Feb 4, 2013
4.2.2013
- Soviet "Gvozdika" and "Akacija" won't be implemented
- Q: "Are the models of Japanese tanks already in development?" A: "We already made one, in the Chinese branch" and "When it's done I'll let you know"
- the devs tried making a 20-30 members per team battles on the current maps - it was a mess and the client couldn't handle it technically (SS: as in "too many objects to draw")
- Q: "SerB, have you noticed you look a lot like Nikolaj Bucharin, the bolshevik leader from the 20's?" A: "Well, there was that one time on a business trip after 5 hours of nonstop swearing I did lie down on a couch in my jacket to have a nap and Viktor Kisliy started to bring in "mausoleum excursions"..." :)
- FV4202 shells don't ricochet more than usual
- aim spread is determined by the gun module and the turret module, not by different shells
- regarding the Japanese tanks and Evilly's answer about the 280mm guns (SS: the player who's asking look for that and all he found was the turret from the Yamato battleship). SerB answers regarding the tier 10 tank: "It's not a battleship Yamato turret, it's most likely a turret with the coastal defense 140mm gun. We'll see in a few months how it goes."
- platoon fight statistics are not taken into account when deciding vehicle balance
- SerB states that if he remembers correctly, if you have a full crew BIA as first perk and 6th Sense as second perk trained to 95 percent, it will work when the BIA is active.
- the devs won't disclose now how much XP will be needed to unlock new arty vehicles when the tier 10 arty is introduced ("wait for the test")
- CW tier 6 and 8 battles, like in the lower tier companies? "We discussed it, it was refused. But there might be special events where this is possible."
- devs don't think the gold ammo for credits created a disbalance in the game
- no matter how many trees you bring down at one location, camo-wise all the fallen trees will count as one bush, this is intentional so the players don't create "superbushes" with high camo values
- ammunition price is calculated while taking the gun caliber, gun damage, penetration, year of the gun introduction and balance into account (all at once)
- WoT for tablets would take up to 2 years to develop, it's not only about porting the game, but also about re-working the project.
- it's economically more advantageous to set a tank on fire or ammorack it - it counts as damage credit-wise, but the shells will cost less, it's also better XP-wise, as crits award bonus XP
- Japanese medium branch will consist of known real life tanks (Chi-Ha, Chi-Ri, STA, STB mentioned), while the heavy branch will be more like "unknown" heavy projects, Japanese special consumable is not decided yet, SerB thought about a cup of sake, but that's not possible due to the game age restriction
- Soviet low-level tanks, such as T-60, T-70, T-80, T-19, T-24 and T-46-5? "When it's done it's done"
- Zimmerit is not excluded for the future, but it won't be introduced now
- a "buy back your accidentally dismissed crew" option is not planned
- free camera in replays? "maybe"
- Panther II with Panther I turret won't be introduced as a German tier 8 medium, as this option is already in the game (stock PII)
- there won't be additional crew ranks above "Major", because historically such high ranks didn't drive tanks, even Major is high enough (SS: not to be taken literally, there probably were SOME high ranking officers driving tanks)
- 0.8.4 won't necesserily bring more than 2 re-worked maps (despite the fact 0.8.3 didn't have any re-worked maps at all). "Wait for the patchnotes"
- the fate of Panzer I and Panzer I Ausf. C? "I'll tell you when the time is right"
- after the nerf, it's confirmed less players play arty, no word on any further arty nerfs
- the game client is full of experimental stuff and other mess, that possibly won't be introduced at all, one of such things is the shell icon of a new type of shell, that wasn't introduced yet
The Schmalturm
This is a translation of a Russian post, published on the developer's blog. I think it's actually pretty interesting and related to World of Tanks and it would be a shame not to have something like that in English, so... I hope the author doesn't mind :)
Author: kedoki
Original link: http://world-of-kwg.livejournal.com/150813.html
Translated and redacted by: Silentstalker (please note it's not a perfect translation, I had to redact some sentences to make sense in English)
Background and development
My friend Lyocha truly believes that the Schmalturm was a stopgap measure - there were few resources, there were even fewer workers available, so it was needed to make the turret as simple and functional as possible without hindering the possibility to actually shoot. And shape-wise, the Schmalturm turret was really simple, compared to the Rheinmetall turret (standard Panther turret) and to the Porsche turrets, used on Tigers, it didn't have too many accessories. But that is the truth only partially.
