Wot Newsletter Volume #4

Welcome to the World of Tanks Newsletter! said: Our goal is to weekly update with news events, new information on current issues, and interesting articles!
If you think you have a story or article that would fit in well submit the article to MrVic via PM on the WoT boards.
We plan to add some reporters/writers so submit your entries and how you might like to contribute!


News Headlines said: Comic Contest! Link to News
Tankopedia!!! News Link Details
Maus Renders available! Link for Details
French Armor to Invade World of Tanks Link for Details


Main Discussions on the Forums said: Have thoughts or concerns? The following Threads are the main threads for discussing changes or feedback.
Match Making Thread Link to Main Topic
Post Patch SPG Thread Link to Main Topic
Spotting and Hiding Tanks Thread Link to Main Topic
v.0.6.2 preliminary discussion Link to Main Topic


Hot Topic of the Week said: Preliminary Discussion v.0.6.2 !
Link to Discussion Thread
Updated with more parts of the coming patch changes (more to come as its on going)
v. 0.6.1.5 - v.0.6.2.4 Note: Partial lists and Subject to change as internal testing continues.
Main:
- Added new maps: "Ruinberg" and "El Halluf".
- Added new battle mode: the "Tank Company Battle". A company of tanks with sum of tiers from 60 to 90 will get into a company waiting list where it will be randomly assign an opposing company.
- Added voice chat based on the Vivox technology. It works only for platoons in random battle, for companies in tank company battles and for training battle. The feature is still in testing hence is implemented with minimal settings.
- Added achievements: "Reaper", "Invincible", "Survivor", "Raider", "Master Gunner", "Kamikaze",
- Added medals: Kolobanov's medal, Billotte's medal, Fadin's medal, Wittmann's medal, Orlik's medal, Oskin's medal, Halonen's medal, Burda's medal.
- Added full dynamic shadows. The option is located in settings "Enhanced shadows". The shadows are in the testing mode so there is a possibility of artifacts.
- Added new interface for repair and resupply of consumables - "Service": added possibility to automatically replenish consumables and to repair the tank after coming out of the battle, possibility to quickly replenish consumables, ability to change the sequence of shells.
- Added controls settings in the game settings.
Gameplay:
- The doubled experience for the first battle (in a day) on each tank now is given not for the first battle, but for the first victory on the tank..
- Training battle does not count as the first battle anymore for the purposes of the doubled experience.
- The chance of hitting an inner module (except gun) increased from 33% to 50%.
- Removed possibility when any HE that explodes near a tank to damage internal modules, except crew members.
- The damage to inner modules from an HE that exploded on the tank armor is reduced by 50%, exception - crew members.
- Change experience transfer from a group of tanks. The experience from all tanks is collected so all tanks left with zero experience and then it is transferred. The remaining under 25 experience is placed on the last tank on the list.
- "Scout" is now awarded only if the team won.
- "Sniper" is now awarded if during the battle there was no friendly damage.
- The top tanks in the battle roster are now balanced not by the level but by the match-making "value", which considers type of the tank.
- The coefficient of heavy tanks for the match-making calculations is increased from 1.3 to 1.45.
- Reworked tank distribution tiers in battles.
- Fixed ability of lifting fallen trees with tank.
- Removed possibility of driving beyond the edge of the map during lag spikes.
- Fixed tank spawns considering type of the tank (SPG in Malinovka, etc.).
System:
- Fixed FPS drops during rendering of track prints.
- Fixed lags when destroying objects.
- Improved auto-configuration of graphic settings.
- Experimental feature. Limited speed of rendering in the loading screen, this should improve loading time for slow computers.
- Added some optimizations which suppose to end single sharp falls and dips in FPS.
