Update 9.17.1: Renewed Strongholds

Gepard_PH: Hey guys, 7 versus 7 format in Tier VIII skirmishes has it's upsides and downsides. We have carefully analyzed available data and responses from thousands of players in surveys (which are both the best ways to actually measure how many players share certain opinion), before coming to conclusions.   We found out that 10v10 format in Tier VIII is a major roadblock for smaller clans to step up from Tier VI. Obviously, Tier VIII tanks are required as well, but one of the main reasons as indicated by clan players is the bigger team size. We hope that team size reduction in Tier VIII will make it easier for some clans that are stuck in Tier VI skirmishes to try out Tier VIII. It's not really debatable: assembling a team of 7 people is easier than for a team of 10.   Having the same team size for both Tier VI and VIII will also make it easier for clans to swap between Tiers if they wish to, without the need to find more players, or having some members removed from the team. Many players enjoy swapping tiers while playing Random battles and same team size for T6 and T8 definitely will help to make it possible also in Skirmishes.   One more point is tactical diversity. We know and agree that smaller teams equal less variety in terms of strategy, but on the other hand, this way Tier VIII skirmishes will be more accessible for clan without extremely skillful field commanders. They will still need to take a huge leap if they want to compete in Tier X - both in terms of skill, vehicles and team size required.   All in all, we want to make Tier VIII more accessible and popular for smaller clans - a viable alternative for Tier VI.