Sandbox Test: Crew 2.0 – FAQ

Source: EU Portal

The second iteration of a series of upcoming Sandbox tests has begun. This time, we are putting a reworked crew mechanic system to the test: Crew 2.0.

If you would like to participate, download the Sandbox test server client and begin experimenting with the new feature. We need your support and feedback for the test to be a success.

But before you jump in, we would like to clarify several details, quell any concerns, and answer a few of your frequently asked questions.

Crew 2.0 mechanics and changes

1. Why did you decide against adding new perks and skills, as many players suggested, and opted for reworking the crew system?

The current crew system in the game has not been changed for a very long time (since 2012) and it became obvious that a number of mechanics and aspects of the crew system needed improvements and changes. The main directions in which we plan to develop the crew system are:

  • improvement of the user experience when interacting with the crew system,
  • Increasing the variety of skills and perks (talents),
  • creating a transparent progression system with clear and achievable goals,
  • improving the interfaces and crew management tools.

To bring these ideas to life, we looked at a number of solutions. In the end, they all turned out to be “half-measures” that didn’t radically change the situation. So, we decided not to focus on specific aspects, but to completely rework the current crew system.

2. Is there a release date?

There is no precise release date for Crew 2.0, at the moment. Currently, the most important and highest-priority task is to collect feedback from the players who tried out the suggested system in the Sandbox test. Play the game, share your feedback, complete questionnaires—your feedback will form the basis on which the future of Crew 2.0 will be built.

3. Can you briefly describe how the new crew system differs from the old one (i.e. Sixth Sense, variability, interfaces, etc.)

1. A vehicle’s crew will now be represented by a single Commander in the Garage, but everything will remain unchanged in battle.

2. The skill system has been reworked with Training Plans, new skills, and talents.

3. A new game entity (Instructors) has been added.

In addition to these changes, a number of aspects will become more comfortable and convenient for players—all Commanders will have the Sixth Sense perk by default, a crew will be able to “remember” up to 3 vehicles of the same nation and class, there will be a wide variety of skills as well as the ability to unlock and improve several skills at the same time, etc.

4. What will be automatically converted?

You can find more detailed information about the Crew Conversation Process in the main guide.

5. What will happen to unique crew members?

According to our concept, all special crew members (Snow Maidens, Chuck Norris, Battle Pass heroes, etc.) will become new valuable characters—Instructors. They will provide additional Skill Points (on top of the 10-point limit) to the crew and increase the experience earned after each battle.

6. What are Instructors and what bonuses do they provide?

All special crew members will be converted into new valuable game entities—Instructors. Up to four Instructors can be assigned to a crew. This functionality will be unlocked for free, as the crew levels up (at Levels 15, 30, 45, and 60). Instructors are divided into three Classes (III, II, and I). The higher the class, the more XP the crew gets per battle, and the more additional Skill Points are provided by the Instructor within the Training Plan. If a unique crew member had their own voiceover, the Instructor will keep it.

7. Why are conversion operations not automated, and how do I convert an old crew into a new one?

Crew conversion will be performed manually for each particular vehicle and players themselves will be involved in this process. It may not seem very convenient, but we do not want to make conversion-related decisions for you. Only players themselves should decide how to use such a valuable resource as Crew Experience.

When converting a crew manually, the total experience of all crew members in the vehicle will be divided by the number of members. As a result, the new crew will receive the average value of all experience earned by the old crew. Depending on the amount of experience, the new crew will immediately receive a certain Crew Level, as well as the benefits that correspond to it. This ensures that experienced crews will keep their experience in the new system.

8. How is the new amount of Crew XP calculated during conversion?

When converting a crew manually, the total experience of all crew members in the vehicle will be divided by the number of members. As a result, the new crew will receive the average value of all experience earned by the old crew.

9. What happens to my crew after conversion?

Interactive image. To find out the level of the crew after its conversion, enter the current number of skills/perks and the major qualification level for each crew member, and then click CONVERT CREW.You can find more detailed information about the conversion process in the main guide.

10. What are Training Plans and how do they work?

Training Plans are a matrix for distributing Skill Points. They include five directions:

  • Tactical Training
  • Gunnery Training
  • Technical Training
  • Operational Training
  • Driver Training

Each course will comprise five skills and two talents. Players will increase the crew level by investing Skill Points. A total of 75 Points can be distributed in the matrix. Up to 10 Points can be invested into each skill.

