Source: The Age “Digital Life” web
Hello everyone,
recently an interview with the abovementioned gentleman came out in the Age Australian magazine. Apparently Mr. Nicholas is Wargaming’s general manager for the Asia-Pacific region. They are talking mostly about ASIA server and Japanese tanks, but the interview is full of really odd answers. For starters, to quote Mr.Nicholas (allegedly a “tank enthusiast”):
During World War II, Germany and Russia had to design petrol-powered tanks, as both countries were often too cold for diesel fuel, which would freeze at low temperatures. With Japan being a warmer country, and operating primarily in Asia and the Pacific region, they were free to enjoy the greater torque granted by diesel, which helped when lugging 40 tons of armour across a battlefield.
As far as I can tell, that is complete garbage. First and foremost, all major Soviet tanks used DIESEL engines. KV-1, T-34, T-54, IS series… diesel. Second, Germans used petrol engines not because of freezing temperatures, but because petrol engines corresponded to the required operating hours per day, as set by OKH requirements. As Hilary Doyle (I believe it was) explained: if the German tanks were required to operate for two hours more per day, they would have gone with diesel. Third, and this is not something I am completely sure of, I do not think that the Japanese used diesel engines because of the torque, but because of the logistics and access to it. Feel free to correct me though.
Another interesting thing:
“We’ve already studied an Australian tank, and we’re considering a multinational tank release, not just a specific country,” Nicholas said. “Australia only has one notable tank, but there are other countries with a few tanks, like Taiwan. Italian tanks didn’t see a lot of action, and development was a bit scarce.”
Well, there were at least two interesting Australian tanks: the Sentinel AC and the Sentinel AC4 “Thunderbolt”. Both already have their models ready actually. Taiwan – yes well, maybe. But Italian tanks not seeing a lot of action? This WG guy is an idiot.
The reporter also stated that he found World of Tanks “very challenging for beginners”. Yes, four keys, a mouse and two mouse buttons for start, that’s a real challenge for someone writing about computer games. Very challenge. Much hard. Wow.
“This system isn’t like anything else that you’ve ever seen in an online game,”
and
“The way things are laid out is completely different from any other online game that you’re used to”
Again, correct me if I am wrong, but pretty much EVERY modern game I played has this control scheme. How else is this guy playing, using arrow keys and no mouse? And the following made me laugh:
“When I started playing the game, it took me about thirty battles before I got to a level where I could say, okay, I’m no longer a newbie”
Ladies and gents, we found ourselves a noob. Not a newbie, a noob. Also:
Once you get into it, it’s a very deep game with a lot of content and a lot of things that you need to understand – which engines to use
Uhhhhhh…. the top ones? And to conclude this article, let’s end with Mr.Nicholas’ in-depth analysis of the game gold ammunition model and its effectiveness:
“Premium ammo isn’t really that great”
Stunning. In the beginning of the article, the reporter was praising this guy for “not being one of the PR guys”, but you know what… there is a REASON Wargaming employs PR people, to avoid interviews like this.
lol what an idiot
What he said about the Italian tanks is unforgivable. Just clearly shows that he knows nothing about military history. I think we can seriously forget about seeing any Italian tanks because they’re obviously not a priority at all for WG. Chinese tanks FTW.
Let’s hope that this “general manager” wasn’t choosen because of his knowledge of the game and tanks xD
Wow this Nicholas chap has taken trolling to a new level, look out SerB.
Wow, not this is interesting. Not only are noobs playing the game, but as we can see, noobs are in charge of a whole continent server O.o I feel sorry for all the ASIA server players :(
Oi I’m from SEA! technicaly SEA because i use to hang out in the singaporean SEA server before moving to EU…but at least they do more right stuff in SEA than in EU. Also, the noobs in EU are depressing to shoot at, but the SEA ones are more fun and less bullshitting. o7 SEA
that’s……ok i’m speechless
Hahahaha had to register to comment. This is fcking hilarious thanks for the laugh SS much wow :D
Actually this game is very hard for beginners due to a very specific and not very good spotting/camouflage system… Mind you most people are used to being able to see anything within a certain range in other FPS and similar. I remember having only played a few battles before deciding the ridiculous spotting system was fucked up and I better start camping because moving around would get me killed.
I honestly believe that these are errors in interpretation by journalist….
