Thanks to our friends from rykoszet.info for providing this transcript!
Devs that are answering these questions:
Stanislav Kargin – Game Balance
Team Lead Yuriy Filipovsky – Game Balance, Designer
Let’s begin!!
– Is Sandbox a permanent feature? How long it’ll be available?
It can be said so, the testing by itself will show if we need it as permanent. The first iteration will include Balance 2.0 (Global Rebalance)
– How many AU (accounts on server) do we expect?
5k AU. The patches for Sandbox will be released approximately once per week. Patches on the Sandbox will be deployed weekly. Sandbox will be about efficient response. Sandbox is about testing some global changes. And we’ll check on the server if the players are ready for such global changes or not.
– Will there be any awards for participation on Sandbox?
Participation on Sandbox is the award by itself. We want players not to come for some bonuses but for the game. We already have 1k super testers so we think we’ll be able to get 5k MAU for Sandbox.
– There are rumors that there will be only vehicles of Tier X on the server. Is that true?
On the first iteration we test high-level gameplay and we will move it to lower tiers within the next iterations.
– What tiers exactly will be tested within Sandbox server?
1st iteration will have only Tier X, and the 2nd will have Tiers VIII, IX and X
– Will everything that is tested on Sandbox will go to the main (live) server?
By the results of testing it’ll be clear what changes will go to the production server.
– Will the SPGs still be able to penetrate paper tanks like RHM or vehicles without roof?
Yes, but it still depends where the tank was hit.
– What about XP earnings? Are they going to be reworked too?
It’s being reworked, but we’ll when we roll out everything.
– How will the feedback be collected?
We’ll have it collected via: forum (separate Sandbox forum with separate threads for regions), customer support (there will be a separate section for Sandbox participants) and polls.
– Why testing is started from Tier X, why not Tier I?
The main goal for players is to upgrade till high level content and we want to make this content convenient for players. And there is also more than 30 vehicles of Tier X, and there are much less of low tiers.
– What global changes there will be?
The first iteration is about Global Rebalance. If we see that it’s good to go, we’ll deploy it on our main servers. Sandbox itself is about various features and changes.
– There were some leaks of statistics of vehicles from Sandbox. Was it true?
Yes, there were leaks, but the information in them refers to some really early iterations of the test. (Seb: the first leak was, but I posted the new ones very soon after, so what they say is not true)
– What are the criteria for participation on Sandbox?
The criteria will differ from iteration to iteration and will correspond to the certain needs of certain iteration.
– What will affect on the changes that are made on Sandbox?
We’ll consider both players’ feedback that will show whether a change was a success, and statistics as well.
– Will the changes to the Sandbox that you have planned now go at once or within certain steps?
All the changes that we have for now will be implemented to Sandbox. The first iteration will have global rebalance.
– Premium ammo – will they be changed?
We will significantly change all types of shells. Moreover, we’ll have technical limits for purchasing shells for silver on Sandbox, though players will be credited 500 gold each day. This was made to have valid gameplay on Sandbox.
– What will be the changes on Sandbox? Will it be the changes with vehicles only?
We’ll have the changes both for tanks and some other features. For example, we have already changed the formula of damage for HE shells. We won’t change RNG though.
– Will players’ progress be transferred from the main server to Sandbox?
No, on Sandbox we’ll have everything from scratch, nothing will be synced. There will be increased rates for silver. We want players just to play, not worry about the problems with expenses.
– Will other WoT modes will be changed as well?
The most important for us is to make changes first of all for Random Battles. But the changes will be applied to all the modes if they’ll be released.
– Will the changes be applied to WG League?
Yes, it will
– What are the plans for the first iteration of Sandbox?
The 1st iteration will include global rebalance and SPG rebalance.
– If the feature performs well on Sandbox? What will happen?
In this case the feature will be release to the main server as well.
– How long Sandbox will run?
The server will be up as long as we need it.
