WoWS Q&A – 25th April 2016

Aerroon’s questions:

• Will we ever get full access to replays without opening it with the game client? Like a tool giving us access to the data inside the replay files without having to reverse engineer the format etc? Right now after a match is over the only thing easily readable is the team lists that are as a JSON string at the start of the file – any chance we’ll at some point be able to access the rest of the information in the match too like chat and shots fired etc?
  • MrConway: We are working on a new and better replay system – as it is currently planned, it should surpass WoT’s replay system in terms of functionality. This will however take some time
    • Ev1n: We’re currently working on the technical side of the replay system, but we’re dependent on BigWorld for some solutions to be built into our server software. We’ll have a better understanding of the time frame involved sometime next month (May), but we do want to have a functioning replay system later this year. We hope it’ll work out.

• Have you guys considered of doing away with Scaleform to try to use a more performant solution to the UI?
  • We’re working on improving the UI in future updates, but the exact method / improvements cannot be disclosed yet, as there are several different possibilities being explored.

• Have you guys thought of lowering dispersion across the board to lower RNG?
  • The dispersion is already pretty significantly lowered compared to real life; Any more and any battle becomes just a matter of “who runs out of HP faster”, with more fragile ships (which are already suffering enough) losing any place on the battlefield – and extreme range “sniping” would become even more common.

Aerroon’s picks from community questions:

• Will some maps be created for a special weather theme e.g. a winter map with a continuous snowstorm?
  • MrConway: We definitely want to expand the forms of weather you can encounter – we have already tested snow and are working on it, when it’s ready, it’ll come.
  • Ev1n: Right now we need to figure out how far we can go with weather gameplay effects, which is the reason we’re soft-launching it on one map only for now. We didn’t include the most extreme weather conditions in the first release, because we’re afraid they would just cripple gameplay too much, even if we didn’t touch any mechanics. After all, having the ability to technically spot and shoot someone might not amount to much when your screen is a chaotic mass of swirling snow particles – it might not be fun either. So we’re going to figure it out as we go and we’ll see how extreme we can make it in the end. Supertesters will surely have to suffer through those iterations.

• What do you think of the US CV’s low winrate? Are you considering a rework of the USN CV line in order to make it less RNG dependent thanks to the dive bombers?
  • As with all classes, we are tracking performance of all ships and when anything needs to be fixed, we try to fix it – all balance changes are tricky though, especially for carriers.

• Will weather make the ocean waves crest and dip making ships pitch and roll making aiming more of a challenge?  Will weather make ships less detectable?  Will weather effect wind and trajectory of shells?
  • MrConway: The current weather is not its final form. We are working on seeing how the current weather will affect the gameplay and PC performance of the player base. We will continue to work on the feature and hope to make it way more realistic and engaging that it is in the first iteration. The current iteration on the test server already has an effect on the maximum render range during a storm. You can test this yourself on the map north, or watch the VOD from yesterday’s Q&A.
  • Ev1n: Having waves affect aiming is exactly the thing we don’t want. It would just make the game frustrating and too difficult for the average Joe Captain, though I know some of you die hard masochists would actually enjoy that. Same goes for shell trajectory, even if we added some sort of UI option that informs you about wind parameters. One of the things we want to be careful with is choosing the parts of the battle that weather can influence to make it more interesting and dynamic, while not making it too difficult or hardcore. As you can see on PT, for now weather affects some visibility parameters, at least for this particular weather preset on this particular map. Potentially, each map can have its own set of gameplay changes, which are based on the weather presets calibrated for it. In short – two rainstorms might have their differences between a ‘Pacific’- and ‘Atlantic’-themed map.

• Weather is only visual for now ( ? ) any plans to make weather affect ship stability ( for shelling ) and possibly effect torpedo trajectories?
  • One step at a time – though if we eventually have weather influencing gameplay more than with visibility, it probably won’t be wind directly influencing the shells – such a mechanism would be by definition rather non-transparent and confusing. Our game aims most of all to have you fighting other players – not the system

• Will there be any changes to deepen the situations in plane to plane combat? At the moment, there is a complete lack of altitude difference. For example, the torpedo bombers had to be much closer to the water right before unloading. The planes at high altitudes had vision problems thanks to the clouds and the relatively diminished size of their targets, but they were safer from AA fire.
  • We’re reviewing the Carrier gameplay all together and seeing that it’s not the most engaging experience. Accordingly, we are looking for a permanent, good solution to make it more immersive as a whole. It is however too early to disclose any detailed plans on this overhaul.

• Why did the Shimakaze get 8km torps with higher speed; wasn’t it OP enough?
  • Not according to statistics. Those decisions were data-driven based on the ship’s performance in thousands of battles. We also hope that this change will reduce the torp walls fired from 20Km out and force Shimakaze players to close the distance and get involved in the battle more actively.

• Will detonations get a special animation (e.g. huge explosion visible to entire map)?
  • MrConway: If we find a way how to fdo it and not kill everyone’s performance…
  • Ev1n: Only after HMS Hood is introduced.

• Why do we keep being put in those battles where each team has one cap point? resulting in lemming trains which are boring.
  • MrConway: We are not planning to remove them currently. In our experience, you can have lemming trains forming on any map layout, they are not a rare sight on 3-cap maps either. If you face such a situation, your best bet is probably trying to convince the team – or at least pats of it – to protect their own cap from the other flank and at least act as speed bumps for the enemy fleet.
  • Ev1n: Lemming trains are not the direct result of having two cap points – they exist on maps with more cap points as well. Its more about the placement of obstacles on a map and lane crafting (though lanes have their downsides as well). We’re not going to remove “2 cap domination”  from the game, but we will continue to analyze feedback and heat maps to make our battle environments more interesting in terms of gameplay.

• Citadel/Heavy damage noise: Will there be (at least) an option to turn off that evil high pitched, tinnitus inducing noise? Maybe give us a optical message (blinking citadel symbol, similar to when engine or rudder is broken)?
  • We are tracking feedback regarding the new sounds from public test – we may replace it with something more comfortable to the ears. This might be possible with 0.5.6, although it is too early to say definitely.

• I heard that boosting the secondary and AA guns health was also considered in 0.5.5. Does it come in a later patch? Any news on buffing the secondary gun captain skill?
  • The secondary weaponry mechanic is being looked into. Introducing new skills was just the first step. Almost for sure there will be changes in the near future, but what exactly will be done is still subject to discussion.

• Any news on collaboration with other media like Kantai Collection stuff or Haifuri?
  • MrConway: For now we are content with ARP – and as a heads up, on EU we will take a short break from ARP missions for May, as we will have something even better coming.
  • Ev1n: We’re constantly talking to a lot of potential business partners regarding co-promos, crossover content or asset use, but for obvious reasons we’re not going to disclose the details of a deal until it’s done and dusted. So you’ll probably find out about new collaboration content directly from the portal or once you open your game client.

• Swiss Navy when?
  • MrConway: Just after the Glorious Czechoslovakian Danube
  • Ev1n: If we give you a flag, will that count?