Meeting the Mother of Japanese Tanks, Daigensui

Posted on by

Source: http://www.inven.co.kr/webzine/news/?news=99734&site=wot

Hello everyone,

those of you who read FTR regularily are probably familiar with Daigensui, who helped bring us the Japanese branch. What follows is the translation (by a native speaker, but the English has some typos, tried to fix as much as possible) of a Korean interview with her. Enjoy.

There are many that say “cool” when looking at tanks, but few would say “loveable”. This is particularly so if one does not put anime skins or girl crew members. This might be possible among the so-called “military otakus”, but it was difficult to find someone close to this reporter who had such love for tanks.

Here, there is someone who calls tanks “my cute daughters” and shows her love.

This might seem a bit of an exhaggeration, but one you look into it things make sense. Daigensui is the “Mother” of the Japanese tanks which will appear in the WoT 8.10 update.

Daigensui was also once a regular WoT player, but now she works as an outside research advisor to Wargaming on Japanese and German tanks. Particularly, she had a core role in the development of the Japanese tree, to the point she can call the tanks her “daughters”. In 8.10 there will be only a light and medium line for the Japanese tree, but in the future there will also be heavies, tank destroyers, and self-propelled guns, all of which will also be researched with Daigensui at the front.

Meeting Sumeragi “Daigensui” Akeiko, Wargaming Outside Research Advisor

Q: Nice to meet you. Please introduce yourself to our WoT Inven family.
Sumeragi: Greetings. I’m Sumeragi, who plays on the North America server as Daigensui. I usually am active on the NA forums and Naver Cafe.

Q: Can you please tell us what you do at Wargaming?
Sumeragi: I’m not an actual employee so there is no exact position, so you can think of me as a freelancer researcher. I usually focus on Japanese research, but also helped out in German, in the 0.8.8 update.

Q: You have knowledge of tanks which seem to go beyond the experts, how did you start researching tanks?
Sumeragi: I’m not a military maniac (at least, I don’t think so), but both sides of my family are related to the military or military industry, so naturally it became part of my life. I’m nothing when compared to GuP’s Yukari. If there is something particular, it’s that I moved quite a bit of the various resources I collected since I was young into an external hard drive.

Q: Even though you’re not a Wargaming employee, you’re known has having a core role in development of new tanks. We’re curious as to how you came into that position.
Sumeragi: I was active in a Japanese tank thread over at the NA forums, and then The_Chieftain introduced me to WG Minsk. From that time on I was in direct communication and helping out.

Q: If we look at the material Sumeragi has given to Wargaminig we see blueprints, records and other such various sources. We wish to know how you managed to gather these materials. There might be a bit of classified information among those as well.
Sumeragi: Most of the time I looked through Mitsubishi and IJA records with help from various contacts, and also received help from researchers through my family. Fortunately, information on Type 74 wa partly declassified, and JGSDF was kind enough to make some materials suitable for research.

i3718908288

Q: While it is known that Wargaming has great emphasis on historical accuracy, they do change some specifications for balance. There would be clashes between the historical accuracy research by Sumeragi and game balance considerations by Wargaming, and in this case, which comes first?
Sumeragi: There are hard history and soft balancing, and accuracy is given priority as much as possible. However in cases where no amount of soft balancing would help (prime example being the VK 45.02 (P) series), Wargaming sticks to physics and goes with “what would have been done”. Of course, this is the last resort.

8.10 Update, Her Talk of Japanese Tanks

The start of how Sumeragi participates in Wargaming development, Japanese tanks. The first result was the premium tnak Chi-Nu Kai which appeared in 8.9, and 8.10 brings the main tree. However, with the bad reputations as low-quality that Japanese tanks have, there is also the historical feelings which results in a not so good first impression.

No matter how tanks might come to life with historical accuracy, from the players’ point of view the potential and ability in the game is the most important. In this sense Japanese tanks (when compared to the second German TD line) do not have any clear advantages or potential.

