3.2.2015

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- all shells of the same type have the same normalization (there is no individual normalization for specific shells)
- on test server, WZ-111 (the Christmas marathon premium) has a different icon, it’s possible this was changed due to the fact that there were some issues with the old one
- for now, chromatic aberration effect is not planned for WoT
- someone asked me about the (incorrect) Portugal flag in the game (according to this thread) – passed it on to Storm, his answer was that it will be investigated
- TD viewrange nerf will not be compensated by any buffs for now, WG will watch the statistics though
- equipment from the tanks with nerfed viewrange will not be removed for free
- T95 model in test 3 should be correct
- Storm confirms that WG is not considering banning (not allowing) trollplatoons
- spotting system overhaul will come in “medium future” (SS: usually 3-6 months)
- it’s not yet sure (decided) how will the FV4202 replacement differ gameplay-wise from current tier 10 FV4202
- regarding the concern that STA-2 premium tank will be unplayable with full MM: “we’ll watch the statistics” (SS: am I the only one who has a problem with this? So they will knowingly sell something where they are not sure of the quality of the product – in this case, whether it’s properly balanced – and then they will watch the statistics instead of making sure it IS balanced in the first place?)

Edit: please guys, don’t send me links to the “we all hate SS” Wotlabs thread, I already had a good laugh about it :) Glad to see there are some reasonable people on Wotlabs too though. Oh, that Patreon thing? Didn’t work… :)

178 thoughts on “3.2.2015”

  1. - regarding the concern that STA-2 premium tank will be unplayable with full MM: “we’ll watch the statistics” (SS: am I the only one who has a problem with this? So they will knowingly sell something where they are not sure of the quality of the product – in this case, whether it’s properly balanced – and then they will watch the statistics instead of making sure it IS balanced in the first place?)

    What’s the point of supertests if they are just gonna watch the regular server statics?

    • Test is pointless for statistics.
      Think of all the people who go lelrandumb and buy tier X (having tier IV on live server), people trolling/griefing around or gold noobs. Supertest and commontest are not enough to know if tank is properly balanced, because they are not like live server at all.

      • JPK, I agree with this. It seems to me that the sample size from the Supertest and Common Test servers may not really be larger enough to get a firm idea on more subtle issues. It seems to me that ST and CT are better used to discover more obvious flaws in new tanks than it is for balancing tanks on a more subtle level.

        • The Test server is useless if they don’t limit gold ammo usage (like 25% percentage max) then maybe we’ll see some results.

    • the clowns on WOTlabs are so ridiculous. You have to ask yourself first. What kind of moron takes this imbalanced joke of an RNG game, seriously?

    • With pref MM it would be an awesome tank and WG would make a lot of money so I really don’t understand what the heck they are doing.

    • I personally don’t think the type 59 is OP anymore, it used to be OP but it got kinda outdated (like the t-44 before the recent buffs), even though it’s a lot better then most premiums now-a-day, it’s no way near as close to being OP as it was.

  3. - regarding the concern that STA-2 premium tank will be unplayable with full MM: “we’ll watch the statistics” (SS: am I the only one who has a problem with this? So they will knowingly sell something where they are not sure of the quality of the product – in this case, whether it’s properly balanced – and then they will watch the statistics instead of making sure it IS balanced in the first place?)
    How can they know how the tank will actually perform? Sure stats give some information.
    For proper judgement they need statistics from live server.

    • dont take SS too seriously, he just like to whine about things without thinking about it, and this is result… oh, and dont expect anything like “i was wrong” from him, you will do better if you just ignore his commentary…

      • Fucking lol. You are missing the point. It is obvious to see if something is somewhag balanced or not on test server, especially due to large number of tier 10s. Fucking whine about SS while reading the blog.

        • heh :-) read it again: “regarding the concern (!) that STA-2 premium tank will be unplayable…”. do you know what concern means? it means “it is possible it will be unplayable”, not “it is obvious”… if there is nothing “obviously” wrong with that tank, because if there is, they would have change it on test… and if you think STA-2 will be bad tank anyway, just dont buy it

          • They have introduced and balanced couple of hundreds of tanks so far so I’m pretty sure they know by now which tank will overperform or underperform on the live server.
            In most cases OP tanks are there as an incentive for spending money etc.
            Prem tanks with crap penetration guns on the other hand are here for skill ammo spam that prevents credit inflation.

  4. Regarding STA-2: Simply forget about the new premium tanks with regular MM. Storm saying that premium tanks do not necessarily need to have special MM to argue they shouldn’t have it is nonsense. Premium MM is a balancing issue and is subject to the decision of the game designer / balancing team, who should use common sense to judge whether it is justified or not. Right now, WG is talking out of their butts (to use their own language) when it comes to this topic. The new premium tanks’ properties more than warrant special MM for them when looking at them with sober judgement and not with hidden agendas (like fearing problems for the MM when having too many tanks with limited MM, or looking for ways to make more money).

    The amount of screw-ups in WG’s decisions regarding WoT is increasing. This game is in danger of deteriorating, and the advent of something as gorgeous as Armored Warfare, made by producers with probably more healthy mindsets than those found at WG.net, makes it even more attractive to leave the franchise and look for something fresher and better.

    • Defender, I have a somewhat different outlook. I don’t, per se, mind the idea of not using pref MM for new premium tanks. THAT SAID, I think that WG really needs to seriously reconsider how good non-pref MM premium tanks should be relative to fully elite tanks of the same type and tier. After all, if you’re asking your customers to plunk down $30 to $50 for a tier 8 premium tank without pref MM, maybe those tanks should be a little closer in capability to elited tier 8′s of the same type.

      • Yeah and I pay 90 euros for prem account per year and I want 70% more credits and xp. Your point is what? Prem tenk should be worse thats it. End of discussion.

          • Su-122-44 has its drawbacks. They are just not that obvious. Now I am just an above average player and quite enjoy this tank, but I can imagine better players dont like it that much. The poor depression, unreliable gun with long aim time, bad pene and super low view range make any manuevers really difficult which means the nice speed of the vehicle feels kinda wasted. Also with recent camo nerfs combined with that low viewrange you are absolutely team dependent. I guess what makes it look that OP are just the numbers 122-44 can put out when the battle goes well, it can stay hidden and doesnt have to try to pene T9 heavies/TDs/Med turrets.

  5. Easy fix for sta2..never ever buy a prem until you watch some videos of it playing.

    Not fixing troll plats..just fail

    • Or have tried the prem on the test server.

      And 100000% agree on fail platoons. It’s disgusting that WG refuses to do anything about them.

    • buzzkill150 on February 3, 2015 at 5:06 pm said:

      Easy fix for sta2..never ever buy a prem until you watch some videos of it playing.

      Not fixing troll plats..just fail

      This^
      If you’re not satisfied with the premium tank stats – don’t buy it!!

    • Shut up. Don’t ask questions. Recidivists ask questions! Glorious leader logic is too advanced and complicated for player peasants.

    • BECAUSE WG

      I really don’t understand either. It’s so simple to do and it would make the gameplay much less frustrating… But NO

      WG logic : Why would you do simple things when you can do them complicated ?

      • My 2nd comment on FTR, although following it for close to 1 year I think. Just wanted to “+1″ on Peter’s comment. Couldn’t have described better the attitude coming out of WG.

        And for those trying to excuse this through “they get so many retarded suggestions, of course they reply accordingly”: no, it’s not ok. They are a company and they sell a product. These answers are from an official representative of this company, [not!] some forum/discussion board arguement between 2 private individuals.

  7. Give the STA2 limited MM problem solved it deserves it. No one is going to buy it without it.

      • Yeah but that was a Panther. People (myself included) LOVE the Panthers (at least on NA). This doesn’t have a cult following of any kind, so it doesn’t even get the novelty value of the 88. And lets face it, the 88 is a damn good looking tank to boot!

        • Yeah, it’s a beautiful machine … temptingly beautiful. But naaah, I will not buy it as long as it doesn’t get limited MM. I beat a platoon two of them (with surprisingly good stats) to pulp with my FCM 50t just recently, which was very helpful in confirming that decision of mine.

    • Back when I thought the tier 8 would be the Chi-Ri-Kai, I was pumped to buy it. At least that would have been a unique tank (similar play style to the CDC I’d imagine). But bigger STA-1? That just seems boring. Given that Japanese tanks are already the least popular in the game, this thing will probably sell even more poorly than the Panther 8.8. Will be curious to see the final price.

      • Freedom? Talk BS and you’ll might get smacked into teeth no matter if freedom or not :D
        Democracy? Churchill said few things about this. Only few countries have true democracy. Others are BS.
        Liberty? Yes, pls.

      • It sounds to me like you stand for something good. Because if Wot Labs is hating you that tells me you are doing something actually “Right.” That makes me put you very High in my Book. Anyone who is hated by Wot Labs is good in my book. McDonalds is not required; however Pizza and Beer always helps on such occasions. Being a voice of democracy that keeps Wot Labs panties in a wad, that makes them shrink under the weight of their hipocracy is good. Truth alone irritates them, no BS is even required to irk them :D

        • If you look at history, the individual who stands up for concepts such as liberty and justice are subject to the hive-minded public as well. There is an old Japanese saying that says that the nail that sticks up always gets hammered down. I tend to admire people who have an opinion and think lessor of people who try to marginalize the folks who are original enough to think for themselves.

          The gaming community has a large group of negative hive-minders as well as a pseudo-intellectual core group that remind one of Napoleon the Pig in Orwell’s, “Animal Farm”. The Pig only gets as far as his ignorance allows. One other prominent group are the thinkers of the community. I’m not talking about the information gatherers, but those who can think for themselves and come to independent conclusions. There are many to admire in this community but they tend to get drowned out by the constant drone of the hive. :) Thanks for your blog SS

          • KFC Master Race. Check your white buns and red meat privilege! Selling the Chicken McSandwich is cultural appropriation, and McNuggets are pure microaggressions! #McDGate

    • Oh, poor soul, you were assaulted by Grammar Nazis.
      In case you still not know what SS means here, I suggest looking at the name of user which posted this article, and counting how many letters “s” it contains.

  9. - Storm confirms that WG is not considering banning (not allowing) trollplatoons

    Well fuck WG then

  10. - Storm confirms that WG is not considering banning (not allowing) trollplatoons

    Typical WG, doesnt give a shit about things that ruin the game

    Oh boy, Armored Warfare’n’Obsidian – descend upon us and smack the WG…

    (TBH lately I’m thinking that even if AW will smack down the WoT….WG will not give a shit and wont do absolutely nothing to improve their game and their status)

  11. - regarding the concern that STA-2 premium tank will be unplayable with full MM: “we’ll watch the statistics” (SS: am I the only one who has a problem with this? So they will knowingly sell something where they are not sure of the quality of the product – in this case, whether it’s properly balanced – and then they will watch the statistics instead of making sure it IS balanced in the first place?)

    ….and this is why NA and EU supertests should have never ended. What the hell are these Russian Supertesters doing, drinking vodka and blowing bears?

    YOU HAD ONE JOB…. and because you don’t do it… they’re going to release garbage tank after garbage tank and wait til they realize sales are shit before doing something about it.

    • You know, I get the whole “we want to remove preferred matchmaking tanks because it makes matchmaker struggle” argument. However, if one is going to release tanks with regular matchmaker, one needs to make sure they are up to it. Both the T34 and the Lowe do as well as any tech tree tier 8 in tier 10 games, the T34 does better than several of them. They also both seem to sell really well. I won’t pretend that I enjoy playing the Lowe, but its gun is up to the task of shooting at tier tens.

      I’ve only played the Panther 8.8 on the test server, but it seems to basically be a Panther II. Maybe not the best tank to have in a tier 10 game, but at least as good as most of the tech tree tier 8 mediums. OK, I understand that one not getting limited matchmaking, though I don’t have a huge amount of interest in it, at least with its now reduced price, it seems fine for what it is.

      AMX CDC, solid tank, doesn’t need limited matchmaker.

      Upcoming IS-5, with 221 AP (or standard ammo anyway) pen, it will be fine in tier 10 games, it is basically a tier 8 IS-8.

      Then we have the STA-2, older premium tank stats (read those that got limited matchmaking), but new premium tank matchmaking. I suspect this one was designed with limited matchmaker in mind, and then sucked into the new Wargaming meta. It either needs a buff, limited matchmaking, or to be removed and revamped prior to sale. Otherwise things will not be so good for the buyers.

      • Landric, from what I’ve seen, it all comes down to the gun on premiums, particularly tier 8 premiums. How does the gun compare to same tier tanks of the same type, and is it sufficient to be marginally capable in tier 10 battles for a bottom tier tank?

        People complained about the Panther88 before it was released, and yet it uses the same gun as the Panther2. So I found it difficult to justify pref MM for the Panther 88.

        Thinking about the IS5 vs the IS6, the IS6 would be more than adequate with non-pref MM as bottom tier in tier 10 battles if WG just gave it a better gun, i.e. a gun with better AP rounds and sufficiently decent gold rounds. I don’t remember the stats on this IS5 gun, but I wonder if the IS5 is kinda-sorta an IS6 with a decent enough gun to not avoid pref MM, rather than just a new tier 8 Russian prem heavy for the sake of a new tier 8 Russian prem heavy.

        • The IS-6 would be fine without limited matchmaking if it fired APCR as standard (217 pen) and had HEAT with around 300-330mm of pen as premium. That is basically what the IS-5 is likely to be. I would not be surprised to see the IS-5 eventually replace the IS-6 in the shop and the IS-6 to stop being sold.

          I can also see the CDC replacing the FCM 50t, at least for a time. Wargaming is not going to go any period of time without a Soviet premium tier 8 heavy for sale, they are just too popular. However, they went from the introduction of the French line until now without a premium medium. I could see the CDC replacing the 50t until such a time as they can find, model, and test a French premium heavy without limited matchmaking.

          I think this is the start of the shape of things to come.

      • STA-2 gets HEAT rounds with 275 penetration, let’s not forget. That’s nearly double the standard ammo pen. You can reliably pen E-75 lower plates with that. Kind of hilarious for such a stubby looking 90 mil tbh though.

  12. I’ve played the AMX CDC and STA-2 on the best server. I can understand the CDC not getting limited matchmaking, it has medium tank mobility, and a solid gun for a tier 8 medium. It will suffer some in tier 10 games, but all tier 8s do, and it has the mobility and gun to still be useful.

    The STA-2 on the other hand, is handicapped. It doesn’t have the mobility or the gun for tier 10. I have seen it compared to the Pershing a lot. Gun stats are similar, but the Pershing has two things going for it, hull down capability with its bouncy turret (I had a game the other day where I bounced an E3 shot off the front of my Pershing’s turret) and better mobility. Plus, when it comes to gold ammo, the Pershing’s 268mm APCR is really better than the STA’s 275mm HEAT.

    The regular matchmaking would be fine if the STA-2 had either better mobility to make flanking possible or the top gun from the STA-1 to make penetrations from the front more likely without HEAT spam.

    I actually enjoyed the STA-2 well enough in the tier 8 games I got into in it. I might actually buy it if it had limited matchmaker or a better gun or better mobility. I will be buying the CDC.

    • I actually enjoyed STA-2, surprisingly more than the CDC. Must be the agility (despite the terrible speed) and depression. It’s like a tank destroyer, but it has to spam gold on high tiers (with dubious results).

      • I’m inclined to agree here… as much as I hated the STA-1, the 2 seems decent. The CDC … for whatever reason was misclassified as a medium, when it should have been a premie TD.

        BDR-G1R … why aren’t you a medium premium still? :(

      • I liked it too, when I wasn’t at the bottom of the list. I’m simply not the kind of player that can sit back and snipe, I get bored, make a stupid decision, and end up dead.

        I liked the CDC primarily because I kept thinking I was driving my 50t, and then would be able to depress the gun enough to take shots I never could have in the 50t. It has no armor, of course, but other than HE resistance and some ability to bounce 175mm pen 122mm guns, the FCM doesn’t really either. I think the FCM is the clear choice for someone looking to make credits, but for someone looking to play a medium tank that actually plays like a medium and train a French medium crew, the CDC has merit. I already have the FCM, and I’m willing to fork over $30 for the CDC to train my crews, especially with the upcoming AMX30s.

    • I would buy both the Panther 8.8 and the STA-2 if they had limited MM, but will not do so as long as they don’t.

      I don’t care about the CDC at all though. It’s actually a light tank with a lot of HP. The FCM 50t actually can bounce shots, but the CDC? No way (apart from the usual rare troll bounce).

      • IMO that’s primary reason why they are cancelling limited MM. Every new premium that appears in the game gets a “limited MM or no buy” calls, so it’d eventually hurt their sales, because if they’d listen more and more to players, it’d eventually mean all prems would have limited MM, which would effectively give them another “extra point”, when their only selling point was supposed to be crew XP and credits extra income.

  13. - for now, chromatic aberration effect is not planned for WoT

    Hehe people are afraid of that shit effect from Dying Light implemented in WoT. I wonder what Techland wanted to achieve with such a fucked up effect lol!

  14. So wait you got away with doxxing someone?

    That’s pretty shitty.

    Just because he was a troll doesn’t mean you had to go nuclear…

    • Yea – I didn’t recieve any notification and this month’s cycle went as usual, so I assume so. Plus, it’s not like FTR is the Anonymous HQ or anything. Doesn’t matter now – there’s a saying: “nothing is more out of date than yesterday’s news”, so if I do get indeed notified, I’ll just pull it down, nobody’s gonna read it anymore anyway.

      Plus, on more personal note, as amusing as that wotlabs thing is, the fact so many people who are banned of FTR (current number of banned people is 27, out of 197 thousand subscribers) managed to gather there is indeed very telling. It’s like little kids in the corner, with this big sign saying NOTICE ME, SILENTSTALKER, PLEEEAAASE!!!!