Content:
- Multiple fixes of tanks' models and textures.
- Set a normal speed of track rotation on all tanks.
- Reworked and added destruction of some objects.
- Fixed some spots on the maps where tanks would get stuck or couldn't pass.
- Modified base flagpoles and flag animation.
- Added removal of rendering for some small objects at long distances.
- Reworked shot sounds of some guns.
Interface:
- Changed system notifications in the hangar.
- Fixed changing music volume level which worked only for battles.
- Multiple small interface changes.
- Added hints-tooltips on interface elements in hangar.
- Fixed purchasing a tank with a slot in hangar without warning.
- Fixed bug with filter "Location" in barracks switches by itself.
- Fixed invite notification, if the player is in the battle at that moment.
- Added display of User Agreement after the client launch.
- Added turning on/off of "after death" post-effect in settings.
- Removed ability to lower camera beneath the water level.
- Now after purchasing premium, hangar immediately updates to premium.
- Fixed UI bug when researching several vehicles and/or modules in a row using free experience
List of tank specs changes:
Germany:
Gun 75mm_KwK_40_L43: dispersion 0.41->0.4.
Gun 75mm_StuK_40_L43: dispersion 0.39->0.38.
Gun 75mm_KwK_40_L48: dispersion 0.4->0.39.
Gun 75mm_PaK_39_L48: dispersion 0.38->0.37.
Gun 75mm_PaK_40: dispersion 0.38->0.37.
Gun 128mm_PaK44_L61: reduced visibility after firing, +20 damage to all shells.
Gun 128mm_PaK44_L55: reduced visibility after firing.
PzII Luchs: reduced visibility during movement.
VK 1602: reduced visibility during movement.
PzIII: reduced visibility during movement, dispersion reduced by 5% during movement and traverse.
Pz III/IV: by 5% improved pass-ability on medium grounds, dispersion reduced by 8% during movement and traverse.
Pz V-IV: chassis rotation is matched with Panther's.
Tiger II: mantlet armor for top turret 65->100.
JagdTiger: 128mm_PaK44_L55 reload (in seconds) 10.4 ->10.36, 128mm_PaK44_2_L61 reload (in seconds) 10.6->10.5.
VK 4502: mantlet armor for stock turret 120->160, mantlet armor for top turret 120->180.
USA:
Gun 37mm_M-6_L53: price in credits 8350->2500.
Gun QF_6_pounder_Mk_III: penetration: AP 89->110, APCR 145->180, accuracy 0.4->0.38.
Gun 75mm_Gun_M3_L37: dispersion 0.38->0.4.
Gun 75mm_Gun_M2_L28: dispersion 0.39->0.41.
Gun 76mm_Gun_M1A1: reload (in seconds) 3.2->2.85, dispersion 0.37->0.38.
Gun 76mm_Gun_M1A2: dispersion 0.34->0.35.
Gun 90mm_Gun_T15E2M2: dispersion 0.33->0.32, reduced dispersion during turret traverse.
Gun 105mm_Howitzer_M2A: reduced aiming time by 15%.
Gun 105mm_Howitzer_M4: reduced aiming time by 15%, HEAT penetration 60->53.
Gun 120mm_Gun_T53: aiming 3.0->2.4, reduced dispersion during turret traverse.
Gun 155mm_Gun_T7: aiming 3.0->2.7, significantly reduced dispersion during turret traverse.
Engine Wright_G200_m_781C9GC1 level 8->7, price in credits 72380->47600, chance of fire 0.2->0.25.
T29, Т32, Т34, Т30: fixed error with discrepancy between displayed and actual hull armor. Actual armor decreased by 20%.
M6, T1: reduced experience cost Wright_G200_m_781C9GC1 19800->10900.
Т-57: pass-ability reduced by 10%, reduced traverse speed by 2 degree/sec, decreased accuracy during movement and turning by 3%.
Т2 lt: reduced repair cost by 30%, increased ammunition capacity of 20mm gun.
M7 Priest: 105mm_Howitzer_M - reloading time decreased 13.95->11.76 (in seconds).
RamII: reduced repair cost by 20%.
Т14: reduced repair price by 5%.
T29: increased visibility of the tank, by 5% increased influence of movement and traversing on accuracy, 105mm_Gun_T5E1 - reloading (in seconds) 9.5->10, by 10% reduced speed of traverse for top turret, fixed display of frontal armor for both turrets, changed guns ammunition.
Т32: by 5% reduced pass-ability on medium grounds, by 8% decreased accuracy during movement and traverse, by 6 deg/sec reduced traverse speed of first tracks, by 2 deg/secк - of second, 105mm_Gun_T5E1 reload (in seconds) 9.38->9.4, changed guns ammunition.
Т34: changed guns ammunition.
