13.2.2013

- the amount of played arties was reduced by about 40 percent (after the nerf + hardcap)
- when a shell penetrates an armor screen (spaced armor) or tracks, it doesn't change its trajectory
- Ferdinand won't be moved anymore this year (SS: not one tier up, or down, or to a separate branch)
- it's still not yet decided how the German 2nd medium line will look
- Sorted by priority (from most to least): garage battles, turrets flying off, historical battles, multi-turret mechanism
- 0.8.5 will bring a new map
- it's not planned to specifically give the assaulting team light tanks and arty in the assault mode (SS: as in to force them into the assaulting party MM)
- no 4th equipment/consumable slot planned
- VK3601 will me turned into a heavy after the 0.8.4 patch, it's possible its MM weight will be changed
- it's possible that the outstanding parts of the tank (antennas etc.) will cast shadows
- EU tree is too far for the devs to know, what kind of symbol will those tanks carry
- T23 won't be sold (SS: the answer was only "no" - it is actually unclear, what the player is asking about, whether he's asking for it to be sold as a regular vehicle, or as a premium vehicle or at all - thus it's unclear what Storm meant by the answer)
- Leopard 2 prototype will not be introduced (SS: yes, people are actually asking such dumb shit)
- Q: "Why is there no North-Korean flag in WoT?" A: "When the genius of geniuses in military strategy, new star, brilliant comrade Kim Jong Un allows his Korean comrades to play World of Tanks, we will immediately address this issue"
- Fiat 3000 will be implemented, but other mutations of the FT-17 ("Russkij Reno", US M1917) won't, Japanese Tier 1 could be the "Kogata Sensha", but SerB states there is something else already at tier 1 for Japan
- the option for players to enter only battles without platoons won't be implemented
- enabling the option where the tank in sniper mode rocks after shooting has no advantage for the player, "it's just prettier"
- there apparently will be no crew training compensation when VK3601 turns into a heavy, even if it is followed by a medium: "retraining costs the same for every class in gold, so what's the difference"
- various vehicles get various XP for destroying other classes, for example LT's get more XP for destroying arty than other classes
- the Chinese T-34 has more modern suspension than Type 58 (which has the "classical" T-34 suspension) in the game, because the devs have a photo of this particular vehicle having this particular suspension
- SerB states that the British Nuffield TDs having two guns aren't a problem, the second gun will serve as a decoration and the vehicles will have two loaders, even when the multigun mechanism is implemented, those second small guns will remain a decoration, as their impact and penetrating power are negligible (SS: 20mm Polsten)
- system of penetration decals might be upgraded, but not soon
- 310 series of Nvidia drivers have a bug that makes the game crash at the research tree - Storm suggests using 306 series drivers
- this is the picture of the Valentine AT
-

Komarin in 0.8.5 + more map changes in 0.8.4

Source: http://wot-news.com/main/post/02132013/2/Komarin-085

Apparently, Komarin will return in 0.8.5

First two screenshots:

Also, 0.8.4 will contain visual and gameplay improvements on following maps: Cliff, Prokhorovka, Abbey

It's a FAKE!

Hello everyone,

a recent discussion on US forums made me realize, how many fake modeller-made or fan-made designs are out there, confusing the hell out of people. Since World of Tanks is a game at least based on real desings (well, that's a strech, some of the vehicles in game were never more than a drawing sketched on a napkin during those wild Schnapps-und-Frauen evenings), Wargaming won't implement outright fakes - yet people still keep asking for them. Let's have a look at the most blatant ones, that keep popping up over and over again. Please note that since the modellers, artists and other creative people all share some dark fascination with Third Reich, most of the fakes circulating around are German vehicles. There is an insane amount of confusion, regarding the late projects.

Special thanks go to Kankou, Priory_of_Sion and others from the US forums

Let's get started:

E-79 "Schwarzwolf"

This image keeps popping over and over again. There are even sites that offer its full "history of development" and try to pass it as a genuine design. I don't blame them, because the tank looks great. However, it's a complete fake. It was made for the computer game "Panzer Front", but for some reason someone somewhere took it seriously and started spreading it around. It might also appear under the name Panther III - two vehicles are generally designated such - one is a strange drawing of a sort, the other is this one. Both are fake.

