Jan 22, 2013
22.1.2013
- Russian server new player record is 728k at the same time
- the Tiger(P) might appear in historical battles, because one vehicle fought in real life (SS: I hope I translated this correctly)
- it's not clear whether there will be more "boss battle" events (SS: regarding the White Tiger event where 15 T-34's fought against the special Tiger P), not specifically denied however
- there will probably be no developer plan published for 2013 (Serb thinks it's not really needed)
- there is no way of detecting whether the camo bonus on the fallen tree is "working", Serb states "use common sense" (SS: it was answered earlier that the camo bonus of the fallen tree activates only when the tree hits the ground and "stops" moving - and only for the crown part of the tree)
- SerB doesn't watch WoT streams
- it is possible that the whole German arty branch might be lifter up by one tier when the tier 10 arties come (eg. new vehicles get inserted at tier 2-3), it's also possible that ALL arty vehicles might be rebalanced in connection with that
- SerB answering to a player complaining about the Chaffee not having any advantages over T71: "Neither of them has any significant advantage regarding their sum of characteristics. If there were any advantages found, the characteristics would get changed. There is no need to lobby on their behalf, we are not the US Congress."
- the devs are tracking average battle time, it's roughly 7 mins and it didn't change too much in last year
- the type of shells loaded has no influence on the vehicle's MM (SS: if you load gold ammo, you won't get worse MM)
- regarding Chinese crew radioman perks - they always apply on the person that is responsible for the radio (historically), f.x. Type 62 - the commander etc.
- Leopard 1 will most likely have the L7A1 gun (the same as the FV4202 has), it will probably fire HESH shells as gold ammo
- the chat quickcommand "ready!" is not planned for near future
- there are "several millions" of players, who play the game at least once per month, but the exact numbers aren't disclosed apart from the public PR releases
- when tier 10 arties are introduced, the XP and credit price of the whole branch unlock will be roughly the same as with the other branches
- SerB states that the players do prefer the tanks of their own nation (Russians the Russian tanks, Germans the German tanks etc.)
- it's not excluded more TOG-2-like tanks (WW1 relics, slow, lot of HP) will be introduced
- no plans to increase the crew rank beyond "Major"
- no hardcap (SS: as in maximum number per battle) planned for light tanks (because they have the same gameplay as other tanks and because SerB views the hardcap as a temporary and bad solution) - Storm earlier said there would be a solution for light tanks, but that's more along the lines of "the same amount of scouts per battle"
- according to SerB, all the server populations had their difficulties: "Americans don't like challenges, Russian servers had performance issues and the Chinese love pay-to-win".
- player rating re-work? "if we plan to do it, we'll tell you sooner or later"
- the new German medium line won't have its modules unified with other German lines, as the guns and the engines are quite different
- Q: "EU server has march for 8.4 and the RU server has february, will you troll us every month like that?" A: "Will you troll us every day by not reading previous answers and posting bullshit?"
- the Chinese tier 2 Vickers' cylindrical turret is historical
- the prepared Stalingrad map is meant for WoWp, not WoT (SS: there were rumors of Stalingrad map being prepared)
Jan 21, 2013
21.1.2013
- Chinese M5A1 Stuart radio module will not be compatible with the US tree, despite the fact it's basically the same radio ("Chinese tankists educate themselves with Chinese translations of the US radio operating manuals. In this hard work the American tankers can't help them in any way.")