Т30: changed guns ammunition.
USSR:
Engine V-2-54: increased horsepower by 20 h.p.
Gun QF_6_pounder_Mk_III: AP penetration 89->110, APCR penetration 145->180.
Gun 76mm_S-54: dispersion 0.4->0.36.
Gun 76mm_S-54_S: dispersion 0.37->0.34.
А-20: decreased visibility during motion and rest, improved pass-ability of top tracks on medium and hard grounds.
А-32: decreased visibility during motion and rest.
BT-2: decreased visibility during motion, by 6% reduced influence of movement and traverse on accuracy.
BT-7: reduced visibility during motion and rest, improved pass-ability on medium grounds, by 4% decreased dispersion during movement and traverse, view range for top turret increased by 15 meters.
Т-26: reduced visibility in motion.
Т-34-85: by 20% improved pass-ability on medium and good grounds.
Т-43: by 9% decreased influence of movement and traverse on accuracy.
Т-44: by 5% decreased influence of movement and traverse on accuracy, by 25% increased durability of tracks.
IS-4: armor: hull-upper plate 120->140, driver's lug 120->160, rear-upper plate 120->100.
Topic for discussion
Projected timeline - to be announced.
Attention! the list of changes is not full.
v.0.6.2.4 - v.0.6.2.5
- Added voice chat in the training battles, company battles, and in standard battles for platoons. In order to activate the voice chat it needs to be turned on in the settings. To use voice chat in game you have to press and hold button "Q' while speaking.
- Reduce the chance of critical damage for internal modules from 50% to 45%. Chance of critical damage for ammo rack reduced from 30% to 27%.
- Multiple fixes for maps "Ruinberg" and "El Halluf": floating objects, awkwardly placed objects, stuck points.
- Fixed falling bushes on the map Ruinberg.
- Fixed trees on the map Karelia.
- Reduced "hang ups" in hangar.
- Fixed the way scroll bar works for replenishing ammo.
- Fixed settings set up when selecting "high" settings.
- Added button in the controls settings for fixating tank hull.
- Fixed the way buttons-arrows work for tank movement.
- Removed "weird" nicknames in channels.
- Returned displaying of the menu when pressing "Esc" after exiting the battle.
- Increased display time for system notifications
- Fixed filter "crew member is in such-n-such tank" in barracks.
- Howitzer sights: now when shooting beyond the maximum distance, the trajectory is lit up with white color.
- Fixed some typos in interfaces.
- Fixed a star on ISU-152.
Topic for discussion
Projected timeline - December.
Attention! the list of changes is not full.
v.0.6.2.5 - v.0.6.2.6
- Fixed "black screen" in howitzer mode for some players with AMD processors.
- Re-rendered static shadows on all maps using new algorithm which provides better quality.
- Fixed a controls setting, which demanded reassignment of all keys.
- Command "autoaim" is unbound from the command "free camera".
- Fixed error: "If to reassign a key to another key which already was bounded for another function, and if to skip the warning window exit from the controls assignment window, the setting will save as incorrect information".
- Fixed appearance of a "red rectangle" in the controls settings window.
- Fixed incorrect assignment of the "Kolobanov's" medal.
- Expanded descriptions of medals and achievements.
- Fixed unwarranted disappearing of sections of statistics without a possibility to open it up in the statistics window.
- Fixed display of zeros in the nonzero statistics.
- Fixed "hanged up" display of a speaker icon next to a "dead" player.
- Added automatic removal of incompatible consumables. E.g.: removal of gasoline when changing from gasoline to diesel engines.
- Fixed incorrect display of tank's tier in the tank purchase window.
- Fixed update of the experience value in the hangar while spending the experience.
- Fixed non-obvious work of a progress-bar for replenishment of shells in service window.
- Fixed disable "after death" post-effect option in settings.
- BT-7 tank removed from the exceptions during match-making.
Topic for discussion
Projected timeline - December.
Attention! the list of changes is not full.


