Answered by Sub_Octavian on Reddit
Q: Question regarding clans. Currently, with the clans in beta testing, we are limited to 30 members, and yet, in the “planned” features, we still are limited to only 30 members. When can we expect expanded clan rosters (I have a clan of over 80 members via my website) and when can we expect some type of clan battle/Strongholds battle functionality?
A: We do understand that most of established clans / communities / teams will need more than 30 slots. We are working on several options to expand this number in future. It cannot be easily set to 100 (500, 1000) right now for several reasons, on of them is scaling for future clan activities. But we do know about this concern and are going to find the solution. As for release schedule – sorry, no leaks 
Q: Last year (Q3 or Q4) it was mentioned that a CV rework (UI and gameplay) was currently in progress. Iirc it was mentioned, that it would be ready for launch sometimes in 2017. The developer diaries video for 2017 (which was good overall, I’d give it a B+) however doesn’t state anything in regards to that. Can you give any more info in regards to that? Oh and have we seen you in said video?
A: CV improvements are in progress. We did not mention them in the video along with other improvements, because we wanted to focus it on new highlights. However, that does not mean that we are not going to solve current game issues. Yes, that big man that could use some sleep was me 
Q: In this sub (below a video from flamu in a Minotaur) the topic came up again and it seemed, that there is a ‘dead zone’ where you currently have to gamble if you get a second smoke puff (for RN cruisers) or not. This gambling (esp. in high tier games) is a no go. Are you devs aware of this unclear mechanic? I know you said it’s not a bug, so it looks more like a poorly implemented feature.
A: I already explained how smokes work. I will do once again:
You will not be concealed if you move with the speed more than 12.5 kt
There is no 1-puff, 2-puffs, etc, rule
There is no gamble. Drop the speed to 12.5 and smoke safely
However, I completely agree that current implementation is not intuitive at all. I will have a word with Game Logic and UI teams. Hopefully, we will find some way to make this clear to players.
Addendum Q: So basically, if I want to stay safe I need to slow done to 12.5 before dropping smoke. Will be difficult though, if you’re suprised.
A: I will disuss the issue ASAP. Perhaps there’s some quick way to indicate the “safe” speed. Mechanics itself is adequate, IMHO. The problem is in clarity.
a few moments later (ok it was 45 minutes or so)
A: Done. We will take this issue, and couple of others, and will try to squeeze small improvement pack somehere in the near future. No promises of exact date, as our UI is quite busy with big incoming features, though. Apart from that, radar/HAS circles on minimap, and some additional info in port, do you have any quick small improvements you consider vital? If you do, feel free to PM me. I will be happy to review them and pass them along.
Q: Are RNCL handled differently than other ships with smoke in this regard?
A: No, smoke mechanics is the same, only settings (work time, radius) matter.
Q: Can you confirm that HE fire chance is not affected by successful penetration or shatter? During the last week there have been quite a few threads trying to analyze the effect of new IFHE skill, and some of them assume that shattered HE shells will have its fire chance reduced to 40% of original fire chance. I haven’t seen this on official wiki though so I think it’s not true, but if it’s true then you need to update it on wiki asap as it’s pretty important.
A: Fire chance: Yes I can. Please let me copy-paste what I posted earlier:
When determining fire chance these things matter:
- Area of hit – because there are few areas that can be set on fire. So you can’t have two fires on bow at the same time.
- Shell fire chance (with perk and flag bonuses added).
- Ship fire protection value (with perk and mod. bonuses multiplied).
Final chance is multuplification of 2 and 3.
Example:
Yamato bow is hit by a HE shell. It is not on fire.
HE shell fire chance is 7%. There’s DE (+3%) skill, so final value is 7%+3% = 10%.
Yamato fire protection is 0.5 (it actually can be that good on T10, but it is much lower on low tiers). There’s Fire Prevention skill (-7%) , so final fire protection is 0.5 x 0.93 = 0,465.
10% x 0,465 is 4,65% of fire chance on this hit.
Ugh…I hope I managed to clarify this.
