10.3.2013 part 2

- confirmed: old render settings will not return
- new Russian record: 815079 players at the same time
- the game models in the future will be made more detailed

- there will be no Soviet tanks in 0.8.6
- Christie tanks will come in 2014, because there are more interesting tanks scheduled to be implemented first

Wargaming plans for 2013

Wot-news.com made a summary article, what waits for us in 2013. I don't think it's an official Wargaming text (can't see source quoted anywhere) - still, it's good. Main points:

- according to the developers, 2013 will be all about team competitions and e-sports
- 7/42 companies will be implemented
- 2013 has 6-10 patches planned (2 of which are out already), new tanks and maps are planned for most (perhaps each one) of them
- up to 11 new maps are planned for 2013
- 0.8.5 will have the German medium branch (VK2001DB, DW, VK3002DBv1, Indienpanzer, Leopard prototype, Leopard)
(SS: also apparently the 3 Soviet light tanks: T-60, T-70, T-80 at tier 2, 3, 4 probably)
- 0.8.6 will bring the new Soviet medium branch and possibly the replacement of T-50-2 with MT-25
- tier 9 and 10 arty - early autumn, after that the British arty will come
- premium Type 59 will not return regularily, might be a part of events/special sales, but the Chinese premium heavy WZ-111 might make an appearance
- Japanese tanks will appear either at the end of this year, on early next year, some of them are confirmed to have autoloaders
- replay mechanism will be changed this year too, replays will be stored at WG server

10.3.2013

- currently, Soviet tier 7 and 8 light tanks are not planned
- Object 120 will not appear in World of Tanks
- AI controlled tanks? "no comment"
- Clanwars are still considered to be in beta stage, that's the reason for the often CW breaks
- Q: "How come the AT-15A is such a poor farming machine and SU-100Y is much better?" A: "I won't give you any farming guarantees" (SS: which means - whenever a premium vehicle comes out, wait for a while before you buy it, according to SerB the fact it's a premium tank does not apparently mean it's going to be a viable moneymaker - statistically-wise, AT-15A seems to make about as much credits due to its low alpha as a regular T7 vehicle)
- regarding the (still existing) bug where when you buy a golden shells for silver and when you fire all of them, the game starts buying new ones for gold - "don't use automatic ammo reload"
- premium tanks profitability is set so, that in the hands of a statistically average player, a (for example) tier 8 premium tank has to earn more credits on everage than a tier 7 regular tank, there are no exceptions to this rule
- when calculating the profitability (SS: from the previous answer), premium account is not taken into consideration
- the gold price in the shop is proportional to the tank profitability, but the corellation between the two is not linear
- there will be a new tutorial (part 2) where the modules etc. will be described
- the same turret on different hulls can have different rotating speeds (SS: concerns the KV series)
- Storm considers these railway models in the new Live Oaks normal (SS: thanks god Storm doesn't work on the real railway)
- Dragon Ridge and Serene Coast will not return in 0.8.5
- this year, there will be winter maps, jungle maps - most likely not
- the idea that each nation could buy a special "test" crew, that acts as 100 percent for all the tanks, but doesn't gain any silver or XP was not considered
- the devs "did not promise" to return more settings to the old render (SS: not a long time ago, the devs mentioned they won't develop the old render anymore)
- Storm will investigate possible error in JpZ E-100 armor (E-100 has 130mm armor above tracks while the Jpz has only 120mm, despite the fact the hull is supposed to be identical)
- pushing enemies to their death (for example into a hole, water etc.) will count as a kill, this will be implemented in one of the following patches

Another German T7 LT alternative

Source: http://world-of-kwg.livejournal.com/169871.html
Author: sandmann_bk

A Russian author (player) publishing on the developer blog found an interesting alternative for German tier 7 light tank - the Hispano-Suiza HS 30 mit 90mm Bord K.

This light tank (or tank destroyer, depending on the classification) was built on the multipurpose HS 30 hull, developed in Switzerland by Hispano-Suiza. Several vehicles utilizing this hull were in West-German service - amongst them being the Schützenpanzer-lang IFV as well as self-propelled mortars, tank destroyers and other light vehicles. It was constructed in 1958, but this particular vehicle was not accepted in service neither in Germany nor in Switzterland. Another project, the Kanonenjagdpanzer HS 30 with the gun installed directly in frontal plate was also not successful - the Bundeswehr adopted the Raketenjagdpanzer I (also built on the HS 30 chassis) instead. The Germans didn't scratch the cannon-armed tank destroyer idea completely, but they built it on another chassis.

Specifications:
Tank weight - 11 tons
Engine - 220-240hp
Maximum speed - 58 km/h (other sources state up to 65 km/h)
Armor thickness - 10-30mm
Armament - 90mm DEFA or Mecar

And this is how the vehicle looks now: