Miragetank90

First Nebraska game for me, I like the ship. I think I spent half the game sitting bow-in by the island in mid cap just taking shots and throwing up planes xD

It is nowadays, yeah. But it didn't used to be. In the past, it often gave me a massive headache, and it could be extremely frustrating to play online, download stuff, or even just watch a video on YouTube. Thankfully, we got connected through Somalia via undersea cable some time back, which helped a lot. Then for gaming, I solved the remaining issues by trial and error with VPNs, programs like ExitLag, and getting my own wired connection which is separate from the rest of my household. Now, in WoWs, at all times of day it's usually a stable ping of around 105ms, with acceptable packet loss. A massive victory, for real. And it was a long time coming. Internet here is expensive though, especially considering salaries and cost of living. To give an idea, for 1000 Rupees a month (about 56 Pounds), I get 12Mbps and unlimited data.

It used to play on local TV when I was younger, and it was the best. We all loved that show! Thank you, Yabba! I appreciate it. Rather, I think they moved Felicite here: And the lower one beneath east cap seems to be the WoWs placement of Marianne. Yeah, that's what I'm saying in the post. Here it's sunset in the east, but its wrong because that is where the sun should be rising - east. I concluded they made a sunset based on its colour. But a funny thing just occurred to me; it could be my monitor tricking my eyes. Looking at it on here, the colour is very vivid and deep, but looking at it on my phone, it does look more like a sunrise. So, the joke might be on me then. Maybe the one putting sunsets in the wrong place is me! LOL @YabbaCoe

