Saturday 11 April 2015

Armored Warfare Q&A 2

Hello warriors,

Armored Warfare developers made another Q&A session with players - in case you are interested, here it is. Also, Silentstalker ("Frank Davis" in comments) will be answering the questions you might have in the comments as well if you want.

First session can be found here.



Question:  How will player statistics be handled? Will clan commanders be able to see the statistics of their prospective recruits?
Answer: Players will be able to see the statistics of other players only outside of battle. We do not want to implement any functions that would display player skill in battles due to the detrimental effect it would have on player behavior in the game.

Question: Is there any mechanic in the matchmaking that will prevent a very good player being teamed with very inexperienced players all the time to 'balance' him? It wouldn't be fun for the good player to constantly have unreliable teammates nor will it be fun for the worse players to have a guy on their team who does most of the damage and who will also be frustrated with them.
Answer: The matchmaker won't make any special effort to lump good players with bad players into matches. That distribution will just be based on who queued in what vehicle at what moment. The only time player ability is taken into consideration is when it comes time to divide the pool of players into two competing teams to pit against each other. During this pass, the matchmaker is taking into consideration vehicle class, tier, and player skill to create teams of balanced vehicles and overall average player skill on each team.



Question: Will large caliber HE shells be able to 'relieve' enemies of their ERA?
Answer: Yes, HE blasts will damage the ERA system.

Question: Will we get vehicles with adjustable suspension in game? If so, how will it be controllable?
Answer: Currently, adjustable suspension is not scheduled but it is something that we would like to implement in future updates.

Question: Will there be an armor and module viewer in the game?
Answer:  We are planning such a feature when it comes to armor models.

Question: When the game moves from Early Access to Full Release, will we keep our progress?
Answer: There will be a progress wipe between early access and release – stay tuned for details in our future articles.

Question: Will vehicle classes get more experience and credits for fulfilling their role in the game regardless of the match outcome win/lose (for example, AFV’s and scouting with indirect damage)?
Answer: Succeeding at the role your vehicle is designed for will always result in strong rewards for your matches. It is important to us that all vehicles, when performing what they are designed to do well, will earn roughly the same Reputation and Credits. We will be evaluating different formulas for this system during Closed Beta testing to make sure that we are hitting our goal of having all vehicle roles equally rewarded.

Question:  How do you acquire data about tanks?
Answer: We use numerous publications as well as publicly available sources to bring the tanks in the game to life. 

Question:  When designing maps, will the developers model their maps based on real world locations or will they be simply just design the maps to suit the game?
Answer:  Balance and playability are the two most important factors when creating a map. Real life battlefields have a nasty habit of favoring one side over another and that is why we create our maps mostly from scratch. Maps are however inspired by existing areas and environments and we aim to make the game maps as diverse and interesting as possible. You will find all kinds of environments in Armored Warfare – from snowy Russian tundra to deserts of Africa.

Question:  Is it possible for very soft vehicles such has HMMVW with TOW launchers to appear in the game?
Answer: It is possible vehicles like the HMMVW will find a place in Armored Warfare. We have not ruled out any military vehicle additions for the future.

Question:
 What strategies are being considered to prevent toxicity in the game? Reporting offenses is great but likely too inefficient cost wise for staff to manually review all reports.
Answer: We perceive fighting toxicity in battles as one of our most important tasks.  To that end, filters will be in place, preventing players from insulting others and punishing players attempting to use the worst kinds of insults. Unfair behavior in the game will not be tolerated either and players will face strict punishments for harassing others.  Intentional team damage and team killing will be punished by an automatic system.

Question:  Do you plan to continue adding maps after release?
Answer: Yes, adding new maps is a natural part of the game development. We do not however want to release too many maps at the same time to give players a chance to learn the existing ones properly without becoming overwhelmed.

Question: Was mounted infantry ever considered as tool/kind of controlled weapon/skill for IFVs?
Answer: The “presence” of infantry is already nominally a part of the IFV statistics. Any other infantry presence however is not planned, although it is possible (in PvE mode) that we will implement UI-controlled bunkers as defensive structures the player will have to overcome.