Q: Undocumented changes on PTS: on the 2nd upgrade module for CV (500k credit one), Flight Control Mod.1 gives -15% aircraft servicing time instead of -10% on live, and Air Groups Mod.2 gives an additional +50% ammo to fighters (none on live). Shells of Gnevny/Ognevoi/Kiev/Tashkent/stock Udaloi (HE-46 and SAP-46) takes ~6,2s to travel 10km instead of ~5,8s on live, and I believe Khabarovsk’s shell is also slower. The velocity is still the same tho. Can you check all these changes and tell us if it is intended or not?
A: Full change list will be provided in the version patch notes. I will double-check the info you provided, but shell travel time changes are part of shell travel time bug, and upgrade modules are intended buff.
Q: What was the motivation behind the creation of “Evasive Maneuver” skill? It doesn’t really make sense to reduce the speed and detection of planes when they are going back to carrier and should be when being sent to attack a target instead.
A: The skill is indended for players that often lose their squadrons and run out of planes.
Q: All new skills seem to have a fixed, straight bonus regardless of class. How does the team think about adding more scaled skill like CE(dependent on class) or AFT/BFT/EM(dependent on gun caliber). I also noticed that the skill tree doesn’t have an option to improve maneuverability of ships, so I guess you should consider adding a skill that reduces like 10-16% ruddershift/turning radius based on classes.
A: We are not planning to add more skills. Some changes to ships specs are achived through upgrade modules – e.g. Rudder shift mods. There’s no need to copy everything to commander skills, we believe.
Q: So with PTS 2.0 for the new captain skills I am still confused why the developers think that the Radio Position Finding skill is a good addition for the gameplay? Will we ever receive a statement for the intention of such a skill?
A: You will receive full statement when there’s final decision on this skill, and this, in turn, will happen after 0.6.0 PT2. We did not remove it for PT2 because we currently don’t think it should be removed. This is to be determined.
addendum A: Final decision between PTS2 and Release / PTS3 (if it is needed) obviously. I believe such information is logical to be provided before next release in any case.
Q: What are some interesting things that have appeared when WG researched into the French lines that you can share? Such as obscure designs etc. (e.g. France’s 450mm Gun and the 37,000 ton Battleship designs A and B)
A: There were many peculiar and even crazy designs during research, from what I head. I will ask ship production team for details. When they have time to answer, I will translate and post info here, okay?
Q: Has there been a mild rework of the T5-T6 matchmaking? I seem to notice during the Graf Spee-Grind (which I completed in my Kamikaze R and Warspite) that those ships weren’t as often bottom-tier in T7-T8 matches respectively as in november or so. Or does this all boil down to confirmation bias?
A: We did not change any MM settings. MM background can change due to current tier/ship popularity. We always seek to list all changes in patch notes, so…
Q: Why more Bastion?
If I wanted to play against the computer, I would play PVE. And I really would, I loved the Halloween mode, so I’m looking forward to the stuff that appears on the 2017 video.
But as it is, the only thing I’ve noticed the times I’ve played Bastion on Hotspot is that it just slow downs gameplay to a crawl. Teams don’t want to risk getting close to the forts, and the few that do get quickly burned down by the computer and enemy focus fire since they are permaspotted by the radio stations that have a VERY unreliable hitbox. You have to spend several salvoes, which cost time and money (and hence XP) shooting stuff that does not seem to offer any reward but a vague and very unreliable shot at winning. That is time you’re not using for fighting other players, which is the reason why I play random battles. Hell, the Forts go a step further and even reduce the pool of enemy HP (and hence again, XP) available to shoot at, since they are so good at burning down the people that care to do more th
DDs in particular have it hard, since a large part of their role is to contest objectives and stop enemy DDs from doing the same. They rely on concealment and the radio stations seem to be there to ensure they can’t just do that.
To me, Bastion really seems more like an attempt to nerf players income.
A: To bring diverse high-level content. It is not ideal mode, obviously. We’re designing several changes for one of the nearest updates, including eco reward for interacting with forts and balance changes. Please stay tuned!
Q: Will the new PvE game mode have a separate stats page or will it be merged with Co-Op stats? Will the new PvE mode even have stats at all?
A: Should have separate..it makes sense. But I will raise this question when I have a chance.
Q: Is account wiping (research, credits, exp, stats) a possible feature in 2017, or at least the near future? I think it is currently available for WoT. If this feature will be added for WoWs accounts, what is your opinion of selective wiping – wiping all research, stats etc of specific nations nominated by the player? Sorry if that question is hard to understand.
