Developers posts on forum

Content_WG: Work your way to this sizable artillery in a new round of specials!
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Lert:   It must be a very interesting feeling that part of your job is hoping you never get to do your job.

dance210:   Depends on what you mean by problem.   Is there a problem with using the team name? No, because other members of the League team Nomads is on the Skirmish team.   Is there a problem with the team being accepted? No, it is already Pending Approval.   Is there a problem with submitting disputes? Kind of. The team captain isn't on the team, technically. We can work with that though.   Is there a problem with you being on the team and being able to participate in the battles? Yes, if you are planning to participate (technically, you are not on the team and special battles will not pop). No, if you just wanted to set up the team and leave (you just didn't re-assign the captain before leaving).   Do any of those help answer your question?

dance210:   Depends on what you mean by problem.   Is there a problem with using the team name? No, because other members of the League team Nomads is on the Skirmish team.   Is there a problem with the team being accepted? No, it is already Pending Approval.   Is there a problem with submitting disputes? Kind of. The team captain isn't on the team, technically. We can work with that though.   Is there a problem with you being on the team and being able to participate in the battles? Yes, if you are planning to participate (technically, you are not on the team and special battles will not pop). No, if you just wanted to set up the team and leave (you just didn't re-assign the captain before leaving).   Do any of those help answer your question?

dance210:   Depends on what you mean by problem.   Is there a problem with using the team name? No, because other members of the League team Nomads is on the Skirmish team.   Is there a problem with the team being accepted? No, it is already Pending Approval.   Is there a problem with submitting disputes? Kind of. The team captain isn't on the team, technically. We can work with that though.   Is there a problem with you being on the team and being able to participate in the battles? Yes, if you are planning to participate (technically, you are not on the team and special battles will not pop). No, if you just wanted to set up the team and leave (you just didn't re-assign the captain before leaving).   Do any of those help answer your question?

Lert: Three of the best MBT's currently in service everyone here would agree are the M1 Abrams, Challenger 2 and the Leopard 2. It's the design choices on these tanks that this thread wants to address.   First the Abrams:     If you note the front armor, both hull and turret, you'll see that they are flat slabs of armor under a minimal angle.   Now the Leopard 2:   This is the 2A5, but the 2A6 and 2A7+ have the same armor layout.   You will note that the both the front hull and turret armor of this tank are sharply sloped. What do the germans know that the americans don't? Or, vice versa, what do the americans know that the germans don't?   Then there is this, the Challenger 2, considered by many to be the best protected, most heavily armored of the three:     It has a flat, relatively unangled hull front with a relatively highly angled turret face.   So, what gives? We have:   - The american design with flat, slab everything - The german design with sharp angled everything - The british design with flat hull and angled turret   But wait, it gets even more interesting:     This picture of an older generation Leopard 2, from the 2A4 block in this case, shows a very flat, unangled, slab turret face. Yet the 2A5 and upwards have the sharp angles. What gives? Aren't those shot traps?   ... Well, not really. The sharp angled wedge shape on the turret front of the Leopard 2A5 and upwards is actually a wedge-shape add-on piece of spaced armor. This picture of a Leopard 2A5 turret under construction shows the near side of the turret before the addition of the spaced add-on part, still showing the flat turret face of the 2A4. Here and here are two pictures of those wedges of shaped armor. My understanding is that they serve to deform penetrators before they reach the actual turret armor, which is still flat and unangled, like in Abrams.   Wiki backs me up in this:   "The A5 introduced a wedge-shaped, spaced add-on armour to the turret front and the frontal area of the sides. These spaced armour modules defeat a hollow charge prior to reaching the base armour, and causes kinetic-energy penetrators to change direction, eroding them in the process; it does not form a shot-trap since it doesn't deflect the penetrators outwards to hit the hull or turret ring."   The way this is phrased and from viewing the pictures of the armor addons, this leads me to believe that kinetic penetrators are meant to penetrate the wedge armor, being deflected inwards because of normalization and losing a lot of their penetrating potential before hitting the actual turret face armor, as per my crappy MSPaint drawing:     However, this is just wild guessing on my part; I claim no particular understanding or knowledge.   So, all this new information changes my earlier list to:   - The american design with flat, slab everything - The german design with sharp angled hull and flat turret face - The british design with flat hull and angled turret face   So, my questions are:   - Why the radical difference in design? What's the philosophy behind them? - The german designers chose to add the wedge shaped spaced armor pieces to the Leopard 2 when the flat design of earlier Leo's as well as Abrams was 15+ years proven. So why the change in philosophy? - What does sloping do to modern ammunition? - Why is Leopard 2 so sexy? Mmmmmmmm ....   Note: Modern ammunitions interact with armor and slope differently from the ammunition of the time period that WoT encompasses. Don't bring your WoT theorems into this discussion, this is about modern composite armor, modern high density and chemical ammunition and modern design philosophies.   As a thank you for reading, have a video which celebrates two of these three amazing machines along with some classic rock:  

Hypnotik: Congrats on the win, OTTER.   Tioga... best_webcam_interview_na.

Hypnotik: Prizes are listed in the OP.  

Hypnotik: We gave away an extra one on the stream.

Hypnotik:  

Hypnotik: I regret to inform you that Dewey did not in fact defeat Truman.   Here's the real scoreboard, sorry for the mixup. I've forever brought shame on my $Excel-$Fu.     Those with 34 get the 1st place prize. 33 gets 9th place. 32 gets 10th place.

Hypnotik: Wow, that got expensive.   EDIT: BAD SCOREBOARD REMOVED, ONE MOMENT, PLEASE.

Hypnotik: Congratulations to OTTER - 2 time Clan Invitational Champs!   You guys will have a chance to hunt these guys down while they play in sheriff accounts in the WINNR clan very soon!

Hypnotik: Only 10 minutes until the matches begin!   http://twitch.tv/wargaming

dance210:   The percent rankings (Top 25%, etc) are based off how well a team does in the Group Stage (Mon-Wed battles). Those rankings are updated on the forums (see here for an example - scroll down to see each new day). From the Group Stage, the top 50% make it to the Alpha playoffs. Teams in the Top 25% from the group stage are seeded into the top Alpha playoff bracket(s) and compete for gold. Teams ranked 26 - 50% are seeded into another set of playoff bracket(s) and play for lower gold prizes. The lower 50% of teams are in the Bravo playoffs, and compete for even less gold.   Once you hit Friday, you are no longer talking about group stages/percent ranks. You have reached the playoffs. How much gold a team earns depends on when they lose. This is determined directly from the tournament page. For example, if a team loses on Friday, then they will placed 9th - 16th and, if applicable, earn the gold for that place. If a team loses on Sunday during the Semifinals, they will be 3rd-4th and earn that gold prize.

dance210:   The percent rankings (Top 25%, etc) are based off how well a team does in the Group Stage (Mon-Wed battles). Those rankings are updated on the forums (see here for an example - scroll down to see each new day). From the Group Stage, the top 50% make it to the Alpha playoffs. Teams in the Top 25% from the group stage are seeded into the top Alpha playoff bracket(s) and compete for gold. Teams ranked 26 - 50% are seeded into another set of playoff bracket(s) and play for lower gold prizes. The lower 50% of teams are in the Bravo playoffs, and compete for even less gold.   Once you hit Friday, you are no longer talking about group stages/percent ranks. You have reached the playoffs. How much gold a team earns depends on when they lose. This is determined directly from the tournament page. For example, if a team loses on Friday, then they will placed 9th - 16th and, if applicable, earn the gold for that place. If a team loses on Sunday during the Semifinals, they will be 3rd-4th and earn that gold prize.

dance210:   The percent rankings (Top 25%, etc) are based off how well a team does in the Group Stage (Mon-Wed battles). Those rankings are updated on the forums (see here for an example - scroll down to see each new day). From the Group Stage, the top 50% make it to the Alpha playoffs. Teams in the Top 25% from the group stage are seeded into the top Alpha playoff bracket(s) and compete for gold. Teams ranked 26 - 50% are seeded into another set of playoff bracket(s) and play for lower gold prizes. The lower 50% of teams are in the Bravo playoffs, and compete for even less gold.   Once you hit Friday, you are no longer talking about group stages/percent ranks. You have reached the playoffs. How much gold a team earns depends on when they lose. This is determined directly from the tournament page. For example, if a team loses on Friday, then they will placed 9th - 16th and, if applicable, earn the gold for that place. If a team loses on Sunday during the Semifinals, they will be 3rd-4th and earn that gold prize.

