Since it’s not yet on the EU server…
War Games and the Banks
Source: http://cyprus-mail.com/2014/06/29/war-games-and-the-banks/
Thanks to Vakahn for this one.
An interesting article appeared on the Cyprus Mail website, that mentions Wargaming. Gonna repost it here. It’s a bit longer though.
Author: Angelos Anastasiou
IN A DRAMATIC last-minute intervention last November, reminiscent of plot twists found in Hollywood dramas, a highly profitable gaming company doled out €40 million to buy a 30 per cent ownership stake in the then-undercapitalised Hellenic Bank.
On the face of it, internet gaming companies, no matter how successful, and banks make for peculiar bed fellows. Buying a bank is no simple task, not least because it’s an expensive sport, nor because running one is hard, tricky business. As banks pose systemic risks to national – and even regional – economies, whoever wants to control them is heavily scrutinised, closely monitored and tightly regulated by competent authorities. Entities buying banks typically fit a standard profile, which usually includes prior involvement in money markets or financial industries.
Wargaming versus Bots – Progression
Source: http://forum.worldoftanks.asia/index.php?/topic/41670-botting-progression/
Thanks to everyone who sent me the link to this (cca 20 people, nice to know so many people from the ASIA server read FTR :) )
Hello everyone,
Yesterday, Tanitha posted quite a long post about what is being done with the bots on ASIA server (by the way, notice how Tanitha is starting to be the source of some very interesting info lately?). Either way, the post is linked above, I am going to summarize here and comment on it. The original text is in italics. The post starts with the classic “hi” and all that, gonna skip that.
World of Tanks is also unique in its player base, with WOT attracting a lot of middle age historians and military fans, a lot often attracted to WOT as their first online MMO. As such a large section of our player base are new to online gaming, and not familiar with the common issues brought to MMO’s in the way of bot’s. Bots are one of the plagues of online games, like other issues such as crime, unemployment etc, the botting issue is never “fixed” it is more a matter of constantly fighting the issue and keeping them at an acceptable level / percentage.
The last sentence is true, sadly, bots will never be eradicated from the game, not completely, there will always be some new software emulating player behavior.
Engines of War 2014 Video
Hello everyone,
WG RU posted a video from the Engines of War event I already mentioned. Interestingly enough, the video has subtitles in English.
30.6.2014
- 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? :)
Chaffees at Dien Bien Phu – Part II
Part I: http://ftr.wot-news.com/2014/06/29/chaffees-at-dien-bien-phu-part-i/
Continuing from the last part.
The French tried to clear the road, connecting the main base with the Isabelle position. The strongest attempt was undertaken on 24.3.1954, during which Posen was hit by an RPG, but the damage done was not major and noone of the crew was wounded. The French also organized other operations – their goal was to destroy the AA positions around Dien Bien Phu in order to relieve the French aircraft. The AA around the base was very active and was causing massive losses to both combat and transport French planes. Largest such operation happened on 28.3.1954 and two batallions of French paratroopers participated in it. Their target was the AA position in one abandoned village by the name of Bang Ong Pet, 2,5 kilometers west from Claudine. The attack was supported by heavy French artillery fire and was successful, the French destroyed 7 high caliber MG’s and two 37mm guns. However, while they were dismantling the guns, the paratroopers were attacked by the Vietnamese soldiers from 888th Batallion of 176th Regiment and were gradually pushed from the village, their losses counted 20 dead and 72 wounded. Their situation was critical, but at that point, the Chaffees from Lt.Préaud’s platoon crossed six kilometers of open terrain and attacked the Vietnamese troops, blunting the spear of the Vietnamese assault and rescuing the beleagured paratroopers.
Great European Random – Football
A message from Woras: don’t forget to send your normal 9.1 replays at darthworas@gmail.com
Straight Outta Supertest: the Pit returns
Source: wotleaks VK community
Hello everyone,
remember the Pit (a temporary name for an upcoming small map)? There were some preliminary pics as well. Apparently, developers continue in their work on this map. They reworked it to look like this:
It’s a very small map (400×400) specifically for low tiers. They modified it to work as an encounter mode, the base is in the city. Respawns are in upper and lower right corner.
Premium German Tier 8 Medium
Hello everyone,
Tanitha, a producer from ASIA server confirmed that we are going to get a new tier 8 premium medium German tank. It’s going to be…
Panther Ausf.F with 88mm L/71
It’s supposed to come around the end of 2014 or early 2015. It’s a historical project, I wrote about it here some time ago (in case you are interested in details). I was kinda hoping for something exotic such as the autoloader Panther or the one with the gas turbine, but this will have to do.
On more personal note, I very much appreciate the way Tanitha runs things on ASIA server – good, straight answers, no “maybe” bullshit, pretty solid. Good job :)
Wargaming to use NPC’s (bots) in Games
Hello everyone,
I normally don’t post stuff about World of Warplanes, but this is quite interesting. In recent WoWp developer diaries video, WoWp developers mentioned a new mode, where the player will be competing against PVE element – NPC’s, also known as “bots”. What is even more interesting, Wargaming is even considering adding bots instead of regular players in random battles to even the teams (cca 1:20 of the game).
There have been talks about NPC elements in the game even before the World of Warplanes was released. Some of you might remember the time when the physics was introduced into the game – at that point (and also, later on), there were rumours about introducing some “NPC elements” into World of Tanks (in the form of some sort of obstacle courses or perhaps in historical battles – this was before the HB release).