- French B2 premium arty has the same MM as every other tier 4 arty, despite the rumors of it having "special" MM
- the Leopard 1 in the game will be the one with cast turret, not the one with the welded one
- Q: "Historical sources (Doyle) mention 80mm frontal armor on the VK4502 both Ausf. B and Ausf. A, why is it not like that in the game?" A: "Here (for the rear turret variant) we applied the Ahnenerbe technology, otherwise Germans would get rather sour" (SS: "Ahnenerbe" is one of the SerB's running jokes, he explains every German (unrealistic) buff with "Ahnenerbe magic")
- Q: "Will the tier 10 arty cost approximately the same as other tier 10 tech?" A: "We'll see"
- premium tanks don't differ from promo/gift tanks principially in anything
- Storm commenting the fact that the 8.4 patch in the RU "in development" section is scheduled for February and in the EU one for March: "both are correct"
- fog in Dragon's ridge has no masking effect
- Soviet ZIS-30 TD (57mm ZIS-2 gun mounted on the T-20 "Komsomolec" tractor) - maybe, definitely not in 2013
- M48 tank will not be replaced by M60 (SS: emphasis on "replaced", eg. M60 might appear alongside it), because "M48 is where it belongs" (SS: as in "on its place")
- Q: "When will be the German 2nd branch and German tier 8 prem medium tank?" A: "Germanlovers und Germanloverettes nicht erste post of the topic readen? Ordnung mus zajn, darum fircen tage nicht schreiben" (SS: sorry, this is just really hilarious in Russian, very hard to translate tho. The original: Немцефилен унд немцефилкен нихьт ерсте пост тема читайнен?
Орднунг мус зайн, дарум фирцейн таге нихьт шрайбен! - one of the funniest things I've ever read from SerB)
- if the tank gets destroyed by killing off the entire crew but it has HP's left, the whole crew will recieve an XP penalty for dying (SS: there was a rumor they don't)
- SerB on whether the teamdamage penalty system will be reworked: "If necessery. And we decide what's necessery."
- Q: "Why do you answer the way you do (SS: sarcastically etc.), did you see somewhere World of Warcraft, Terra and Aion developers answering questions like that?" A: "Show me the Aion, Terra and World of Warcraft design vice-president's answers, and I will think about my behavior :) " (SS: later SerB states he considers his way of answering normal and basically he doesn't give a damn about AION)
- (related to the previous question) Q: "You'll sing a different tune when WoT has a good competition, I'll see how you talk then" A: "Yes, we are scared of this terribly good competitior for three years already, still nothing happened, so far we are still alive" (SS: after that a bunch of troll questions and answers follow in relation to how War Thunder will kick WoWp's ass - SerB trolls for a while and then replies "If you like it so much there why are you here?")
- currently an unified menu interface for WoT, WoWp and WoWs is in development ("when it's done it's done")
Jan 20, 2013
EU tree: Swiss tier 10 TD project
Hello everyone,
I found recently (while looking for other vehicles) a new project (quite interesting actually) that could fit the tier 10 TD slot in the incoming EU tree. Introducing:
MOWAG Taifun prototype
History:
The Swiss company called MOWAG is not a newbie on the field of weaponry. In the 60's, it competed for the German Marder IVF program with its own prototype and later it built several prototypes for the German Kanonenjagdpanzer program. From there on, the company used its considerable experience in creating a line of light tank destroyer designs - the Gepard and the Taifun. The Gepard (looked a lot like the German Kanonenjagdpanzer) was not successful in entering the service and neither was the other similiar project, the Tornado (designed as an IFV). The development of both was privately funded, because the company expected Switzerland to start replacing the old AMX-13 tanks (classified in Switzerland as TD's) and the US M113 APC's. In the end, only a pre-prototype (functional model) was completed and the vehicle never entered service. It can be regarded as one of the last real tank destroyers and most likely (along with the S-Tank) one of the last turretless "oldschool" Jagdpanzers.
The Taifun was basically a development of the Gepard (Tornado) chassis. It was a very light vehicle - its armor (50mm?) protected the 4-man crew basically only from HE shell fragments and from light autocannon fire (it could withstand only 25mm shells however). The armament consisted of the classic 105mm L7 clone (however, an upgrade to the Rheinmetall 120mm L/55 was considered - not an option for WoT though). The considered turbocharged dieselengine was a 575hp Detroit Diesel 8V-71T - the same to be fitted to the ill-fated Tornado IFV. Combined with the light chassis (estimated 25-30 tons), this vehicle could move fast. Real fast.