      You can’t expect me to be serious here.

      • I explained why I did it in the other ftr article, but I want to add some things as well.
        The comment section was filled with people asking for you to do more of those escapades in the future. I didn’t want to see such things become a common practice on ftr. You can do all the Hall of Shame pages you want, since it only result in ingame problems. Doxing people can result in real life problems, and such problems doesn’t fit for trolling the comments section. You could have exposed the troll and had the same story without doxxing.
        Anyway, just remember if you doxx people in the future then Patreon will receive more emails.

        • Internetz is public place.
          Thats why you put on mask when robbing a bank, drive stolen getaway car, and disappear without trace.
          Otherwise you face consequences – wheter jail or Batman SS wrath.

            • Oh, you do realize I was unbanned shortly after that along with a personal apology from the chief community manager?

              I got banned, yes – much later on, for posting leaks.

              • I couldn’t link to the specific post so i linked to the whole thing. I’ll just copy paste the part I wanted to link.
                “Look… I am tired. Ectar is right in a way – posting personal stuff on the internet is extremely dangerous, as that person might be literally done for life. I don’t want that, noone deserves that, no matter what they did. The word is out though and I will leave Wargaming to deal with the fallout.”
                “Perhaps it does, but the punishment for crime must be fitting. Lifelong ban from employment isn’t that.”

        • What, people have to face consequences for their behaviour on the internet? The humanity!

          Do you need a fainting couch?

          (Also lol-threat: I send mails, quiver before me! XD )

          • Anything on wotlabs makes me smile… they banned me for a few spurious reasons…

            a) I was supposed to be instrumental in getting Miros banned on the WG forums, I wasn’t I’m pretty sure I only reported him once for a direct insult, he was good enough on his own at collecting warning points.

            b) my avatar wasn’t “suitable” as apparently it “would have got me banned on the official forums”, (http://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/l612/DingIsBack/tumblr_mlc76pR03Y1rgmpuko1_500_zpsbf0f04bd.gif)… funny how they have a Boobs thread with much worse.
            b2) they have peeps with avatars like a Hitler Pikachu seig heiling….

            c) I generated more “reports” to the headshed in 1 day than he normally gets in a month…

            ..although i will give whichever top mod it was some credit for actually having a discussion with me (and Miros) before I exited stage left…

  15. - Storm confirms that WG is not considering banning (not allowing) trollplatoons

    LOL nice
    i will log in 1c more just to play with my friend… in a loltraktor…. while he uses maus.

    Why? Because: EULA!

    ps. … “IM rigging mean!” – “Rigging other ppls games… ALRIGHT!”
    Lesson = its fine if you screw everyones game with OBVIOUS intensions :)
    Bottom line = dont hide your game rigging plans… go in – yell “I WILL FUCK MY GAME AND YOURS FOR CREDITS!” and never get banned <3

    oh wg… ur so funny!

    • Actually 99% of people who formed troll platoon are tomatoes, which mean they don’t contribute anything good for team no matter which tanks they drive, Maus or loltraktor. If it’s Maus then they would end up being XP and credit printing machine for enemy.

  16. The STA-2 is fine. Why are people complaining about it. Compare it to other T8 meds like the T-34-2 or the T44. Those tanks are far worse than the STA-2. Just because it’s not like the IS6 doesn’t mean it’s shit and WG is scamming you.

    If you don’t like, dont buy it. Also, all you people bickering and whining about how shit WoT is and how WG sucks…. If you don’t like it, why are you playing it? You don’t have to pay anything for it and you complain 24/7. WoT is the least Pay to win F2P game i’ve ever seen and you guy whine 24/7. It’s sad.

    Please thing before you open your mouths pls.

    • The T-34-2 and the T-44 are better armored and much more mobile. Also they can use a 122mm.

      —> “Please thing before you open your mouths pls.”

      • Have you ever played the T-34-2 with either the 100mm or 122mm gun? Both Guns are terrible as they have significantly lower DPM then their counterparts and also have really low Pen and accuracy making it really hard to be effective. Also, the T-34-2′s armour is dead weight as the turret gets penned by everything and the Hull bounces occasionally from t6′s. Just compare the T-34-2 with the STA-2 or any other T8 med… STA-1 or Indien PZ. for example…. Now tell me if the T-34-2 is better than any of those.

        —> “Please thing before you open your mouths pls.”

    • Some of us have put money into it before the changes/nerfs in question that turned us off from it as a result…you shitstain.

      So keep using the generic “it’s free to play, so go elsewhere” excuse you cheap fuck.

  17. Great job WG. Just continue to ignore putting in a few lines of coding to solve a simple issue. The xbox version can do it, so why aren’t they? And they better have a good solid reason why and not try to drive around the question.

  18. - Storm confirms that WG is not considering banning (not allowing) trollplatoons

    Wtf is wrong with this company?

    • If you think about it, we rarely even see trollplatooons. It is frustrating when we do, but remember Jingles’ video of a KV-2 in a tier 10 game? Sometimes it might work. ;)

  19. Ever since strom took over all we get is:
    Look at the pretty pictures of tanks I made.
    NERF! NERF! NERF! NERF!
    Lets make missions that people can only do if they rigg them, then ban them!
    NERF! NERF! NERF! NERF!
    All kinds of good stuff is coming soon! But not this patch!
    NERF! NERF! NERF! NERF!
    I for one can’t wait for Armored Warfare to come online.

  20. - regarding the concern that STA-2 premium tank will be unplayable with full MM: “we’ll watch the statistics” (SS: am I the only one who has a problem with this? So they will knowingly sell something where they are not sure of the quality of the product – in this case, whether it’s properly balanced – and then they will watch the statistics instead of making sure it IS balanced in the first place?)

    No – you are not the only one… i was looking forward to the STA-2.. but i will certainly not buy this Shit! So i hope nobody does (except some collector geeks) and then they shall watch their 0 Statistic and be punished for their blatant ignorance!

    • I am looking forward to STA-2.
      I will
      My WN8 seems fine around 900. Nothing spectacular but not below average :)

  21. - Storm confirms that WG is not considering banning (not allowing) trollplatoons

    why?
    if you platoon with more than +-3 tiers you should not be allowed to
    t1 in t10 games should be bannable

  22. I don’t know why anyone would be considering the STA-2 needs to have preferential MM or not to be balanced. WG has said many times that the primary reason tanks get preferential is due to lacking penetration on the gun. When compared to the other tier 8 mediums it stacks up perfectly fine; the 90mm gun is more than competitive enough for tier ten game play. If I’m not mistaken, its 185mm base pen, with a 275mm pen HEAT shell. To compare, the pershing has a 180mm pen AP round and a 268mm pen APCR round. These tanks guns are very similar. Compare it to a t-44, with its 175mm base pen and 235mm pen APCR round and the STA-2′s gun looks very good. Sure the T-44 has useable armor while the STA-2 is an origami tank, but the STA-2 is quite nimble and has great gun depression. I can’t see how this tank would be underpowered for tier 10 battles when compared to its same tier counterparts.

    • It’s mostly that people don’t like playing underperforming tanks. Tier 8 mediums are the last ”mediums” with ”medium” matchmaking. Tier 9 and up have the same matchmaking weight as their heavy counterparts. These are the tanks a tier 8 medium must face constantly.

      To greater example: Very few players play the tier 8 mediums for ”fun” and even fewer do it ”competitively” there is a reason the only mediums in competitive tier 8 clanwars / 54/7 are the Object 416 and a FULL HEAT T69 autoloader. Especially the T-44 and T-34-2 are mostly considered ”grind” tanks, both have low winrates and low damage per game statistics even unicrum level players generally do better in other tanks. The pershing with it’s amazing 180mm seems to fare a little better but still isn’t stellar.

      Another contributing factor is simply that the tier 8 mediums for whatever reason seem to have mostly lower DPM than the higher alpha gun carrying heavies of the same tier meaning that flanking a tank 1 vs 1 isn’t quite as effective as a tier lower, where DPM is actually higher on average for most mediums and tier 7 is considered the ”trash” tier for mediums. ( While the T20, Comet, T-34-1 and possibly A-44 are quite okay, albeit only if the last two mentioned don’t catch fire randomly after the first frontal penetration. )

      Another problem is that the tier 8 mediums aren’t very mobile. The T-44 while certainly Agile doesn’t race around like some tier 9 mediums due to lackluster top speed and it’s actually the fastest of the lot. ( exempting the Type 59, because you know why. the T-44 accelerates slightly near insignificantly faster than the Type 59 anyway)

      Add to this that autoloaders are common from tier 8 and up and even the T-44 cannot bounce the autoloaders worth a damn and even if it does survive the first salvo it cannot kill the autoloader due to mediocre DPM while having lower top speed than the autoloaders of the same tier.

