Very little today (or, rather, no new info at all), but we got a bunch of leaks earlier so can’t be that bad :)

Alright, since no fresh info could be found, I had to dig a bit into less… usual sources, like the Administration Digest, which is a compendium of things, that is (well, should be) regularily updated (last update was in mid June, so it’s probably not totally obsolete). Some of the stuff there is really ancient, but there are some new things there, such as:

- T-44-85 was shelved
- Chinese tank destroyers will come, but not in 2014
- rework of light tanks is planned
- when IS-3 is reworked into HD, it will recieve “historical hull armor” (SS: funny, I thought it had one already)
- there will be Italian and EU tanks, but not soon
- EU tree concept including the national crews is ready, it will be disclosed when the time is right
- AMX-30 will come (it’s done when it’s done)
- alternative French HT and MT branches are planned, definitely not for 2014 though
- NbFz is not planned for introduction for now

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- Storm confirms: in 9.2 supertest patchnotes, there was a mistake, specifically in the part that says that HD model will display only on player’s tank – in fact, HD models will display on all HD tanks, but the textures will be at 50 percent quality on other tanks
- the change above was made so the textures do not overload graphic memory, Storm states that the difference is noticeable only on 1-1,5 meter distance
- will the change above reduce lags from HD tanks being scouted for the first time on the map that some players have been reporting? Storm: “I cannot say anything about that”
- FV215b (183) HESH pen was nerfed because other nerfs, such as DPM nerf etc. wouldn’t solve the issues with oneshots from this tank, there was even an exact internal calculation of what effect will this change have on heavy tanks when firing at them from the front
- Storm talking about FV215b (183) nerf: “The vehicle was balanced around its AP shell, which has more than decent characteristics. The fact that everyone started using HESH shells was not expected by the balancers and it was our mistake. HESH shell with 230 penetration will still have its uses against “paper” targets and when shooting enemies in the side or in the back”
- IS-3 will not appear in HD in 9.2, it was postponed
- there is no plan to merge Korean and ASIA server
- currently, VK4502(P) Ausf.B is being considered for Armor buffs of the upper and lower glacis plates
- the Sentinel Australian tank might be “introduced one day, not in 2014 though” (SS: according to what Chieftain said earlier, Sentinel will not be a part of the LL “Firefly” branch, so it’s possible it will come later)
- it’s possible the Australian units Kangaroo decal will appear in WoT

Well, it’s been a month or so since there was any real update in the original QA thread on RU forums where Storm and SerB used to answer. SerB moved on to other things apparently (WoWs) and Storm is still on vacation, but that original thread is dead. Makes it a bit harder to gather info (more pages/discussions to run through), but that’s okay, I can do it, just takes a bit more time to stay on top of things.

- Tanitha confirms that current historical battles format will be removed in 9.2:

“The current historical battles installed in 9.1 are due to be removed in 9.2 (which is normal since historical battles were originally scheduled to be replaced with new ones every update). However with 9.2 new historical battles wont be installed, and the mode will hit redevelopment. We are not currently seeking additional feedback on historical battles, as the mode is likely going to hit heavy redevelopment, and be altered a lot.”

- the piece of info that US light tank branch comes in 9.3 is preliminary and might be changed
- no info on whether M47 Patton appears in the game or how
- FV4202 changed into another tank in the future? ” Its being looked at for an overhaul, but not in the short future, more like end of 2014. Its too far away for anything to be finalized yet.”

Oh, 0.9.2 patchnotes are up, gonna translate.

- according to Cannoneer (WG tank developer), it’s not yet sure what gun will the Soviet tier 8 light tank LTTB have (57mm, 76mm, 85mm were mentioned), the tank was not balanced yet
- Soviet tier 7 light tank? “unfortunately, I won’t tell anything” (SS: the original idea was to have the LTTB as tier 8 going from some existing tier 7 tank, such as the KV-13, but it’s possible that LTTB will be downtiered to LT7, since historically it doesn’t really fit the LT8 slot (it’s way too weak))
- there is currently no info on swapping WT E-100 for another plan
- as reported earlier, the tier 8 German premium MT will likely be the Panther Ausf.F with 88mm L/71
- Japanese premium tier 8 medium tank? Tanitha: “We appreciate we have a large amount of dedicated Japanese players on the server, but developing tanks (even graphical ones) takes a lot of research and development. Please be patient with us.” (SS: my guess, STA-2B)
- crew specialization change (SS: as in, radioman to driver re-train for example): “Hello, its currently in planning / development, so we are considering the possibility to introduce this feature in our future updates. Its not in the pipeline for the short future though, so might be end of year early next year all going to plans.”
- Maus reconstruction status: “There is currently construction elaboration. This is a large-scale project and we will definitely inform community about updates on the works progress.”