11. What are talents and how do I unlock them?

A talent is a special type of skill that triggers in certain situations in battle. After investing 30 Skill Points in a specific Training Course, you will be able to choose one of the two talents available within that course.

12. How do I earn Skill Points?

Players can get points just like before, by earning XP in battles. However, now you do not increase the skill/perk level (%) by earning experience, but instead, receive points that can be invested in skills.

13. A maximum of 75 Skill Points – Is that a lot?

75 Skill Points is equivalent to the amount of XP required to train 5 skills/perks within the current crew system.

14. What happens after 75 Skill Points?

After investing 75 Skill Points in a Training Plan, you will no longer receive Skill Points, and the Elite Progression (Professional Expertise) will be unlocked for the Commander.

With each new level of Professional Expertise, the crew will receive a small increase to the vehicle handling level. However, for the most part, this is a token status for a well-trained crew.

15. Has anything changed in battle?

According to our calculations, the influence of a new crew on the gameplay will increase 1.5 times compared to the old crew. Additionally, a number of situational skills and talents will also be added. When triggered, they will be displayed in battle with special indicators.

16. What will happen to the Barracks?

Old experienced Reservists will stay in the Barracks, while crew members with insufficient experience to train at least one skill will be converted into Crew Books.

Bunks in the Barracks will be converted into Retraining Orders at a ratio of 16:1. Bunks in the Barracks will lose their purpose as an entity in the new system, but Dormitories (for each Garage slot) will be introduced instead.

17. How does conversion work in the case of a 0-skill crew?

The 0-skill does not include any experience therefore it does not add any experience during the conversion and only the amount that was actually obtained in battle is counted in the process. In place of the 0-skill you will receive a valuable instructor.

Note that this is just the approach for the current Sandbox and that based on test results and on player feedback it might changed for future iterations.

Sandbox Server

1. How do you participate?

  1. Download the Sandbox launcher.
  2. Install the Sandbox client by launching the downloaded file. If you’re running the Game Center for the first time, you’ll have to authorize and restart the downloaded installation file.
  3. Wait until the Sandbox client is downloaded and installed.
  4. Open the World of Tanks tab, select World of Tanks Sandbox, and click Play.

2. What are the special missions and Tokens? What do you need to do in order to earn rewards for participating in the Sandbox test?

It’s quite simple. Six combat missions will be made available on the Sandbox server. Five of them are completed simultaneously and unlock access to the sixth one. The sequence can be completed three times.

An overview of the exact mission conditions is available in the main guide.

Once a chain is complete, the missions will become available again, but not earlier than the next day.

Shortly after the Sandbox testing is over, the Tokens will be transferred to the main server and players will be able to spend them in a dedicated part of the in-game Store for rewards. Don’t forget to spend your Tokens before the next test starts, or else they will be converted into credits at the rate of 1 Token = 10,000.

3. When will accumulated Tokens be transferred to the main server?

Between 24 and 48 hours after the test is concluded. We will try to do it as quickly as possible and will notify you after the Tokens have been transferred to the main server.

4. Are the Tokens for each iteration counted separately, or is it possible to collect them and then spend them all at once on rewards during the last iteration?

All of the Tokens earned during a test iteration have to be spent before the next Sandbox stage begins. Tokens don’t stack, so don’t forget to choose a reward in the time between the tests.

5. When will we see the 2D style and decals?

We continue to work on the 2D style and additional decals right now. They are still being drawn, tested, and carefully prepared for presentation to the public. However, we can already show you the decal for the Crew 2.0 test:

As for all the others, you will have to wait a little longer.

6. When and where will I receive the survey?

The survey will appear in the main game client. Some players, who have fought a certain number of battles, will receive the survey during the testing phase. All other players, who have fought more than five battles, will receive the survey in the final days of the test, or immediately after it ends. If you don’t receive the survey right away, please be patient. To make the technical load lighter, we’ll send the survey out in batches.

7. Why do we have to download the full Sandbox client every time?

This is the nature of the Sandbox server test. Each iteration means a separate client that was built for a new feature separately from other mechanics. Unfortunately, the production process requires this approach.

Rewards

Complete special missions on the Sandbox server to collect Tokens and unlock different reward levels.

If you have any questions that have not been answered here, please head over to our forum where our community team will be happy to assist. You can find the link below.

Roll Out!