Question: How do you select what class a vehicle gets put into? How do you decide a vehicle is a tank destroyer, an AFV or a light tank for example? Some vehicles can clearly fit multiple categories.
Answer: For most vehicles, we can just use the official designation of the vehicle. In other words, what did its manufacturer call it? This usually makes it easy to identify Main Battle Tanks, Light Tanks, and Self-Propelled Guns. Where things require more analysis is when it comes to the vehicles that we group into Armored Fighting Vehicles and Tank Destroyers.
Both of these terms can encompass a wide variety of different vehicles and both of them are rarely the official designation of the vehicle. Essentially, if a vehicle is not a MBT, LT, or SPG, then we know that it must be either an AFV or a TD in our game and it's a matter of deciding on which class it should have based on its characteristics.
For AFVs and Tank Destroyer candidates, we largely pay attention to what the primary armament of the vehicle is designed for. If the primary armament is an anti-armor, anti-vehicle cannon, we will likely classify the vehicle as a Tank Destroyer. If the primary armament is an autocannon, we will usually classify the vehicle as an AFV. For vehicles that are only equipped with Anti-Tank Guided Missiles, we have been assigning them to the AFV class though we are currently reevaluating whether they should be considered Tank Destroyers instead.

Question:  Will different types of ammunition have different effects on ERA? How will AP, HE and HEAT ammunition interact with it?
Answer: HEAT shells will mostly be negated by the presence of ERA. Armor-piercing and HE ammunition will affect ERA, triggering the explosion, but some advanced heavy ERA systems will also reduce the penetration value of AP shells.

Question: What will be the difference between premium and normal tanks? Will they be intentionally weaker than fully upgraded "normal" tanks?
Answer:  Premium vehicles will be generally weaker than fully upgraded regular vehicles of the same tier. They will not have optional modules and therefore will effectively be “stock”. On the other hand, they will also have lower combat rating which will result in preferred matchmaking. Premium vehicles will earn more credits for the owner, which is their primary purpose.

Question: Will the game physics allow for vehicles to roll on to their sides or even roll upside down?
Answer:  By default, the engine's physics will happily allow vehicles to flip over or roll onto their sides. We have actually put a lot of work into the physics system to prevent vehicles from rolling onto theirs sides or flipping over. When realistic physics are applied to the way players actually tend to drive vehicles in video games, it is extremely likely that the vehicles will be flipped as players try to take turns at speeds that are too high or careen off elements of the environment in ways that would be catastrophic to vehicles in the real world. In internal playtests before we added some limiters to the physics, players were often rolling their vehicles over due to driving off steep edges at a bad angle or from taking a sharp turn irresponsibly fast. Ultimately, this experience was more frustrating than it was fun and so we took measures to prevent vehicle rolling for now. It's always possible we could re-enable rolling for a special event or for custom games, but it was our decision that the normal game experience is much better without your matches being ruined due to driving around faster than you would in real life.

Question: Will there be some reward for players who do excellent damage per battle, such as the “kill rings” on the barrel? What about missions?
Answer: Yes, but not only that. Excellent players will have through a variety of achievements the option to obtain various attractive visual elements such as special markings and camouflages There will always be a goal on Armored Warfare – one of the things to do will be to complete series of difficult missions in order to gain substantial rewards, including camouflage, special decals, and other cosmetic trophies.




66 comments:

  1. First comment question then...

    In the video about different ammunition type, there were images for multiple types of different shells in each of the 3 different shell types.

    Do those sub-categories behave differently from one another?
    (ex: HE and HESH, APCR and APDS having different mechanics despite being in the same global shell type)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yep - for example, HESH is a subtype of HE, AP-I is a subtype of AP rounds, there will be tandem HEAT warheads, HE missiles and other things. It will be explained in detail in another article.

      Delete
    2. Do you want me to fall in love with AW?
      Because that's how you get me to fall in love with AW.

      Thanks for the (very pleasing) answer!
      I hope I get accepted into early access <.<

      Delete
    3. Question: How will player statistics be handled? Will clan commanders be able to see the statistics of their prospective recruits?
      Answer: Players will be able to see the statistics of other players only outside of battle. We do not want to implement any functions that would display player skill in battles due to the detrimental effect it would have on player behavior in the game.

      Hahahahahahaha!!! no XVM fuck yes!!

      Delete
    4. sad, XVM is very important to the game to know if u can rely on an experienced teammate during battle just like in real life with vets and FNGs. Why have stats for each player after battle if u cant use them during the battle?

      Delete
    5. Because XVM is causing tons of extreme annoying toxic players. You can play easily without XVM anyway and without it, it will be much better.

      Delete
    6. XVM is irrelevant there. I've also seen plenty of clearly clueless tomatoes throw insults at others for getting themselves killed. And conversely I get the impression a significant chunk of unicum players is highly selfish, meaning they'll always blame the rest of the team regardless of these peoples' ratings.

      Toxicity sadly is a feature of online gaming, although definitely one I'd gladly live without.

      Delete
    7. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    8. Will clan tags be visible in battles, then? If they are, then I gained nothing, but I lost my ability to know which teammates I can rely on. This is the reason why I find myself playing more cautiosly when XVM stops working.

      Delete
  2. I like the reward system. Thanks for the info

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have an Early Access.
    When will I know if I was selected to participate in the Alpha Test or not?
    If I get no Mail on Monday, shall I still hope to get selected?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks.
      How many slots will this test approximately contain?
      What will be the amount of testers?

      Delete
  4. Will the EU/NA server get the same founders packs as Ru already revieled?
    Content wise.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was confirmed that EU/NA would get the same vehicles (and logically, also some gold and other stuff). I can't comment on exact numbers and prices though.

      Delete
  5. What will be the price of the Platin founder pack?

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  6. will the testing times be the same as last time?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not sure actually... this is still to be disclosed.

      Delete
  7. Me again. This time I have a little request.
    I suppose that there will be the possibility to put flags on your tank.
    Unfortunately WoT has no Luxembourg flag.
    I would be happy if AW could create such a flag.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxembourg
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxembourg#/media/File:Flag_of_Luxembourg.svg

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Why not? There will be a lot of customization. But we'll make sure we get all the requested stuff.

      Delete
    2. Do you know how many flag decals we can put on our tanks? And if there will be a Scottish flag? It dissapoints me these games don't recognize Scottland as a country

      Delete
  8. Will you invest in SerB's moonstation? :D
    Just kidding. Back on topic, are we free to share AW content on youtube with the test next week?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Free? No, there's still NDA. But youtube videos will be allowed if you receive an approval (shouldn't be hard, contact me on AW forums if you need help).

      Delete
  9. Premium vehicles will be generally weaker than fully upgraded regular vehicles of the same tier. They will not have optional modules and therefore will effectively be “stock”.

    I'm disappointed with this. I have never understood the logic behind this. Sure I'm against 'pay to win' but why can't a premium be 'as good as' any other upgraded vehicle of its tier - notice I did not say 'better than everything at it's tier')

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sometimes premium vehicles also represent a very specific model of a vehicle that would otherwise not be "flexible" enough to make it into a generic line of tanks... Maybe that is why.
      Besides most tanks in these systems always go from being worse to better when upgraded instead of just different and so it would be a shame to allow people to drive a worse premium than what it is balanced for.

      Delete
    2. Because pay to win is a dirty thing.

      There are a number of premiums in WoT which despite the stated intention of being weaker than usual tanks (which AW is happy to copy) are better than tanks of equivalent tier.

      Most premium tanks in WoT exploit their credit advantage with increased gold shell use which immediately makes a "weaker" gun, less so.

      Then there are the tanks which just take the piss like

      Type 59 - disgusting money grab tank, best t8 med due to limited MM, superior armour and good mobility
      PzJ - disgusting money grab tank, 80-50mm of armour apart from a couple of 40mm circles at tier 3 with limited MM.
      E25 - disgusting money grab tank, unnerfed td camo, outrageous mobility, dpm, rof and accuracy. All in a tank so small that against most heavys it can hug and be unable to be hit. AGAIN the limited MM.

      Delete
    3. I'm all for unique, rare, and unusual tanks becoming premiums but I still don't think they need to be handicapped on purpose when its not nessasary.

      Delete
    4. You know what happened last time a premium vehicle was as good as an elite version of the same tier (or even a bit better?)

      Hint: Type 59

      Delete
    5. Type 59 is an anomaly and WG's fault, the T34-2 is worse than both the T34-3 and the Type 59

      Delete
    6. He still has a point, the thing was a disaster when it came to balance. They had to do like what, 10 nerfs to bring it in line with the other premium tanks? Also as mentioned above there is the PZ J, and the E25 for a time that are also crazy op. We are not even going to get into the T-127 or the mini maus.

      The reason they are not as great is because they trade off better upgrades and flexible game play for credit gain increase and being good at one thing (such as armor on the t-14, kv-220 or gun on the T-34 and Lowe).

      If you get a tank that is just as good as tanks in the same tier which you can buy, make more credits with and gets reduced mm then it can easily make a normal tank of the same tier almost pointless. It has to have some kind of drawback somewhere to make it balanced with the other tanks.

      You can't have your cake and eat it too.

