Q: What are your plans related to artillery?
A: Two years ago we had problems with artillery (Seb: I remember those times), resulting in a big nerf (Seb: made me sad). The main problem is that the normal player does not understand the mechanics, and when one shot does too much damage, it causes irritation naturally. Then the players playing arty were annoyed too: too much shot dispersion and random chance of hits. We already have an idea of the change, we conducted several experiments and we will let players choose the best option. In addition to the alpha plan we plan to introduce temporary stunning of the crew. This means that the artillery will be some sort of „helper” (support).
Q: What about the „alarm” and the artillery position reveal?
A: Yes, the mechanics we plan – to display the position from where artillery fired and seeing it on the minimap (Seb: y u do dis WG, have mercy on my poor French tier 6 arty). Each of the possible mechanics will be tested.
-test results show that the new physics do not burden the servers.The current variant of physics is already very close to the final version. If there are no technical problems and the physics will appeal to gamers, it’s a high degree of probability that this version will appear on the servers.
Q: What about the optimization?
A: In the 9.9 patch we did lots of stuff, but at the moment we are working on optimizing the game and future patches. In fact, there will be almost nothing left of the old BigWorld engine as it will be reworked entirely. We plan to mantain the current optimization, and besides that add many HD features. We are working on multi-core all the time. Optimization is a very long and gradual process.
Q: What about the Matchmaking?
A: Many players have complained about the balance of the MM and they are noticing some problems now. We will try to make some changes. In particular, we see a problem with tier randomness in battles, for example 5 tier 10 tanks versus 2 of the same tier. All changes will be checked on public tests. We will also try to work the problems of maps, so a player will not hit the same map several times in a row.
Q: When will the new tanks appear?
A: Every patch or test, we added several new machines in the form of award or premium tanks. On the other hand, when it comes to new branches, we have plans spread over several years. The nearest branch is Czechoslovakia.
-In the future, we may add wheeled vehicles, but only when we decide it is their time.
Q: Do you plan to change the crew mechanics?
A: Yes, it is planned. Currently, the crews of various tanks consist of different numbers of crew members. We have the idea to make the crew „uniform” – something similar to the WoWS system. Then, we also wanted to change the crew skills – add some other options, so each player can choose their own skills. Work is underway on this.
Q: What do you say about the role of premium rounds and armor in this game?
A: The tank has three characteristics: firepower, mobility and armor. At the moment, the latter two give way first, and we want to change that (Seb: oh god). All the time we realize that employees must work in this direction, to find the right way, and not just nerf penetration. We expect that the introduction of new physics will help us increase interest in that topic.
Q: Will the historical battles return?
A: We will not throw them out the window. We just want to do everything well. For example, we plan to add PvE. First, we plan to refine the PvE system, then implement it in other modes too.
-Only small adjustments will be made to the current „Domination” mode. It is close to the final version.
On Havok:
– We carry a large number of tests, but have encountered a problem on city maps, as by a large number of objects created unbelievable PC loading times and lost productivity. To create Havok for 10% of players with very good computers is not an option. We’re working on a solution to this problem.
Q:Will there be higher levels than X?
A: Possibly. Today, we want to fix existing problems.
About bots:
– We know that there are mods which can interfere with other players in the game and we plan to actively work on their eradication. Currently we are running an anti-bot tool and we are going to refine it.
