3.3.2013

- Vickers Mk.I was not, is not and will not be considered for tier 8 premium British tank
- more than 3 types of shells per vehicle are not considered for now
- one of the "canonical" Japanese Ho-Ri variant pictures has 7 roadwheels - SerB is not sure if it's an error or a different chassis (Chi-To)
- no league MM planned (SerB states it's not technically difficult, but not needed)
- it's possible that the HEAT mechanics will be modified so that the gap between armor screen (spaced armor) and the main armor has more effect (SS: if I understood this correctly)
- Q: "Why is the E-50 gun gold round of the 88 L/100 of the E-50 more expensive than the E-75 gold shells?" A: "Because the Ahnenerbe had to transport not only the gun from the future, but also each round for it"
- special rewards for top 5-10 server clans are not planned for now
- new modes will come in time (SS: by this, historical and garage battles are meant most likely)
- the AMX ELC change (hull lock possibility removed) didn't make it to patchnotes, as stuff gets forgotten sometimes
- the "cap" plate above the IS-4 mantlet is not a part of the hitbox, any shots at it pass thru it into the roof behind it
- post-battle chat? "it's possible" (SS: wtf? didn't SerB deny it yesterday on Riddit)
- company and random statistics will be separate in the future, platoon and random won't
- so far there is no official opinion on XVM (whether it's bad or good)
- the tank drifting is okay as it is according to devs
- in 0.8.4, the limit 72km/h was lifted, Storm states there are still issues (namely with shell penetration during high speeds), but these issues are so rare they decided to lift the limit
- no additional penalty for drowning will be implemented, as the amount of drowners after implementing full repair costs for drowning dropped substantially
- there are no plans to actually implement damage from battle into the replay filename
- British 6-pdr guns were analogical to the Soviet 57mm ZIS-4 when it came to penetration abilities
- railways on all maps will be made lower (so the tank doesnt rock too much)
- Storm doesn't think the British TDs are overpowered
- Christie tanks will definitely not come in 2013
- Ola got promoted, she doesn't have time anymore (for public WoT appearances)
- it is already decided, what comes in 0.8.5, devs are working on it right now, it will be (also) something else than just a branch of tanks

Also, a player named Bersrk wrote a few articles on WoT Wiki (in Russian) of alternative German TD's. It's unclear, how authentic the module statistics are:

Marder III
Nashorn
Sturer Emil

SerB answers questions on Reddit

Source: http://www.reddit.com/r/WorldofTanks/comments/19jkdo/i_am_sergey_burkatovskiy_vp_of_game_design_at/?sort=old

As always, the questions and answers are redacted. I picked out the most interesting ones. Actually, we really need something like this on the EU server. SerB, Storm... whoever has time. Not sure why only Reddit gets the attention like this, can't the EU community organizers organize something like this for once? Still, it's very much appreciated.

Q: What are your thoughts on tier 10 medium balance? I know the majority of the community (myself included) condsiders the T-62A to be extremely powerful relative to other nations tier 10 mediums. Are there any major balance changes planned to bring all the tier 10 mediums in line with eachother?
A: The T-62A is second to last in terms of effectiveness. The most effective is the Patton 3, then the Batchat. Do you really want us to buff the T-62A?


Q: I am under the impression that Serene Coast will be removed from the game following 8.4. What will wargaming be doing to make this map balanced and playable?
A: There are several different ideas, for example to add another route to the map, which would follow the sand coast. However, this is something which is handled by our level-designers.

Q: Is the recent Batchat 155 patch regarding the removal of vents historically accurate?
A: This is accurate.

Q: Are there plans to make the T-25 have its historically accurate autoloader?
A: In a premium configuration, no. However, if we include it as part of a European Tree this may happen.

Q: Will there ever be skill-based match-making?
A: No, our view is that if you become a skilled player then you should be able to use that skill to full advantage in all battles.

Q: New chat system?
A: We are currently in the process of implementing a new chat system and are experimenting with it in World of Warplanes. The new chat system will not have a lot of the current restrictions.

Q: In relation to WoT becoming in e-sport what are your thoughts about dialing down the RNG? Do you feel that the randomness is an essential part of the game?
A: All games have some sort of RNG in them, including those that have been a part of esports for a while.

Q: Will you expand all of the scout branches to tier 8?
A: Some of them, yes, others no.

Q: Will you implement the T-62 tank destroyer?
A: I am not sure that this exact vehicle would be a good candidate for a premium TD. As far as the photo, we considered it but felt that it was too modern.

Q: Hi SerB, I'd like to know what Wargaming intends to do against AFK players/bots and idlers.
A: We will ban the bots. We analyze the battle statistics and see if players are botting. If we determine that they are, then their entire account is wiped and all accomplishments are removed.

One of the patches this year will contain a major upgrade to the Platoon/Company interface. We call it the "Dating Agency" interface.

Q: Any plans for a premium american TD?
A: In the near future, there are no plans for a Premium American TD, however as soon as The_Chieftain finds something appropriate, we may reconsider. (at that point, The_Chieftain joins the thread with "

Eh? Hang on, let me send you an email... :P"

Q: Alternative French lines?
A: We have plans to add a new French heavy tank line and a French medium tank tree, however when it comes to timing all I can say is "stay tuned."

Q: Is there any plans for making more cosmetic add-ons (like how camouflage works now) for gold that adds a slight benefit? Such as much asked for shurzen for german tanks, sandbag armour for M4-variants etc.
A: This would require a global change for all of our content, however we already have first-stage plans for this sort of change. However, this will probably not happen in the next year or the following year. Stay tuned.

Q: How much work happens during the supertesting and whatever goes on before a tank/patch is released to the test server?
A: Around 1.5 months per batch of tanks (5-10).

