MrFingers

Next batch: Q: In the 2016-video, it was said that 2016 will be a good year for carriers, what does it mean? A: They can’t give any details, it’s still under development, but they are trying some things (US: issues with torpedo bombers and weak divebombers, so the latter got upgraded a bit with heavier bombs). Carriers are a very specific class, and hard to make comfortable to play but not too comfortable. They might introduce the Saipan, and it might come with “interesting choices” (as per testing), and can be used as a testbed to modify gameplay of carriers [does that mean like they did with the Kutuzov and new AA-model?]. But “the good year” will come later on. Q: Will you publish roadmap for development for the next 6 months? A: Take a look at the 2016 video, that’s the roadmap. Disclosure of predictions will never be done, information always come as soon as possible, they’re planing a DevDiary for every (major?) update, so the info comes earlier than we’re used to now. There is an easter-egg in the preview of soviet-cruisers, you’ll see something [it’s about that TIGER-turret]. Q: Why are there so few contest in the EU compared to other servers? A: It's a tricky question, they try to fit in as much contests as they can. HMS Campbeltown will come as a contest-reward. It also comes because the EU is split over 7 language teams, and the contests are split over the 7 languages, so you have to look for yourself. There is stuff coming up, but more on that when it’s there. Q: Why is there no Greek Subforum?A: They don’t officially support Greek (as in: they don’t have Greek(-speaking) staff nor moderators), so they can’t check what is posted on there, so they’re sticking to the languages they officially support. If you're looking for a Greek subforum, you can always stick together and make an external forum, but not on WG’s watch on the main forums. Q: Will you refine the reporting system ingame? Karma is not affected by “plays poorly”, will it be fixed?A: It’s a first iteration of report/karma system, it’s a work in progress. Karma might become more visible and transparent (on how you got it, and why), but it will be improved (both reporting and karma). Q: Current matchmaking, with double CV’s on both teams, will it be toned down to 1 vs 1 CV?A: It should not bring any unfairness, since it’s mirrored, except when one player is either very bad or very good, but the matchmaker can’t deal/fix with that. 2CV’s per team also buffer discrepancies out, with a bad player being not as punishing for the team because there is someone else that can carry his weight as well. With 1vs1 if you have a bad player, the effect is way harder. Q: Will you make light cruisers more attractive after the nerf of AFT, BFT & Expert Marksmen? A: It's again a question about individual ship balance, so they’re looking at the stats to see which ships really suffer of those nerfs. Nothing is currenlty planned though. The Mogami is already been buffed with increased range. They’re keeping eye on the statistics of all ships, and if a ship needs adjustment, they will intervene. Q: When shooting over an island/hill, with the target selected, sometimes shells go over the mountain, and some will go in the mountain. Will that be fixed?A: It falls under the UI improvements, it’s hard as a player to decide if you can or cannot shoot over a mountain. It will be worked on to make it easier, they acknowledge it’s annoying. Locking on an enemy ship with "X" helps, but not in all situations. Q: What about the inclusion of the Imperial German navy Flag/War Ensign? A: They were reluctant at first (it is sensitive in Germany because it’s used by "politically not so sound groups" and it can lay sensitive. The same applies to the Rising Sun. They're not outlawed as such ), but they’re keeping an eye on it. They are hearing the feedback on it a lot (especially from the German players, and they admit it would be amazing and nice in terms for historical accuracy and immersion), for now no inclusion is planned. But “never say never”. If you want it now, you can/have to resort to modding the game/flagfile. Q: What about a Dutch navy?A: Can’t say anything about it. For sure, it will not come this year, but maybe in the future. They will constantly add stuff in the game. The "Zeven Provinciën" is a good candidate for plenty of tiers, because it had plenty of (planned) iterations by the Dutch as well as the Germans, so it can fit in plenty tiers depending on which armament will be used. It’s possible to see the same ship in multiple tiers. Also: there will be new sinking animations and new tracer modelling coming very soon in the game. "If you're not using the "chase shell"-camera now, you will do it then".