23 thoughts on “Sandbox Test: Crew 2.0 – FAQ

  1. the only complains i have so far are:
    – the “girl” crews, most of us used on those crews because they had 1-2 free skills, and now with the current “conversion”, they become worse than the old crews…hope they find a fix for that , not only the ” they become instructors”
    i agree with the other person who said that we should be able to choose what bonus they give, just limit to 1 instructor of the same skill per tank

    feels like 75 points are not enought to get the same skills you have previously with 4-5 habilities, maybe 85-90 would be more fitting with the same xp requirement they ask for 75 at the moment
    limit the ammount of final skills you can get to 2, and problem solved
    weren’t the ” other vehicles” slots open for free after certain level on a crew, up to 3? i can only find tha option for gold, that would be a fail

    1. It is by far not enough, if you want your 5 skill crew with the same effects in the new system you need around 100 to 130 points depending on the skill build
      Example:
      1. Skill: 6. Sense, snap shot, smoth ride, safe Storage -> 6. sense is free, 3 skills -> 30 Points
      2. Skill BiA -> new system 1 skill -> 10 Points 40/75 points spent
      3. Skill: camo/repair -> 10 points again -> 50/75 points spent
      4. Skill: recon, dead-eye, clutchbrake (or what ever), situational awarness -> 40 points -> 90/75 points spent … oh
      5. skill: firefighting or something -> 10 points 100/75 ; even worse if you go for individual skills instead of all fire fighting, then you need 40 points -> 130/75 points

      Well played WG, nice math
      The say a 5 skill crew will be the same aas a 75 points crew, I dont think so

      1. Totally agred in the old system a lot of the skills need only 1 crew member to work, in the new system that will be equivalent as 2 points of cost not 10. But now for example snap shoot cost 10 points not 2… This make you lost skills not gain skills.
        In my example my Pz3J has 2 skills cammo 100% at fist skill and then a mix in the second skill: that is snap shoot, smooth ride, safe stowage, Recon, and Situational awareness that is 6 skills in total.
        If i want to have 6 skills in total in the new system i need 60 points, when i change my tripu i only have 25 points.
        Also when u have a crew with old 5 crew members with lets said 5 skills in every one of theme.
        You have, Bia, cammo repair, this are ok they cost mostly the same. But then u have 2 others skills different per crew member thats a total of 10 perks plus the 3 commons= thats a total of 13 skills
        In the new system that is 130 points not 75….

      2. While I agree with your general sentiment, I disagree on some of the finer points.

        IF you ignore the “talents” at the end of each skill tree then the skill conversion is overall about the same depending on the number of crew in a tank. 2 or 3 crew tanks can get more skills in the new system while 5+ crew tanks will suffer (4 crew tanks are neutral). Three main reasons for this:

        1) Some skills required all of the crew to have to 100% to achieve the same effect as one skill to 10 points in the new system (BIA, camo, repairs, firefighting are examples of this).

        2) They combined some skills into one in the new system (situation awareness and recon for example).

        3) You can control how many points you assign so some skills will be acceptable even if they are not maxed out (repairs on light tanks and some medium tanks for example).

        HOWEVER, all this goes out the window when you take “talents” into account. Many of the talents are pretty much OP and you will suffer if you don’t have them which means you can no longer spread your points out and will have to commit 60 out of 75 points into 2 of 5 trees. This screws you over massively since now you are forced to take skills which are less relevant at the expense of some of the more useful skills in order to get the 2 OP talents. Because of that you won’t be able to get all of the key skills you had with your 4 skilled crews in the new system as an example because it is mandatory to max out 2 of the skill trees if you want to be competitive.

        Another consequence of the talents is that you have over-specialize most crews and now the option to use the same crew in multiple tanks becomes less appealing (something that was supposed to be a huge upgrade over the old crew system). I guess they did this so that you only use the same crews in tanks in the same tech tree so that people start playing more lower tiers which I guess makes sense. For example, I won’t be able to use the same crew in my k91 and 430U but I can probably make the same crew work in the k91 and Obj 416. After considering it that way, I don’t mind it but the dream of having the same OP super crew in my k91, 430U and 140 is well and truly dead. On the other hand I’ll be able to use the same crew for the CS-63 and CS-59 which is nice.