Q: Is there any intent to buff the IS-7 which is the under performing tier 10?
A: I am against buffing the IS-7, however my colleagues who are responsible for game balance have won the argument that it is necessary in improve the speed of the tank to make it more closely resemble its real-life speed. Let's see what happens ;)

Q: Will we ever see the Pz B2 on sale again?
A: I don't determine what's placed in the gift shop, but I doubt that these two tanks will be widely available as these two tanks do not conform to our new philosophy regarding premium tanks.

Q: Multi-core support?
A: We are reliant on a middle-ware supplier. When they release a new version of the software, there should be no problems.

Q: Was the JagdPanzer E-50 not considered, missed or just not wanted?
A: The E series is a paper tank, which we are introducing only because we have a dire need for it. This does not apply to the E-50 TD.

Q: Are there many tanks that were in supertesting that never made it to the game?
A: There were some, such as the SU-85I, which did not make it into the game because of marketing reasons.

Q: Any plans on offering different games than the 15 vs 15 standard?
A: The 7v7 mode will be available in one of our upcoming patches. 30v30 and higher are still up in the air.

Q: Nation vs Nation, any plans?
A: Yes

Q: Remove premium ammo completely?
A:  Never.

Q: When will there be Clan War functions such as mercenaries, revolts, taxes, etc.
A: Mercenaries are being reworked because in the current iteration, they are simply like extra people for clans.

Q: Will German tanks such as the PzIV, PzIII and StuG get an option to be fitted with full sideskirts?
A: In due time.

Q: How about implementing a way to get experience other than pure damage? I can spend a match protecting the SPG and easily be a factor in the match by allowing my SPG to survive and do damage, but I get nothing for it. You need to offer rewards for doing things that help the team other than direct damage.
A: Experience is not given for damage directly. Experience is given for active actions in battle, if you are active in close encounter battles you will receive what you should.

Q: Is there any chance of an ETA for WoW or at least a rough time frame?
A: You should ask Blizzard about WoW. As far as WoWP, there is only a bit of time left before a formal announcement is made. WoWS is a bit further out.

Q: Any plans on the T25/2 getting a gun that will make it worth playing?
A: The T25/2 is fine as is.

Q: Any plans on making the AMX 12t and AMX 13 90 useful? Again, its a pretty long grind through these and they can't do much.
A: French light tanks are very effective already. But only in the hands of a competent player.

Q: What is your opinion on premium ammo?
A: It helps. Sometimes.

Q: Do you consider giving the B1 is 75mm instead of the 37mm?
A: A 75mm gun on the B1 would not even be able to move horizontally within the body of the tank. Are you really sure that you want to suffer that?

Q: Plans to remove trollplatoons?
A: No

Q: Is there any plans to fix the size of the model of the Matilda Black Prince? Currently it is considerably larger than every other Matilda in the game, and the turret weight is another issue, why is it so much heavier than the turret on the Cromwell? It is currently 3 tons heavier, is it not supposed to be the same turret?
A: I can't track everything. If the people responsible for that find an inconsistency, they will correct it.

Q: MBT's?
A: Not in this game.

Q: Why don't we have post-battle chat along with the battle results?
A: We are not really interested in implementing that because we feel that the losing team will only post insults. Perhaps we should only implement this feature for the winning team? ;)

Q: What design decision had the most unexpected result, such as a tank being unusually popular or a gameplay change not working as intended?
A: The introduction of the IS-7 at the earliest stages. We still suffer from this, but fixing the problem by removing the tank is now impossible.

Q: Sometimes rebalancing completely changes a tank's playstyle. How do you feel when that happens?
A: First of all, we monitor the statistics and second of all forums. And after seeing the crying on the forums, we go back to the statistics.

Q: Night battles - will we see them in the next year or two?
A: We'll try implementing this in the next 2 years.

Q: Weather Effects - why have we only seen fog on Dragon Ridge?
A: It was an experimen. It looks great, but it lags the client.

Q:  Will we see more weather effects soon and will they effect directly? Ex. Dust storm at the bottom of the valley in El Halluf, could lower visibility and increase camo of those tanks within.
A: From a game design perspective, we are trying to implement this. BigWorld is currently working on making this possible.

Q:  Mods - Overlord recently announced an upcoming policy change regarding mods, care to elaborate in more detail?
A: Not yet. We have to form our policies in such a way that we are able to resolve mods which do not unfairly give an advantage and insure that there is no form of minor cheating. Major cheating is not a problem because everything is on our servers.

Q: Why not put on hold deciding on what mods need to be disabled, and just disable mods for CW and tournaments completely, until you can come up with the best method for disabling particular mods and what they mods will be?
A: Because there are millions(well...thousands) of players working against us. Unless we develop specific tools for every conceivable situation, we will be dealing with a situation of trying to put locks on the barn after the horses have already been stolen.

(SS: here, SerB wrote a lot of "no comment" on how exactly the anti-cheating measures will work)

Q: Now that the speed limit of 72 km/h is removed from the game, are there any plans to give tanks historically accurate speed limits?
A: While the speed limitation has been removed from the game, the question of being able to actually achieve such a speed with the current engines remains to be answered.

Q: Are there any plans for a 5 crew British Medium Premium tank?
A: We haven't found such a tank yet.

Q (this one's mine): Dear SerB, is there (even a small) chance for Czechoslovakia to have its own (mini)tree? There seem to be enough vehicles for it... thank you
A: Surely. But it is most likely to be included in the European tree.

Q: Was the US T93 considered as an alternate tier 8 artillery or gun?
A: It is a downgrade to the T92, so if we decide to create a Tier 10 which isn't the top tank at the very beginning, then it would be an option.

And that's all. Let's hope something like this appears for the EU players also :)