Both idiots are from Australia, I am afraid.
And both supposedly, speak and read english.
I am ashamed for all Australian Tankers out there that this idiot has spoken aloud.
F***ing NOOBs.
How can WG employ idiots like these?
But then NOOBs are not defined by national boundaries are they.
Maybe all those rumors about the SEA server playerbase being by far the worst are not as unfounded as I thought.
Well, ASIA server is filled with an elitist bunch of clans, and the rest are just total bunches of idiots. From this post, the entire ASIA server is a pretty big disgrace. And I’m in it. D=
totally agree with you XD
Actually weren’t German tanks powered by petrol as the priority for Diesel was given to the Kriegsmarine for U-boats?
That was one point.
Also Germans made 87 octane petrol from coal, and most of they planes and combat vehicles used it.
Only diesel combat vehicle was the Sdkfz 234 series armored cars, but it’s engine was one of the best of it’s time (if I remember correctly).
Japanese used diesel engines because they (planned) battlefield was the deserts in the USSR and China + Eastern Siberia.
This is why early-mid war Japanese tanks are so light, they were built to move very long distances on they own, without maintenance and refuelling.
Soviets stole a diesel idea from them, after the short “war” at the Mongolian border (at that time they used tanks (mostly Bt series) with petrol engines).
While it’s true that controls are easy and intuitive, WoT is unlike any other modern online game. The whole game is built around tanks. There are unique mechanics of camouflage, armor vs penetration, damage and movement that you have to learn from scratch, unlike the typical MOBA, FPS or RTS. Furthermore, the skillset that a player needs to use in order to be successful is a lot different compared to other games (situational awareness, prediction of enemy movements, usage of terrain for cover and camo etc etc.
In that regard, WoT may be a hard game for a new player to start performing well at.
WoT is…
… easier than Panzer Elite
… harder than Call of Duty
Which of the both have most of today’s gamers played?
Exactly…
I read about a comment from SerB or some other developer where it was mentioned that World of Tanks aims at entertaining the ‘people that come back to home after work tired, and want to have a little fun’ and also that it is recommended for ‘people not able to cope up with the adaptive and skilled gameplay of FPS games such as counter strike’. So yeah, your point is invalid. There are clearly more skill-requiring and fast paced games out there as pointed out by WG themselves.
It’s not invalid, it’s fact that those mechanics exist and are unique in WoT. What Serb was referring to was probably questions about further realism (manua gearboxes, no automatic elevation and the like).
WSAD+mouse – the most unique control system, no other game in the damn universe uses it.
Makes you wonder – how they can be good at managing communities when they can’t even play the game well?
Other WG offices need a PURGE, really. And mr Nicholas should be the first one to be sent to Siberia! Chopping trees for 25 rubles!
Why does it seem like this guy is more retarded than a WGA EU employee? I mean at least EU ninja edits their mistakes. Asia seems to just openly admit they don’t know what they are doing while pressing the money printing button.
Also if it took him 30 minutes to learn to play someone get him into tutorials. I am pretty sure the consensus is that 4-5k battles is what it takes to learn the game adequately.
If I read this, will I become stupid?
No, I read it and I still play mostly SPGs.
See what I did there?
You cant become stupid if you are allready stupid…
Rofl…
no surprise here. hes a manager – a business guy with very little insight and his answeres perfectly reflect that.
I don’t know, this seems like a storm in a teacup to me.
The quote about diesel engines is not attributed to the WG employee – it could be the reporter’s own invention, it might be lifted from a press release, but it’s certainly not the words of Jasper Nicholas.
As an Aussie, I can say that *Australian* accounts of the Sentinel regard it, in all it’s modifications, as _one_ tank: Australian military engineers seem quite proud of the fact that they could design one tank that had so many different configurations. In the context of WoT, sure, they’re different – but they’re not regarded as different in Australia. Calling the Sentinel one tank is also a very polite way of saying ‘there’s never an Australian tank line coming, ever’.
You’ve selectively quoted the piece about controls: the full quote is:
“This system isn’t like anything else that you’ve ever seen in an online game,” he explained. “The way things are laid out is completely different from any other online game that you’re used to. It’s simple – WASD to move, mouse to control your turret – but for guys who are used to playing GTA and all those racing games, they get disconcerted because you’re facing one direction and moving in another.”