E-100 "Krokodil"

Another very popular "design", that keeps appearing from time to time. This time it doesn't come from a computer game, but probably from some modeller. Even this vehicle has fake history accounts on the internet, that can confuse people. The main reason it is so popular is because it looks great, however, it was never concieved by German engineers. Sorry. The whole "Jagdpanzer E-100" business was a pretty odd affair anyway - basically it was just a thought design - some guy somewhere had an idea that it would be cool to put a huge gun on the E-100 chassis and make it a superheavy tank destroyer. Nothing more, not even the type of the gun was decided. Mr. Hilary Doyle (a German tanks expert) confirmed this is a fake - the only thing that actually WAS real was a part of the weapons mount, but that didn't even fit the E-100 hull. The Jagdpanzer E-100 currently in the game is a result of what Wargaming thinks it might have looked like - the most realistic one at least. As was again confirmed by Mr. Doyle, the Krokodil wouldn't work for various reasons (the weight distribution, suspension strain... there are many threads about this on WoT forums). Either way - sorry, we won't see the Krokodil in the game.

E-90 and various E-100 and Maus based fakes

More than any other German vehicle have the superheavy E-100 and Maus hulls inspired a huge number of fake tanks. Notably the E-90 keeps appearing over and over again. Directly behind it are the E-100 hulls with various fake turrets (sorry, I don't have the books on this with me, so I can't give you an exact account). Maus suffers from the same syndrom - for example the Jagdmaus never existed. The Flakpanzer Maus (a Maus hull with a twin-88 turret) is also a complete fake and so is the Alligator (E-100 hull with the same setup). People just love to give the Germans more credit than they really deserve.

E-50 Ausf. M

Here it gets more complicated really. E-50 existed, at least as a concept (mind you, it was not a "Wunderwaffe" superdesign, the aim of the E series was to streamline and simplify the tank production as much as possible). E-50 Ausf. M however is a Wargaming fabrication. For all intents and purposes it's a fake, but a "realistic" one. At the end of the war, the (civillian) designers started coming up with all sorts of stuff. One of the things they came up with was the powerpack engine concept (in which the engine and the transmission form one block, that can be easily replaced on the field - well, at least more easily than the earlier engines). This would require the turret to be moved to the front and various other modifications. The Germans never did such a thing, this was done by Wargaming with the help of Yuri Pasholok and Hilary Doyle. So, it's a sort of half-fake. It never existed, but it's realistic.

Jagdpanzer E-50

Unlike the last design, this is a complete fake. Not even Spielberger mentions it as far as I know. Someone somewhere thought it would be cool to make a design that would look like the Jagdpanther II and that's how it probably started. As for the StuG E-75, I am not sure, I thought it was a fake, but some people say Spielberger mentions it and I don't have that Panzer Tract book to verify it myself. Jagdpanther III (sometimes designated Jagdpanzer E-79) is also a complete fake.

KV-VI (or KV-6 "Behemoth")

This is a complete fake, but an interesting one. It started as a kitbash by a modeller, who had too many spare parts of the KV-1, KV-2, BT-5 and BM-13 "Katyusha" plastic models. He did put them together and posted it online along with a fictional history. At that point, a great number of websites started taking this info as real, people started to even make fake photos of it (nevermind that the tank on the photo is a photoshopped T-35) and after that, even some popular magazines took the info for granted and wrote articles about it. KV-VI never existed, but it serves as an example of what a few people can do with photoshop, internet and free time. This is probably how most German fakes started too.

Panzer IX/X

Also a fake, but an "official one". In 1945, the Germans printed out a magazine called Signal, containing the silhouettes of completely made-up tanks, designated Panzer IX and Panzer X to mislead the allied intelligence. These tanks never existed, they were never even considered, it was pure propaganda. Nevertheless, after the war a lot of fairytales started springing up about mythical German equipment and the tales of Panzer IX/X were amongst them. Usually most people know it's a fake, but from time to time, someone gets mislead by some of the internet articles and considers it real.

88mm T-34

This is a photoshopped image, such a vehicle never existed (this is the original one). It started spreading around the WoT forums and people ask for this vehicle regularily. Sorry, people, this one's a bust. The whole thing is fuelled by a Japanese modelling company even making a model of this vehicle.

There is another version of the "88mm T-34" circulating around the internet:

There is no reliable info on this vehicle and a lot of people (including me) consider it a fake too. There is some vague account on its use by the Germans, but without any proper sources, so yea.

