Q. This year, should we expect German BB’s and CV’s? If so, could you give us an approximate delivery date?
We’re awaiting some new premium ships as well: in particular Tirpitz’s return and the release of Shinano.
Will there also be alternative lines for BB’s and CV’s (similarly to what E-100 is to Maus for tanks)?
A. We try to speak only about plans we have for the near future. Currently, it means Soviet cruisers. German BB’s were already revealed in the video about our plans for 2016. Regarding CV’s, we haven’t said anything about them.
We plan to release new premium ships, yes. We may put Tirptz on sale once again but not 100% sure. No plans for Shinano yet, we would be confronted to balancing problems.
We have – and had from the beginning – some general plans regarding alternative lines,but speaking about priorities, we rather release completely new lines first.
Q. With the recent AA rebalance, CV’s that were already rather overpowered started to strike once again. Essex’s and Midway’s stats were buffed in general (even though they were far from being weak).
Please explain to me if you’re satisfied with the current situation. Is 150-200k damage per battle normal for you?
If it is, I’d like to express my views on why I don’t like that:
1. Impunity. CV sends planes – that do their attack and then fly back – and lose 2 planes out of 160 and then starts again. The CV has the upper hand without questions. And if only a cruiser is against a CV, he can only turn in circles to avoid torps but sooner or later, he’ll get destroyed.
2. Far reaching “hands”. CV’s can deal their full damage without impunity anywhere on the map.
3. Fast speed. Even if the CV is spotted, it’s quite surprising I must say that he can flee from his opponent.
Are you satisfied with tier 9-10 US CV’s situation and CV’s in general after the latest patch?
A. No, we’re not satisfied with the whole situation. As expected, actual statistics differ from our tests here and there, and we didn’t get the expected results everywhere. There will be additional changes made to AA but they won’t be as important as they were with the latest patch. We now plan to tune ships one by one; we’re discussing some changes to be introduced in the next updates. On the whole, we’re happy with the changes but there still are some details we have to keep in mind. I am sorry I cannot go into details but you’ll surely understand, it’s still too soon.
Q. I noticed in port that Ognevoi sits significantly too high above the waterline. It seems other ships are fine. What’s the cause of that?
A. I discussed the issue with my colleagues and it’s a mistake. We’ll fix that by setting the ship a bit deeper. Thanks!
Q. [This question is a follow-up to a question asked in a previous Q&A about the difference in firing range between Mahan and Farragut (due to M’s rangefinder standing at 11.6m and F’s rangefinder at 15m)]
So that means that Mahan’s detection range should be shorter since it’s not as high. But it gets spotted earlier. Or is the detection range based on the highest point of the mast antenna?
A. The highest point on which DD’s detection range is based upon is 2m above the funnels (are also taken into account ship length and width,and the average height of the deck). Mahan’s funnels are higher than the rangefinder, it’s the opposite on Farragut. Thus, the difference is due in the first place to these little differences between the height of the funnels and the observation equipment.
Q. Why did you decide to set next Team battles at tier 8-9?
In my opinion, it will create a couple of problems:
1. Tier 9 ships will very, very often lose silvers when playing. It means that team battles as an alternative means of farming will disappear. It will only be ok for getting xp. Given the number of potential opponents (7), it will be easier to farm xp in random battles since there are more opponents.
2. Currently, waiting time for tier 10 ships already is about 1-1.5 min. If one part of tier 8-9 players go play in team battles, there won’t be many people left to fill tier 10 games.
Haven’t you considered setting team battle at lower tiers? After all, most players play at tier 5 to 7.
A. The most populated tiers don’t have to be the basis for our decisions about team battles. Team battles are high level content intended to give interesting options to players owning ships of those tiers. We would gladly include tier 10 ships into team battles but there aren’t enough of them yet.
Regarding profitability, we’re examining the issue and looking for possible means that could affect it (if needed).
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[The following question sand answers were summarized; they included a lot of unnecessary technical information]
Q. Do you plan to buff Aurora’s and Nikolai’s AA?
A. These ships are far from being weak (to put it mildly). They don’t need any more AA armaments, at the moment. they’re fine all-around.
Q. When will you add better anti-aliasing in the game? Currently, at max graphics settings, all the lines are pixelated.
A. We’re currently working on it and I can’t give you any specific date for now. We know of these issues. I hope you understand.