But when the specifications of the new Tier X Japanese medium was released, there hae been some who think of it as a high-spec medium tank capable of standing in for Leopard 1 or T-62A. There have been rumors that Sumeragi appealed a lot to Wargaming in order to add the latest developed tank STB-1 as Tier X (Daigensui adds: Not really, I was pushing for Type 74 which was denied as too modern even if the specs were less).

Q: The date for 8.10 update has been decided. We’ll be soon able to meet the Japanese tree, and we would like it if you could tell us the general characteristics of the tree.
Sumeragi: If we summarize the suggestions that I sent,

- Relatively good camouflage and terrain passibility (acceleration might be slow but general mobility is good)
- Slightly higher alpha compared to same-caliber guns of other nations
- Except for a few exceptions gun depression of at least -10 degrees

Q: There have been generalizaions that Japanese tanks have been historically unable to do their full role when compared to other nations. Especially, there are theories that the quality of armor and rounds were subpar.
Sumeragi: Since the main opponent was a practically armor-less China, it can be said that the priority of tank development being low was a major factor. Aside from this, there was the technological deficiency and lack of resources and most importantly the limited industrial capacity. This mean that production fell by itself, and IJA headquarters would use this as an excuse to focus on spirital mobilization and manpower to fight wars. It was only when the IJN was virtually eliminated and the various workers moved to the army that quality went up a bit. In addition, in the case of Mitsubishi’s type 4 Chi-To development, they ignored the IJA’s (subpar) requirements on materials and also was planning to use company resources to start production.

Q: If we look at the the appearance of Japanes tanks, from Type 95 to Ha-Go to Type 5 Chi-Ri there is the similarities to the point of feeling like a series, and then starting from STA-1 the externals are suddenly different. What might be the difference?
Sumeragi: The appearances might be different, but the fundamentals are basically the same. Comparably thin armor, good gun depression, accurate gun…. only STB-1, which combines the advantages of second generation tanks, has good mobility, good armor, and good firepower.

Q: The required experience for Japanese tanks are larger when compared to other lines. Does this mean that STB-1 has better specifications?
Sumeragi: Given that experience requirements are decided by other people, I can’t particularly answer this question.

Q: STB-1 is known to have a loading assistant device. This seems to be different from the clip autoloaders, so does this mean it simply increases loading speed?
Sumeragi: STB’s LAD has four rounds loaded and it basically pushes a round right to the breech for easy loading by the loader. This is the background for the STB-1 having 7.5 RPM. Using the same 105 mm L7 gun as Leopard 1 and FV4202 but with a faster loading speed

Q: In the case of STB-1, it is said that its speed is nerfed when compared to historical value. How might the mobility feel to the players?
Sumeragi: Here, maximum speed means the emergency speed ,which would wreck the engine after use. Although there is a record of STB-1 being able able to go over 60 km/h, we chose the “safe” maximum speed of 53 km/h. Given that mobility is a balancing issue, I cannot answer.

Q: What would be the rival to STB-1?
Sumeragi: Instead of a rival….. I would say STB-1 has a different role from other Tier X mediums. T-62A is a brawler, Leopard 1 is an ambush sniper, E 50 Ausf. M is a charging pocket heavy. STB-1 can be viewed as a mid-range assault flanker. In a sense, it would be like the Marine of mediums.

Q: So far a Japanese Tier 8 has not been revealed. Could you tell us if there are candidates?
Sumeragi: All I can say is that I am considering postwar prototypes. Right now I’m focusing on TDs, heavies, and SPGs.

Q: Will we be able to see Japanese heavies, like O-I?
Sumeragi: Yes. I have been able to get the general picture after looking through the records and interviews.

Q: What is the national insignia?
Sumeragi: Ultimately the Japanese flag was chosen. We have only one photo of the IJA Brass star being used, and JGSDF never used their sakura insignia on turrets. So, the common insignia of the Japanese flag was chosen. Contrary to some worries, Rising Sun Flag was not considere,d since IJA never used it on its tanks.


