World of Tanks, the tank MMO from Wargaming – is currently being thoroughly revised as in the last patch 9.15, and some vehicles have been massively changed or completely removed. We spoke with a Wargaming manager about the future of the game.
“Player feedback is a double-edged sword,” says Maxim Chuvalov, PR and Marketing Product Manager at Wargaming in our interview. Because on the one hand, player feedback is crucial for the many changes that Wargaming wants to implement in World of Tanks, but on the other hand, not every form of feedback is constructive.
“Hey man, where is my artillery carrier?”
However, at least for the Waffenträger E-100 and the T-22 Medium, the feedback was decisive for significant changes. Because the Waffenträger was simply either too strong or too weak, depending on who was playing it. In any case, it ruined the gameplay. The same was true for the T-22 Medium, as this tank simply had a win rate that was far too high compared to other tanks at its tier.
Therefore, the T-22 Medium was significantly nerfed and is now less maneuverable, aims slower, and is less accurate with the gun. But at least the tank still exists. The Waffenträger E-100, on the other hand, has been completely removed and will not return for the time being (even though Maxim does not want to completely rule it out). But don’t worry, instead there is the “Grille 15,” a literal glass cannon with high damage and low armor. In addition, the Grille 15 has outstanding accuracy even for a German tank and is currently the most precise tank in the game.
Gravity kills … not as strongly anymore
The new physics engine that World of Tanks received with update 9.14 was responsible for one of the most spectacular eSports battles of all time. Because due to an unfortunate crash, the player “AppleWoW” from team Hellraisers got stuck between two rocks in the decisive final round at this year’s Grand Finals in Warsaw and could only helplessly watch as his remaining teammate was taken out.
[iframe id=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/HERB_reseXE” align=”center” mode=”normal” autoplay=”no”]
This undeniably spectacular action should not be repeated, as Wargaming has also collected feedback on the physics engine and made some changes. Tanks fall over less often, tip over less frequently, don’t explode immediately after short drops, and no longer get stuck between rocks. In the embedded video above, you can get an impression of particularly silly physics shenanigans.
Into the Sandbox!
Wargaming’s big goal for the upcoming updates is to completely redesign the game and assign a fixed role to each tank. The developers start at tier 10 and want to gradually work their way down to tier 1. For this, the developers urgently need constructive player feedback.
And here comes a new feature called “Sandbox” into play: “We are launching a special test server called “Sandbox,” where players can test various versions of the new balance.” These players can then provide feedback on the tested features and thus significantly contribute to the improvement of the game. The release of the Sandbox server is not expected in the near future, according to Maxim. By the way, starting today, you can already sign up for the Sandbox at the provided link.
What do you think of the planned changes for World of Tanks? Is it sensible for Wargaming to overhaul the game instead of constantly bringing new content? Let us know in the comments!