First batch of questions: Q: Is there any chance that we will get a minimap with last seen ship positions and ship names in the future? A: there is a chance it will be implemented, they’re keeping tracks of popular mods that are used in WOWS, and what is popular in other games as well (WOT). So there is a chance, but it's not the highest priority at this moment. But they are planning to improve the UI to provide info for experienced players. Q: Are there any plans for top-tier only (IX & X) game modes? A: They're not sure if TopTier is that desirable at this moment, but there are definitely plans for it. They're currently working on late-game content. The next step will be Clan Wars, that will go up to tier X, but it won’t be exclusive to higher tiers only. But it is scheduled to come and is currently under development, but no ETA is given, it depends on testing, but it will come soon™. Q: Difference between clan- & teambattles A: Team battles = competitive and small teams, similar to strongholds in WoT, and can (internally) be considered a testbed for e-sports. It's with smaller teams and lower tiers.Clan battles = full-sized teams, like in WoT, with a focus on high-tier composition (3/4 ships will probably be Tier X). Q: Will the "celebrity team battle" event be repeat? A: There is a good chance for that it will come again, potentially next weekend (first weekend of April). It was great fun, and had some good feedback. But it has to be seen that it will not coincide with current planned specials & contests. Q: Will new ranked season have any format changes?A: It cannot be disclosed at this moment, the information about previous seasons is still being processed and number-crunched. It has not been decided yet, but there will come a new season in the forseeable future. It’s not extremely popular, but there are still enough players that wish to play more competitive than random battles. Q: Regarding ranked battles, will you please consider (yes, no decision, just to throw it in when people are discussing it) to make it possible to reach rank 1 without having to play T7-8? And will you may be put in a "baby" ranked season for up to T4?A: it’s being considered, and is part of the numbercrunching of the previous question. They’re not holding on the idea of the current tier restrictions, but it will be considered. Q: Will there be seasons for teambattles like for ranked and will there be any prizes for the current teambattles? A: They're considering it, but they're still gathering data. Team battles as they are now will end at some time, a new season will follow soon after that. Current TB will not have any rewards, but for next TB, there will probably some flags & camo’s. Similar to ranked. Q: What about achievements & flags in team-battles? A: it might come, but it’s still the first season, so they’re careful to prevent exploits. But it is considered. Q: what we think about russian cruisers and TB?A: the Chapayev is like the Kutuzov, and the radar is good for contesting cap-zones. But it won’t affect the current gameplay too much (as tested by supertesters). The radar is very situational. Q: Will numbering of minimap in more conventional way? A: it will be passed along, it might be part of the improvement of the UI. Q: How is the introduction of weather effects into WOWS coming along and will they ever have an effect on gameplay like influencing speed, course or aim?A: it was hinted in the "2016-video", it’s coming very soon, it’s basically right behind the corner. He’s seen the prototypes of the supertest, and the rain looked interesting and it will be a very popular addition to the maps. No ETA given since it’s a development matter. But solid news and updates will come in the coming weeks. Q: And weather-effects? A: It's still in development, main parts will be just video/graphical effects, with thunderstorms in the distance and stuff like that. In-game gameplay-affecting effects is still a matter of testing, so no info is available. It will be when it is announced properly. In the distant future, it will have full-weather effects (high waves and gales). Q: What about other nations?A: It's still too far away to say anything about it for what is not coming this year. Maybe this year an Australian branch will come. Albeit it had a small navy, they had cool ships sailing in it. [answer cuts short here, could it be about the HMAS Vampire?] Q: Any news about the introduction of a PvE campaign which involves the recreation of historic battles, escort missions, etc.?A: It's a complex topic, but they are looking in to (ab)use bots to make it work. They are working on these modes, and new info and maybe a preview will come within next months (after the weather-info). They're now focussing on more important stuff and the PvP-experience. PvE historical has plenty of potential, because it eliminates the reluctance to play the weak team (it can be done by the bots). That reluctance to be drawn in the weakened team is what killed historical in WoT. Q: Will WG limit DDs per team? Any other plans to tweak the MM further with mirrored MM? A: That is not planned, but stats (hard & soft) of DD’s will/can be adjusted, especially in high tiers, because there are not enough CV’s to flush them out at this moment, giving DD's a free reign. A fix will come very soon (with the Soviet cruisers having radar now, and the USA cruisers of Tier VIII and higher will have radar as well, to toughen the life of the DD’s). BB’s are negligent of enemy cruisers and don’t protect friendly cruisers, so it’s expected they’ll get jumped on by DD’s when the cruisers are killed. Radar will come to US cruisers because they don’t have torpedos. They don’t have it now in this update, because they ran out of development time. Q: And when are the Gearing and Montana going to get some love to make them competitive again? How about some loving tender care for the Yubari?A: It all depends on what the statistics show, also because the impression someone has and the statistics on that ship can be totally different. They want to prevent to overbuff a ship. Montana-Yamato balance is like a seesaw, and the balance shifts with