“German Waifus, Japanese Daughters”

As a disgression, Sumeragi loves German panzers, or, as she says, “German Waifus, Japanese Daughters”. On the NA server she played almost 15000 matches with only German vehicles, which shows her dedication and love. In addition, she influenced the 8.8 update, that had the famous Tiger and E 50 buffs.

i0128215608

Q: There are rumors that there would be a Sturmpanzer line. Since Sturmtiger used rocket-assisted rounds, would this result in a new firing mechanism?
Sumeragi: Given that I focus on vehicles before Sturmtiger, I cannot say much about it.

Q: It has been revealed that in 8.10 the Maus turret traverse and Löwe gun elevation arc have been increased. Are there any other German vehicles whic might be rebalanced?
Sumeragi: I am currently “re-researching” the Porsche line. Although the armor thickness of the VK 45.02 (P) series will stay the same for balancing reasons, there are new pieces information to work with. In particular there are interesting records concerning engines.

Q: In that case, is research done because of new the new pieces of information, or for rebalancing?
Sumeragi: As said above, Wargaming balances vehicles based on hard and soft stats. Hard is historical accuracy, and soft are game specifications such as traverse, accuracy, camouflage, terrain passibility. The current balance team standards areto match vehicles as close as possible to their historical values, and then work on the soft stats to balance the vehicle. Basically, research is done to bring vehicles as close to historically accurate as possible.

“With a tank-loving heart…..”

Q: What is your feeling to see tanks being developed based on your research.
Sumeragi: As I often say, it feels like “Mother seeing off her daughters advancing into the world”.

Q: In FTR news, there is a poll concerning new lines for 2014. What lines do you anticipate.
Sumeragi: Given the fact that I basically have a hand in every tree besides Soviets, I don’t have any particular lines I anticipate in the poll choices. There is a hidden card when concerning the Japanese tree, which I hope to see in the future.

Q: This might be a sentimental question, but what does Sumeragi think of the “attractions of tanks”?
Sumeragi: If we look at the tanks of WoT, they are from an era before computers started fighting wars. These tanks are what humans, men, would control and fight with. A man controling directly the large metal, a man directly aiming and firing the gun, a man directly looking for the enemy….. in a way the tanks of WoT from an era where the last romances of war still lingered. It’s similar to how GuP’s Hana felt the thrill of firing the gun. The vibrations passing onto your hand, the movements of the alive engine….. it’s a feeling only people who worked with such machines can feel. That is what I think of as the attraction of a tank.

Q: Finally, do you have any words for WoT players of Korea?
Sumeragi: Tanks are equal. Regardless of nationality, I hope that we can all unite in our love for tanks and have a good experience.

98 thoughts on “Meeting the Mother of Japanese Tanks, Daigensui”

  2. Q: In FTR news, there is a poll concerning new lines for 2014. What lines do you anticipate.
    Sumeragi: Given the fact that I basically have a hand in every tree besides Soviets

    Yeah, sure. Right, she wasn’t even playing the game when the last french tank came out, but she still has meddled with it…

        • Let me amend this with an explanation actually. The German engines were nerfed, but the french ones were untouched despite being the same engines.(However the french had better luck than the germans, but were still only being able to hit the theoretical engine HP once in a blue moon)

          • That’s what confused me too. There was talk of the French engines being unhistorical, but they were left untouched. Shows ya just how fluid WG’s rules for balance are.

            • It makes sense though, because the french engines actually hit the horsepower they were designed to produce, but couldn’t reliably hit it. While the Germans never actually hit the designed horsepower.

              • Because some of the research to hit the designed horsepower was not finished or not carried out because the war ended. Also Germany uses PS and not HP so you do need to take that into account when talking about HP in a German engine. And that German engines during the war were rated with no accessory’s running off the engine.

                • I know that… and you can convert PS to HP, or PS to KW, or PS to anything really…

                  And the engines were designed for X amount of PS/KW/HP, but only hit it when the french were able to muck around with them, and even then they couldn’t hit X very often or very well.

                • Yah the high horsepower settings were only able to be used in emergency’s and not in every day driving. I think SS had an article on that at one point.