The ideas to modernize the Panther turret reach back to 1943 for three reasons. The first was to improve the weak turret armor of the Panther turret without actually increasing the weight. The second was that by that time, the Panther II project was already scrapped and the soldiers needed something to fight with. The third was, the Panther turret was too complex and too slow to rotate manually - in order to rotate it fast, the engine had to be switched on and revved, which really messed up the ambush tactics. The turret also acted badly if the vehicle was standing on some kind of a slope. As we can see, the Schmalturm development was not an act of desperation.
And so it was that in 1943 the Germans tried to modernize the Panther turret. The main idea was to reduce the possible space where enemy shells could hit the turret, which implied making the frontal armor of the turret narrower. Even then it was planned to increase the frontal sloped armor effective thickness to 120mm, so the shells don't ricochet into the driver's ass. By 1944, Rheinmetall presented drawn development ideas. The first name of the new turret was to be "Turm Panther (schmaler Blende)" (Panther turret with narrow profile). This turret represented a mixture of good traits of the Porsche turrets from the King Tiger, and the Panther turrets - it was compact, light and had a narrow frontal profile in order to minimize the chance of enemy shell impact. It also respected the demand for new armament, which later allowed the Germans to develop a project of 88mm L/71-armed Schmalturm.
On the top of the turret it was possible to install a rangefinder and there was also the possibility of installing the periscope gun sights. Most of the standard Panther equipment did fit into the Schmalturm turret. So, as we can see, the turret equipment was very, very decent, it cannot be simply called an "ersatz" project.
Later, the turret project was handed over to the Daimler Benz company. Therefore, it's no surprise that the Schmalturm turret has a lot of similiarities with the VK3002DB turret. By that time the order for the turret development was updated: it was ordered to implement the possibility to convert the turret into the command version or the night fighting version by the tank crew itself. An interesting fact: the rear hatch was made from a sheet of metal, that was carved out of the rear armor plate itself. This allowed for better resource savings, resources that the Germany was running out of by then.
The first Panthers with new turrets were supposed to come out of the factory in 1945, but that didn't happen for obviously reasons - when the Allies came to the factories, all they saw were unfinished parts of the vehicles.
Comparing the Schmalturm with the Panther turret
Even so, could the Germans have reached their goal? The turret weight did decrease, while the armor protection increased. The turret weighted only 7,5 tons (Panther turret - 7,6 tons). The machinegun was changed into a newer model. Even though the turret was called "narrow", the effective volume was the same, there was no difference for the crew. The commander's copula was "sunk". The turret ring diameter remained at 1650mm.
The turret was hydraulically powered by the engine, but the manual turret rotation drive was enhanced: if the tank was standing on a slope, the loader could install a spare flywheel and he could help the gunner - and so the turret rotated even faster. But the most important fact was that the turret mechanism, despite this enhancement, got actually smaller and less expensive while the rotation of the turret became easier.
The vertical gun aim mechanism was also changed, allowing to raise the gun to 20 degrees up and lower it to 4 degrees below the horizontal axis. This mechanism has also become lighter, cheaper and more compact. The commander's copula also got lighter and more compact while keeping all its previous properties: it was possible to set up the stereoscopic rangefinder, a night vision device or even an anti-aircraft machinegun.
The loader profitted even more: in the initial version of the project, a special periscope was installed for him. Later this option was removed and the periscope hole was covered with an armored plug. But if the periscope was installed, all three of the turret crewmembers would have very good night and day battlefield overview possibility.
A question arises while reading about all these great properties of the turret: is this really such a great turret? Not at all. If you compare the Schmalturm to the King Tiger turret, the Schmalturm doesn't end up as the winner. It was the original Panther turret that was so bad that in comparison to it, the Schmalturm comes out as the winner.
Schmalturm in World of Tanks
The first problem is the weight: the turret weight should be 7,5 tons. In the game it weights in various versions 10,8 tons, 4,6 tons, 12,5 tons, 13,2 tons... that's bullshit.
Second problem: maximum elevation. In real life, it was 20 degrees. In the game:
- Panzer IV Schmal: 20 degrees (as IRL)
- Panther: 17 degrees
- VK3001(H): 18 degrees
- VK3002(DB): 16 degrees
The turret rotation spead was in real life bigger than the one of the standard turret of the Panther: the turret was lighter and there was the additional flywheel. In the game, it's vice versa: the Schmalturm rotates slower and with different speeds:
- Panzer IV Schmal: 24 degrees
- Panther: 26 degrees
- VK3001(H): 25 degrees
- VK3002(DB): 30 degrees
- Panther II: 28 degrees
View range: In real life it was very good: all the crewmembers had their own viewing devices, night vision devices. In the game:
- Panzer IV Schmal: 370m
- Panther: 380m
- VK3001(H): 370m
- VK3002(DB): 370m
- Panther II: 390m
No complaints about the viewrange, but it's different every time.
