Recon Mission Season 2021 Results

Last year, players had an opportunity to participate in three episodes of the Recon Mission event, which offered the chance to look at new maps in development and leave feedback. Recon Mission was a big success, with over 2 million players participating and over a million questionaries completed. We took our time to analyze this massive amount of data and are now ready to share the results with you.

Evaluating Your Feedback

When picking maps for further polishing and development, we considered two factors:

1. Gameplay balance and variety
2. Player feedback and map voting

With the first criteria in mind, we started by eliminating a map from the pool that did not meet the basic requirement for balance between teams and their bases. This map was Place of Power with a 12.8% difference in win rate between sides. The most balanced map turned out to be Airshipyard with a 1.7% difference. All maps had an average battle time between seven to eight minutes, showing they are well sized, teams are not meeting too fast, and gameplay is appropriately paced.

After this preliminary filtering, we sent Place of Power away for an in-depth rebalance, and we began studying player feedback.

Once players had played six battles on a given map, we asked them to complete a detailed survey on their experience. The questions included but were not limited to:

• Did you like the map?
• Do you want to see this map in the game?
• Is this map suitable for light tank, medium tank, heavy tank, tank destroyer, and self-propelled gun gameplay?
• Does the map have enough cover from self-propelled gun attacks?
• Does the map allow different tactics to be used?

We also provided a blank field for any additional feedback, so that you could leave us your thoughts.

Measuring the Data

The next step was to assign points based on the survey answers and create a second ranking of the maps. This offered unique insight into the maps from the subjective view of players. Finally, we compared this feedback against the objective data and statistics we collected with a view to finding any outliers.

For example, players said Outpost and Oyster Bay best facilitated tactical variety, while Volga was voted the least accommodating. A glance at the heat maps shows this was reflected in the data.

Light tanks

Medium tanks

Heavy tanks

Tank destroyers

Self-propelled guns

Outpost heat map	Volga heat map

On Volga, heavy and medium tanks heavily favored a single direction, yet on Outpost, they chose from at least two paths.

Nobody likes being struck by a self-propelled gun, and players said Oyster Bay offered the most cover from aerial attacks, with Volga providing the least protection. The heatmaps show how SPGs on Volga had free rein to target almost any location without needing to relocate, yet Oyster Bay demanded greater planning and positioning to besiege a given spot.

Registered SPG hits: Oyster Bay	Registered SPG hits: Volga

But the data doesn’t always align, as seen when reviewing which map was most suitable for light tanks. Players voted Far East as their most suitable and Airshipyard the least convenient map for light tanks, however, the average battle XP statistic showed that light tanks did very well on Airshipyard. After accounting for those interesting results and player feedback, Airshipyard lost a few places in the rankings used to determine which maps we should develop further but still remained in the top four.

The Results

After examining all questions and sorting maps with the help of player votes, these are the maps that stood out as the strongest:

• Outpost 
• Oyster Bay 
• Far East 
• Airshipyard 

Starting now, we are focusing on polishing these maps, using detailed statistics and free-form player feedback to guide future developments. As a reward for their performance, these maps will also receive new graphical assets to give them each a unique appearance. We are looking forward to releasing some of these maps this year or running another series of Recon Mission events if necessary. Stay tuned for updates!

We would like to thank you, our players, for making Recon Mission a special collaborative experience. Your input in such a sensitive matter as map development was crucial. It helps make gameplay more varied, even for commanders who stick to a limited selection of vehicles.