  3. I knew Dai as a good tanker, but this… This “Mother and daughters” relationship is just so kawaii. <3

  4. “Q: So far a Japanese Tier 8 has not been revealed. Could you tell us if there are candidates?”

    Did he mean a Japanese tier 8 premium?

  6. So far the line looks pretty good spent 3 hours testing and found the lines to be pretty dam good. Really looking forward to the Tier 4 LT – Type 5 Ke-Ho. That 57mm gun spits a whole lot of lead at one round every 2s. (rammer, 100 crew, food, and vents). It is also very mobile which is nice because I have found that lacking in tanks I have been playing. (Mobile does not mean flat out speed. It means turning when the commander says turn NOW.)

    The Tier 7 MT – Type 5 Chi-Ri was also something that I was impressed with in total overall mobility and the ability to get in and out quickly. As well as have the option of choosing an auto-loader or non auto-loader but without suffering a difference in penetration or accuracy. It is about time WG got around to that in a single tank. It is going to make a lot of people happy.

    I am not 100% sure what to make of the Tier 1 yet. Need to play it more. But I like the massive (best in tier) radio range.

    The only thing that threw me for a loop was that the Tier 4 LT – Type 5 Ke-Ho only had the one engine option. Where as all the others had at least 2. But the Tier 4 does not need more horsepower as it seemed to handle really well. Even when I was driving it in the water.

    Keep up the good work Daigensui I was very impressed with the quality of the tanks. If the TD are anything close to the LT’s or MT’s in terms of design and style I will have a lot of fun when the TD line comes out and I get to see people’s jaw drop. I also think the Tier 1 might be able to troll a bit if used right. It is going to be a hell of a lot of fun.

  8. Comrade: Let’s not mince words here. Dai can be arrogant and abrasive, tends to talk down to people in posting and is generally an unpleasant person whenever I see her commenting on something. She has no ability to step back and decide when she shouldn’t post something.

    She knows a great deal about Japanese Tanks, sure. Chieftain knows a great deal about tanks, too, and he’s still a nice person.

    • A major difference I noticed between NA and KR: KR actually has common sense while NA is filled with unicum ego who think they are always right, never mind the general….. ignorance.

      Frankly, it’s hard to not be harsh on NA.

      • Stop blaming others for the fact that you have social intelligence of Chris-Chan. And not only social intelligence, but it seems that your capacity for abstract and mathematical thinking is also a bit… well, disappointing. In short, your laughably bad stats prove you don’t understand the game, so maybe you should listen to someone more knowledgeable than you (like those unicums you seem to loathe) instead of spouting nonsense.

      • The biggest issue with NA, and SEASIAPAC for that matter, is of course, the people.

        I don’t think it’s common sense, but closer to what Dai said.

        It’s the bloody egos. I don’t brag unless I have rights to brag (and I don’t have such rights in WoT) but some people brag regardless. Even in fields they know little about, and when push comes to shove, Dai just shoves back harder. While I’ve not really bothered to talk much, I’ve seen her posting at work.

        Kill-em-all Daigensui, etc etc. Sharp-tongued, quick-witted, and knowledgeable, and impatient with the ignorant. Those aforementioned ignorant are cocooned into a sense of superiority that when they encounter Dai, they cry home to mommy. XD

    • Let’s give credit where credit is due. She is very good at what she does – academic research and she practically worked for free(as far as I know) on this Japanese tree. When she did get snarky the recipients usually did something retarded to deserve it. I do have to say though that maybe she should stick to the research side and let the balancing to someone more qualified. When it comes to understand the game mechanics I will always back the high efficiency, high win rate veterans. Numbers don’t lie.

  9. Haven’t been able to get on the TS due to shitacular phone/internet wiring putting me below 1 Mb/s, but it seems like STB-1 got balanced with high terrain resistance. 10 depression must look ridiculous… would have been so easy to balance with 6 depression instead, to keep a historical appearance; it isn’t unprecedented for good gun depression tank lines to have black sheep (Leo PTA prime example).

