Source: http://www.inven.co.kr/webzine/news/?news=119971&site=wot

Hello everyone,

two Wargaming developers (whose names were unfortunately written in Korean and thus we are not sure how one of them is called), Aleksander Tarasevich (game designer, UI) and Aleksander Derkash (?, CW, Stronghold producer) recently gave an interview for the Korean Inven portal.

US player WpCrate was kind enough not only to link it, but also to provide proper translation. Thank you!

There is a lot of enthusiasm for the new light tanks in the 9.3 update. Even in WGL there is a decreased appearance of the previously common AMX 13 90. How does WG view the 9.3 update.
Tarasevich: We feel proud that there is a lot of good feedback for the 9.3 update. Not only the new light tank trees but also the mercenary feature for Strongholds and the new penalty systems for unmannered conduct were well-received. We are striving to make the upcoming path 9.4 to be met with the same enthusiasm.

We are told that in 9.4 and future patches features such as individual missions or reworked team battle are planned, can you tell us more details on this subject?
T: In 9.4  there will be Sieges, a new mode for Stronghold as well as individual mission, the first of its kind. We are considering via these missions implementing female tankers. By 9.4 we are planning to implement the map Stalingrad, which like Karkov was designed based on real life images.

There have been continued patches, but there hasn’t been any changes in the core gameplay itself. Are there are plans for completely new content or other large-scale patches.
T: We have a lot of upcoming content for future updates, but we will introduce just a few here. First of all we plan to rework and add what has been considered lacking for Historical Battles to reintroduce the mode to the game. In addition we are working on a PvE mode. Players via battles against the AI experience a new type of fun. We cannot reveal detailed information at this place but we are also planning on reorganizing E-sports.

Can you explain a bit more on E-sports and Team Battles.
T: In 9.4 there will be a new team battle mode, where the defending team will have to protect two capture points. We hope that this will allieviate some of the imbalance that came with one team needing to defend only one base. Not only that we have reworked the maximum tier points to create the 7/54 mode. There will be even more changes in the future to give players previously unseen and inexperienced gameplay.

Are there plans to introduce more casual modes in the lines of “Karl mode”, “soccer mode”, and “Chaffee Ralley”.
T: We have received good receptions on these casual modes, but we are searching with all our attention for more feedback and are working on more development.

Don’t you feel that as developers wasteful that these special modes are playable for only a limited amount of time?
T: the most important aspects of World of Tanks is Historical Accuracy and battles. As such we do not believe straying far from the main content by producing these casual modes. Even by statistics casual modes only show a flash popularity in the beginning and interest in these sharply drop with time. We believe what we have to do is instead of adding more and more modes, we must give a breath of fresh air to the game by making new modes continually.
We want to know more about the progress of HD modeling and the new game engine that WG advertised passionately in early 2014.
T: What we are developing is not a new game engine but adding particle effects and visual engines. A lot of manpower has been invested in order to switch all tank to HD textures, and we plan to complete this process by 2015.

We want to know about how you treat and are influenced by opinions on Clan Wars from all over the world.
D: Community managers gather and organize comments left by players in forums and in other communities and send them to the head office. All information are checked with the QA team and are reflected on the gameplay. There has been a case where a suggestion from the Korean community has influenced development directions. By this suggestion we have allowed Strongholds to be played in tier 6, 8 and 10 maximum matches, whereas the original plan was to allow for only tier 10 maximum matches.

We are told that you are preparing a World Map 2.0 for Clan Wars. What will be the biggest change in the World Map 2.0.
D: the upcoming World Map 2.0 is divided into much more broken down into smaller parts. By the increase in the map’s resolution a lot more land is available in the same area. Not only that, a lot of rework will take place in the User Interface and the game rules. Clan Wars by itself is a very restricted content, as the only way to enjoy it is to take part in battles to capture land. As a result for easier access to more players we have introduced Strongholds. We hope to receive a lot of enthusiasm for Strongholds as well.
In 9.3, the mercenary system has been implemented for Strongholds. Are there any plans to introduce this feature for existing Clan Wars?
D: It is not technically impossible to implement the feature into Clan Wars. However, right now we still need more time for everything to stabilize since the introduction of Strongholds. We may implement the feature depending on future feedback.

Can you tell us something about plans for the next campaign.
D: New Clan Wars campaign will be implemented to the Korean server soon. We will reveal greater details in a November newsletter.

A word for all the Korean players out there.
T: We hope the Korean players will play and love our game very much. In the Korean server there are plans for more exceptional benefits for internet cafes.

D: We thank you for enjoying our game. There will soon be a lot of changes in Clan Wars. We hope you will play our game with great enjoyment.