every update. The Yubari got hurt by the AFT, and they are looking in it, but nothing is set for it yet, but they hope it will get some love. Q: Will you implement a system, which only allows a +1 or -1 tier spread in divsions?A: For now it is not planned to do it, but they’re keeping an eye on the matchmaker. If they see needs to change it, they’ll do it. Ships are more competitive over tiers compared to tanks (a Tier IV BB can be competitive against a tier VI DD). Troll-division are seen, with info from wot, quite often as one player showing the game to another (low-tier- player, and it's rare. Nothing mentioned about fixing it. Next batch: Q: In the upcoming for 2016 it was said it would be a good year for carriers. Without giving away specifics, will this be a new line, new consumables, new options, or a game play overhaul? A: They can’t give any details, it’s still under development, but they are trying some things (US: issues with torpedo bombers and weak divebombers, so the latter got upgraded a bit with heavier bombs). Carriers are a very specific class, and hard to make comfortable to play but not too comfortable. They might introduce the Saipan, and it might come with “interesting choices” (as per testing), and can be used as a testbed to modify gameplay of carriers [does that mean like they did with the Kutuzov and new AA-model?]. But “the good year” will come later on. Q: Would it be possible for Wargaming to publish a high level Roadmap in which the future developments are mentioned say in a half year period? (1st Half 2016, 2nd Half 2017, 1st Half 2017, 2nd Half 2017). This roadmap could be adjusted if needed but could provide a "beacon" as what is to be expected in terms of tech tree and major game functionality updates. A: Take a look at the 2016 video, that’s the roadmap. Disclosure of predictions will never be done, information always come as soon as possible, they’re planing a DevDiary for every (major?) update, so the info comes earlier than we’re used to now. There is an easter-egg in the preview of soviet-cruisers, you’ll see something [it’s about that TIGER-turret]. Q: Whats up with the low amount of WG EU held contests lately? The only one we've had in the last 2 months was Bounty Hunter: OMNI Flavus, and Juggernauts contest was cancelled and never replaced. Also, we can only win low tier ships in regular contests (highest being toer 4 Imperator) -the only exception to this was a very special and awesome end of year contest. A: It's a tricky question, they try to fit in as much contests as they can. HMS Campbeltown will come as a contest-reward. It also comes because the EU is split over 7 language teams, and the contests are split over the 7 languages, so you have to look for yourself. There is stuff coming up, but more on that when it’s there. Q: We are quite many Greeks that play this game, why dont you put i greek forum in the official forum log ? Turkish forum excist we want our own also.A: They don’t officially support Greek (as in: they don’t have Greek(-speaking) staff nor moderators), so they can’t check what is posted on there, so they’re sticking to the languages they officially support. If you're looking for a Greek subforum, you can always stick together and make an external forum, but not on WG’s watch on the main forums. Q: Will you refine the reporting system ingame? Karma is not affected by “plays poorly”, will it be fixed?A: It’s a first iteration of report/karma system, it’s a work in progress. Karma might become more visible and transparent (on how you got it, and why), but it will be improved (both reporting and karma). Q: Current matchmaking, with double CV’s on both teams, will it be toned down to 1 vs 1 CV?A: It should not bring any unfairness, since it’s mirrored, except when one player is either very bad or very good, but the matchmaker can’t deal/fix with that. 2CV’s per team also buffer discrepancies out, with a bad player being not as punishing for the team because there is someone else that can carry his weight as well. With 1vs1 if you have a bad player, the effect is way harder. Q: Any plans to make light cruisers more attractive again after you took away the BFT / EM / AFT advantage? A: It's again a question about individual ship balance, so they’re looking at the stats to see which ships really suffer of those nerfs. Nothing is currenlty planned though. The Mogami is already been buffed with increased range. They’re keeping eye on the statistics of all ships, and if a ship needs adjustment, they will intervene. Q: When shooting over an island/hill, with the target selected, sometimes shells go over the mountain, and some will go in the mountain. Will that be fixed?A: It falls under the UI improvements, it’s hard as a player to decide if you can or cannot shoot over a mountain. It will be worked on to make it easier, they acknowledge it’s annoying. Locking on an enemy ship with "X" helps, but not in all situations. Q: Why are you fighting so hard against the Imperial German navy flag? A: They were reluctant at first (it is sensitive in Germany because it’s used by "politically not so sound groups" and it can lay sensitive. The same applies to the Rising Sun. They're not outlawed as such), but they’re keeping an eye on it. They are hearing the feedback on it a lot (especially from the German players, and they admit it would be amazing and nice in terms for historical accuracy and immersion), for now no inclusion is planned. But “never say never”. If you want it now, you can/have to resort to modding the game/flagfile. Q: What about a Dutch navy?A: Can’t say anything about it. For sure, it will not come this year, but maybe in the future. They will constantly add stuff in the game. The "Zeven Provinciën" is a good candidate for plenty of tiers, because it had plenty of (planned) iterations by the Dutch as well as the Germans, so it can fit in plenty tiers depending on which armament will be used. It’s possible to see the same ship in multiple tiers. Also: there will be new sinking animations and new tracer modelling coming very soon in the game. "If you're not using the "chase shell"-camera now, you will do it then".