Where to install it:
- Panther - as planned in real life
- VK3002DB - it had smaller turret ring, the installation of Schmalturm possible only if the whole hull was re-worked.
- VK3001(H) - I won't even comment on that
- Panzer IV - the Schmalturm was twice as heavy as the usual turret, the suspension wouldn't have survived that, but at least the turret ring is the same - remember the Panzer IV turret installed on the Panther hull.
Schmalturm mit 88mm L/71
Oh, that's a problematic topic. The thing is, in order to provide enough space for the loader to operate with a 88mm gun installed, the turret ring would have to be increased to 1750mm. The weird thing is, in the game the new turret with the new gun weights only like 1 ton more than the early Schmalturm model with the Panther gun.
With the new wider turret ring we can't even talk anymore about the turret installation on the VK3002DB and VK3001H. But the interesting part is, on the aforementioned tanks in the same turret, we have the 88mm. Glory to the great German designer Pasholok & Co.! And so, they glued the Daimler Benz gun mantlet on the short 88 despite the fact the gun mantlet fits only the LONG 88 and the Panther II is running around with the Krupp mantlet for a change. That's how they do it in Omsk. Pasholok wrote himself: there might be inaccuracies and mistakes, but the spirit (TM) is present.
Author: kedoki
Original link: http://world-of-kwg.livejournal.com/150813.html
Translated and redacted by: Silentstalker (please note it's not a perfect translation, I had to redact some sentences to make sense in English)
Background and development
My friend Lyocha truly believes that the Schmalturm was a stopgap measure - there were few resources, there were even fewer workers available, so it was needed to make the turret as simple and functional as possible without hindering the possibility to actually shoot. And shape-wise, the Schmalturm turret was really simple, compared to the Rheinmetall turret (standard Panther turret) and to the Porsche turrets, used on Tigers, it didn't have too many accessories. But that is the truth only partially.
The ideas to modernize the Panther turret reach back to 1943 for three reasons. The first was to improve the weak turret armor of the Panther turret without actually increasing the weight. The second was that by that time, the Panther II project was already scrapped and the soldiers needed something to fight with. The third was, the Panther turret was too complex and too slow to rotate manually - in order to rotate it fast, the engine had to be switched on and revved, which really messed up the ambush tactics. The turret also acted badly if the vehicle was standing on some kind of a slope. As we can see, the Schmalturm development was not an act of desperation.
And so it was that in 1943 the Germans tried to modernize the Panther turret. The main idea was to reduce the possible space where enemy shells could hit the turret, which implied making the frontal armor of the turret narrower. Even then it was planned to increase the frontal sloped armor effective thickness to 120mm, so the shells don't ricochet into the driver's ass. By 1944, Rheinmetall presented drawn development ideas. The first name of the new turret was to be "Turm Panther (schmaler Blende)" (Panther turret with narrow profile). This turret represented a mixture of good traits of the Porsche turrets from the King Tiger, and the Panther turrets - it was compact, light and had a narrow frontal profile in order to minimize the chance of enemy shell impact. It also respected the demand for new armament, which later allowed the Germans to develop a project of 88mm L/71-armed Schmalturm.
On the top of the turret it was possible to install a rangefinder and there was also the possibility of installing the periscope gun sights. Most of the standard Panther equipment did fit into the Schmalturm turret. So, as we can see, the turret equipment was very, very decent, it cannot be simply called an "ersatz" project.
Later, the turret project was handed over to the Daimler Benz company. Therefore, it's no surprise that the Schmalturm turret has a lot of similiarities with the VK3002DB turret. By that time the order for the turret development was updated: it was ordered to implement the possibility to convert the turret into the command version or the night fighting version by the tank crew itself. An interesting fact: the rear hatch was made from a sheet of metal, that was carved out of the rear armor plate itself. This allowed for better resource savings, resources that the Germany was running out of by then.
The first Panthers with new turrets were supposed to come out of the factory in 1945, but that didn't happen for obviously reasons - when the Allies came to the factories, all they saw were unfinished parts of the vehicles.
