Developers posts on forum

Jambijon:

CabbageMechanic:  
You're almost definitely fine, but a clean install never hurts.  If you ever used one of the mods specifically detailed here, I would do it just to be safe.  
 

CabbageMechanic: I only listen to Kraftwerk

Hambijon: Attention Tankers! Part 2 of the Fjords overview is now live for your viewing pleasure!  Missed Part 1?  Here ya go:  I feel like these have been beneficial for me since Fjords isn't my favorite map so to speak.  How about you? Are these types of videos and guides helpful? GLHF!

Jambijon: Attention Tankers!   Part 2 of the Fjords overview is now live for your viewing pleasure!     Missed Part 1?  Here ya go:     I feel like these have been beneficial for me since Fjords isn't my favorite map so to speak.  How about you? Are these types of videos and guides helpful?   GLHF!

Hambijon:   Spotify is my go to, but at times I check out youtube, NPR tiny desk, or audiotree if I want to see some more exclusive "live" recordings.

Jambijon:   Spotify is my go to, but at times I check out youtube, NPR tiny desk, or audiotree if I want to see some more exclusive "live" recordings.

The_Chieftain:   I've already covered Tobruk and to an extent, Bardia  on previous ANZAC days, and Vietnam last Summer. I suggest that your outrage is misplaced. Sometimes one wins in war, sometimes one doesn't. The dead are just as mourned either way.

Hambijon: I've only listened to a couple Crimson songs, especially the one I linked.  Its so damn good!  I forgot how good the music in Samurai Champloo was!   Though I'm interested, this is just another way I can find more music haha!

Jambijon: I've only listened to a couple Crimson songs, especially the one I linked.  Its so damn good!  I forgot how good the music in Samurai Champloo was!   Though I'm interested, this is just another way I can find more music haha!

The_Chieftain: What's a forum superstar? Can I get an autograph of one?

DomoSapien:   New Map coming soon to WOT!

"Field"  

Hambijon: What's up everyone?  How ya doing? I've been recently thinking about expanding my playlists or sets for music and was curious what different types you might be into when you're gaming.  I tend to lean towards more to instrumentals or beats since it doesn't drown out the game too much.  Here are some of the ones I've been listening too recently: My go to that never fails me when I want some chill, jazzy/hip hop beats is this playlist on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/reallyrichie/sets/acid-jazzorhttps://soundcloud.com/reallyrichie/sets/lazylofi Into Math type rock?  These guys are fun:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxZuPLPERbk Funk?  Pretty much everything Vulfpeck:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XftabV9S2z0https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=le0BLAEO93g Also, this because its so freaking good:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fY9nOn-rNHs Again, just curious of what you guys are listening to or the playlists you frequent.  

Jambijon: What's up everyone?  How ya doing?   I've been recently thinking about expanding my playlists or sets for music and was curious what different types you might be into when you're gaming.  I tend to lean towards more to instrumentals or beats since it doesn't drown out the game too much.  Here are some of the ones I've been listening too recently:   My go to that never fails me when I want some chill, jazzy/hip hop beats is this playlist on SoundCloud:   https://soundcloud.com/reallyrichie/sets/acid-jazz or https://soundcloud.com/reallyrichie/sets/lazylofi   Into Math type rock?  These guys are fun: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxZuPLPERbk   Funk?  Pretty much everything Vulfpeck: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XftabV9S2z0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=le0BLAEO93g   Also, this because its so freaking good: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fY9nOn-rNHs   Again, just curious of what you guys are listening to or the playlists you frequent.    

DomoSapien:   Interesting. I'm sure some tickets have been filed already, so it's up to you, but submitting a ticket with a replay next time you run into the issue definitely couldn't hurt, just in case.

I run Discord (albeit with the overlay disabled) and haven't ever run into the issue. So that probably isn't the culprit.

DomoSapien: Well from what insanefriend described, sounds like an issue that doesn't really have a workaround outside of waiting for the battle to end. We'd definitely like to identify what's causing the issue and fix it asap.