Fake Tip of the Week said: Tip: If 15 players fire 2 HE shells each into the sky on the eastern horizon a fireworks show will begin and last for 2mins


Post of the Week: (Post by Whackjob) said: Day 4,5 and 6: Weekend Edition
Gonna slap up a post here for what went down over the weekend. I could have just made one post a day, but, I didn't. So here we go.
1.) The alt-itis went into overdrive as I drunkenly lurched from SPG to light tank to tank killer, back and forth, buying and selling vehicles as I did so. I'm still not quite sure why. I ended up hemorrhaging enough cash to where I finally wound up with what I've got now. A tier 2 vehicle.
2.) For the light tanks, it's a lot of fun playing speedy-thing with the 3-shot popgun. People don't give that gun a enough credit, I think. With a skilled loader and aimer, you can put down respectable, consistent damage, and as a bonus aside, it knocks around the enemy tank while you do it, making good aiming against you that much harder. I actually survived a very close range 1 on 1, head on fight with a medium tank because he wasn't able to actually hit me.
3.) Bison, bison, bison! I love this little thing. You can't really call it a tank, or even an SPG. It's a caricature of a tank. It's got low speed, no maneuverability, and like most SPGs, there's no turret, either. That mutant kid from school you remember, the one where he's got one giant strong arm, and the rest of him is withered away? That's the living embodiment of Bison. You have the survivability of an oil-soaked panda impacting a match factory after being dropped from orbit, but you get some perks to help amend the negatives. For starters, you don't get some little sub-50mm gun. No, you start out with a shiny 150mm cannon. And the second ammo type (more expensive) has much, much higher damage and penetration. How many tier 2 SPGs do you know of that can take a tier 3 med tank from 100% to 41% with one broadside hit? Not a hell of a lot.
4.) Bisons get to play with the big boys. The first time I ever fought heavy tanks was in a bison. (I get the impression that bisons are tier 2, but count as tier 3 for matching purposes) Being able to shoot a heavy in the face and still score some damage was a nice surprise. Considering the fatness of the targets, you can make some pretty easy scratch with a bison.
5.) Hrm. Now that I think about it, I don't believe I've ever owned a medium or heavy tank. Let's assume I go with a medium. Which nations' med tanks have the most powerful guns? Penetration being the most important factor. (I can look into this one tonight if nobody can tell me now)
6.) I've scrapped doing the speedy-thing light tank bit for a while now. Had a set of 10 matches just last night, where in each match, the first shot I took a tread off. Being hobbled so easily is annoying. And with light tanks, speed is the only defense you got.
7.) Angsty kids. A match started up, the one with the island in the middle? We start on the north side, so I turn left and start driving down the road to support our defense. Apparently some knucklehead by the name of "roaming" decided he had a god given right to drive forward, regardless of whether or not he was going to hit anyone. So he rams my left rear side of the tank as I'm driving by. Eh, some matches, there's a tiny bit of bumper cars going on as people try to get out of the pack and to where they're heading, so I didn't think much of it. I get about another thirty feet down the road before I get shot in the rear. The heck? This "roaming" guy is following me. Did he just shoot me or something? A moment later and I get shot and killed. The last I'd heard, teamkilling was a bannable offense. I took a couple of screenshots and sent them in. Let the staff deal with him, if they decide to. *shrug*
8.) Tank killers. When I first started playing, this is the type I used most. Not so much anymore; I note that they don't, as I had believed earlier, have longer "sniping" capability. I found that out when I was able to hit at range with my light tank and its three-shot pea shooter. I think tonight I'll switch over to a medium tank. That'll give me better mobility than a tank killer, more survivability than both tank killer and SPG, and I should still be able to hit at range, and have a heavier, more damaging gun besides.
9.) Teamwork. I don't see much of it going on. Whenever a match starts, unless I'm half dead from lack of sleep, I'll tell my team where I'm going or what I'm doing. For example, while I'm tooling about in my Bison, "Going NE to provide arty support for the guys taking the flag."
10.) Tactics. "ZOMG EVRBDY RUSH". There's been a handful of matches where some significant portion of the team cheers "RUUSSSH!". In every single instance I've played, where our whole team rushes the enemy flag, I see one of two things happening. We either A.) Get flayed alive by tank killers and artillery, or B.) have a respectable stand up fight while one light tank sits in our flag area and caps an easy win. I've taken to telling people on my team, "Rush only works on idiots and other rushers." Not that I expect they'll care or listen to me, because who the hell am I? Some random idiot in teh interwarbs full of idiots. So when I see the team chat floor with rush calls, what I'll do is be the one guy defending the flag. No, it normally doesn't pan out well, but damned if I'll hand the enemy an easy win. Sure, take the flag, but I'll go down kicking, screaming, and sonofa[redacted]ing.
11.) Lol wtf? Played that one tiny urban map with the park in the middle with the church and the hill on the east side, with the tracks on the west side. There was an enemy bison sitting in the middle of the street, facing downrange towards us, thinking he was a tank killer or something. Well, he racked up 4 kills and successfully kept us from coming down this street. I think the reason people kept charging him is simply because he was a bison. I'll have to remember this... using vehicles like this in unconventional ways and getting interesting results.
12.) Not really game related, but I noticed that eating decent food for once does amazing things for your mood. You few ladies out there: The most effective mood-altering tool in your arsenal against men is food. Aside from bedroom gymnastics, of course. Leave the chalk bag in the dresser. (seriously, that's creepy, ok?)
That's about it for the moment. Odds are I will alter and append more to this list as I think of it throughout the day.