      The IS-3, ST-I and E75 contribute to much of the pain of the tier 8 mediums because they effectively face them 75% of all their games. The tier 8 mediums either need an exceptional nice angle on the side-armour of the E75 to penetrate it ( 185 pen and lower ) or need to flank it while being sluggish. ( Panther II, Panther 8.8 ) or take their chances and take shots at the tiny very troll copula while having effectively the lowest DPM in the match all as a trade-off for having some extra mobility.

      Note: This all is compensated by giving the tier 8 mediums lighter matchmaking weight than their heavy counterparts. Effectively inflating their winrate by giving them more lower tier games. Mediums on tier 8 are practically tier 7.5 ( or less ) instead of 8, this is also why they are mostly considered useless in tier 8 competitive games. ( Like I’ve noted before the T-44 has the lightest matchmaking weight, it practically is a tier 7 heavy. Yes, the T-44 is practically an IS, the second lowest average winrate heavy with the highest matchmaking weight of all tier 7 heavies. )

      TL;DR In the end it comes down to this: The current Tier 8 mediums face tanks that are better than them in every area other than mobility every game and the mobility edge on tier 8 is quite miserable and hard to utilize for players who aren’t at least above average. Especially taking into account the size of the current maps limiting flanking manoeuvres quite heavily and that they frequently face (autoloader) heavies that are almost as mobile as they are.

      • ‘the second lowest average winrate heavy with the highest matchmaking weight of all tier 7 heavies’

        Are you talking about the T-44 or the IS? ’cause even sub-unicum scum like me has good stats in the IS. Dat alpha+DPM with current shell dispersion (probably will go to shit in 9.6).

        And if you are talking about the T-44, the gameplay/performance is totally different to an IS, even accounting for MM weight and battle tiers… not ‘practically’ an IS at all.

        • The IS, it has the second lowest winrate statistically, only the amx 45 has lower. It’s probably mostly because it is considered a grind-tank ( for the IS-3) and it’s matchmaking weight not being adjusted to other heavies. It has heavier matchmaking weight than the IS-2 despite being almost similar. ( better engine, ”different” armour ) and of course it’s far from as good as the T-29 which has lower matchmaking weight.

          While there are plenty of people preforming good with it it seems that extremely good performances are rare. It’s likely due to the gun being the worst in it’s tier for everything other than alpha. Honestly much like the amx 45 it could use some mild love in gun handling stats and the amx 45 coud use better terrain performance. In the end the tank isn’t bad, it just limited in terms of maximum potential, playing well and loading premium often with it only goes so far when the gun tends to misbehave even when fully aimed, probably.

      • I have a couple of tier 8 mediums that I play for fun, the Pershing and the Object 416. I keep trying to improve my win rate in the 34-2, and keep failing, but I don’t play it because it is fun to play or a great tank or anything. I still have the STA-1, and it feels like it should be a good tank, but I just can’t do nearly as well in it as the Pershing despite its better penetration.

        I also have the T-34-3, which I really enjoy, bad gun depression and all. I play it both because I enjoy it (since the buff anyway) and for the standard premium tank reasons. The Super Pershing is fun with gold spam, but that kills credit earnings. Still, for the crew training and general enjoyment I am willing to do it from time to time.

        Other than that, the tier 8 mediums really are a sad bunch. I expect to buy and enjoy the CDC though.

  23. I honestly think Wargaming wants to promote fail platoons at this point. They’ve said it a couple times now that they have no interest it making it so that the fail platoons cannot go into battle. Whats worse is that in relatively recent patches, they’ve removed the indication of battle-tiers in the platoon window, so it requires a bit of prior knowledge to know if two tanks can platoon together and see the same tier battles. I see a lot of newer players (under 2-3k battles) that are the fail platoon tankers, which I feel can be attributed to not knowing how the battle tiers work. Especially when it comes to light tanks platooned with other tanks of the same tier.

  24. “for now, chromatic aberration effect is not planned for WoT”

    GOOD.

    Don’t like it, don’t want it. I’ve seen more chromatic aberration in videogames than I have in cheap cameras.

    Unless you’re trying to emulate 1600s lens technology, it’s not realistic: Techniques to fix chromatic aberration came out in the 1700s. It has no place in a WWII game, and it certainly has no place in 99% of today’s videogames.

