Question: Can you implement more team oriented battle commands in the chat options such as "Drop smoke here" for artillery or for asking AFV's to scout a particular area?
Answer: It’s possible although we do not want to make the command interface too cluttered. The current radial quick command system is however basic and we do have some ideas about improving it in the future. One of them is to branch out the existing commands into various subtypes to more clearly communicate the message. Another idea we are considering is to change this text system into a voice-based system of quick commands – by quickly pressing series of 3 or 4 keys, players will be able to select from a large number of things they want to say that would be then communicated to other players by a voiceover in the language they are running their client with. This is however just an idea for now. Either way, we will definitely be making improvements to the tools available for communicating with your teams.
Question: Would you consider variants of maps with different seasons, lighting etc.
Answer: Such maps already partially appear in the PvE mode – certain PvE maps are based on segments of existing PvP maps (and vice versa). We will also have different lighting and weather on display in the Encounter variant of our PVP maps. In general though we do not want to fill the map pool with “clones” of identical maps with different texture packs. We want to offer the players the possibility to play in many different environments and on many unique maps – the next for example will be a tropical-themed map that you will see in one of the future updates. More maps with European, Asian and African themes are in development as well.
Question: Aside from the original 5 classes and Self Propelled Mortars, what other classes of vehicles (if any) are being considered for Armored Warfare?
Answer: At this moment we are not considering other specific classes – but keep in mind that even vehicles within one class can be extremely different. An example would be the tank destroyer class where on one hand there are the quick, wheeled tank destroyers with turrets and on the other hand there will be tracked, casemate tank destroyers with limited traverse or even tank destroyers equipped with ATGM’s only. Another example could be the AFV class that will eventually incorporate anti-aircraft vehicles. Gameplay diversity does not necessarily require division into more classes.
Question: Will there be server roaming between EU and NA servers?
Answer: We are considering this option. However, there are many complications in uniting the databases, synchronizing progress etc. that have to be carefully considered before taking any final decision.
Question: Currently, some of the vehicles in the game are having some inaccurate upgrades. For example, T-72A has the ATGM from T-72B. Will this be fixed in the future?
Answer: This is inherently not a bug. Please keep in mind that our game takes place in the future and the vehicles are operated by mercenaries. Some customization is therefore completely acceptable (such as mounting a more advanced ERA on older vehicles to prolong their lifespan – after all, something like that happens in real life as well quite often). Wrong module descriptions are another matter however – we will strive to make the modules – wherever possible – accurately named. That includes for example correct shell designations, correct engine names and other modules as well. On the other hand – having realistic updates from later variants of the same vehicle is acceptable – in Armored Warfare, vehicles are generally named after their “stock” variants – in this case the T-72A includes the T-72B upgrades as the T-72B will not be introduced as a separate vehicle.
Question: Are the developers planning to show the gun barrel when using the sights?
Answer: No. For one, it’s not realistic (when looking through the gun sights, you do not see the gun barrel). Secondly it would interfere in gameplay by obstructing the player field of vision. We experimented with this very early on and found the user experience of this feature to be poor.
Question: Will Armored Warfare differentiate how AP (type) rounds and HE (type) rounds interact with environmental objects?
Answer: The shell and environmental object collision mechanism is not functioning properly right now and will be fixed. In the future, small objects (such as fences, road signs etc.) will not stop the kinetic penetrators (AP, APCR, APFSDS etc.) shells in their flight – the shells will pass through them with a mild loss of penetration. On the other hand such objects will still detonate HE and HEAT shells.
Question: How will the teamkillers be punished?
Answer: We are working on an automated system to punish tamkilling. Players causing a certain amount of team damage will be punished with progressively increasing bans for each such case they commit. More details however will not be disclosed to prevent the system abuse.
Question: Are we going to see these variations of day/night and weather in the PvP map rotation as well soon?
Answer: It’s possible that in the future such feature will be implemented. We are currently evaluating the map feedback carefully.
Question: Will there be a "Last Known Location" for vehicles added to the mini-map?
Answer: Yes, this feature was actually added in Early Access 5.
Question: Has there been any further discussion/decision on allowing certain modifications into the game?
Answer: Not for the moment. It’s possible we will revisit this issue once the game is released but do not expect a change in this policy very soon.