A Look to the Future said: Some of the frequent questions and things to come. (Following List are changes in testing and Subject to Change)
Keep in mind these are changes for testing purposes
- 9 new vehicles, including 3 tier 9 mediums, 5 SPGs and Object 704 will be added in January.
- Then come US TDs along with some German and Soviet tanks from full tech trees (KV-13).
- Finally, French tanks (end of Q1 2011)
-Server Split Up Procedure (Details for the Server Split) Link to Notification
Archive Removed it seems to be confusing folks


Pictures of the Week said: Note: Many of these images are from projects in progress. They should be considered Alpha images and not final
US Tier 6 SPG M12

US Tier 7 SPG M40/M43

Preliminary French Tech Tree



Weekly Web Comics said: The Loltraktor Chronicles by: Wallachia (1st Armored Division) Link to the Authors site.


By LordLothair (TankBusters)




Tank Skin of the Week said: Cropped Tank only photos of the finished skin are preferred for those hoping to see yours chosen for Tank Skin of the Week!


Community Driven Events said: Historical Battles, Organizer ZorinWarfield. Link to current battle being setup. Historic Battle - Event No.8 - Battle Of Schitomir Link


Help Wanted said: Currently were seeking members to right articles or submit entries for the "World of Tanks Newsletter" If you would like to submit an entry or article please send it Via PM to MrVic
Also seeking a Writer for articles based around the idea of "Tourist Guide to WoT Maps" Basically written as a silly badly done tourist guide
Applying to help with the news letter will be done through submissions of articles ect. Benefits for Writers/Reporters may be involved in the future.