Many thanks to Evanescence and BloodDodi for adding a few more tidbits of info from the interview with Falathi. Basically, here’s a refitted version of the Falathi Q&A. This should already be the final model.

- Currently, there is no plans to change any premium tanks
- The process of migrating the game to another engine (having in mind upcoming competition such as AW) is very unlikely because there is no certainty that it will be successful. BigWorld engine will be optimized constantly.
- It is debatable that a mod is a cheat if you can’t use the amount of information the mod gives you (e.g. if you don’t look at the minimap, you won’t use extended information on it)
- No plans to nerf IS-3, it’s a decent tank but it’s not OP.
- Enemy team HP bars and infinite zoom are considered cheats, especially in a situation when you zoom out and look over corner to see if the tank is looking at you.
- Global map is going to be expanded only if there are more clans participating
- WG cannot do anything in a situation when Clan Leader steals all gold from clan’s treasury, it is a matter of clan members who do they trust as a CL and they “can’t involve themselves”

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A summary of (hopefully) correct statements of Falathi from the previous post:

- Japanese TDs are to be expected sooner than Chinese due to the latter ones being mostly Soviet clones (and WG doesn’t want more clones in the game), neither will come in 2015
- T-35 and Char 2C might appear, but in 2 years perspective
- we can expect a certain polish tank (TKS or 7TP) as a gift tank
- In Havok, if artillery uses AP round, it is possible to penetrate the wall and the tank behind the building, with a penetration loss
- In Havok, different round types (AP, HE) will have a different effect on the building. For example, it will be possible to destroy a wall and hide behind the rubble
- Type 59 might come back in a mission in 2-3 years, but the mission requirements would be hardcore.
- there was a bigger Ensk map, but big maps are huge problem for devs, because some tanks will be useless there eg Maus or TOG II
- On EU servers WG is not going to publish list of prohibited mods, so you can use them and not be banned. WG leave decision of using them or not using them to your conscience
- WG hasn’t got plans for LT on tiers 9 and 10
- Havok will appear in 2015, will work on a separate core

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Sorry, absolutely nothing new today, posting this here for the sake of continuity. Celebrations in Russia and all that.

Oh right, one thing. It’s completely possible to retrain your American crews to Mammoth, Soviet crews to Arctic Fox and French crews to the 8-bit TD… forgot its name. These are the tanks from the upcoming “8-bit” mode and while they come with crews on their own, it’s possible to use your trained crews for them. After the event is over, the 8-bit crews will be automatically retrained for free to: T110E5 (American), Foch 155 (French) and LTTB (Soviet).

Thanks to Maiorboltach for the writeup. Just a short Q&A from Aleksandr Ivanov, executive producer of World of Tanks

- platoon mechanism will be reworked in 2015. Basically, you will be able to invite players into platoons straight in the battle.
- Dragon’s Ridge will not return, in fact other “uncomfortable” maps will be removed. New maps will be added instead to replace them.
- regarding viewrange nerf – so far, it’s just an experiment, too early to tell any details. More details should be known around spring 2015.
- dynamic tank characteristics in hangar (SS: replacing gun changes the hangar stats for example) will most likely not be implemented due to “certain difficulties”

Russian Christmas time, so the answer pool is pretty limited.

- Q: “Why don’t you add tanks that are not normall available for purchase like Type 59 to the test server?” A: “These tanks are not required to test. Test is not opened for you to have fun, but for serious work – testing.”
- Chinese server is kept separate from other servers, condition that apply there are unique (SS: and as such, some features from there won’t come to EU/US/RU and there’s no point in asking for them)
- confirmed: Naydin medal is bugged (SS: some players that should have gotten it did not), developers are working on a fix now

Not much today of course, Russia is celebrating :)

- Q: “Why doesn’t MM put the same amount of vehicle classes to each team?” A: “It does take LT’s and arty into account. That’s completely sufficient”
- no plans to ban the Battle Assistant arty mod
- apparently there is a problem with Naydin medal conditions (WG is aware)
- for now there’s no ETA on the return of historical battles
- artillery accuracy was not touched in 0.9.5 (SS: some player was complaining that arty is too inaccurate or something)
- no plans for tier 10 premium tanks

- M56 Scorpion will most likely come out in 9.7
- M56 Scorpion will be a tier 7 TD without limited MM
- E-25 is too good for premium status, but it will not be nerfed, the only action taken is the removal from the shop, as this is considered to be the best compromise to fix the mistake WG made, in other words: “the best solution out of all the bad ones”
- T-35 in the game? “Why do you need it? I can’t wrap my head around that.”

And… that’s all for this year folks. Happy New Year and wishing you all the best in 2015. Let’s make it a blast :)

Here’s a VERY interesting article about American military… thanks to FaustianQ for this one. Sort of depressing.

Also, having technical issues in 9.5? Here’s a WG guide of what you might check. Why this isn’t on the first page of the EU portal, I have no idea.

- in 9.5, the gun marks (rings) were not touched
- the current Russian peak (last weekend, compared to January’s 1,1 mil) is apparently 850k
- skill MM (“leagues”) was discussed and analyzed “more than once”, the conclusion was that it would not bring the incentive to play better
- Q: “Implement skill MM and see its results in praxis!” A: “Deal player, you can create your own online game and run experiments on live servers as much as you like!”
- claims that skill MM would improve gameplay “are not based on reality”
- the rumor that Havok was scrapped is false

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A quick announcement first to avoid any confusion. Several players sent me e-mails complaining that their Object 907 in 9.5 was not buffed properly. I had a quick lock and here’s what happened. In the official post, Grimbru fucked it up – or someone making the patch did, but given the number coincidence, my money’s on Grimbru. Basically, he posted the following, regarding the buff:

Dispersion on the move 0.9.4 – 0.12 0.9.5 – 0.1

What got buffed from 0.12 to 0.1 however was not dispersion on the move, but dispersion from rotating the turret. So, yes, the buff happened, it was just wrongly announced.

Otherwise, not much again. Apparently, rammer equipment mechanism changes are not planned. Oh and regarding the feature that if you buy consumables/equipment for half a price, you have to sell them for half a price as well during the discount event, this won’t change either.

Not much today as is usual these days. But you can win stuff in Listy’s WG-sponsored competition, check it out!

- for now, the XP for “tanking” will not be implemented
- IS-3 ammo rack was not nerfed in 9.5
- the “winter fun mode” (SS: that Karl-like one) will be activated “after New Year holidays” (SS: if I see it correctly, these holidays last until 11.1.2015 in Russia)
- IS-6 gold ammo penetration will not be buffed
- apparently, Chi-Ri is not scheduled to be buffed either
- the mechanism where you will be able to add all sorts of junk to your tank (logs, cans, canvas etc.) is still in development, no ETA
- according to WG developers, Chi-Nu Kai has following advantages: good mobility, good gun, good viewrange and is VERY good at grinding, even during losses
- shell damage is a purely balance parameter, apparently it’s okay that 105mm gun 13TR (for some French tanks) gold ammo does more damage than regular ammo (300 vs 330)