Lert:   Carrying means you win games and get good stats. I don't see how that keeps the community alive.   Imparting knowledge does. Making videos, doing reviews, writing guides does. I'll give OP that.  

Lert:   Because you're the uber-arbiter of everything that's fair. Uhuh.   I've told you before, I reply to people in a tone befitting their posts.   However, since you're making a point out of proving how much I suck, please explain to me how this is insulting drivel:   "Because it 'makes them feel better' - (Yeah and I'm Queen Elizabeth) Because 'if we complain long and loud enough WG may some day listen' - (Uhuh - and Elvis is still alive) Because 'we know better how to make an internet pixel tonk game than WG' - (Ok, so, where's their multi million dollar multinational franchise then?)   It's in people's nature to complain. The better people have it, the more inane their whines. And if a class of internet pixel vehicle in an internet pixel tonk game is their biggest concern, they have it better than most people on this godforsaken rock in space."   Sassy, perhaps. Insulting? Whoa, you have a thick skin if that insults you. The three 'because' lines are actual reasons arty haters have put fort for their incessant whiners.   Or this:   "That is probably the reason behind this ontrack. What better way to gather large amounts of data on a specific vehicle than by promoting it through a special?"   Those aren't insulting, and they were posted before you called me out, of mighty arbiter of all that is true and just in the world.   I did post some slightly insulting things, like for example   "Because WG wants to make sure elitist chuckleheads have enough to whine about."   Which, you're right, i's absolutely so much worse of an insult than in the OP;   "So Wargaming, you want more "fair and balanced" clickers to completely infect and ruin how people play? And to the Conq GC at that. The Conq GC is completely balanced. "   .... "fair and balanced clickers" to completely infect and ruin how people play ... Because that's totally not insulting at all.   I also posted:   "In terms of 'chances of this ever happening' that is the equivalent of telling a Jihadist to read two pages on the web and convert to Christianity. "   Yeah, that is pretty insulting. I'll give you that. And exactly what I intended for it to be.   Yet, that was not the post of mine that you decided to call me out on, oh great and infallible justicar of all that is right ...   Speaking of which, I find it a bit hypocrite of you to call me out on insulting, while only a relatively small portion of my posts have been, compared to all of yours. But then, you're a better player than I am, so that makes it all right, right? And you're the one speaking to me about needing a mirror ...   Go self copulate, you vertically challenged matriarch copulating female dog, and stop being a self-righteous hypocrite of dubious value.   <-- That there is an insult. Report me if you're a snitch, print it out and put it in your bird cage, have sleepless nights over it, respond to it with more of your own infallibleness, whatever. I am out of this thread. And, yes, you have my permission to feel morally superior at that 'victory'.

Lert: A counter argument could be made, that playing artillery teaches what artillery can and cannot do, and thus how to counter artillery, a necessary skill for any skilled player. It's not a very strong argument though.

Lert: The 90mm has always been available on the T29.   One thing WG could do is:   - Change the M6 tech tree to lead to the T29 after researching the 90mm instead of before like now (IE, make the 90mm mandatory on the M6 rather than optional) - Increase the XP research cost from the E2 to the T29 by 14k XP (that's what the 90mm costs to unlock) - Remove the 76mm option from the T29   This would ensure that nobody ever drives a T29 with the 76mm, and keep the research costs for the full research paths the same.

Lert:   Can you explain this one to me? How do good players keep the community alive?