Anyway, I hope you find this useful and don't get misled by fakes! :)

12.2.2013

- Q: "Tanks such as Maus are dying off in randoms!" A: "We'll all die one day. Enough with the whining already, we can give you time off from the forums for healing your nerves" (SS: ....followed by RO ban)
- exact values of hidden parameters are not made public "to avoid whining" - their changes are however still written in patch notes
- a player complained that he hears "turret damaged" voice message on his Object 263, which has no turret - SerB answers that it's not a turret that got damaged, rather than the gun traverse mechanism (its engine), which is found in all turretless TDs
- the oldest running tank the developers drove in real life was Panzer IV (Pasholok), the newest was M48 Patton (Kisliy)
- only the VK3601 will have the Konisch gun in the future
- the unlockable various hulls (as modules) won't come anytime soon
- SerB states that the materials from Chinese partners, provided on Chinese vehicles did contain various machines, unfit to be implemented into WoT, but interesting nonetheless
- players won't be notified further in advance (SS: for example during loading screen) on which base they will appear, SerB states that the countdown time is enough
- arty won't get flatter shell trajectory
- T23 "was not sent to the graveyard"
- Vickers Light Tank Mk.VI was not introduced as tier 1, because Vickers Medium seemed better for the role because it was "logical engineering-wise"
- confirmed there will be no LT hardcap
- devs are generally satistfied with the T-54, but if the big re-work of all tanks happens, it'll get a massive overhaul
- S-Tank will not be introduced into the game, because it would require the implementation a very special aiming game mechanism, SerB states that it aimed by moving the entire vehicle, that would be very awkward in the game and he doesn't think it's worth implementing because of one tank only
- The Chinese IS-2 is called IS-2 and not JS-2 (SS: In Russian Iosif Stalin is written with J) as the Soviets wrote it, because the "I" version is a generally recognised version world-wide
- SerB states that a lot of the Chinese competition winners had crews with 4 skills on the start from the Type 59
- confirmed: Leopard and VK2801 won't get buffed (SS: apart from the HP? unclear) when they are pushed one tier higher, nothing will change for them

Japanese tanks answers:

- SerB states that the vehicle designated Type 5 "Tok" is a 300mm mortar, analogical to the Type 4 Ha-To, based on the Type 4 Chi-Ri or Type 5 Chi-Ri hull
- about the guns bigger than 105mm installed on the Ho-Ri chassis: "Most likely a 120mm naval gun. There were projects with 140mm gun, passed from the fleet to the coastal defense, but I do not have accurate data yet"
- O-I project was allegedly designed with other guns that came earlier than the 105mm: "We don't have any data on that yet. It's possible a 150mm howitzer was considered earlier, because on the early project of colonel Iwakuro this gun is mentioned specifically"
- SerB states that the Type 96 heavy is possibly the Iwakuro tank
- the "visible modules" (SS: for example different tracks in winter) are considered for the "big model overhaul", but no info yet
- hitting a turret rotation mechanism won't cause fires
- it's completely possible that in next patches, the same thing as happens to the German light tanks in 8.4 will happen to the light tanks of the other nations (eg. T-50, Chaffee and others getting pushed one tier up)
- Q: "Will there be inmplemented powerful derp vehicles on top tiers?" A:"E100"
- the rangefinder and other more modern features are not implemented separately, they reflect in the view range and gun accuracy
- purely Swedish branch of the EU tree is unlikely, SerB states it's logical to tie it to the Czech one

The REAL reason for ghost shells, screwed MM, shell-eating armor etc

Straight outta SerB's kitchen - he posted this on the RU forum as a proof all the conspiracy theories against you, dear players are.... correct!

Presenting to you: SerB's developer tool!

On the let side, SerB can select a nickname of the player he wishes to "take care of" - on the right side he has following options:

- put the player to a noob team
- put the player to the bottom of the team
- make the player play against pros

- make the shells disappear (?)
- no penetrations
- reduce XP income
- reduce credit income
- make the player stuck
- when playing arty, put the player on city maps
- Malinovka forever

And on the right side:
- damage dealt (reduced by 2, 3, 4....)
- chance of fire (50 percent plus...)
- chance of player module getting critted (the ticker under it means "crit your gun module first")
- chance of player's crewmember dying (the ticker under it means "kill the gunner first")

And under it, the ultimate ticker:
"Remove player from this list automatically when he pays for premium account"

Enjoy playing World of Tanks!