In World of Tanks?
As you can see, this vehicle looks badass. It's like the ultimate Jagdpanzer IV on steroids. And crack. And heroin. While the project itself was developed in late 70's (yes yes, I see you all rising your eyebrows now), its roots actually run into early 60's. The chassis is old - it's basically the same (although modified) chassis used for the 60's Tornado - and that's not so bad. The armor is obviously very thin (think 30-50mm), but - as mentioned above - the vehicle is very light and has a very powerful engine, therefore it will be fast. Really fast. Cca 70 km/h on the road is expected and that's just the "basic" powerpack. With upgrades, it could be the tier 10 Hellcat-meets-Jagdpanzer. The main gun is adequate - the ubiquitous L7 is already in the game and despite the fact it would be fitted with advanced sights and other 80's thingies in real life, one can easily imagine this vehicle having Leopard 1-grade optics. Naturally, in order not to get oneshotted by pretty much anything, the suspension would have to be really nimble, which is actually something totally new - we don't have that in the tier 10 TD vehicles.
Stats:
Crew: 4
Armor: 30-50mm (estimated)
Weapon: 105mm (L7 clone?)
Ammo: estimated 50 rounds
Speed: cca 70km/h
Weight: estimated 25-30 tons
Powerplant: Detroit Diesel 8V-71T, 575hp
I found recently (while looking for other vehicles) a new project (quite interesting actually) that could fit the tier 10 TD slot in the incoming EU tree. Introducing:
MOWAG Taifun prototype
History:
The Swiss company called MOWAG is not a newbie on the field of weaponry. In the 60's, it competed for the German Marder IVF program with its own prototype and later it built several prototypes for the German Kanonenjagdpanzer program. From there on, the company used its considerable experience in creating a line of light tank destroyer designs - the Gepard and the Taifun. The Gepard (looked a lot like the German Kanonenjagdpanzer) was not successful in entering the service and neither was the other similiar project, the Tornado (designed as an IFV). The development of both was privately funded, because the company expected Switzerland to start replacing the old AMX-13 tanks (classified in Switzerland as TD's) and the US M113 APC's. In the end, only a pre-prototype (functional model) was completed and the vehicle never entered service. It can be regarded as one of the last real tank destroyers and most likely (along with the S-Tank) one of the last turretless "oldschool" Jagdpanzers.
The Taifun was basically a development of the Gepard (Tornado) chassis. It was a very light vehicle - its armor (50mm?) protected the 4-man crew basically only from HE shell fragments and from light autocannon fire (it could withstand only 25mm shells however). The armament consisted of the classic 105mm L7 clone (however, an upgrade to the Rheinmetall 120mm L/55 was considered - not an option for WoT though). The considered turbocharged dieselengine was a 575hp Detroit Diesel 8V-71T - the same to be fitted to the ill-fated Tornado IFV. Combined with the light chassis (estimated 25-30 tons), this vehicle could move fast. Real fast.
In World of Tanks?
As you can see, this vehicle looks badass. It's like the ultimate Jagdpanzer IV on steroids. And crack. And heroin. While the project itself was developed in late 70's (yes yes, I see you all rising your eyebrows now), its roots actually run into early 60's. The chassis is old - it's basically the same (although modified) chassis used for the 60's Tornado - and that's not so bad. The armor is obviously very thin (think 30-50mm), but - as mentioned above - the vehicle is very light and has a very powerful engine, therefore it will be fast. Really fast. Cca 70 km/h on the road is expected and that's just the "basic" powerpack. With upgrades, it could be the tier 10 Hellcat-meets-Jagdpanzer. The main gun is adequate - the ubiquitous L7 is already in the game and despite the fact it would be fitted with advanced sights and other 80's thingies in real life, one can easily imagine this vehicle having Leopard 1-grade optics. Naturally, in order not to get oneshotted by pretty much anything, the suspension would have to be really nimble, which is actually something totally new - we don't have that in the tier 10 TD vehicles.