Lert:   You mean, like the one I was having before you came in for the sole purpose of insulting me, without contributing anything whatsoever to the conversation? Seriously, the only thing you've done in this entire thread is insult me.   If that's what rocks your boat, go right ahead. I'm just pleased I can give you purpose in your life.   People get from me what I get from them. Kram gave me normal conversation, he got normal conversation in return. You give insults, you get attitude.

Lert:   Was the original purpose of the Vietnam war to make the military industry tons of money? If that is the case, then, great success.   Also, not spending a dime on WoT but still playing it, you're still actively supporting WG and WoT by providing population. Without a large body of free-to-play population the paying population won't have enough players to shoot and the game would die out. The waiting times and MM mismatches in WoWS CBT show what a mess a game like that - and by extension this - can be without enough playerbase. So just keep on believing you're not supporting WG.   As for my remark being 'scathing'? (nice sarcasm btw)   1) It wasn't aimed at you 2) The person it was aimed at had already made up his mind about what kind of person I am; nothing I could say would change that opinion nor am I interested in doing so 3) This is the internet. No insult I could make here would truly affect anyone. Which is sad, really - I've got some quite decent ones, but they'd just be wasted 4) What makes you think I care about who you do and don't have respect for? I've never posted to get respect, that has never been my goal. 'Respect' on an internet forum is meaningless.

The_Chieftain:   No, they're not though. Even if they don't want to free XP the 90mm, if they went to T29 via the M4, it is because they plan on going further up the medium line. There is no reason to to it otherwise, as the T1 and M6 are perfectly good tanks themselves. One step further up the medium line is the 90mm on T20. Unlock it, then use it on the T29. You're just delaying your T29 game a little bit.

The_Chieftain:   MidEast in most companies are covered by the European offices. "EMEA" is a common region. (Europe, Middle East, Africa).   Cutland going to Israel is not what I would consider to be a remarkable event, other than that I'm jealous. And yes, he's a perfectly nice guy.

Hypnotik: Well, spot #4 would definitely not get the 2nd place prize. But if there's a tie, all those in the tied position get that prize level. No matter what happens tonight, there won't be as many tied as there are right now.

Hypnotik: Be sure to watch these matches tonight, they're going to be some of the best play you'll see in a very long time.   Remember, you can DVR Game of Thrones or watch it when it re-airs all night tonight, you can watch it on on-demand, you can watch it on hbogo, but you can only watch the Invitational Championship in the company of tons of other people today, a few hours from now. Who knows, you may even win a prize while watching that allows you to raise a navy to destroy the usurper Balon Greyjoy.

Lert:   Found it.     It's worth a watch for anyone who has an opinion about arty.   Just to make my point clear: this video argues that something like arty is necessary, in order to make new and / or lesser skilled players have a sense of power and ability to kill higher tiered / more skilled opponents. This video does not argue that the current implementation of arty is perfect.  

Lert:   I'm glad you feel that way.   I tend to respond to people in a tone their post deserves from me. You will notice that when people started using actual arguments and polite discussion, that's what they got back from me in return. The rest, the whiners and people like you, I could care less about.   Run along now. The adults are talking.

Lert: Just too bad it's the exception rather than the norm when it happens.

The_Chieftain: Some people get all the fun...   That said, I'm in Baltimore next week. Towson, more specifically. Thursday evening

Lert: What makes a complaint 'whining', seems to be what you're asking.   I think 4 year long constant repetition is a good sign. Even the very title of this thread, 'dirty arty' - that's not a mature, in-depth discussion about why someone doesn't like something; that's whining.   When complaining about something becomes so common that it becomes expected and second nature - like arty hate on this forum - then it's way beyond whining.   Any argument about why arty sucks has been made, hundreds if not thousands of times. The discussion has been had. Dozens of times. And, yet, every week several new threads pop up. Are those fair complaints? Or whining?   Tone also has an influence.   "I got killed by an arty today while I was behind a rock. I feel their splash is slightly too much and they take not much skill to use."  <-- fair complaint. "Waah I got killed by arty, arty sucks it's a noob weapons and needs to be removed or I'm quitting this game for Advanced Warbling!" <-- whine   The thing about the fair complaint example I used above though is, nobody's going to notice that when it gets posted, because the culture on this forum has become so used to the whine example that anything less than a whine becomes buried under the whines.