      Delete
  10. AW could be interesting for me, if there are enough French tanks there. Gameplay is nice and all, but...I just love the French stuff in games :D

    ReplyDelete
  11. All I want for Armored Warfare is IKV 91, or Swedish tanks in general. I would be sold.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Merkava will be what sells me

      Delete
    2. ;) Weeeeeeell I can't exactly confirm both... but....

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    3. If this happens I will cry tears of joy.

      Delete
  12. Pretty legit! Cant wait for this to come out

    ReplyDelete
  13. Thank you for your work in preventing in game toxicity... It harms gameplay experience more than anything else (including being nuked by arty when you are absolutely steamrolling the other team)... See below:
    http://theoatmeal.com/comics/online_gaming

    ReplyDelete
  14. The rest will be answered a bit later :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Do you plan to implement a recruiting system, like in WoT? And if so, would you consider making it beneficial to both the recruiter, and the recruitee? I feel a bit dirty getting a free tier 10 tank while my friend gets boosted XP and nothing else.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am not aware of such plans at the moment. Too early.

      Delete
  16. Will Armata be the first (and at least for a time) only Tier 9 in Armored Warfare?
    Where will the Type 10 be?

    ReplyDelete
  17. Is there a tank called Arjun Mk.1,2 ? or it is planned for later? because i love this MBT.
    and tell me the different types of armor in the game .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Armor will be explained in next Developer Diary video, soon (check the portal).

      Delete
    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    3. thanks !
      can i run this game good ?and which settings ?
      my specs are -
      windows 8 64 bit.
      nvidia GT740M 1GB.
      8GB RAM.
      intel core I7 4th gen 4702 MQ.
      i ran crysis 2 at max and at 1080p resolution and crysis 3 at high-ultra ,720p resolution .both ran smooth.both are made from cry engine 3.

      Delete
  18. Any updates on PVE content SS? This is what I am most excited about! And what about servers? Will there be specific server for, lets say, Asia? I know NA/RU and EU will have theirs for sure but will we have to wait long for an Eastern server like we had to when it came to WOT or will we start off together with our western counterparts?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. PvE content will be revealed in a separate post, I am afraid I cannot talk about it right now.

      Delete
  19. Will there be some polish tanks in the game?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Absolutely. One of the first updates will feature Polish tanks as far as I know.

      Delete
  20. Frank,
    Since you can be more free with answers, I think you know there are 3 things I really want in the game.

    A red rose emblem, I can use on my Vehicles, like the queen of Hearts I use on everything in wot.

    The Argentinian TAM Tank.

    And most importantly, the USMCs M50 Ontos.

    What are the chances for each, and ant thoughts on how to implement the Ontos?

    Cheers,
    Appy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Chances are that both tanks are on the table. Regardless, it still comes down to technical data on the vehicle(detail stuff) and the multi-gun aspect of the M50. The Ontos would not be hard to add, but tricky to implement. If the current trees are any example.

      Delete
  21. Will is Type99A2 in this game? If so where will be the tier?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AW wants to all everything and anything(If it has wheels, tracks and a gun or missile launcher). In the end however it really comes down to hard data on a vehicle so that it can be modeled correctly and engines and crew placed correctly in the vehicle. So while they want everything it really comes down to details on what can and cant be done.

      Delete
    2. NOPE, most if these tanks have never fought in a "real" battle so AW will be making it all up as to which tanks r OP.

      Delete
  22. will mods be an option in armoured warfare? (personally i would like them not to be allowed but im curious)
    if they are allowed then will they be just mods to change the interface like cross hair mods as an example or will stupid mods that affect gameplay like xvm be allowed which is slowly killing armoured warfares rival at the minute.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. my reason for not wanting any mods personally is that having no mods insures a level playing field for everyone instead of having zoom out mods which allow people to see which way enemies have their guns pointed and zoom on mods which allow people to see through cover.

      Delete
  23. Will AW artys use AP? I hope not. (high tier arty APs are too OP in WoT)

    ReplyDelete
  24. Will there be an Oceania server, not Asia, Oceania?

    ReplyDelete
  25. Just curious did you considered option for buying premium status for existing vehicles instead of making premium vehicles as separate vehicles? This would solve problem with ensuring that premium vehicles have to be weaker than normal vehicle on the same tier (but other problem could appear ofc as always this is choose between tradeoffs)

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  27. Why does AW even bother with artillery if it is such a highly hated class? Is it really seen as an important part of gameplay? What is the justification for leaving it in, despite all the outcry?

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