When will the Q&A session happen? I'm willing to transcribe, but I probably can't sit out the entire stream.

I forgot the wink it seems, so a bit delayed: ;) No seriously, I'm behind the PC at 14hrs, so I can give it a shot at transcribing the Q&A (depends how fast the questions will follow, but from previous Q&A's, there is some Q&A time, and some game time)

If you can hook me up with a Cambeltown, I'm in.

No you can't. Offers and prizes are region- & server specific (which means: you can't buy on the RU shop for your EU account, and vice versa)

They did lose the war though... -WG/Lesta

I miss "the hand of Stalin, guiding the shells from beyond the gates of Hell"... 5/10

The HMAS Vampire in the facebook-movie is a Daring-Class Destroyer. The one in the picture is the preceding HMAS Vampire of the V-class, which was sunk in 1942.

There were BB's in the Soviet/Russian Navy, but many of them were taken from other countries (either on loan, or as war reparation). Arkhangelsk (Royal Sovereign), Novorossiysk (ex-Guilio Cesare) They had numerous pre-dreadnoughts, and also the Gangut-class and Imperatritsa Mariya-class dreadnoughts.

If those were offered here in the EU at those prices, and those non-bundles, they would sell big time (unlike last time, where they sold so badly (Tirpitz & Warspite that is) that WG refuses to sell them again in the near future... Maybe it's because of the BUNDLE?!?)

Tier X? Everybody sees that that is Tier V material. Tier VI tops!

http://m.imgur.com/a/NdL4Z the tier V premium ship: the Profitern (the upgraded Svetlana). That's right: 17,5km range, and that's before AFT (from which it can fully benefit, having 130mm guns). "Because WG wanted to stop long range HE cruiser spam". "Cruisers should not be able to out range BB's",... And given how low the dispersion is on the regular Russian Cruisers, this will probably be another "above average" Premium ship. Oh WG, you so silly!

Nice, good to see the NA-contest idea's are coming to the EU as well. Will it also be coming for other classes & tiers as well?

Can't the same be said of the SN flag, who's depiction (with the Hammer & Sickle and the Red Star in all its unmodified glory) also is in violation of laws in some countries?

The outcome of the poll is fairly obvious... Just a shame that no-one from WG bothered to look at this topic, or give any input.

This comes from the NA-forums, where they have devs on the forums...

WG is just the publisher, the game is from Lesta (in St.Petersburg, Russia).

Already 126 votes. That's nice, but not nearly enough!

Saw this on the NA... had a chuckle

We will if Wargaming (finally) does.

As in: that flag will be for all German ships? Not an option IMHO, would not add anything of historical value compared to how the situation currently is.

I lost it here

the same indeed applies for the Japanese "Rising Sun", but I left that out because it's a uniform flag for all ships, thus it can be easily modded (contrary to those with different flags for different era's, like the Russian and German trees)

If you're broadside on: yes! Their guns are very potent, if used correctly.