  10. Can they add that cool looking spotlight shown on the diagram of the STB-1 into the in game skin? You know, just like the one on the M60 :D

  11. Why tanks are referenced as “daughters” so many times? Is tank in Japanese female? Is there even indication of form (male/female/neutral?) when it comes nouns or verbs in this language? How does it work?

    • >> It’s similar to how GuP’s Hana felt the thrill of firing the gun. The vibrations passing onto your hand, the movements of the alive

      PS: is it only me, or :P …?

    • Well in WW1 terms of British tanks males have cannons and females had machine guns as their main armament. It made for an easy to remember naming scheme. Also things such as ships are usually referred to as “she/her” etc. So to see that being done to a tank is not too surprising.

      It is after-all a “Land ship”. =)

  13. Personally i believe that calling machines intended to kill “babies” is going full retard.
    For real isn’t it weird when you realise that in this particular tank there was a crew, who could kill other man with an ease or being killed same way?

    But to the other side. I cant understand why everybody started to fap when heard “Japaniz Tenks Cumin”. They aren’t the best and aren’t the weakest. I know i know – many of ftr readers have two lifes – One is WoT and the other is… Anime and shit.

    (Huehue were you thinking of “real life. “Remember YOLO – You Only Live Online”)

    And i get this anime too, still watching DBZ and Naruto, BUT FOR GOD SAKE TANKS ARE KILLING MACHINES, NOT JUST FUCKING PLACES FOR SCHOOLGIRLS BEING RAPED BY OCTOPUSES OR OTHER DAMN THINGY. Ok im chill… im chill…
    Lets face it, about the Japanese:
    -They looks like couple of boxes placed one on another up to tier VIII
    -Over tier VIII there’s no other candidate for the beauty contest than Centurions. DEAL WITH IT

    Waiting for shitstorm….

    • I agree with you…Tanks are war machines.War sux.WoT is probably the only non pacifist thing I do.

      That is maybe why my conscience likes blueprint tanks…at least they never actually killed anyone.

      But hey,let’s separate WoT from reality.WoT is actually a hidden ‘no kill’ game,if you haven’t noticed the crew only goes unconscious.

  15. I hope those Japanese tanks gonna get again overhauled and rebalanced bcoz they are heavily underperforming atm. Especially the T7,8 and 9. Also 0.36 (more like 0.38) on the STB1 feels very inacurate. Iam absolutely not plased by them atm tbh.

  16. question to daigensui-san, what about the type 89.. the one appeared in GuP.. will we see it on a different line, or as premium maybe?

    • I’d be surprise if it doesn’t make an appearance. It’s such an iconic IJA tanks during the Sino-Japanese War. It’s up there with Chi-Ha.

      チハたん∩(・ω・)∩ばんじゃーい

      • Im almost 100% certain it will end up in the JPN heavy branch. Hell you could probably split it between Tier 2/3 with the tier 3 depending on whether or not the 57mm type 90 is better or worse than the 57mm type 97 that we have on the chi ha in game.

    • The plan was to have it as a Tier 2 MT in the heavy tank line, but the Type 91 and 95 heavies stats were just too bad for tiers 3 and 4, so it’s looking like those will be downtiered

      There’s still the plan to put the Type 89 somewhere though

  17. The elephant in the room is the question of WG modeling the stb-1 tanks hydraulics and will we get to see her in her full glory as she should be seen?

    • Giving an odd -10 depression (is this the maximum without gun clipping?) could just be an easy way to prepare players (and balance) for when it would get the actual -12. Knowing WG, if this function is planned, it will take a few years to implement, just in time for the S-Tank. :-P

  18. Thanks daigensui for this great tree!
    I tried it on the test server and it’s very fun to play (If a bit ugly, but who cares)

  20. Hello it is my first post.

    I have a question about that patch. I read back there when the WG announced the japanese tanks in Tokyo Game Show that there will be official Girls und Panzer voice pack. Will we get it or only our brothers and sisters in Japan can use it? Or will be there anyway to use them?
    It would be so cute!

