Verblonde

For coal? Wasn't it some time last winter? The only reason I remember is that mine fell out of a Satan Crate, and I think she was one of the new additions to last winter's ship list... She was originally added for steel way earlier (according to LWM it was late April 2019:https://forum.worldofwarships.com/topic/209734-mouses-quick-summary-of-premium-destroyers/) of course.

Outstanding!

Put simply, we aren't sure at all. That said, we just have to wait and see; realistically, there probably isn't a form of words that will make most of us believe WG at this stage, so all we can do is wait and see what they come up with - do their eventual actions match their words or not.

Now, *this* is a flag I would like to have (I know we can fly it on certain PA ships as the national flag, but I don't think it automatically appears as such to other players) - I have absolutely no connection with Taiwan whatsoever, but anything that annoys the government/nationalists of Mainland China is worth doing in my book!

I can only really comment semi-intelligently on DDs: Fubuki, Visby, and Jaguar are probably all worth continuing with, if you want diversity (sneaky torp boats, healing no-smoke DDs, and 'drive it like you stole it whilst gluing the fire button down' no-smoke DDs, respectively). Depending how rusty you got during your lay-off, the US aren't bad (decent smoke, and less bad AA than many) for getting back into things. The RN line is great fun, and T8-10 are all excellent; the defensive hydro and short burn smoke contribute to them being excellent DD hunters. The alternative IJN DD line is fun too - T8-10 being able to chuck out ludicrous volumes of fire. The original KM DD line is very worthwhile - the smoke/hydro combination is still highly effective. I'd suggest getting your DD fung fu back in shape before playing too many smokeless DDs though; they can be hard work at times (especially with CVs so prevalent at the moment). On the subject of CVs, the recent rocket changes have given DDs a bit of breathing space, *but* they haven't altered the big problem with CVs i.e. that they spot you; on the up-side, most typical CV drivers apparently care more about damage than winning, so you may get less attention from them for the time being.

Technically, none, due to more whaling than a dozen copies of Moby [edited]; there are a couple of oddments that I would like to have, but didn't start playing the game early enough to get: Kami R (for completeness - I have the other two), and Arkansas. Thinking ahead, Hayate will probably go on my 'one that got away' list: I'd like to have her, but no way is she worth 2 million free xp!

Small plus point: scope for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels memes with the T9...?

This. Plus, any new ship that gets released now, I tend to see in terms of 'target for submarines' (and have my view coloured by the Yukon business). All of which is a great pity - twelve months ago, I would have been very excited by the prospect of German battlecruisers (premium Seydlitz perhaps?)...

Assuming (and it's a good assumption) that this is WG's mindset, it may well be foolish of them. As a keen observer of WG's many and various bollock-drops over the years, I feel this one may be slightly different (it is for me, but I'm just one grumpy old dude): in the past, WG didn't harm anyone in particular, and you could generally put down their mis-steps to a combination of greed (they are in business to make money) and incompetence (whether in terms of comms, or damage control, or just failing to understand their markets properly). Yeah, they acted poorly on many occasions but there was never a specific locus for that bad behaviour. With Yukon, they have harmed two clearly identifiable people, and well-liked and recognised within the community people (LWM in particular) to boot. This makes this unlike their more usual swindles, and potentially a lot more damaging: despite my better instincts, I tend to think that most people are basically decent, and clearly identifiable harm being done to a well-liked person is much more likely to resonate badly with more people than some dodgy business with Xmas crates, say. This is why, in my view, WG not pulling out all the stops to fix this - and do so before it festers a moment longer - is extraordinarily bad business.

Adopted Canadian; I've only been here a little over ten years, so I still have the good old British stroppiness too...!

If that's still the case, it's going to be all about the volume of fire, presumably, especially since all the %-based bonuses happened (Yudachi - IMO - was tolerable prior to that).