Comparing the Schmalturm with the Panther turret
Even so, could the Germans have reached their goal? The turret weight did decrease, while the armor protection increased. The turret weighted only 7,5 tons (Panther turret - 7,6 tons). The machinegun was changed into a newer model. Even though the turret was called "narrow", the effective volume was the same, there was no difference for the crew. The commander's copula was "sunk". The turret ring diameter remained at 1650mm.
The turret was hydraulically powered by the engine, but the manual turret rotation drive was enhanced: if the tank was standing on a slope, the loader could install a spare flywheel and he could help the gunner - and so the turret rotated even faster. But the most important fact was that the turret mechanism, despite this enhancement, got actually smaller and less expensive while the rotation of the turret became easier.
The vertical gun aim mechanism was also changed, allowing to raise the gun to 20 degrees up and lower it to 4 degrees below the horizontal axis. This mechanism has also become lighter, cheaper and more compact. The commander's copula also got lighter and more compact while keeping all its previous properties: it was possible to set up the stereoscopic rangefinder, a night vision device or even an anti-aircraft machinegun.
The loader profitted even more: in the initial version of the project, a special periscope was installed for him. Later this option was removed and the periscope hole was covered with an armored plug. But if the periscope was installed, all three of the turret crewmembers would have very good night and day battlefield overview possibility.
A question arises while reading about all these great properties of the turret: is this really such a great turret? Not at all. If you compare the Schmalturm to the King Tiger turret, the Schmalturm doesn't end up as the winner. It was the original Panther turret that was so bad that in comparison to it, the Schmalturm comes out as the winner.
Schmalturm in World of Tanks
The first problem is the weight: the turret weight should be 7,5 tons. In the game it weights in various versions 10,8 tons, 4,6 tons, 12,5 tons, 13,2 tons... that's bullshit.
Second problem: maximum elevation. In real life, it was 20 degrees. In the game:
- Panzer IV Schmal: 20 degrees (as IRL)
- Panther: 17 degrees
- VK3001(H): 18 degrees
- VK3002(DB): 16 degrees
The turret rotation spead was in real life bigger than the one of the standard turret of the Panther: the turret was lighter and there was the additional flywheel. In the game, it's vice versa: the Schmalturm rotates slower and with different speeds:
- Panzer IV Schmal: 24 degrees
- Panther: 26 degrees
- VK3001(H): 25 degrees
- VK3002(DB): 30 degrees
- Panther II: 28 degrees
View range: In real life it was very good: all the crewmembers had their own viewing devices, night vision devices. In the game:
- Panzer IV Schmal: 370m
- Panther: 380m
- VK3001(H): 370m
- VK3002(DB): 370m
- Panther II: 390m
No complaints about the viewrange, but it's different every time.
Where to install it:
- Panther - as planned in real life
- VK3002DB - it had smaller turret ring, the installation of Schmalturm possible only if the whole hull was re-worked.
- VK3001(H) - I won't even comment on that
- Panzer IV - the Schmalturm was twice as heavy as the usual turret, the suspension wouldn't have survived that, but at least the turret ring is the same - remember the Panzer IV turret installed on the Panther hull.
Schmalturm mit 88mm L/71
Oh, that's a problematic topic. The thing is, in order to provide enough space for the loader to operate with a 88mm gun installed, the turret ring would have to be increased to 1750mm. The weird thing is, in the game the new turret with the new gun weights only like 1 ton more than the early Schmalturm model with the Panther gun.
With the new wider turret ring we can't even talk anymore about the turret installation on the VK3002DB and VK3001H. But the interesting part is, on the aforementioned tanks in the same turret, we have the 88mm. Glory to the great German designer Pasholok & Co.! And so, they glued the Daimler Benz gun mantlet on the short 88 despite the fact the gun mantlet fits only the LONG 88 and the Panther II is running around with the Krupp mantlet for a change. That's how they do it in Omsk. Pasholok wrote himself: there might be inaccuracies and mistakes, but the spirit (TM) is present.