A: Nope, AFAIK.
Q: So far, your development team launches lines of their own choice. Would it be out of the question to let the players decide one of the future lines instead, by way of vote? Assemble a list of potential tech trees, then let players vote what they want to see first?
A: Our choice is not our personal-I-WANT-MOAR-VODKA-AND-WMF-DD-choice. It is the choice based on audience, metagame and, which is super important, reference avaliablity / production time. So, we cannot go with voting option. We watch audience needs (on all servers) – that is 100% correct, as lines are made for players, obviously. But this solely cannot be the only argument – unfortunately. If we produced orks, elfs and goblins, it would be much, much easier.
Q: Will Blyskawica continue to stay under a Polish nation, or will it eventually be merged into a Pan-Europe nation? If not, why is Perth relegated to a Commonwealth tree?
A: She will remain in Polish nation, and Perth will remain in Commonwealth. We see no reason to change it.
Q: Why are there so few (just 4) different crew portraits for the UK nation? Warspite has been in the game since 2015, and the UK got a full tech tree line last year. To add insult to injury, the Commonwealth does not get unique portraits and has to share with the UK.
A: I discussed that with UI team. Hopefully, they will update UK crew portraits in a few updates.
Q: Do you plan to buff the most underpreforming IJN DDs? Also the upcoming changes like RDF skill and the removing of stealt fire make them totally unplayable.
Let me explain: The following IJN DDs have the worst win rate, below 50% and damage compared to their tier counterparts: Fubuki ( she has worst stats than old Mutsuki and that DD considered bad…); Kagero; Yuugumo and Shimakaze. I made some screenshots: http://imgur.com/a/Zrres
IJN DDs really need some fix beause they have very few advantages left because either WG nerf them directly, like torpedo detection range or introduce new mechanics which nerf them indirectly like radar, and now the upcoming Radio Position Finding skill will cripple totally the torpedoboat gamestyle. The only really advantage what left for IJN DDs are stealth and Radio Position Finding skill and the planned stealth fire remove will be the last nail into the coffin. So please consider the followings and don’t ignore these issues. Because atm it looks like WG is trying to make IJN DD line more and more useless and uncompetitive on purpose.
A: Currently there are no plans to buff IJN DDs and no fact that they are/will be unplayable. Typically, when IJN DD player has slightly worse avg.stats, it is because of trying to spam torps from longest distance possible. In the early days, that was a viable and effecient option – not anymore. IJN DDs became more skill-demanding and difficult. We realize that, but we are not inclined to change that. There is no purpose in doing any line uncompetitive. That’s would be very dumb of us. However, making line more demanding is acceptable. I am sorry that I did not provide the answer you probably was looking for, but there it is.
Q: Can you give us a hint when the Haifuri collab starts approx or any info? What we know so far is just a small announcement on the Asian portal from last year, no further official info since then.\
A: As for Haifuri, such things are mainly handled by our ASIA colleagues. I don’t participate.
Q: I know that eventually other nations without tech trees are going to have premiums to represent them (Canada, Spain, the Scandinavians or Netherlands). My question: it is possible to make a premium for Argentina? Probably the ARA General Belgrano? (is just a copy of the Brooklyn class that will come with the US cruiser line split). I know that this is not coming until 2018 or 2019, im just asking if you are considering my country for a premium in the next years. Thx for all your input to the community and the 2017 video is great
A: We are considering your country and other countries that are impossible to transofm into full ship tree. Thank you for watching
Q: Any chance we can get some more filters for the ship carasoul please.
Suggestions I have are:
1. The ability to sort by ships that aren’t elite. Right now you can sort for elite ships and premiums.
2. As many rows as possible to choose for the carasoul. People like me with larger res monitors have more space for rows without impacting the UI. Currently hardcapped at 4
3. There is a mod in aslains mod pack that’s shows small images of the ship when using a multi-line carasoul instead off silhouettes.
4. The ability to filter ships if they where made or if they where blueprints. People like me with lots of ports would find that useful when showing them to family and friends.
A: Studied and passed to UI as a feedback/suggestions. Thank you.