I had one on my side in a battle during the test phase; I think the person who was driving her knew what they were about, so they did pretty well as I recall. I *think* they were in a division too, so their allies were covering them. My guess is that a good player will be able to wreak havoc (until something spots them, if the opposing side are awake - big 'if'), and most average players will get blown to bits fairly swiftly and/or mainly torp their own side (does this thing have sensible torps, or 20 km ones - I don't recall?)...

Well, the current patch went live on the 17th, and - at time of writing - both the Grand Battles missions, and the Summer Battles missions are showing 8 days still to run. Presumably, the next patch will be on one of the 15th or 22nd; I guess the former, but we have had the odd week in the past with - essentially - no missions running.

I thought we'd had at least two incidences; my recollection is based on buying some the first time, and ignoring them entirely the second (due to having everything in them by then)...? Of course, I could just be being old and forgetful.

I imagine you're right; besides the Satan boxes, aren't the CV boxes due sometime vaguely soon? I've lost track as I have all the CVs I want already...

In terms of the timelines for new ships, you may be right; in my previous life involved with the design and sourcing of apparel from the FE (and other places), I usually had to think at least 6-12 months in advance, more usually towards the longer end of that range, and I wasn't working for a company with the level of turnover that WG have. Designing a shirt, say, is easier too as it doesn't involve having to make a detailed study of blueprints, photo archives and whatnot (assuming a real ship, and not some fever dream), so WG's timeline actually sounds reasonable to me. For me, it's now just a matter of waiting to see if LWM/Chobi are happy with whatever ends up being the final situation...

Ah, I see - despite having one, I'm not much good with Enterprise. What do the CV Gods think of Enterprise since the rocket changes? Is it enough to allow her back on sale, for instance?

The big problem with CVs is, and always was, the spotting really; still, I'll take the rocket nerf in the meantime. That was global though, so you might as well complain about the nerf to any of the CVs in the game, surely...?

I know, but it still seems sporting to do so...

I think my eventual bid ended up round that mark too; in my case it was because I'd just dumped a bunch of silver buying and equipping whatever the T10 is from the new line of KM DDs. You never know, I might even be moved the play the damn thing now and again (although probably not frequently - I have a 25% WR on my first four battles!!)...

Is this the rather gloriously-named "Oi!" that you're thinking of. Disappointingly, if Wikipedia is right, it was Kitakami herself that got fitted with a butt-load of AA guns: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_cruiser_Kitakami

I originally (wrongly) guessed that these auctions would look a bit like a watery equivalent of WOT's Black Market, which seems to be quite worthwhile; by comparison, the WOWS version is just a bit dull - I would have expected to see some interesting premium ships at least (not that it matters to me personally, as I have all of them that I want, but still...). As it is, we get coal (which you can do interesting things with), meaningless flags, and (arguably) over-priced captains that aren't even any of the leg-ends. Edit: in the recent(ish) WOT edition there was at least one tank included (Awfulpanther) that you couldn't get anywhere else, although I assume it'll get released conventionally at some point.

Mainly thinking about DDs, as they're the vast majority of what I play. Prior to the rework, it was pretty much always the first one point skill I picked. Since the rework, I always pick LS first for two points; I like PT a lot still, and usually do a lot less badly when I have it, but don't usually pick it until one of my last one or two skill picks. Whilst the 'I assume everyone is shooting at me' approach works fine, knowing the difference between 'everyone' meaning, say, two ships, and it meaning five does make a significant difference - if you drop everything and run the moment you're detected, you miss opportunities that you might not if you know the precise numbers of guns swinging in your direction. Of course, there is the question of what you're giving up to gain that information, and it may not be worth it for everyone...

Does anyone have an 'enormous gasoline fire' meme to hand, by any chance. From what I recall of this person's form, tact and diplomacy may well not be to the fore...

There's nothing wrong with this line of reasoning, apart from the fact that the new German DDs occupy a DD slot, so putting your team at a disadvantage because - in these ships - it's *much* harder to do a proper DD's job. So, this line not only doesn't cater to most players, but it also puts your team-mates at a disadvantage. (FWIW I don't entirely dislike the T9 and T10, but I certainly don't play them if winning matters.)