    UTE UTE UTE! :P

    • Eh, the last time I heard about it (and this is from that reporter, actually), seems like there are a bit of delays. When it does come around, we’ll all be able to get it, although most likely we’ll have to check the ASIAN site.

  22. I just love the fact she choose her username as Sumeragi. Please tell me if you are as great a tactition in game as Sumeragi Ri Noriega from Gundam 00! And that’s only if you got your name from the franchise? If so, plenty of love going your way for that! Being half Japanese, i appreciate your efforts in getting the Japanese tanks into WoT

  24. Average re-roll baddies having a say in balancing tanks. No wonder the rebalanced German tanks are complete shit. Thanks Dagensui! You encapsulate everything we love about World of Tanks! Braindead self entitlement.

  25. ‘”era where the last romances of war still lingered.” – well pardon me, but there was never anything romance-like in any war. Such remarks can only come form people whose only experience with war come from books or movies. Real wars are about killing other people – when you fire a gun someone on the other side dies: someone’s father, husband or daughter. That always stay the same, and there isn’t anything glorious in that. When you see a friend next to you with a torn off leg, burned face and coughing with his own blood then most likely “war is romantic” thought wouldn’t come to your mind.

    • Actually, the beginning of the first world war was all about the “romantic” stuff in propaganda. It was only after the trench warfare started when the whole “romance” was confronted with brutal reality. Not to mention there were some poets that started writing about said reality (since they were sitting in the mud), and there were plenty of memoirs left.

      Well if you think about it – before the WWI, it was pretty much fighting the enemy face to face, WWI was a beginning of a more brutal, depersonalized, industralized warfare. And now it’s getting more and more IT business and yet – people are getting even more effective at killing each other from greater ranges, without seeing ach other, without seeing the death coming.

      And there’s one more thing – people (society?) have changed. War was perceived differently in – let’s say – XV century than now. Back then it was a way of gaining honor, prestige and wealth. Now, it’s something most of people would like to avoid, right? Partially due to how the way of waging war has changed (from a battle that lasted few hours to a constant 24/7 nightmare), but people still died back then and yet…

      tl;dr version – random thoughts, nothing important here – carry on.

      • Merriam-Webster definition for “romantic”
        - having no basis in fact
        - marked by the imaginative or emotional appeal of what is heroic, adventurous, remote, mysterious, or idealized

        That is why we play games, including those set in WWII scene. Make-believe. In such a situation, driving a tank can be fun, because it’s all just a comfortable and safe experience, when you get just a touch of exhilaration by testing yourself against others and without any serious consequences for any of the parties involved. Nobody wants to think of how the ACTUAL experience was like. Hence all the trolling answers from SerB about implementing burning diesel erupting from the PC monitor as a historical realism option.

        In the context of a game, tanks can be attractive. In context of real life, the attractiveness consists of how varied and painful are the ways in which you can die while riding in this or that machine.

        Also, as a side note, I like to think of tanks as machines that were built to ensure the safety of their crew not as killing machines. A fight was won when your soldiers riding in tanks could advance through enemy fire and occupy an objective, not when they killed everything in sight.

    • The question and answer made more sense in the original Korean. The question was asking my people might be attracted to tanks, and I was noting the fact that there was still a somewhat romantic view of fighting that was finally destroyed in the horrors of WW2.

  26. In addition, she influenced the 8.8 update, that had the famous Tiger and E 50 buffs.
    ____________
    Now this is something i appreciate. Daigensui <3

    • Funny that JT nerf (or buff?) is infamous lawl….
      ====
      oh well, crap or not, i won’t sell this chick

      • Funny that you mentioned that. I actually don’t own E-50 and i played Tiger like years ago when i just started playing WoT(my first branch was Tiger branch ofcourse :P) but i still appreciate her work and her influence about German tanks because they indeed need some love. And i REALLY like my JT :D and it got nerfed(kind of, not hard) and i don’t bother with it too much. After all SS mentioned she infulenced E-50 and Tiger and that alone means that she might not be responsible for JT nerf and that might just be another typical WG move.