Old re-worked maps in 8.4

Ensk

Steppes

Fisherman's Bay

Live Oaks

11.2.2013

- SerB states that as a writer, he doesn't make much money, it's the computer games that pay the bills
- fully customizable writings on tanks won't be implemented
- after tier 10 arty is implemented, arties will get roughly the same +-2 MM as the other tanks
- it's not confirmed that SU-14 and S-51 will stay on their tiers
- SerB states that when a lowtier arty destroys the enemy tank by killing the whole crew (SS: the player asking says that this happens to him often when he plays SU-18), it is roughly equally as profitable as if the tank gets normally destroyed, but the whole issue is complicated
- Q: "What will the T57 nerf be like?" A: "Sudden and horrible"
- Japanese tanks:

Q: Are the following vehicles post-war made-up fakes?

1) 47mm Gun on Type 94 chassis:

2) Chi-Ri with Type 2 75mm gun

3) 150mm AA gun on Type 5 Ho-Ri chassis
4) 155mm Ho-Chi

5) Is it true that the early O-I variants' armor was not thicker than 75mm?

A: Looks like 3) is not a fake, as for 5) - entirely possible on the early 100t variant. As for the rest - more or less probable, we'll see.

- it's not sure tier 8 premium arties will appear
- it's not sure how the T-50-2 situation will be handled, it's possible (SS: only possible, not likely) that T-50-2 might become premium, SerB is "consireding a lot of options
- all models for all tanks will be remade from scratch with better details, moving parts (ventilators, antenas) and turrets flying off when the tank is destroyed, this won't happen anytime soon
- pre-battle 30 second countdown won't be reduced
- Leopard won't recieve new guns, it's already balanced around tier 5
- no ETA on the turret part of the British TD's, but SerB confirms they will mostly have rapid fire guns
- Q: "SerB, what nice question would you ask yourself so it would a question
- British arty will come after T10 arties are implemented (SS: or with them, but not sooner)
- early French tank modifications from the 40's (Romanian R35 and such)? "I'll tell you when the time is right"
- WG has not yet promoted WoT in Japan
- Indien-Panzer is NOT a prototype for the Swiss Panzer 61
- it's possible the XP/credit earning mechanism will be updated to fit new ways of destroying tanks (physics and such)
- Q: "Why did you decide to scrap the British turreted TDs for now and introduce paper-armored turtles instead?" A: "Because turtles are cool"
- at tier 8 SerB states that roughly 0,5 gold shells are fired per battle
- SU-101 is doing okay statistic wise
- the whole issue with the +-45 degrees for FV215b TD might be some sort of rumor, SerB is not sure how it really is
- the reason why Malinovka and Westfield assault are removed is "disbalance", they will not return earlier than next regular patch
- SerB states, that the Sexton is in the american tree, because it's a joint project - the chassis was from the USA. However, whether it really will be put into the US tree or UK tree will be decided after the test
- after some time, WoT might have the same improved render as the WoWp
- according to SerB, Maus is doing okay in the contemporary World of Tanks
- if you aim in artymode at water (a lake), the trajectory displayed will lead towards the point on the bottom of the lake, not towards water surface
- when considering patch statistics, developers disregard first two weeks
- in future (not sure how close or far), standard render (SS: "old render") won't be supported anymore
- Q: "I think SerB is quietly trolling us!" A: "Why quietly?!"
- Q: "Can TOG shoot itself in the back?" A:"Buy it and try it, we don't have time for such crap"
- Q: "Is dynamic terrain going to be implemented?" A: "Not in the current version. In the future - who knows?"
- SerB states that the theory saying "If one team has a platoon of 3 heavies and the other platoon of 3 meds, they both end up on the top of the battle MM" is a myth
- devs tried to estabilish a FAQ for the most notorious questions - didn't work, noone read it
- T-34 model 1943 had thicker frontal armor (60mm)
- 100 percent crew training for silver is not planned
- it is not planned to introduce special gun spread for each type of ammo
- a T-34 premium tank of any type is not planned, because the devs are researching various T-34 variants and it's possible they might be introduced as normal vehicles.
- premium Churchill doesn't have a special XP modifier
- Elefant wasn't introduced separately, because it differs from Ferdinand too little