Feb 3, 2013
3.2.2013
- the tracks form an external module and they have their own armor value, so does the gun external module
- the tracks form sometimes one big compact module with no "holes", but sometimes, if the gaps between wheels are large enough, these gaps act as holes, eg. not a part of the module
- if an AP shell hits the tracks and punches thru them into the side armor, the armor of the tracks is deduced from the AP value of the projectile
- shells cannot richochet from hitting the tracks (SS: acts as sort of "speced armor", even though it doesn't count as one)
- if a shell penetrates the tracks, damages them, penetrates the side hull behind them and damages the tank, the tank damage is not diminished by the fact the shell already damaged the tracks (SS: each shell can cause two types of damage - the usual one that is listed in the gun properties and the undocumented one especially for modules, it is usually equal to the caliber of the gun - so, in other words, when a shell hits the tracks as mentioned before, the damage to the tracks counts as (unlisted) module damage and if the shell manages to penetrate the hull behind the tracks, it deals full (listed) damage). The only difference between external and internal modules (apart from the special armor value) is that the external modules don't get the "saving throw".
The exact formula for tracks armor penetration is (as an example)
(150mm (average pen) +-25% (187,5mm to 112,5mm)) - 70mm (tracks armor) = 117,5mm to 52,5mm penetration
- KV-1S won't lose the D-25 gun (SS: the question was actually whether the devs will remove the 122mm gun, move KV-1S to tier 5 and make a new KV-122 at tier 6)
- the Mk.III and Mk.V 6-pounder guns on US, French and British tanks are considered historical
- changes to the 6-pounder guns on Soviet Churchill, UK, US (M7 and T21) and the UE57 TD are not planned (SS: related to the previous question, eg. to make them all fit)
- the option of players researching the same module for various nations (SS: f.x. the same radio for the US and Chinese M5 Stuart) was tested but rejected
- apparently, the devs consider the ingame Matilda Black Prince historical (SS: it's not clear what the question meant as the original question was already deleted, presumably it concerned some armor sleeve around the turret, several Russian players mentioned that before)
- Q: "Sturmpanther planned?" A: "That's not a Sturmpanther. We don't comment on our plans." (SS: this relates to a rumor running around about a vehicle on the basis of Jagdpanther, but with 150mm StuH 43 howitzer)
- Shell air resistance won't be implemented for World of Tanks, because it would be too big a gameplay change (SS: SerB mentions such a thing might be in World of Warships, which will be more complex)
- apparently, the TOG II* name asterisk might mean "an improved version", because there were other examples thereof (a player mentions Medium Mk.II and Medium Mk.II***). According to the player, the original TOG II had a mock turret with a 6pdr gun, the TOG II* had a production turret with a 76mm gun. SerB is however not sure, he accepts it only as a theory
- 25 percent random coefficient won't be changed
- apparently, the "Sturmtiger in 2013" is just a rumor, BUT there was no real denial (SS: the answer was: "Will you ask about all the rumors you hear, or only about a half of them?")
- apparently, the devs are working on the "assault TD" class of vehicles (indirectly hinted at, SerB states their firing trajectory will look like the one of the old KV-2)
- new RU record: 740k online
- the devs try to issue cca 2 premium vehicles per patch, there might be even more occasionally, but the devs want to focus on the regular branches more
- the tracks form sometimes one big compact module with no "holes", but sometimes, if the gaps between wheels are large enough, these gaps act as holes, eg. not a part of the module
- if an AP shell hits the tracks and punches thru them into the side armor, the armor of the tracks is deduced from the AP value of the projectile
- shells cannot richochet from hitting the tracks (SS: acts as sort of "speced armor", even though it doesn't count as one)
- if a shell penetrates the tracks, damages them, penetrates the side hull behind them and damages the tank, the tank damage is not diminished by the fact the shell already damaged the tracks (SS: each shell can cause two types of damage - the usual one that is listed in the gun properties and the undocumented one especially for modules, it is usually equal to the caliber of the gun - so, in other words, when a shell hits the tracks as mentioned before, the damage to the tracks counts as (unlisted) module damage and if the shell manages to penetrate the hull behind the tracks, it deals full (listed) damage). The only difference between external and internal modules (apart from the special armor value) is that the external modules don't get the "saving throw".