      • Sorry, nope. That is not CA, it’s just what a programmer could hastily code to look like some optical (d)effect. Chromatic aberration would be the alternative edge fridging on the high-contrast lines, separated in blue-yellow or green-magenta. At the edge of the scope we only have a green line that has no connection with what’s underneath it.
        Interesting stuff is that the edges of the scope have some ammount of spherical aberration on them; it’s the stuff that makes the edge of (very) low-end devices look much blurrier, like the image is trying to run away from the center. Something like perpetual (static) motion blur.
        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spherical_aberration

  25. - equipment from the tanks with nerfed viewrange will not be removed for free

    Why the hell not its not a slight nerf to a lot of these tanks its a huge nerf to some.
    If they can let people sell there Super Pershing back for gold , the least they and do is do an equipment reset on these tanks , hell even a crew skill reset isn’t out of the question as this nerf realy changes the way these tanks will be played. After all its not 1 tank that’s being nerfed.
    If you have a lot of TD’s that’s a lot of gold you could have to spend on a decision that is out of your control !

    • They want me to pay for rearranging 100 vehicles and their crews, i’ve got?.

      Never ever. In my mind i’m away from WG.
      But you know, Stockholm Syndrome…

  26. “Storm confirms that WG is not considering banning (not allowing) trollplatoons”

    Getting really tired of your shit, Storm

    l.e.: pun half-intended

  28. “- someone asked me about the (incorrect) Portugal flag in the game (according to this thread) – passed it on to Storm, his answer was that it will be investigated”

    that’s a serious error because that flag symbolizes a lot of the pride and history of the Portuguese Nation, like with almost all flags in the world
    every single detail of that flag has a meaning and you learn something about the history of this country and at the same time something about the hopes and dreams of it’s people when they created it
    as a Portuguese I hope they fix it

    “- it’s not yet sure (decided) how will the FV4202 replacement differ gameplay-wise from current tier 10 FV4202″

    I think it will be a good change because it’ll get a lot closer to how you handle the tanks that lead to the tier 10

    • You’re reading comprehension skills are terrible if that’s all you got from reading just that page.

      SS and Jingles are two people who are very well known though, are at two extreme ends of the spectrum. Jingles is fully aware of him not being that great of a player and says it himself and will admit when he’s wrong and listen to others which makes him respectable. As for SS, he’s someone who just acts out his personal vendetta against people, proven by him revealing the name of the poster that he banned, now that’s just despicable and it’s not even the first time he’s done it to someone. How people are still willing to even give him anything after that I don’t get it but it’s your money so whatever.

      Will I be banned for going against him and may he doxx me as well or try to? I’d say there’s a good chance he will.

      • i read few posts and it was funny as fuck.
        Now you are making science out of one little joke.
        I dont give muck shit about anybody on the internet. Im happy that i can read this blog, find out what’s going on on the WG’s side of the moon and also to read some interesting tank articles. I have fun reading it.
        Also i never heard or read anywhere that SS (SenSei :D) said he is pro player… he said something like “my winrate isnt really good, those 52%” .
        On the other side, i never hated Jingles. He is just some older papa playing wot and having fun making videos. What can we do about it ?! He loves tanks and this game… whatever…

        If you dont like this blog -> dont read it !
        If you dont like SS -> dont like him !
        If you think SS is an evil alien who wants to destroy WG —> well maby he is :)
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQoRXhS7vlU

  31. Things will not change. Even doo we speak out our concerns about the patch 0.9.6. There are no adjustments in de new test releases about the proposed view range nerf for the TD’s. Also no adjustments for the accuracy nerf.

    So I’m getting really sick about Wargaming, the products they make, and the way the approach there customers (those who pay there bills). We don’t hear anything from the staff of wargaming about the comments that are being made on there official forums. It is one way communication all along.

    I have spend a lot of money and time on this game. Real money. It feels to me like I bought a BMW and while driving it the rules chance and it slowly reduces to a old rotten f* Russian LADA. Who wants to drive a LADA? Well I’m not.

    It it seems allmost like this game is end-of-life and they have to squeeze the last remaining money out of the pockets of the users before those users say “Hey Wargaming. End of the game for you”.

    And you know what, those customers are right!.

  32. - all shells of the same type have the same normalization (there is no individual normalization for specific shells)

    So, no normalization boost for High caliber shells?

  33. And why in hell won’t WG ban troll platoons or put a cap on the tier spreads? Is it asking too much?

    Asking for arty to be taken out is one thing, since that is a divided topic, but I think it’s safe to say everyone hates troll toons. Sounds like Storm is trolling again. Douche.

  34. - it’s not yet sure (decided) how will the FV4202 replacement differ gameplay-wise from current tier 10 FV4202

    Ahhh, the mythical British tier 10 replacements. I’ll eat my keyboard if we ever see these!

  35. So many scrubs hating on the STA-2, which is just an STA-1 with slightly better DPM.