        1. well for most of the new “old” skills you need 10 points to get the same effect
          snap shot/smoth ride needs 10 points for example
          new vision skill gives 4% with 10 points, the old 2 kills gave 5% combined, so you kinda need the 10 points there as well

          1. Let’s say you are a tier 10 medium tank like the 140. You need to have BIA, camo, repairs and 6th sense to start with. If you have a 5 skilled crew, that’s 13 out of 20 slots already taken. In the new system that will cost you 30 points out of 75.

            Then you want view range, that’s 2 more skills 15/20 for 40/75 but wait, your commander is already maxed out meaning you’ll have to sacrifice 1/4 of your camo or repairs if you want max view range so that’s 14/20 for 37.5/75.

            On the driver you have to chose 2 out of 4 skills among preventative maintenance, clutch breaking, smooth ride or offroad driving. Let’s say you choose preventative maintenance and smooth ride. If you do that in the new system then you get the firefighting skill for free since they combined it with preventative maintenance. Consequently firefighting is a skill that all crew members had to have for max effect meaning that’s an equivalent of 20/20 for 57.5/75 but okay let’s set firefighting aside for now. Now it is 16/20 for 57.5/75 (plus firefighting).

            Now the gunner, snap shot and firefighting, that’s 18/20 for 67.5/75 (plus 75% more firefighting).

            Loader left, safe stowage and adrenaline rush perhaps, 20/20, however, neither skill is a must to be competitive and adrenaline rush is very situational. In the new system you could choose to put the rest of your points into either safety measures which improves the health of ALL of your internal modules, not just the ammo rack, or adrenaline rush which is a lot more useful now as with 8 points you can get a reload boost when you are down to 40% of your HP, not 10%. If you add appropriate instructor(s) you can max that skill to get the reload boost at 50% HP. Alternatively just 2/10 into Adrenaline rush can give you 70% of the old skill (can be achieved with an instructor).

            Overall that’s 20/20 for ~78/75 (+3 from an instructor) and you get about the same performance, a bit less in certain areas but more in others to make up for it.

            Of course, as I mentioned in my caveat, you won’t actually set your tank up in the same way in Crew 2.0 because you’ll want to get those talents. So essentially your crew will become much more specialized and better in a couple of key aspects while worse in others.

            1. Dont agree. This post will have a lot of maths…..

              My 2 skilled Pz3J (second at 87% in all crew members) gets some major nerf. I got cammo 100% and 5 different skills in the second one.

              Do your maths thats 6 skills in total, they give me only 25 points, so if i fulled cammo, like before i already lost 10 points,then i put 10 points to have snap shoot others 10 points,mmm lets see 5 points on viewrange. and i am left with no points.
              So i lost view range for the commander, 5 points on view range for the radio operator, smooth ride, and repair on loader.

              If you have 5 skills in your russian medium, you said you have, Bia, repair and cammo? ok that is a total of 2 full skills that are individual for crew members.
              24=8, in the new system to max 8 skills you need 80 points so you need 310= 30 points for the old commons bia, cammo repair, and 80 points for the individual crew members skills.
              In the old system:

              Commander: Cammo, repair, Bia, Recon, Situational Awareness (radio operator skill)

              Gunner: Cammo, Repair, Bia, Snap shoot, Deadeye

              Driver: Cammo, Repair, Bia, Clutch Braking. Smooth Ride

              Loader: Cammo, Repair, Bia, Safe Stowage, Adrenaline Rush

              New system: 75 points

              Cammo: 10, repair: 10, Bia: 10 = 30 points

              45 points left for the old individuals

              Snap shoot: 10 points =40 points used

              Deadeye: 10 points = 50 P. used

              Smooth Ride: 10 points = 60.

              Clutch braking = 10 points = 70 points

              Adrenaline Rush= 5 = 75

              I lost= Half of Adrenaline Rush, Situational Awareness, Recon, Safe stowage (3,5 skills)

              But remember this is a 4 crew tank u already lost 2,5 skills. What will happen when you apply the saim formula to the E-50M with 6 skills crew,

              Cammo/rapair/Bia goes the same 6-3 = 3 skills individuals.

              3*5=15 skills in total

              in the new system 45 points left= thats is 4,5 skills.