The exact formula for tracks armor penetration is (as an example)
(150mm (average pen) +-25% (187,5mm to 112,5mm)) - 70mm (tracks armor) = 117,5mm to 52,5mm penetration
- KV-1S won't lose the D-25 gun (SS: the question was actually whether the devs will remove the 122mm gun, move KV-1S to tier 5 and make a new KV-122 at tier 6)
- the Mk.III and Mk.V 6-pounder guns on US, French and British tanks are considered historical
- changes to the 6-pounder guns on Soviet Churchill, UK, US (M7 and T21) and the UE57 TD are not planned (SS: related to the previous question, eg. to make them all fit)
- the option of players researching the same module for various nations (SS: f.x. the same radio for the US and Chinese M5 Stuart) was tested but rejected
- apparently, the devs consider the ingame Matilda Black Prince historical (SS: it's not clear what the question meant as the original question was already deleted, presumably it concerned some armor sleeve around the turret, several Russian players mentioned that before)
- Q: "Sturmpanther planned?" A: "That's not a Sturmpanther. We don't comment on our plans." (SS: this relates to a rumor running around about a vehicle on the basis of Jagdpanther, but with 150mm StuH 43 howitzer)
- Shell air resistance won't be implemented for World of Tanks, because it would be too big a gameplay change (SS: SerB mentions such a thing might be in World of Warships, which will be more complex)
- apparently, the TOG II* name asterisk might mean "an improved version", because there were other examples thereof (a player mentions Medium Mk.II and Medium Mk.II***). According to the player, the original TOG II had a mock turret with a 6pdr gun, the TOG II* had a production turret with a 76mm gun. SerB is however not sure, he accepts it only as a theory
- 25 percent random coefficient won't be changed
- apparently, the "Sturmtiger in 2013" is just a rumor, BUT there was no real denial (SS: the answer was: "Will you ask about all the rumors you hear, or only about a half of them?")
- apparently, the devs are working on the "assault TD" class of vehicles (indirectly hinted at, SerB states their firing trajectory will look like the one of the old KV-2)
- new RU record: 740k online
- the devs try to issue cca 2 premium vehicles per patch, there might be even more occasionally, but the devs want to focus on the regular branches more
Feb 2, 2013
MT-25, the replacement for the T-50-2
Source: Yuri Pasholok - MT-25
Translated (and redacted by): Silentstalker
On 9.2.1943, two engineers - F.F.Gorodkov and A.I.Starodubcev - sent a letter to J.V.Stalin directly, describing a new very fast armored vehicle. Both engineers worked at the Factory No.200 in Chelyabinsk, which produced the hulls for KV series, IS series and other vehicles produced in the city industrial complex, aptly nicknamed "Tankograd" ("tank city"). Therefore, it's not surprising that it was the KV design that made the basis for the new tank proposal. As with many other amateurish Russian war projects, this design was also a product of patriotic zeal rather than rational engineering, the project was however made in great detail. The authors even calculated the combat weight of the vehicle with methods approved for other vehicles produced in Chelyabinsk. The vehicle was not supposed to be THAT light (25 tons, as the name suggests), but it did fit in the army requirements for a light tank, brought by the army in mid 1943. It was projected with a 47mm gun, but given the size of the turret, a 76mm ZIS-5 and other guns would fit in quite fine. Size-wise, it did fit also, the T-50 was only 10cm shorter than the MT-25. Note how the suspension was projected with interwoven wheels (like the late German vehicles had). It's unlikely the two engineers had access to a Tiger at that point, so it's assumed they were influenced by the German halftracks. The projected speed was to be 40-45 km/h on average, but the maximum speed would be 100 km/h.
Well, so much for Yuri Pasholok's article. The reason the T-50-2 is going to be replaced is that the T-50-2 (and the T-50 when it comes to that) doesn't behave as the real life original tank did. From the other threads on the RU forum, it's possible it will have various 76mm guns, including possibly the S-31. The engine mentioned for it is the KV V-2K (600hp), which is not bad for 25 tons. The armor was supposed to be the same as the T-50 (as far as I can tell at least).