DomoSapien: We've actually been running quite a few in-game surveys lately. Although I believe they are typically sent out to randomly-selected groups of players in an effort to gather a statistically-significant sample.   So I wouldn't be surprised to receive a Map Survey at some point in the not-so-distant future as well. I'm having trouble finding the thread on reddit, but Private_Public ran a survey on the WoT Subreddit and broke the findings down by region. There is quite a bit of variation as far as map sentiment between regions as well.

Hambijon: Yea, the mods listed won't be prohibited until June 1st like Nightmare said.  This is pretty much a "grace" period where mod makers can take the time to ensure their content complies with our mod regulations.

Jambijon: Yea, the mods listed won't be prohibited until June 1st like Nightmare said.  This is pretty much a "grace" period where mod makers can take the time to ensure their content complies with our mod regulations.

DomoSapien:   You're right, I totally missed that.
I haven't experienced the bug myself, have you filed a bug report with our Customer Support team? Are you running any mods? Is it just your engine that can't be repaired?
 

DomoSapien: Something to note about map design: in virtually every Map Guide or map-related thread, you get a virtual sea of dissenting feedback.
You've got the "Field of Death" camp that believes the ultimate evil to be large, open spaces that TD's can lurk behind and fire without getting spotted. You've also got the "Every map is a corridor map" camp that finds lanes in any possible map configuration.
You've got the arty, Redline TD, and Light Tank players that hate city maps. You've got the HT and Assault TD mains that hate open maps like Prokhorovka. (Prok used to be my most hated map, now it's one of my favorites because I prefer playing mediums nowadays)

There are also removed maps that objectively sucked, but were favorites to some players for one reason or another, like Port, Sacred Valley, and Dragon Ridge.   We also have a limited number of developers, who are working on various projects. Maps are critically important to you, but to other players, Ammo Rebalance, MM Fixes, and Vehicle Rebalance is critically important. Balancing is, at the moment, our utmost priority. We've been heralding these fixes for quite some time as a light at the end of the tunnel, so it's important to make good on that promise.

DomoSapien: The complaint system operates on a threshold. If a player breaks the rules, you're welcome to use the complaint system but the best thing you can do is Submit a Ticket to our Customer Support team with a replay of the battle attached.

That will guarantee that a representative reviews your replay and issues sanctions for any violations found.

Hambijon:   As stated, the list isn't updated until June 1st.  By that time, the mod creators will have to comply with the regulations or we will remove the mods that break our rules.

Jambijon:   As stated, the list isn't updated until June 1st.  By that time, the mod creators will have to comply with the regulations or we will remove the mods that break our rules.

Hambijon: Greetings Tankers! The On Track for the WZ-132-1 starts today and yes, you guessed it!  You'll need to punch in a code to redeem the missions! So, to make it easier for you, just click the button below (make sure you're logged in) and then hit "Redeem."  The code will already be filled in.  For the full list of details and mission rewards, click the link below to head over to our portal article: On Track for April 24-May 13: WZ-132-1 GLHF!

Jambijon: Greetings Tankers!   The On Track for the WZ-132-1 starts today and yes, you guessed it!  You'll need to punch in a code to redeem the missions!   So, to make it easier for you, just click the button below (make sure you're logged in) and then hit "Redeem."  The code will already be filled in.     For the full list of details and mission rewards, click the link below to head over to our portal article:   On Track for April 24-May 13: WZ-132-1   GLHF!

The_Chieftain:   Mmm... As far as I know, it's still fairly reasonable, especially now that armor is experiencing a bit of a resurgence. A note crossed my feed last week saying that 1st Armored in Ft Bliss just shipped out its last Strykers to convert to an all-heavy division.   Similarly, I think the pendulum has started to swing back a bit from the "generalist" viewpoint of armor officers which had permeated the Army the last few years. Instead of expecting an armor officer to go from tanks to airborne cav to strykers, there is a recent push back again towards excellence in one specialty. I have personally considered that there is far too much of an emphasis on the Ranger Tab, and I think that's starting to be de-emphasized as well, at least as long as you're not going to one of the airborne/airmobile units.   The M1A2 Sep v3 has just come out, which has some reasonable upgrades, and also the Trophy APS is being finally fitted, so the Abrams has some life in it yet.   I cannot speak to how the commissioning sources are pushing or not pushing the various branches.

