are the rumors that there aren't enough British turretted TDs unfounded?" A: "They aren't unfounded")
- SerB states that apart from the Luchs, the other vehicles being lifted up one tier didn't really have to be rebalanced, as they were balanced around tier 5 and 6 previously already (they were balanced one tier higher)
- the reason the Panzer II and Panzer III/IV arty tree links were removed is that the devs don't like them, they consider them ugly, confusing and unnecessery
- German Leopard MT branch, French HT and MT alternative branches weren't scrapped, even though they were removed from the new tree, developers will simply add them in future patches
- FV215b TD doesn't have a fully treaverseable turret, it moves only to 45 degrees to each side, it has worse armor than FV215b HT and the gun has 1150 alpha, it's compensated by other characteristics (might not be final, tests will show)
- the reason the British TD branch wasn't published in advance was that it changed a lot in the process, the developers will continue in this trend
- E100 armor is bugged, it'll be fixed (example 1, example 2) (SS: if I understand correctly, it's something about the welds and the spaced armor, which does work however)
- tier 7 and 9 companies are not planned
- the changes in the German lower tiers are partially tied to the new German medium branch introduction, which will start from the VK2001DB (SS: don't worry, VK3002DB will be a part of it)
- the British will have more researchable TDs (SS: turreted branch meant)

Edit: fixed the E100 answer (I mistook it for Jpz E100)