Large WoWS Q&A – 6th April 2016

Thanks to Carnotzet & Babykim.

  • New ranked season to come this month [on RU server]. Changes will be introduced with the new season, consistent with the feedback that has been given.
  • Vallter_ is willing to bet 300 doubloons that the next update will please everyone.
  • Developers consider the last update to be well made (of good quality). They even delayed it for three weeks in order to fix additional problems (a lot of people currently work on Saturdays to improve the game).
  • Regarding the WoT invitation experiment, a players suggests the credit/xp rewards be given gradually. First game: 50k xp; first win after lvl 5: 100k xp; first win after lvl 8: 200k xp; first win after lvl 10: 500k xp. It would encourage people to keep playing the game and put a stop to the negative behavior they have at high tiers. Wallter_ was interested in this idea.
  • When saying the next update will please everyone, he’s talking in a broad sense, that it will please most players. It’s like saying that, objectively speaking, the game previously failed at times due to technical difficulties (most players weren’t happy, not all of them).

 

1. Kutuzov‘s torpedo tubes angle seems a bit off. If we look closer at them, it looks liked it could rotate 5-7 degrees more to the front.

A. We checked the torpedo tubes angles and didn’t find anything wrong with them. Moreover, we try to make sure that torpedo tubes have always the biggest possible angle.

2. It seems like Admiral Hipper‘s HE shells (Spr.Gr. L/4,7 Bdz) are in fact semi-AP shells. Is it correct and why is that? [note: Spr.Gr. L/4,7 Bdz are classified as semi-AP shells in Russian whereas they are classified as HE base fuze in English – source]

When can we expect Admiral Hipper‘s Atlantic hull, and Königsberg‘s upgraded hull (equipped with a fighter plane) ?

A. We will change her HE shells to the correct ones.

The Atlantic hull model is ready. It is currently being implemented by game designers.

Königsberg will have a plane with the new hull.

3. A while ago, you announced that Katori will be available in game. Yet, there’s still no sign of her. How long do we have to wait ?

Do you plan to increase the number of captain skills available to 20 ? With the new skill system, we don’t have enough points for everything we need.

A. We’re still testing Katori, and she’s not yet ready to be released in her current state.

No. The whole point of the system is not to have everything we need, it is to give players a real choice between two or three useful builds.

4. Dresden and Emden have the same guns and shells, however, Dresden‘s max AP damage is 2300 (according to port values) and Emden‘s is 1700. Why is that?

A. They have different shells but there is a mistake in the description text. We will fix it.

5. During development, why did you chose to go on the concealment route? Why didn’t you chose a standard vision system, such as RTS games fog of war?

A. Because this feature precisely allows for numerous possibilities regarding scouting / concealed movement. If we made a standard vision system, it would be completely different. And if we made the system more complex, players would have a hard time understanding it. You’ll agree with me that memorising the formula I can be seen from x km is not that complicated.

6. Why did you chose to set the binocular camera the way you did? After all, distances are big and it would have been more logical to set the camera higher. Such camera is already in the game (spotter plane) and allows the player to assess enemy ships maneuvers more easily.

A. Because we want players to feel like they’re on the ship. A zoomed out camera reduces immersion and changes the gameplay significantly. We can confirm. That’s also the reason why the spotter plane is a time limited feature.

7. Why did you chose to implement the spotted mechanic as a on/off feature? It’s nearly impossible to aim and fire at a ship that’s just been revealed before it disappears again.

A. What would be the point of gradual concealment? How will you shoot at a not fully visible ship? Server wise, a ship is either visible or not, and this system is working well. Regarding the fact that this looks weird (ships appearing and disappearing), we’re working on a prototype which will improve the detection effect (when ships are spotted) and make it more accurate.

8. Why do Atlanta‘s torpedoes have only 4.5km range whereas Benson‘s have 9.2km, even though they’re the same (Mk 15 mod.3)? Moreover, Atlanta has similar stats as tier 6 ships, although she’s supposed to fight up to tier 9 ships.

A. Even though their model is the same, torpedoes can vary in range and speed. It’s normal.

Don’t lose hope, we have some buffs planned for her. We’re aware of this issue.

9. What do you think about Yamato Montana balance? After all, Montana is much more vulnerable to Yamato‘s fire than the other way around. Do you plan to change anything regarding this issue?

A. Major changes are unlikely.

Yamato has better armor and firepower.

On the other hand, Montana has better maneuverability, AA, and turret configuration (2+2 triple turrets) which results in greater mass in a single salvo.

1. Svietlana’s top hull sports the VMF flag but the imperial eagles on the stern and bow are still there. Why?

Russian / Soviet ships have different flags. However, German ships all have the same. Why don’t you add the German Imperial flag on Emden, Dresden and Kohlberg? After all, there isn’t any banned symbol on it.

A. It’s a complex issue since when upgrading this ship, guns change but the hull doesn’t (we didn’t take that into consideration when releasing the ship). We will consider this issue and fix it if need be.