Hambijon: Although I play with a vanilla client, I disagree saying modding should be illegal for WoT.  The mod community sometimes make things that actually get implemented into the game officially which just gives players more customizability when playing (damage logs, spotting/view range and draw distance on the minimap, etc).  I understand that there are some mods that may give a player a minor "advantage" but those will be met with bans.

Jambijon: Although I play with a vanilla client, I disagree saying modding should be illegal for WoT.  The mod community sometimes make things that actually get implemented into the game officially which just gives players more customizability when playing (damage logs, spotting/view range and draw distance on the minimap, etc).  I understand that there are some mods that may give a player a minor "advantage" but those will be met with bans.

The_Chieftain: It's ANZAC Day again, so the traditional article about Down Under (Tomorrow for us, but it's already tomorrow down thataway). Australian troops’ first encounters with tanks occurred after the ill-fated expedition to Turkey, when the ANZACs were transferred to the European theater. The trench warfare of the Western Front led to a new and different kind of hell.Assigned to Fifth Army, under the interesting leadership of General Hubert Gough, in April of 1917 4th Australian Division, part of 1 Anzac under Lt Gen Sir William Birdwood... Birdwood...found themselves in the vicinity of the town of Bullecourt. Now a tiny little town about midway between the more famous localities of Arras and Cambrai, in the Spring of 1917 it had been fortified and incorporated into the Hindenberg Line. Bullecourt after the battle. A destroyed tank is located in the lower right quarter of the picture. AWM ImageA large push had been ordered by the French commander, Nivelle. Kick-off was the morning of 9th April, and the main effort for that day was to Fifth Army’s left, at Arras. Results were better than expected, and the Candians achieved their landmark victory at Vimy Ridge. Gough was, perhaps, feeling a little left out, and despite the fact that he had had to give away much of his artillery, and reports were coming back that the remaining artillery had not destroyed the German wire, he had concluded that the Hindenberg line was not being well defended, and Bullecourt could be flanked. Birdwood was not best pleased with the instruction to enter the 1,500m of open ground between Bullecourt and the next town over, but there was a mitigating factor. Field Marshal Haig had given Gough 11th company of D Battalion of the Heavy Machine Gun Corps. Twelve Mk I and II tanks.Mk I tankThis was, of course, many months prior to the seminal Battle of Cambrai, which placed tanks firmly on the map. As a result, few people knew quite what to expect from them, but there was no doubting the ‘Can-do’ attitude of the tankers. Gough was visited by the CO of the tank battalion, LTC Hardress-Loyd, and the CO of 11 Coy, Major Watson. They believed that their tanks could make up for the lack of artillery support, they proposed that they precede the infantry, eschewing any preparatory artillery barrage in favour of surprise, and deal with the strongpoints allowing the Australian infantry to move forward against much less opposition. And they could do it tomorrow.Gough approved.Unfortunately, despite the best enthusiasm of the tankers, they were simply not capable of delivering on their promise. There were four main problems.The tanks were Mk I and IIs . Hideously unreliable, and so lightly armored that even small arms had a reasonable chance of going through their skin. The crews were new to their jobs, the unit only having been stood up a couple of months earlier. Major Watson was a transfer from a cyclist battalion. The Australians had never seen tanks before, and had absolutely no concepts of how to work with them. In fairness, as tanks were generally new to everyone, this was hardly a problem unique to the Australians, but with less than 24 hours to the off, they weren’t exactly being given an opportunity to redress this problem. The Germans, under General Otto von Moser, apparently had not been informed by Gough that they were supposed to be retreating. They had no interest in giving up their portion of the Hindenberg Line.von MoserThe attack didn’t happen. The tanks were too slow making it to their jump-off point, and thirty minutes after the attack was to be launched, at 