Lert:   Probably, because the forum population is also by far the most highly skilled portion of the playerbase and thus the more likely to whine about something like arty, which is a 'crutch' for the lesser skilled. However, that is what a game like WoT needs in order to be successful. There is an extra credits video which explains it a lot better than I can, I'm gonna try and find it.   I can't find it.   Basically, it explained how there have to be simple-to-use weapons which can take out a high skilled opponent in order to keep lesser skilled players feeling 'relevant' and thus interested in the game. There wouldn't be a game without those lesser skilled opponents. However, higher skilled opponents often consider whose weapons 'cheap' and would like them removed, so that only skill matters.   Sound familiar?   On the old UT2004 forums there was a constant backlash against the redeemer, a powerful superweapon that could instantly clear a room of opponents. It had a long respawn time and required no skill to use.   Sound familiar?

Lert:   And yet, it was brandished as such. After all, 'everyone wanted a more realistic game instead of that arcade nonsense' and 'everyone wanted to be rid of artillery', right?

Lert:   "Should arty be removed" polls were so common at one point that WG started closing them and redirecting people to the official arty thread. In the vast majority of cases, the forum base voted overwhelmingly for arty to not be removed. If this isn't good enough for you, feel free to make your own poll and see for yourself.  

Lert:   At first there were no competitors. It was claimed by many that WoT wouldn't last and was destroying itself with the way it treated arty. Didn't happen. Then MWO came. That was said to drive a lot of people away from WoT and force WG to rethink what they're doing. Didn't happen. Then 'Blorg Plunder' ground forces came around. That was surely going to kill WoT right then and there and force WG to rethink what they were doing. Didn't happen. Now 'Advanced Warbling' is on the doorstep. Surely that will kill WoT and force Wg to rethink what they're doing. Right?   .... Yeah, about that. I'll see it when it happens.   "But Advanced Warbling is different! It'll succeed where those others failed because of - "   Yeah yeah yeah. Promises promises. I'll see it when it happens.   The 'doom of WoT' has been predicted almost as many times as the end of the world. Guess what? They're still both here.   Is WoT perfect? No. Can it be improved? Probably. Do I presume to know better than WG how to make a multi million dollar, multi-national online franchise? No. I'm simply a gamer who plays what I enjoy. The moment I stop enjoying WoT I will stop playing WoT. And I will do so without announcements on the forum, passive aggressiveness about the 'suckitude of WG and WoT' and how much better the competition is.  

Lert: The R7 240 is a low-end budget card.   Some tips:   - Clean your windows - Clean your WoT install - Close all background programs while playing - Lower your graphics settings

Lert:   'Better' in who's opinion? The high skilled minority that signify maybe 2% of WG's income? If that? Remember, a vast portion of whiners are highly skilled players who don't spend a $ on the game because they get all their gold for free through CW. Or the lesser skilled vast majority, who have time and time and time again voted for arty to remain?   As for 'Success doesn't preclude the possibility of mistakes'; yet anti-arty lobbyists keep pointing at previous adjustments of game mechanics and parameters as the successful result of their whining, and as a reason to continue to whine.   Success does however prove that they're doing something right, and better than their competitors. Which is also why all those whiners are still here.

Lert:   Considering how many millions WG has made off of WoT and the fact that all these anti-arty whiners are still playing the game and supporting WG, I'd be willing to say they know what they're doing a whole lot better than aforementioned whiners.

Lert:   That is probably the reason behind this ontrack. What better way to gather large amounts of data on a specific vehicle than by promoting it through a special?

Lert: Good tip.

Lert:   Then start by getting rid of that abominable sig.   Just between you and me, I think the chance of you actually having learned and bettered your ways is about as high as my chance of winning the lottery. (Hint: I don't even play).