Greetings noobs, how's things? It's been a while... Don't play WoWs as much nowadays, just on and off and only randoms. Enjoying the retired life. But I kind of missed you all this is a special update. A new map has entered the game - Seychelles. I've been waiting eagerly for this particular one since it was announced nearly a year ago. So here I am. I had big hopes for this map. Of course, it should be fun to play, but no less important for me is that it should be authentic. Not just because we're taken to an actual location on Earth, but that location happens to be my home. Patch day hit, and I was excited. I logged in and jumped straight into training room to see the finished product. After that, I felt like I had some things to share about it. There's a fair bit to get through and a lot of pictures, but read on if you're interested in some thoughts, easter eggs, rare photos, a bit of trivia, and the perspective of a Seychellois. First off, how accurate is it looking at the real map of the place? Well, a lot of things are not where they should be. Elevation, orientation and shape of the landmasses are not quite the same as real-life either. But that's OK. I believe that gameplay must come first and for that sake, the map doesn't need to be a carbon-copy. I knew from the outset that they would need to tweak it, I just hoped that I would still be able to recognise the end product. So how did they do? In short and all things considered: I'm satisfied, and I would say WarGaming did a commendable job. The forms of the relevant islands alongside the WoWs map, for comparison. Despite the changes made, it remains familiar enough for me to know what I'm looking at. Moving on from the general design to the details, while exploring I picked up on some interesting things. The sunset, for example. I simply adore the sunset. The look and the colour are truly perfect. To be honest, if I were away, looking at it would make me feel emotional and nostalgic for home. There is one, small thing that I should point out however... It's on the wrong side! xD I've never seen a sunset like this, and I'm not talking about how beautiful it looks. The land on the horizon represents Fregate island. In reality, that direction is about where the sun would be rising since over there is east, not west. Whoops! I had a laugh at this one. Next, The Clocktower. Where is that? Right here in Grand Anse Praslin. This is definitely something I did not expect to see. Why is that? Because Grand Anse has no clocktower, and never has. This exists but on Mahe island and it's in the capital - Victoria. Lorloz(Seychellois Creole, from the French l'horloge) AKA The Clocktower. The second picture is it in the early 1900s. This is more than just a clock. It's a monument, an icon, and an invaluable piece of our history. In 1901, Queen Victoria passed away, and in 1903 it was erected in the heart of town in her honour. The design of the clocktower is meant to resemble that of Big Ben in London. Such an awesome easter egg and that it was included really surprised me. I was very happy to see it, even on Praslin. On the subject of monuments, I found another really cool one the other side. This one is also based on one that actually exists, though it's much bigger here. Like the Clocktower, it's on Mahe in Port Victoria. The anchor at the quay, displaying the latitude and longitude of Victoria. I'm not sure of any particular history behind the anchor, but I plan on finding out if possible. So, what else is going on here? Well of course, I had to inspect and appraise the finer elements - beaches, foliage, rocks, architecture. ''Richard, there's a Battleship by the beach!'' ''Hyacinth... it's a Destroyer.'' My impressions of the natural world here are good and to me it's quite authentic. The sea and beach are the right colour. Reefs and seaweed are present. Foliage looks good, nice and thick, bushy (that's what she said). The inclusion of the drier looking, sparser areas on the mountains of Praslin is a plus for accuracy as well, since it actually looks like that with the reddish soil. Historically these places have been affected by forest fires in dry season. Rocks get good marks too, which is important since most all the rock here is granite and they needed to look a certain way, not just in colour but shape, texture and formation as well. To properly represent Seychelles, it was vital that they got nature right and they did well. Thumbs up. Do you like massive coconuts? Of course you do. Everyone does. Moving on to architecture: this is where it gets a bit meh. The smaller houses on stilts in the sand are OK (My mother and grandparents lived in one vaguely similar to these) but it falls flat mostly when looking at buildings in the larger settlements. They just aren't in the colonial, traditional style they should be. Looking at them makes me think of Portugese or Spanish South America? Or maybe the Azores? I'm by no means an expert, so I won't get into too much detail - but they're not quite right. I've put some examples in spoilers for comparison - maybe you can see what I mean better than I could explain it. Another item of interest - the roller coaster. Attractions at Grand Anse Praslin. Any gamers here that loved to play Roller Coaster Tycoon? The roller coaster is quite hard to miss. Like the Ferris wheels, and other beach construction, it is an artistic liberty taken by WarGaming, and we have never had such things here. I have to be honest, if this were a thing IRL I would be pretty upset. Don't get me wrong, roller coasters are cool, but to do this ON the beach is just... hmmmmmmm. Again, this is just the perspective of a Seychellois. I've been all over these places in reality, including this beach... to me a development like this would be heart-breaking. I find that it, together with the pier attractions and such makes the place kind of Brighton like, which is not in character for Seychelles. Same goes for the settlement on the other side. In terms of authenticity, this and the architecture are a bit disappointing. Here again on the other side, evoking a ''beachside town'' feel, just not the right kind of beachside town. I'm also puzzled as to why WG decided to put these concrete slabs with steps, which borders all along the beach here. Ending on a positive, something that I had really hoped to see is Mahe: My home island. And there she is: Freaking awesome. Topographically it's wrong, but it's no big deal. It's where it should be and I'm just so glad it was included. I want to thank @YabbaDuckoe for forwarding the picture I took last year to the guys (do you remember? :P) And here is the really cool part - if you had binoculars, IRL you would be able to see my house from here. I would certainly be able to see you: The battle area as seen from my house! On the horizon and from the far right is La Digue, moving left to the largest, darkest shape we have Praslin. The other islands are dotted around them. The farthest, solitary island towards the centre of the photo is Aride. These are the ones featured in the playable area! Moving closer and still centreline, we can make out what is basically a rock in the sea, called Mamelles. Closer to the fore, the big island to the right looking like a volcano is called Sainte Anne. It was the location of the first settlement in the Seychelles. The urban area and naval facilities you see constitute the capital, Port Victoria. See all that built up flat land? Almost all of it is reclaimed land, including the flat islands, the latter reclaimed when I was a boy - between two and three decades back. So, after all that, what's the verdict? All I can say is that I'm really happy. While there are some issues, the place looks as good as I hoped it would. That I can play in a location inspired by my homeland, a place that is so intimately familiar... it's thrilling and special. For me, it's an amazing gift in a game which I've enjoyed immensely over the years. Thank you, WarGaming. You guys did a great job. And if you got this far... thank you for reading! What are your thoughts on the new map? What about its gameplay? I did not touch on gameplay of the map at all, because try as I might (and believe me, I tried) in some cruel twist of fate the Seychellois could not get Seychelles to play in at all. P.S. I didn't cover RMS Aquitania here, but yes she's in the map and yes, she looks stunning! A nice addition. In closing, I want to share some extras, including these rare photos of the Emden on her visit to Seychelles in 1934. They were taken by one of her sailors. Reichsmarine Light Cruiser Emden in Port Victoria, 1934. Mahe is in the background. A view of Emden from Mahe, at anchor in front of Sainte Anne (top right). Colourised photo. Some of her crew ashore, taking a dip. Love from the Seychelles, Mirage Did you know: Some photos:

I remember those days. You could have a loltraktor die and a Maus would not have been able to move it. Not that Loltraktor could meet Maus in randoms even then, but still. I remember M6 vs Maus. Or games with Hetzer vs Tiger II for example. Crazy days lol

It's my hope that one day you can actually watch the ships/debris come to rest on the seabed, no matter how deep, and that they function as obstacles all the way to the end of the match. If they're destroyed while beached, they stay there and don't sink or vanish. All that would be great, the problem is it could frustrate gameplay. Say a guy dies blocking an area in a channel or near an island you could have otherwise used.

Would have been cool to come to Belfast again for the event, but looks like I'll just barely miss it

Sucks

What about CB and KOTS? No more EU vs. CIS I guess?

12v12 CV only at tier 6 or 8 would the dumbest, most chaotic thing I would definitely try it for the lulz

I'm getting real sick of all these anti-botters trying to cancel us cyborgs. My aimbot is my right arm. It's part metal and I use it to aim at ships and the toilet bowl with exceptional accuracy. Please, educate yourself!

Midway upgrade is just super. Like Yama or DM legendary, I can't imagine ever going back after getting it. Hakus is great as well but personally I'd get Midway first - I played her more when I played more actively.

Vanguard.

The sexy ones of all sizes Ships in that green/yellow Irish abomination camo. They offend my eyes and are to be terminated with extreme prejudice. The other gaudy ones are next in line.

OMG! ME TOO! :O