A short Q&A session with the well-known Anton Pankov.
On Chinese tank destroyers:
- As you may remember, the Chinese TD branch was planned only for the CN server. It appeared in other regions only because of the players requesting them. We don’t plan any changes now, but we will track their stats, both in China and ‘here’. The only difference is that the CN server has a Tier IX premium TD, while the other regions have only a Tier VIII.
On the CN server itself:
- The whole ‘uniqueness’ of the CN server stems from the traits and way of managing of games in China. World of tanks is run by a Chinese partner company, which often asks us for specific content. Without special treatment, ‘tanks’ wouldn’t be as popular in China as they are now. The Waffentrager E-100 will be an expensive Tier X tank, used in a loyalty program in China. We’re aware that the wave of hate which would fall on us wouldn’t let us profit from such an expensive tank. Meanwhile, for the Chinese it’s normal. If we introduced a VIP premium account with golden nicknames and a concierge service (which we won’t), the Chinese players would be satisfied.
On nerf and buffs. Why now, and why top tiers:
- Now, because it’s a good time to rebalance tanks, tree by tree. Besides the already known, there will be more. Right after this info appeared, conspiracy theories about the exchange of the Grille 15 have popped up. There are various variants of what will be done, but it won’t be done before New Year. There are plans for the soviet machines, and if something changes, the IS-4 will stay for sure. We’re thinking about some replacements, one of which is the double-barreled ST-II.
On Soviet tank buffs:
- Anton’s subjective opinion is that the IS-7 is in the shadow of the WZ-111 5A. The buffs which it will receive will allow the machine to be a bit more comfortable. The rest will be checked, we have some space to maneuver.
On version 9.20.1 and up:
- Somewhat up to February next year the updates will be focus on balancing. Of course in the meantime we’ll be adding new gameplay elements, like ranked battles, and 30vs30 battles and such.
On tanks with preferential matchmaking:
- In one what or another, premium tanks with preferential matchmaking will have to be changed, and in each possible scenario, there will be many unsatisfied players, so we want to explore all options. If we add an exception to the algorithms, like any other exception, this might create some unwanted anomalies. There’s also the option to reevaluate them and use their preferential MM, or buyback and compensating players, but those are just theories for now.
On the BC 25t:
- After upgrading the tank to a HD model, the gun model changed, but we will return the old one back. The model itself got a bit bigger, but that’s entirely historical. The questions that have arisen concerned mostly the old model, which got implemented years ago, when we didn’t have such possibilities to properly do it.
On the new personal score:
- Our current score became outdated. It was necessary to update it to calculate and pass an appropriate information to the Hall of Honors. We want to abandon looking at a player like at a sheet with statistics. There are some medals in the game which are given for some achievements, and we’re working on using them somehow. The player will be able to choose which medals he wants to hide.
On hiding stats and closing down mods:
- The mod portal was opened and is now in alpha testing. Work on closing the client for mods is in progress. Any external solution, however, will impact the client speed. We’re not ready for hiding nicknames or statistics of the players yet.
For us, socializing among players is an important thing. Right now, we’re still against enabling team chat We reduced the communication betwen teams, if that’s good or bad, time will tell, since there are many proponents and opponents of this.
On Ranked Battles:
- There are many ways to change it, for example change something between ranks.
On team damage:
- We’re planning to disable team damage on the Sandbox, or in one region. It seems a simple and logical decision, since you won’t have to worry about punishment. Nevertheless team damage is bound to the game economy and experience gain, so it’s harder than it seems. We’ll try anyway.