              15-4,5= 10.5 skills AROUND 10,5 skills. In the old system mostly

              Commander: Cammo, repair, Bia, Recon, Jack of All Trades, Eagle Eye (6)

              Gunner: Cammo, Repair, Bia, Snap shoot, Deadeye, Designated Target (6)

              Driver: Cammo, Repair, Bia, Clutch Braking. Controlled Impact, Preventative Maintenance (6)

              Loader: Cammo, Repair, Bia, Safe Stowage, Adrenaline Rush, Intuition (6)

              Radio operator: Cammo, repair, Bia, Situational Awareness, Call for Vengeance, Firefighting (6)

              In the new systme 75-30 “commons” = 45
              45 -Snap shoot (10) -Deadeye (10) -Designated target (10)- Controlled Impact (10) -Safe Stowage (5) = 0 No more points left, i get 4,5 skills

              I still need= Recon, Jack of All Trades, Eagle Eye (3) + Clutch Braking, Preventative Maintenance (2) + Situational Awareness, Call for Vengeance, Firefighting (2,20 (yea firefighting work at 20% of how it will work if i have it for all))+ Safe Stowage(only half so 0,5), Adrenaline Rush, Intuition (2,5)

              Sooo, 3+2+2,20+2,5= i lost 9,7 skills

              Mmm seems like i lost skills not i gain skills. I feel like they nerfed my E-50M

              The same goes for all the tanks with a lot of crew members. Yea its harder to reach 100% in all crew member but when you reach the first two skills give you more numbers of skill that tanks with only 2 crew members, and then they have a harder way to grind the sucesive skills, so this is a nerf to tanks with a lot of crew members.

            2. The fact that you even mention preventive maintenance and firefighting skills on a tier 10 medium tank tells a lot about your level of expertise in the regard of crew skills.

  2. Played a bit in the sandbox yesterday and I would have liked more transparency in terms of what was converted from the old system into the new system. After joining the sandbox I didn’t have a clear idea of what changes took place to my crews as there was no report to that effect. e.g. Old -> New

  3. All the answers in this forum are not visible cos majority of players using swear words addressed to WG

    1. Well WG seriously fucked up by taking something like tank crews which were as simple as a game of checkers and made it as complicated as a D20 tabletop game.

      Its no surprise you would have people telling WG to go fuck themselves.

  4. The reality is that the difference between female and male crew became obsolete with BIA and SOS becoming interchangeable. You can choose any crew skin you want now in the personnel file. It still kind of bugs me since it erases part of my history in this game, no matter if it makes accounting sense or not. I do wonder if keeping track of all the crew members is just getting to be too much of a strain for WG’s servers.

  5. Seems nobody is even mentioning the massive pay-wall in all of this. Want to train your crews for multiple tanks? Pay or loose lots of credits and XP. Want to train your crews up so you can get a 75 point commander? Pay, pay, pay. Now what of all those tanks you bought to get the zero-skill BIA crews (which you would not have bought had they not come with BIA crews)? Well, F you, they a sh*tty instructors that give you almost nothing. These crews are like premium tanks and yet they have been nerfed and the “compensation” simply sucks.

    1. Go and open your wallet to WG then 😂 Fuck it, why I ever spent money with that game… is a shit sink. But hey, new season on warzone, so is a loss for WG from my part

        1. While we all appreciate the site I feel like if many actually quit WoT for good over this they in turn will probably have no interest in coming to or donating to TAP.

          Just some food for thought. =)

  6. From what i’ve heard, Wargaming’s goal is to break fixed crew build meta and introduce more variety. However, they are taking their usual heavy handed approach. With punitive retraining costs, very few players will dare to experiment. Most will watch their favorite streamer/youtuber and stick to their recommended builds, thus creating another fixed meta.

    1. It would be one thing if WG was pursuing change for changes sake, and there is probably some truth to their statement that the current system has become a dead end, but they have no respect for all the effort the players have sunk into the game over the years. I will probably NOT out and out uninstall if these changes go through as they are; but I’ll be pretty much done spending money on the game.

  7. Wargame never listen really or truly

    I say this again Crew 2.0 will be WHAT Wargame want not us There so stupid they ‘think’ it will all be all fine and ok in the end .. even if it kills of 50% or more of WOT players from playing ever again

    over the last 7 long years the lies more lies miss-truths
    then Wargame do what they REALLY want to do anyway all along ~ while ‘pretending’ to listen but not!

    So … i just play 4 to 5 battles a day over a weekend now buy nothing much (Premium account is all) and absolutely ZERO Premium Tier 8 rubbish – pointless waste of my hard earned cash

    Crew 2.0 who cares
    you got zero choice here boys so suck it up .. or?

  8. It’s a shame I will be uninstalling this game now. It’s been 10 good years but enough is enough!

Comments are closed.