5am the word went out to that the mission was scrubbed. This did not sit well with the men of the West Yorkshire Regiment, who, believing that the Aussies had attacked as planned, found themselves having made it to the German lines, and then having to withdraw afterwards being unable to hold position, with the resultant levels of casualties. It would have been nice had the Australians let them know that their attack was not a sure thing.Hindenberg Line in front of Bullecourt (which is to the right of the picture)Undeterred, the attack was rescheduled again for the next day. 0430, 11th April. Six tanks would support each of the two Australian brigades. This time the British 62nd to the left would wait until the Australians had made it to the German lines and turned to Bullecourt before moving. The Australians themselves would not wait for a signal from the tanks, they would start 15 minutes after the tanks did, at 0445. In theory, this meant that the tanks would have reached and suppressed the German defenses by the time the infantry got there.Again, though, the tanks failed the Australians. Most did not make it in time for their scheduled start. Only four, three in front of 4th brigade, and one in front of 12th Brigade, managed to be present at the beginning of the show. The others trundled up eventually.The resulting battle has been termed by several authors as a fiasco. Only three tanks reached the enemy lines: Being painted brown and green, the tanks stood out very nicely as targets in the open ground covered with a fair dusting of snow. The rest were all burning between the Australian and German lines. Of the other three, two were lost, presumed captured (The German lines were something of a reverse slope position and difficult to see), the third found its final spot in Bullecourt. Tank lost at BullecourtDespite the failures of the tanks, the Australians made a game show of it anyway. But again, mass confusion reigned at higher levels, with commanders thinking things were going much better than they were. Requests for additional support from the infantry which had reached the enemy lines went unfulfilled. They may have taken the Hindenberg line between Bullecourt and Quéant, but those two villages were held by a large number of angry Germans now shooting into the Australians from both flanks. Still, the situation could be held. Australian troops forced their way to the second trench line, cutting off a group of German Infantry, a Wurtember regiment. These men, with 12th Brigade on their right, 4th on their left, held off against everything the Australians could throw at them, the Australians would later rate them as some of the toughest troops they ever faced.Still the fighting continued in its ebb and flow. The Brigade commanders finally understood that not all was well, but also that the position could be held with the requisite support, asking particularly for artillery fire on the villages to the flanks. The artillery commander, relying on observations from his forward observers, believed that the Australians had, in fact, entered Bullecourt. General Birdwood decided to believe the reports from the FOs, and denied the support.Eventually the Australians were forced to concede defeat, and the withdrawal order was given. Fourth Brigade, with all four battalions thrown into action, lost 2,339 men, of which about a thousand were prisoners. They started with 3,000. 12th Brigade went with just two, and so their losses were lighter. 950 men. 4th Australian division was effectively destroyed. The British tankies lost 52 killed and wounded out of 103. It would be mid-May before Bullecourt fell, requiring the efforts of 1st and 2nd Australian, and 7th and 62nd British Divisions.In the meantime, the experience left a very great distaste in the mouths of the Australians towards tanks. It would be over a year before they would accept tank support again, except at Hamel, not only were the tanks better, but significant effort was made to integrate the Australians and tankers both for training and to establish trust between the two groups. It worked, but that’s a story for a different day.  In the meantime, the lessons of Bullecourt were learned and applied in later battles, to the betterment of the tank corps, and leading to the later successes.The road East out of town is now the Rue des Australiens, with the Bullecourt Digger being a monument to the Australians who fought there. The residents of Bullecourt have not forgotten.