Also, apparently, the “inside info” post is crap according to Storm. Not sure which parts are crap, because I actually know that some are true (the weather was indeed tested for example, it was even confirmed at some point by multiple devs), but it’s possible some of it might not be completely accurate. But then again, you guys already know to take any such leaks with a pinch of salt, right? :)

An interesting article by Listy about fighting the Adoo rebels in Oman

- apparently, it’s possible that FV4202 will be replaced by something else, while the FV4202 becomes a tier 8 premium tank with its historical 20pdr gun (SS: some sources mention the early Chieftain, others Vickers MBT). Whether FV4202 will be given “for free” as the T34 was ages ago (when it became a premium tank) is not known.

The planned dates that were leaked before are no longer actual, it seems everything was postponed by a week or two for unknown reasons.

Other than that, nothing new unfortunately :(

Source: http://blog.worldofwarships.eu/interview-with-artur-associate-publishing-producer/

Hello everyone,

just a quick summary of the recent with some World of Warship producer, nickname Ev1n. The interesting part is, it was basically an “ask me anything”, why don’t we have that in WoT more often?

- you will be able to lob shells over one target to hit a target behind it
- it will be possible to repair turrets that got blown off by a repair kit to a certain extent
- WoWs now have limited dualcore support, full multicore support is being worked on
- right now WoWs has more than 10 maps built, they need to be tweaked for gameplay
- closed beta should start this year
- changing weather won’t come this year
- the best working map size atm is 50x50km
- the game will have slightly bigger PC requirements than WoT (minimum specs are not clear yet)
- regarding the point of view from which you will see the battle:

“Yes, we removed “arty view” as the primary targeting mode in WoWS. Believe me when I say that it made the game very boring to play and broke all immersion. For now we are sticking with a FPS/TPS camera setup, similar to that in WoT for Main Caliber artillery and similarly for torpedoes. We might keep arty mode for shooting at very long ranges, but if we do it will come with a price. Carriers will of course have their own RTS-style top-down interface. Each shell leaves it’s own splashes. :)”

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Very little from Russia, but luckily, Tanitha talked about some interesting stuff on ASIA forums (Blitz answers come from Overlord)

- World of Tanks: Blitz is already no.1 free app in RU region after its release
- according to Overlord, WoT Blitz got tremendous support from players, partners and press
- Tanitha confirms that adding new tanks into the game won’t stop
- new French regular tanks most likely won’t come in 2014
- premium ammo is not on sale during events much anymore, because it can be purchased for credits
- developers are considering various “loyalty programs” (bonuses for old players), none have been approved yet however. It’s possible such a system (allegedly quite complicated) will see the light of day around the end of the year
- EU tanks will not come soon (not in 2014) (SS: but they will, horay :))
- the idea to implement TOG II* into the game apparently came from developer visits to the Bovington museum
- currently, the roaming option is not a matter of “when”, but “if at all”, there is apparently no release plan for it at the moment (SS: so it’s possible it won’t come at all)
- US light tanks (the “Chaffee branch”), German LT8 (RU251) and Soviet LT8 (LTTB) are currently planned for 9.3
- Wargaming is cooperating with Sony to promote the tank movie Fury, the movie is still far away (SS: November), but it’s possible there will be an ingame event connected to its release
- interestingly enough, the tier 8 Soviet light tank in the game is referred to as “LTB”, when the semi-historical name is “LTTB” (literally “light tank with heavy armor”)

Hello everyone,

remember the guy who leaked the Wargaming translation process? He’s back! This time, with even more interesting info from Wargaming kitchen – having access to internal WG network including discussions is very useful for WG workers, not so useful when you have to deal with a disgruntled employee…

Here’s what he wrote:

The Weather

While the development of XboX WoT is relatively independent on the WoT PC version, there are some features that the developers want in both games. The idea of weather was set in motion some time ago with a test of the principle on PC version, with following test beds:

- snowstorms on city maps (Himmelsdorf, Severogorsk, Windstorm) – this was quite a long time ago, Windstorm was not implemented yet at that point and was still only a concept
- sandstorms od desert maps (tested on Sand River)
- night battles on Karelia, Westfield, Malinovka

Continue reading →

Unfortunately, with Storm on vacation (a week and a half more IIRC), very little is new. The ASIA “developer Q&A” with Tanitha looks promising, but he sort of backed off (understandeably) and needs to clear what he can tell players officially and what he can’t. Should be interesting still.

Oddly enough, the EU portal did not inform (unlike the RU one) that the WoT Blitz was officially released, so… World of Tanks Blitz was officially released and you can get it officially here. Android version will come in the upcoming months. You can discuss the news on Overlord’s blog!

- apparently, the issue with players not seeing friends in the garage as online even though they are persists after the micropatch
- same goes, according to player feedback, for the “moving corpses” bug, it seems the issue was NOT fixed
- Blitz is separate from WoT, including statistics and servers, but you can log in using the same account as in WoT
- there will not be unified premium between WoT and WoTBlitz