Other pictures (from the Russian archive):
2.2.2013
- the controversial "Stalinec" tank decal won't be removed from the game
- Storm considers reworking the ingame hangar chat, no details yet
- premium British and Chinese heavies? "Definitely this year"
- El-Halluf doesn't have a higher chance to drop than other maps (SS: by "drop" I mean "to be chosen when selecting a map for next random battle" - sorry, WoW slang)
- the "in development" section will be updated before the 8.4 test begins (SS: the question was "can we expect the 8.4 test within 2 weeks, as 8.4 is scheduled for Feb/March? Might be a hint that the 8.4 is delayed"
- the ceiling height of each maps is very high, SerB doesn't tell how exactly, but "it's sufficient for any ballistic purposes"
- confirmed: no extra regular gold/XP per medals planned
- there are 3 "sizes" of ingame tracers, depending on the caliber
- regarding the placing of the M62-T2 gun on the vehicles, "historically, the gun was designed to replace the D-25T, wherever it was installed (IS-4, SU-122-54, T-10...) but by the time it was ready, the heavy tanks were declared obsolete
- the Indien-Panzer was confirmed to be a logical part of the new medium tank German branch
- a year is taken into consideration too, when introducing new tanks (SS: it is thus possible to find a vehicle that would fit into the game technologically, but it's "too new") (SS: so the Japanese Type 74 and the Merkava prototypes from the 70's won't fit apparently)
- with the introduction of tier 10 arties, the company allowed arty tiers will most likely change (eg. higher tier arties will be allowed for different modes), but the total company weight most likely won't. Basically there is some time limit ("and we determine what that limit is")
- SerB doesn't see any FPS issues with the sniper scope anymore
- Chinese Vickers has the engine in the back, but the transmission in the front
- Generally (SS: if I understood this correctly, not 100 percent sure), the AP shell normalisation does not depend on the caliber of the gun if the caliber is 2x as big as the thickness of the armor hit - and if the caliber is 3x as big as the thickness of the armor hit, the angle of impact counts as 90 degrees.
- SerB stated that Evilly (SS: that guy I translated the answers from) might have screwed up some of the answers, namely the one about Wargaming buying the mods.
- regarding the T-62B introduction: Q: "And what about the T-62B? It's if the same age as the Leopard" A: "Well, the Leopard will be introduced..."
Regarding the "Stalinist" issue (quick background: a player started a thread where he complains about the game promoting the dictator Stalin): Ectar (community organizer, WG employee) passed his concern to the developers directly. Developers told him to sod off: "EU community manager can express his concern regarding the issues of some individuals over certain aspects of the game. This concern is very important to us." (SS: to explain this: SerB uses the expression "very important opinion" ("OBM") ironically, as in "yea, your personal opinion is very important to us..."). And under it, SerB pasted this picture:
So.... hooray for Stalin I guess -.-
This blog, a month later....
Hello everyone,
so, it's been roughly a month since this blog came live. It started as an experiment and literally a backup storage for the Russian Q&A translations. A month later, 130k views. I am not really sure if that's a lot or it isn't, compared to other blogs, but I'd like to think of it as a success and I would like to thank you all for reading the blog and the thread on the EU forums, I appreciate when I am doing something people enjoy. I am even very much surprised how far the blog actually got language-wise - it's being read in and occasionally translated for example to Vietnamese and Chinese. How cool is that :)
As for the future of this blog, I aim to turn it (from purely translation blog) into a fullblown newsfeed blog for the English-speaking communities. More World of Tanks news, more branch proposals, more tank history.... more, more, more. I do not aim to make the same thing for World of Warplanes however - sorry, I really don't like flying in particular. Nor will I move to War Thunder, no matter how much some people praise it. Tried it, didn't like it. As for the technical future of the blog, I plain to add few new functions and to make a new design this weekend. I may add adsense commercials too (annoying, I know, I just want to see if that works), I might also buy a new domain. I am currently talking about cooperation with some other people about news sharing and possibly about a united project, sorry - no details, when it's done it's done :)
It's not all roses and rainbows however. First, there are the death threats. It's no secret I am at odds with the Czechoslovak EU server community. Naturally, I don't take them seriously - but it's a nice example of how many total morons there are. Then there is the fact the blog entries get translated into Czech (and occasionally Slovak) by the very same people who send me threats, call me a "STB agent" because of the whole Czechout affair (STB was a Czech communist secret police, known for its brutal methods, it's very offensive in fact - it's as if you called a German person a member of the Gestapo or a nazi) - it even goes so far they actively edit out the parts where I explain what the translation means and the context. I wouldn't worry too much about it, IF it didn't backfire, because some Czechs, who have absolutely no idea about the "feud" read it and then write me "OMG you translated it wrong", when in fact it's translated wrong from English to Czech. I mean - how lame is that? Truth to be told, at one point I was so annoyed I considered actually dropping the whole thing and take a few weeks off.