Hambijon: Attention Tankers! The ban hammer is expanding its range across more mods, so be prepared!  The following mods aren't a target just yet for our hammer but it will be by June 1st. 1. Showing the direction of guns on the minimap:  2. Displaying arrows to the closest opponents:  3. Marking adversaries beyond the draw distance (using red columns, spheres, etc.):  Note: We'll initiate another massive ban wave, based on the current (non-updated) version of our Fair Play Policy, in the near future. However, the following ban wave takes into account the updated list of cheats, and we'll definitely penalize those who continue to use the above-mentioned unfair mods, contrary to our warnings.  For the full list of details and prohibited mods, follow the link provided below: Fair Play Policy: Updated List of Prohibited Mods GLHF and play fair!

Jambijon: Attention Tankers!   The ban hammer is expanding its range across more mods, so be prepared!  The following mods aren't a target just yet for our hammer but it will be by June 1st.   1. Showing the direction of guns on the minimap:     2. Displaying arrows to the closest opponents:     3. Marking adversaries beyond the draw distance (using red columns, spheres, etc.):     Note: We'll initiate another massive ban wave, based on the current (non-updated) version of our Fair Play Policy, in the near future. However, the following ban wave takes into account the updated list of cheats, and we'll definitely penalize those who continue to use the above-mentioned unfair mods, contrary to our warnings.   For the full list of details and prohibited mods, follow the link provided below:   Fair Play Policy: Updated List of Prohibited Mods   GLHF and play fair!

KRZYBooP: Well this is new.      It seems as though there could be be some wrong information with the initial infographic that was shared earlier today. The STB-1 will not be getting a new special round of APCR with a velocity of 950m/s. It will remain as HEAT. We are currently trying to get this Verified by HQ so please remain patient while we get this confirmed. Since it's not confirmed I am leaving the question mark next to "HEAT" in my edited infographic.    More information to come tomorrow. 

KRZYBooP:     It was intended for SPG's and Other vehicles firing HE shells. More information on this can be found in the article HERE.    Open up the full list of changes to find the text listed above in the SPG changes. 

DomoSapien:   But that's not true- 25.4 hp/ton would give the STB-1 the second-best power-to-weight ratio among tier X mediums, second only to the batchat.    

DomoSapien:   No news on that front at this time, but a little birdie from Minsk told me there will be info about more vehicles coming out very soonTM

DomoSapien: I encourage you to read the stats in their entirety, and keep in mind that quite literally none of these stats are final. This is the first wave of rebalancing being announced for medium tanks, 
These are supertest stats, which change quite often, based directly off of player feedback. 

I can't tell you what game to play, but I do ask that you please try to be objective when forming your opinion. It's easy to latch onto the .001 nerf to dispersion, 16mm nerf to penetration, and 5km/h nerf to top speed, while ignoring the increased DPM (and the flexibility it will give you in dealing with lights/mediums that are rushing you and melting your health bar before you can reload), lower dispersion on the move, and better turret armor the vehicle will be receiving in this first iteration of testing.
Overall these changes seem to be aimed at making the STB-1 more comfortable to play in mid-range ridgeline support. Coupled with the hydropneumatic suspension, all of these changes should theoretically allow you to poke over a ridgeline, fire, and retreat more quickly, while exposing less of your turret.  

DomoSapien:   Well I'm not a developer so I apologize if I lack the knowledge to debate this to great lengths - I'm just drawing inferences based on the stats that I see here and the information I've been given.

Dispersion on movement is going down, which means you will have less overall bloom to deal with. Since you theoretically shouldn't be sniping from long range, the .01 additional dispersion won't really feel much worse than it already does. Aim time is being buffed, and DPM is being buffed, so you will have more flexibility, and a shell loaded more often. That'll help you deal with pesky flanking mediums and lights. 
If you're playing it right, and you have a good position, you'll arguably be able to keep poking up, firing, backing off, and repeating. Alpha is nice and generally better than DPM when you're firing at heavily armored targets, but a common weakness of the STB-1 is that it gets melted by smaller targets with higher DPM because its hull armor is virtually nonexistent.    As for the penetration going down on the standard round? Yeah, it's a bummer, and it quite possibly may get rolled back after the initial wave of testing, but personally I don't think that 16mm less penetration is going to make or break the tank. I'd happily trade 16mm of pen on the standard round if it means getting 40-50mm of extra turret armor.