Stats:
Crew: 4
Armor: 30-50mm (estimated)
Weapon: 105mm (L7 clone?)
Ammo: estimated 50 rounds
Speed: cca 70km/h
Weight: estimated 25-30 tons
Powerplant: Detroit Diesel 8V-71T, 575hp
8.3 matchmaking (MM) table
In Russian, the order from up to bottom at each tier is: LT, MT, HT, Arty, TD
20.1.2013
- special statistics for CW battles? "Possible, but not soon"
- SuperPershing was modelled after the book from Hunnicutt plus the data provided by the experts from the US WG office
- apparently the second WZ-132 engine (that differs from the stock one only by 10kg weight) is okay the way it is
- if you destroy an enemy tank without anyone spotting him (for example by firing at tracer source), it counts as if you lit it up yourself for the sake of XP award
- the platoon and company hangar interface will be changed a lot to provide better functionality
- SerB is answering players' questions voluntarily - if he gets annoyed or tired, he'll stop
- German 2nd TD branch is partially modelled already ("it's done when it's done")
- Q: "Was Jagdpanzer VII Jagergepard considered for implementation?" A: "Yes. No comment for now."
- regarding the implementation of more very exclusive vehicles (Panzer IV/V, A-32 - style): "If needed, we however don't focus on exclusivity"
- E-50-, E-75-based and postwar German TD's? "We won't comment that for now in order to avoid questions like "when?!" "
- In the Russian movie "Приказ: огонь не открывать" (Order: do not open fire) (about the Japanese-Soviet war), Soviets made fake Japanese tanks. SerB states that they are based on the MTLB chassis and it's hard to say what Japanese tanks are they trying to imitate.
- tank crews have 1hp, that's why almost every shot that kills a crewmember continues further (with full strength) (SS: I hope I understood this correctly)
Last night's server crash....
Last night's server crash....
....was apparently caused by "hardware failure".
Overlord comments:
....was apparently caused by "hardware failure".
Overlord comments:
Q: And EU server has crashed again,same shit happened last week too :(
A: Hardware failure. Its not related to the capacity.
and
A: It
wasnt scheduled. One of the servers went out of the order. Guys are
investigating the reasons. Prem accounts are compensated when certain
downtime threshold is met.
Storm on the topic of maps - part 2
Storm on the topic of maps
Source: http://world-of-kwg.livejournal.com/144047.html
- Dragon's Ridge and Serene Coast will be removed from the map pool for re-work in 8.4
- some maps' terrain will be revolved (to be less "bumpy"), namely Prokhorovka, Abbey, El-Halluf and Ruinberg (specifically the holes in the streets are the issue)
- Redshire and El-Halluf will have their gameplay changed
- Swamp and Komarin will return, after they are re-worked visually
From the discussion (not much there really)
- apparently, there two different teams in the map department: one does the maps purely visually (artists), one cares for the gameplay. In the past there have been interviews with the first team, that does only the art part, leading to player rage that "WG doesn't care how well the map is played as long as it looks good"
AND offtopic: TXAA antialiasing is not yet developed
PS: If you speak (or - write) Russian, you can leave your opinion there.
Source: http://world-of-kwg.livejournal.com/144047.html
- Dragon's Ridge and Serene Coast will be removed from the map pool for re-work in 8.4
- some maps' terrain will be revolved (to be less "bumpy"), namely Prokhorovka, Abbey, El-Halluf and Ruinberg (specifically the holes in the streets are the issue)
- Redshire and El-Halluf will have their gameplay changed
- Swamp and Komarin will return, after they are re-worked visually
From the discussion (not much there really)
- apparently, there two different teams in the map department: one does the maps purely visually (artists), one cares for the gameplay. In the past there have been interviews with the first team, that does only the art part, leading to player rage that "WG doesn't care how well the map is played as long as it looks good"
AND offtopic: TXAA antialiasing is not yet developed
PS: If you speak (or - write) Russian, you can leave your opinion there.
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