The money quote is the “for guys who are used to GTA and all those racing games…” – as in, compared to them, WoT has different controls. I have no idea if that’s true or not – but the WG employee is NOT saying ‘WoT’s controls are difficult’; just ‘they’re different from GTA’.
The article is lightweight, for sure, and the WG employee is talking down to the reporter: the reporter has been taken to an internet cafe and played the test server a bit, got his arsed kicked, and is complaining that the game is hard. WG employee attempts to assuage the hurt pride of the reporter – “it’s certainly different from GTA” – and then calls the reporter a noob who hasn’t played enough to know if the game is difficult – “it took me at least 500 battles before I could tell myself, okay, I know how this game plays”.
I’ve read The Age for a really long time – err, nearly 40 years, although the last 15 years electronically – and the technology section (now called Digital Life – where this interview is published) has always been lightweight and devoid of content; it’s just an excuse to sell advertising to blokes. All the articles are like this one: PR pieces by brainless reporter asking weaksauce questions. The article is crap – but there’s no *WG* fail here; the fail is all with the idiot reporter.
I do hope SS is man enough to fix this article. It is one thing to call real fails out, quite another to invent them.
He thinks it’s not worth his time…
“When I started playing the game, it took me about thirty battles before I got to a level where I could say, okay, I’m no longer a newbie”
Ladies and gents, we found ourselves a noob. Not a newbie, a noob.
Cmon, cut the guy some slack, it took me like 20 battles to find that my SU-18 (the first vehicle i bought) actually has artilerry mode. Didnt stop me from becoming a genuine averagely good player.
Plus, if you are no longer a newbie after a 30 battles, i’d say thats pretty darn impressive, since I have to deal with guys that have like 15k battles and have uner 48% winrate on a daily basis. (or even battle-to-battle basis)
SS, i think you hate on WG and its employees a BIT too much.
“Premium ammo isn’t really that great”
This for example is true, bar for some OP vehicles that have it, namely T-54, and tanks that MUST have it, because they are so bad, namely E-100.
Mind you, WG has nerfed gold ammunition a lot in the last few patches, starting from the 105mm derpgun nerfs to the nerfs to the prem ammo of chinese tanks and some others.
IMO this guy has rewritten the definition of “n00b” in WoT-verse. If the roaming comes, and if I see this guy playing in my team, and I won’t hesitiate to kill ‘dat n00b.
Enjoy your autoban.
“Italian tanks didn’t see a lot of action, and development was a bit scarce.”
He’s so right. Chinese tanks saw more action and as such are more important to WoT than the Italians. That’s why there’s still not one Italian tank for years and won’t be for a long time (maybe never).
“No tanks for you Italian fascists (ever)!”
….
who?
Never hear about this guy before.
So this is the guy who manage my server huh?
Okay I kind of understand why Asia server is what it is now…..
Here you can do more damage than half the team, that is SEA.
Suddenly the Asia server makes sense.
WG must have recruited him just a competitive troll to SerB. I mean, these statements here -
“This system isn’t like anything else that you’ve ever seen in an online game,”
and
“The way things are laid out is completely different from any other online game that you’re used to”
For real, come on Mr. Nicholas. I can see you’ve taken trolling into a whole new level, but unless I’m playing hello kitty online, I’m pretty sure every similar online game I’ve played since the 2000′s have used the WASD + Mouse configuration. Also, I agree that your “BIG WORLD” game engine “isn’t anything else that I’ve ever seen in an online game”. So yeah, go take a break or you know, leave.
A bit harsh to me.
Yes, WoT is a difficult game to pick up and challenging to do well in. You are criticizing the guy for admitting he didn’t think he was no longer a newb until 30 battles. It took me 5000 battles before I thought myself decent. and now I am a unicum w/ 1850 eff & 64% WR (overall, not 60d).
SS, in all honesty (not that you probably care for my opinion) but my number 1 problem with your blog is your constant WG bashing which sometimes, like in this case, seems totally unwarranted. It appears you’re trying to make a fuss of something that just doesn’t exist because you dislike WG. It can be also be seen clear as day in your QA notes, where you say such and such is wrong in parenthesis or a stupid response. I appreciate the services you do for the WoT community but there is no reason to take these extra leaps to make WG look bad, because IMO it is only making you look bad.