But there is no point in punishing myself and other uninvolved people because of the actions of a few complete retards. Naturally, by now, I think anyone can make a picture of what the forum CZK section looks like, so it's absolutely pointless to talk about this anymore. This blog will continue as it is, or rather - I will continue improving it. So enjoy, there is a lot more upcoming :)
so, it's been roughly a month since this blog came live. It started as an experiment and literally a backup storage for the Russian Q&A translations. A month later, 130k views. I am not really sure if that's a lot or it isn't, compared to other blogs, but I'd like to think of it as a success and I would like to thank you all for reading the blog and the thread on the EU forums, I appreciate when I am doing something people enjoy. I am even very much surprised how far the blog actually got language-wise - it's being read in and occasionally translated for example to Vietnamese and Chinese. How cool is that :)
As for the future of this blog, I aim to turn it (from purely translation blog) into a fullblown newsfeed blog for the English-speaking communities. More World of Tanks news, more branch proposals, more tank history.... more, more, more. I do not aim to make the same thing for World of Warplanes however - sorry, I really don't like flying in particular. Nor will I move to War Thunder, no matter how much some people praise it. Tried it, didn't like it. As for the technical future of the blog, I plain to add few new functions and to make a new design this weekend. I may add adsense commercials too (annoying, I know, I just want to see if that works), I might also buy a new domain. I am currently talking about cooperation with some other people about news sharing and possibly about a united project, sorry - no details, when it's done it's done :)
It's not all roses and rainbows however. First, there are the death threats. It's no secret I am at odds with the Czechoslovak EU server community. Naturally, I don't take them seriously - but it's a nice example of how many total morons there are. Then there is the fact the blog entries get translated into Czech (and occasionally Slovak) by the very same people who send me threats, call me a "STB agent" because of the whole Czechout affair (STB was a Czech communist secret police, known for its brutal methods, it's very offensive in fact - it's as if you called a German person a member of the Gestapo or a nazi) - it even goes so far they actively edit out the parts where I explain what the translation means and the context. I wouldn't worry too much about it, IF it didn't backfire, because some Czechs, who have absolutely no idea about the "feud" read it and then write me "OMG you translated it wrong", when in fact it's translated wrong from English to Czech. I mean - how lame is that? Truth to be told, at one point I was so annoyed I considered actually dropping the whole thing and take a few weeks off.
But there is no point in punishing myself and other uninvolved people because of the actions of a few complete retards. Naturally, by now, I think anyone can make a picture of what the forum CZK section looks like, so it's absolutely pointless to talk about this anymore. This blog will continue as it is, or rather - I will continue improving it. So enjoy, there is a lot more upcoming :)
Feb 1, 2013
1.2.2013
- apparently there won't be special "emblems" for Ukraine (the trident), double-headed eagle (symbol of Russia) etc. - "there are flags for that"
- there most likely be no "free tanks" during the arty tier 10 branch prologning ("there's enough arty around even without that")
- it's possible to get 2 Lion of Sinai medals in space of 10 battles - one counts as "general" for the account, one counts as "special" for that given tank
- crew skills have no effect on server spot check frequency (SS: the server checks whether the tank can spot the enemy vehicles in certain frequencies (from cca 0,5s to cca 3s) - these are not affected)
- SerB's full title is "Vice president of Wargaming for game design"
- a "wounded" crew member will always operate on 50 percent skill efficiency (absolutely, not 50 percent of his trained skill). However, if you put a crew into the tank that doesn't belong (for example a LT crew into a heavy) and the efficiency drops below 50 percent, the negative modifier will apply also on the "wounded crewmember" skill (eg it's not possible to actually BUFF skill by killing your crewmember)
- each crewmember has his own collision model (for example two loaders - one is on the right of the gun, one on the left)
- the "master" XP requirement does not depend on the day or hour of the week, the statistics for it are averaged on the week before that.
- SU-122-44 won't be transferred to tier 8 (SS: there was a rumor going around)
- if new arty vehicle is introduced into the branch a player has already unlocked, it will likely count as unlocked too (SS: in other words - if the player unlocked all 8 arties and new arty is introduced at tier 5, it'll be unlocked for the player if I understand that correctly)
- WZ-111 premium tank that sometimes appears on the RU server wasn't introduced there officially, it's a press account
- The Chinese tree is called Chinese tree and not PRC tree because some of the vehicles were used even in the pre-PRC warlord era
- after the introduction of tier 10 arties, the arties will still have specific MM, but SerB mentions he's thinking about allowing a bigger difference between arties teams (for example 3 arties in one team, 4 in other).
- 0.8.4 and 0.8.5 - changes in profitability of various tanks? "if necessery, as always"
- German heavy branch with Grosstraktor, NbFz nad DW? "no comment for now"
- SU-122-44 was made a premium tank because it was needed to push the SU-101 and Uralmash one tier up
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