Question: What about the crew and commander system, is it final?
Answer: The commander system is currently still in development. We are working on a somewhat different system that will allow players to receive additional rewards for commander training. Any commander will be able to gain ranks with battle experience and each rank will bring a unique bonus – new skill, new ingame bonus but also other interesting bonuses such as unlocking unique camouflages or even vehicles. Our plan is to make levelling the commander up as exciting as gaining vehicle tiers is. Some commanders will be “universal”, others will have their skills and bonuses tuned to particular class of vehicles.
Question: How do you address the issue that there are two different kind of gaming experience expected by the two main groups of players: serious players and casual players? I would like to propose two game modes or servers, one is for serious players and obviously the other is for casual.
Answer: While we are planning to create content for competitive-minded players, we have no intention to segregate them in random battles from the rest of the playerbase. Random battles will remain open to all players regardless of their skill. To ensure the fairness however, our matchmaking mechanism will make sure that both sides have roughly equally skilled players. This matchmaker feature however will only become relevant with large numbers of players and reliable statistics and you can expect it to be fully effective when the game enters the Open Beta stage of testing.
Question: Any chance you are going switch the current spotting system for a system where all vehicles are always rendered in order to prevent the “invisible tank” effect?
Answer: No. The main – and in this case decisive – flaw of such a system is the fact that the game would have to always transfer the positions of all vehicles to the client side for such a system to work. This would immediately result in the appearance of hacks and cheats that would for example make the tanks always visible by making them brightly colored or it would even make them visible behind obstacles (this is in first person shooters usually known as “wallhack”), resulting in much worse player experience.
Question: You have stated earlier that the T-14 Armata is going to be a Tier 10 tank, but currently it is the only 5th generation tank that we know of, how are you going to fill the tier 10?
Answer: Tier 10 – just like the other tiers – does not consist of main battle tanks only. We do have candidates for tier 10 vehicles of many classes. Tier 10 light tank could for example be the Polish Anders, tier 10 AFV could be the Panhard CRAB. As for other tier 10 main battle tanks – there are candidates we are considering, for example the 140mm gun prototypes built on existing western tanks.
Question: Will scouts be able to "guide" ATGMs fired by another tank?
Answer: We are not currently considering this option. This would lead to very unfair gameplay elements such as the invisible scout guiding a missile of a vehicle hidden behind a hill – players would have no way of responding to such an attack as both the scout and the missile vehicle are protected by their high camo factors and the obstacle.
Question: Are you considering raids as the highest form of PvE battles?
Answers: We are currently testing “boss battles” PvE element. Groups of players will be able to fight a number of powerful opponents using certain tactics that will not be unlike those generally used in MMORPG boss fights. The “bosses” will be dramatically different from each other from a “stealth”-based fight to facing heavily armored opponents.
Question: Are there any plans to implement country specific decals/camouflage patterns that are or have been in use by their militaries? Will players be able to customize the camouflage patterns?
Answer: Some of the developed camouflage patters are based on real military patterns and colors. Others are fictional – after all, the tanks are driven by mercenaries, not actual members of any military.
Question: What will be done with autocannon HE ammo effectiveness?
Answer: We have prepared a change to the HE system that reduces the effectiveness of the autocannon HE rounds that was deemed too high. This change was already deployed in Early Access 5.
Question: Will heavy tanks such as the M103 or T-10 appear in Armored Warfare?
Answer: Yes, for example the T-10M will appear on low tiers.
Question: Will there only ever be more than one tier 1 vehicle per dealer?
Answer: It is theoretically possible but currently we are planning only one tier 1 vehicle per dealer.
Question: Is the likely to be any lower tier TD's at around tier 2-3?
Answer: In the future, yes – Kanonenjagdpanzer, Strv 103 and others.
Question: Will the vehicle movement physics be improved?
Answer: We are currently evaluating the way our vehicles behave in battle. It’s possible there will be some changes to the movement physics in the future but it is too early to share details. We’d like the vehicles in the game to behave as real as possible but in order to make the game playable and balanced, we do have to introduce some limits – such as not making the MBT’s as fast as other classes.
Question: Are clan tags going to be displayed in the future or not at all?
Answer: Clan tags will be visible, yes.
That's it for today, stay tuned for the next part!