Mobility isn't getting nerfed, either. You're losing a whopping 5km of top speed but gaining 200hp of engine power. Overall, it's going to feel zippier than it did before.

The totality of these stats seems to be directly focused on making the STB-1 better at popping up over ridgelines and harassing. While I do agree that the penetration and dispersion nerfs were possibly unnecessary, this is a step in the right direction and it's likely that further changes will be made to improve penetration and gun handling if it continues to plague the vehicle and hinder the rest of its performance.

DomoSapien:   The improvement is to make it more comfortable to play in its designated role: mid-range support. Buffing the turret armor + indirectly allowing you to expose less of your turret when poking ridgelines by utilizing the additional gun depression from hydropneumatic suspension should hopefully make it better at mid-range ridgeline play.    Arguably, .01 worse dispersion won't be as painful if you don't have to fire from draw distance at all times. The added gun depression will allow you to take positions you weren't able to before, and expose less of your turret while holding these positions and poking out to fire. 

Another caveat: I think a series of modest buffs, followed by additional buffs if necessary, is a much better course of action than going crazy with buffs and ending up with another 268v4 situation. It's easier to balance up than to balance down, and arguably way less stressful on players.

DomoSapien: Posted this in the official thread but here it is again just in case:

We improved and strengthened the frontal armor around the gun, so the STB-1 got rid of the vulnerable weak spot. We also improved the turret armor and fixed some similar weak spots, making it harder to penetrate.   It should be noted that these changes are not yet final, and more may happen after supertests. 

 Existing armor values:
New Armor Values:


I'm not entirely sure as to the motivation behind reducing penetration, I'm thinking it may be an effort to slightly reduce the dominance of tier X mediums in Random Battles? Agile heavies dominate the competitive meta, but redline sniping in mediums is still generally the go-to solution for farming damage in tier X. I'm just spitballing here, though.

I also think an effort is being made to fit the vehicle comfortably in a specific role, because currently it's a mediocre jack-of-all-trades that's a master of none. With the hydropneumatic suspension and extra turret armor, it should theoretically fit into a similar role as the m48 Patton - mid-range ridgeline support. 

Personally (this is just my opinion so feel free to take it with a grain of salt) the STB-1 would benefit from some kind of additional buff to characteristically set it apart from the new Swediums, because currently they seem to be better at mid-range support than the STB-1 regardless of buffs. On the other hand, gun depression is my favorite stat so if it's going to have amazing depression with the hydropneumatic suspension, you will theoretically be exposing much less of your turret overall when you're poking a ridge.  

DomoSapien:   I'm not entirely sure as to the motivation behind reducing penetration, I'm thinking it may be an effort to slightly reduce the dominance of tier X mediums in Random Battles? Agile heavies dominate the competitive meta, but redline sniping in mediums is still generally the go-to solution for farming damage in tier X. I'm just spitballing here, though.

I added images showing a comparison of the existing and proposed turret armor values for the STB-1 to Boop's original post. 

I also think an effort is being made to fit the vehicle comfortably in a specific role, because currently it's a mediocre jack-of-all-trades that's a master of none. With the hydropneumatic suspension and extra turret armor, it should theoretically fit into a similar role as the m48 Patton - mid-range ridgeline support. 

Personally (this is just my opinion so feel free to take it with a grain of salt) the STB-1 would benefit from some kind of additional buff to characteristically set it apart from the new Swediums, because currently they seem to be better at mid-range support than the STB-1 regardless of buffs. On the other hand, gun depression is my favorite stat so if it's going to have amazing depression with the hydropneumatic suspension, you will theoretically be exposing much less of your turret overall when you're poking a ridge.
 

Hambijon: The listed changes to the pen are at 500m. Also, this is just the supertest so nothing is final.

Jambijon: The listed changes to the pen are at 500m. Also, this is just the supertest so nothing is final.