As far as gaming company’s go I would rank WG pretty high. Look what we have to compare to. EA? Activision?? Ubisoft?? Zynga??? Fuck, for all the WT fanboys around (myself included), I gotta tell you, Gaijin customer support is absolutely ABYSMAL and so is their playerbase interaction.
ASIA CS is quite decent enuff. And I love them.
Too bad I can’t “Like” your comment. I totally agree. If WG is so bad, why make a blog about their game? Everything is cool in moderation, even WG bashing, but nowadays it feels like something… broke in SS.
WG is not the enemy. They are actually a pretty decent company. Almost as cool as GOG.com.
Seriously?
Compared to EA some of the world’s worst dictators look like saints.
Let me list the devs/publishers I still trust my money on:
- Westwood (RiP, but never forgotten)
- Stardock/Ironclad (Seriously? SOASE has been the best space rts since it’s release and gets constant updates and for once good DLC instead of 4 maps for 13€)
- 2KGames/Firaxis (Civilization V, 2 addons, every time good things added, a lot of small DLC, but atleast the prices are right and there is tons of content in the maingame/addons)
- Roberts Space Industries (Star Citizen, nuff said)
I think that’s about it.
WG will be worthy of my money again if they really manage to get all the changes they have planned for next year out and working.
Gaijin will be worthy of my money again when they release their tanks and I have fun with those.
Aside from that? None.
Take a good look at the latest releases from big publishers/devs.
CoH2, Rome II, Sim City, Max Payne 3, CoD Ghosts, BF 4, and the list of utter garbage continues endlessly.
Comparing WoT or WT to the utter trash that came out in the last two years doesn’t work as a comparisson, same goes for the companies behind the games.
Just because everyone else is having fun screwing over their costumers completely doesn’t mean that WG/Gaijin or other companies should be allowed to enjoy the freedom to do as they please without having to fear any consequences.
“Ladies and gents, we found ourselves a noob. Not a newbie, a noob”.
Thank you SS for not thinking its the same.
“I’m not a newbie! I have 30+ GAMES!!!”
“When I started playing the game, it took me about thirty battles before I got to a level where I could say, okay, I’m no longer a newbie and I’m learning the dynamics of the game, but I can safely say it took me at least 500 battles before I could tell myself, okay, I know how this game plays.”
Just to be exact.
“During World War II, Germany and Russia had to design petrol-powered tanks, as both countries were often too cold for diesel fuel, which would freeze at low temperatures. With Japan being a warmer country, and operating primarily in Asia and the Pacific region, they were free to enjoy the greater torque granted by diesel, which helped when lugging 40 tons of armour across a battlefield.”
Also, the above part hasn’t been said by Nicholas, this has been written by the author of the article, James Dominguez.
Un-fucking-believable… Who hired this idiot?! This was something expected coming from WG…
Read the article before you slam him
Don’t try to defend a fucker from a company that don’t give a fuck about you…
SS please update your comments to reflect what Jasper actually said. Ive met Jasper and he is genuinely a very nice guy and he does know his shit regarding this game.
Read the article first and then youll release its what the journo is writing…
SS, the way you are indulging yourself in tearing apart this “noob” is simply disgusting and worthy of your hall of shame. WoT *is* a challenging game, and that is certainly not because of its control scheme. Reducing the guy’s statement to that is ridiculously cheap and trollish. Geez, just look at all the fail players trying populating the servers and matches, lots of them with thousands of battles, and you know that guy is right, at least about that part.
I didn’t know pouring negativity over other people was such an important part of your life. Just looking for approval of the masses is not a sign of a good moral standard.
A word to all the sad people jumping SS’s sucker punch bandwagon: How about checking the sources yourself before joining the bashing party? Or could it be that you are not interested in facts – at least not if these would get in your way of giving room to the dark sides of your character?
“Once you get into it, it’s a very deep game with a lot of content and a lot of things that you need to understand – which engines to use”
lol.
well.. the reason why SEA players are quite noobs when it comes to world of tanks? well, i think the blame is in the current online games in SEA… mostly FPS…. click,click kinda games~~ (ragnarok.. RF online… ETC.) and some are money-games…. buying anything just to say weee! im lvl 99 un world of tanks!!!
ow well.. all i can do is to play… World of Tanks (for me) is the only game purely for skill. so i need to cope with this problem. -_-