The German Imperial flag is still negatively viewed by some players. Moreover, I know there are some law problems associated with it in certain countries. We’d rather not risk it.

2. If you can implement manual firing for secondary guns, why isn’t it possible to add different caliber guns on dreadnoughts?

A. Because we think the game currently doesn’t need it. We could add a lot of things such as combat dolphins or anti-ship missiles, but what would be the point?

3. You said you had plans to nerf high tier torpedo spam. What are they?

Why don’t you nerf premium vehicles? (Premium ships have overall better stats than their standard counterparts),

A. Our current plan is the following: we may change the stats on certain Japanese torpedoes – spamming torpedoes at long distances will be less effective. Moreover, to encourage a more aggressive (and interesting) gameplay, we will first add a new type of torpedoes which will deal large amounts of damage but will require some degree of ingenuity and skill. It’s only a plan and you will see our final decision in the patch notes. Limiting the number of certain ships is our final solution and we’d like not to come to this.

There is nothing wrong in the fact that certain premium (or standard) ships show better performance than their counterpart. If we notice that a premium ship is doing a lot better or that its popularity is too high, we rather remove it from sale than nerf it. We think it’s a better approach to customers. There can be exceptions to this rule, but until now, we didn’t need to take extreme measures.

If you’re being bullied by Atago‘s and Tirpitz‘s, you could always take out a tier 9-10 ship and get back at them.

1. I like playing high tier IJN DD’s and I’m a bit afraid of the upcoming nerfs. Why couldn’t I enjoy my Shimakaze because some BB player doesn’t have a 16 skill point captain or can’t launch his plane?

A. Your (well-deserved) enjoyment should’t come from spamming torpedoes, which ruins any enjoyments the other players have. We don’t intend to make Shimakaze and other IJN DD’s unplayable. But they need to be rebalanced.

2. Hindenburg‘s engines seem to get easily destroyed. For example, I was in my Moskva and fired at a Hindenburg. First salvo, engines destroyed. He used repairs. Second salvo, engines destroyed again. After that, he was a free kill. So, is this situation normal?

A. It’s a specificity of how the mechanics work. I can’t say if it always works as intended. We may change some things. Nevertheless, there aren’t any mistakes with the situation you described.

3. Will there be more premium ships with additional upgrade slots or special characteristics?

A. Premium ships can range from ships with unique attributes (original configuration, unique set of consumables or equipment) to standard ships representing their class.

4. Could you please explain how detection mechanics work?

A. Fires – any number of fires on a ship increases its detection range by 3km for ships and 2km for planes. The effect disappears as soon as all fires are extinguished.

Firing with main guns – firing your guns increases the detection range of your ship by a value which is calculated according to the following formula:

[main gun caliber in mm]*3*10 for detection by ships.

This means that firing 203mm guns increases detection by 6090m

[main gun caliber in mm]*2*10 for detection by planes.

This means that firing 203mm guns increases detection by 4060m.

For balancing reasons, the results may be subject to adjustments.

This effect lasts 20s after firing.

In patch 0.5.5. we plan to add an exception to this rule. If, when firing, a ship wasn’t detected, this effect is immediately removed (with the exception of certain illogical situations).

Firing AA or secondary guns – when AA or secondary guns start to fire, detection range is increased by 1,3km for ships and 2km for planes. Similarly to the effect of main guns, this lasts for 20s.

5. Will cammos on ARP ships change their appearance in the future?

Will cammo cost depend on ship tier (lower cost for lower tier ships)?

Do you plan to add a radial command menu (like in WoT)?

A. We don’t have any plans for that. After all, they are free mid-high tier ships.

No changes planned.

No changes planned.

6. How is torpedo detection range affected by bonuses (Upgrade + Vigilance)?

A. Multiplicatively. [torpedo base detection range]*1.2*1.25.

7. What is the most popular tier 10 ship (not including Moskva)?

A. Looking at last week stats, the most popular ship for each class is: DD – Shimakaze. BB – Yamato. Cruisers – Des Moines. CV – Midway. And most popular tier 10 ship: Shimakaze.

8. Will DD turrets be less likely to be destroyed? Is it the same on Gearing and Fletcher?

A. Yes they will. Turret survivability is the same on both ships.

9. Was Zao‘s turrets survivability nerfed? I seem to lose more turrets than before.

A. No, we haven’t nerf it.

10. You said you didn’t want to introduce underwater torpedo tubes. But you added them in the April Fools event. Have developers changed their mind?

A. Maybe. Too bad in reality there weren’t rotating underwater torpedo tubes with a good angle of fire built in the bow of ships. And I’m not even going to talk about how the characteristics of those torpedoes are far from being the same as those real ships had.

11. Why wouldn’t you give players the possibility to change ship names for their sister ships (you could even add a doubloon cost to it)?

-It would be a headache for most players. In battle, you would need to identify this ship not only as a Fletcher, but as her 175 sister ships;

For beauty reasons. At the current stage of development, it’s far from being one of our priorities.

-Names are reserved for premium ships.