Q: Are you happy with the current position of IJN DDs being bullied by virtually anything in the game, be it USN DDs, Radar, Torp nerfs (torpedo spotting range, etc), Alpha (Gun) damage nerfs (Shimakaze), and others?
A: We are not happy with this because we don’t consider IJN DDs to be bullied by anything. Sorry for not agreeing with you. Shimakaze was also given increased rate of fire, which lead to higher damage output (DPM remained the same, ROF increased -> more fire chance).
Q: Why has Akatsuki been placed in the “normal’ tree while how she handles would make her a better fit behind the Akizuki, yet Shiratsuyu, that has a better torp potential is behind the Akizuki in the side tree?
A: There are no normal and not normal lines. And no gunboat / torpedoboat branches. Both branches have torpedo AND gun potential.
Q: Sorry if this has been asked before, and it’s a question that “I don’t know” or “I can neither confirm nor deny” are perfectly acceptable answers. Regarding crates, is there a “Pity Timer” on opening each type of crates to get a Super Crate. eg: after opening X number of crate type Y, there is a guaranteed chance of getting a Super Container.
A: There is no Pity Timer. Our RNG God is not that cunning..for now.
Q: When the skills are reset, what will happen to captains who were in the middle of retraining after a boat swap?
A: They should be automatically retrained. Full detailes will be provided in patch notes before version release as usual.
Q: Bastion mode attracted a lot of attention (mostly hate..) in last weeks. At this moment our ships can be shelled by a fort directly on their spawn points and literally in the first second of the match. May we hope this will be prevented via bugfix soon or is this perhaps a deliberate feature of AI forces? (Coz it’s a bit infuriating I’m afraid..)
A: We all may hope for bastion improvement pack in one of future updates, with balance changes and possible eco reward.
Q: Possibly dumb question (for anyone really) about upcoming commander skills, when they go live will we get to redo out commander skills or would we have to pay to redistribute them?
A: You will have 1 free immediate and inevitable respec after 0.6.0 for each commander. You will also be able to respec for free (paying elite XP, not doubloons) – this is a part of new design. Maybe there will be more options, it is being discussed.
Q: Are you happy with the German DD’s gunfire detection being so high and giving everyone a hard time playing them, can we expect to see German DD’s get normal gunfire detection at some point, or when do the rest of the other destroyers also get this massive gunfire detection nerf. ?
A: For now, almost all German stats are noticeably higher. This is normal, because line release just happened. We will see if any balance changes are needed in some time when stats settle. As for detection, we don’t want to add more open-water invisible fire to the game. Moreover, we are thinking about reducing the influence of such tactics. But this is not being implemented right now.
Q: What changes are being considered to help improve the performance of the USN cruiser line?
A: Some spec balancing, and overall line changes (including moving ships to different tiers). But I cannot go into detail now, sadly.
Q: Next question: Is it possible for ships to be named after certain hulls or appearances according to different eras? i.e. Hulls used to be called by their years in which the historical ships appeared as in those years, i.e. Nagato 19xx, etc. etc. With the teasing of Mutsu, which is a stock hull Nagato, is it possible to call that ship “1930 Nagato“, since that was how both sisters appeared in those times, they were quite similar.
A: Currently there are no intention to add ship naming to the game.
Q: Are new premium carriers only going to be released after the CV rework? I’m quite excited for Graf Zeppelin.
A: Chances are high for what you said – new prem CVs are likely to appear only after we solve current class problems.
Q: Will Takao ever make it into the tech tree?
A: No plans for Takao in tech tree now.
addendum: Q: Also, about Takao, there was a very old Q&A that said Takao was supposed to be released in the tech tree first before ARP Takao was to be released, but obviously this didn’t happen, and nothing was heard of it after that.
*”• Will we see ARP Takao?
While we want to do as many ARP ships as possible and we have Takao model (after all, her sistership Atago is in game already), we would like to introduce the historical Takao first.”*
This was from a June 2016 Q&A.
Q: Lastly… punches for no Dasha in Dev Diaries video
A: Lastly…Dasha doesn’t need to be in Dev Diaries. She is not a developer, she is superstar and has her own show which is called “Try to pay attention to update announcement instead of me, ha-ha!”
Just a quote, no direct answer involved: „I know “never say never”. Even to submarines :@”
