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Tankers!

We've updated the Game Guide section with a new guide on the crew skill system. Version 7.2 introduced more than 20 new skills and perks, and we wanted to share some tips on which skills are best suited to your favorite vehicles.

Check out the guide here, and feel free to share some of your own personal tips in the comments!

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The recent event for ANZAC day is as good an excuse as any to talk about those other people. You know, non-USA types. They really do exist, I’ve seen them. Honest.

If you're curious, starting from the left and  skipping the guy in pink, Tunisia, Jordan, Germany, US, Bahrain, Pakistan, Romania, Tunisia.

Although my experience with foreign military personnel isn’t confined solely to my time in the US Army, one thing I will say is that it has given me a great opportunity to interact with foreign personnel: Either those who are assigned to an American base for training, or as Uncle Sam sends me around the world.

Now granted, the nature of my contacts has probably been that I have usually encountered the more professional end of the spectrum and so it may well be skewing my sample base, but by and large, it’s a case of form following function. There’s not much to differentiate a professional soldier from the US to Australia to Jordan in terms of their character. Fairly patriotic, strong-willed, looking for a challenge, and fundamentally honest and good-natured. Even the systems behind the various organisations seem to be fairly similar as, after all, a modern military is supposed to do the same job around the world. Yes, some countries have more expensive toys than other countries, but the paperwork when you break one is likely pretty much the same.

A Kiwi checking out a more expensive toy than he has at home

That said, it’s not as if there aren’t a few… quirks in the way they do things.

Many moons ago, I was off for a couple of weeks in Bovington on an exchange. We had had an officer come over and play with us for a while, his procedure with the radio telephone was cause for some amusement. “Hello three, this is one…” vice “Red three, red one…. Red three, red one”. Or “out to you” vs “break.” Certainly polite, and I guess it works, but it is a bit odd to my thinking. So, it was my turn to go over the other direction and Americanise the locals.





So as I’m packing to go I’m thinking to myself “what shall I bring?” Well, some of it was obvious. Field gear: BDUs, helmet, webbing, I figured I could borrow a sleeping bag over there. Class As in case of something more formal, and there was rumour of a regimental dining in at about that time, so the dress blues and sabre came along as well. Add some ‘business casual’ clothing (slacks, polo shirts etc) for the evenings or hitting the local night life (hey, I’m an optimist), and I figure I’m prepared. Foolish me. I forgot I was going to the UK.

I’m checked into the officer’s mess at Bovington, and as I sign in, I am presented with a booklet entitled “Rules of the Mess” (For those unaware of the distinction, the Mess in the UK is far more than an O-club, it’s also accommodation, dining facility etc). I pocket it, and drag my gear to the elevator. As I ride up, my eye is drawn to the “Useful Telephone Numbers” poster. The very first one on the list was “Stables.”  Hmm.

Anyway, once I’m somewhat unpacked, I start to read the rules. I skip past the bit about what to do with your batman (seriously!?) as it didn’t seem to apply to me, and I hop over to the dinner section. After all, I’m a bit peckish. “Ah.. Hours. Excellent, dinner shortly…. What’s this? Dress code!?”

Apparently it is considered uncivil to be inappropriately attired for dinner. At the minimum, blazer and tie. Suits acceptable. I think back to what I packed, and realized that of all the things I failed to bring for a couple of weeks away with the Army, a suit was it. I start rooting around to see what I could cobble together.

http://www.itstheage...s-222_0x300.jpgTo my regret, I never photographed the RAC Officer's Mess. This photo of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers mess sortof gives the idea of the dining room though.

End result, I had the white shirt from the dress blues, the black tie and high-gloss shoes from the Class As, the dark ‘business casual’ slacks, I ended up looking like a reject from the Blues Brothers. In the meantime, the British officers played the easiest game of “Spot the Yank” in history. When finished with your meal, you were generally expected to adjourn to the ante-room for a while (even after lunch), which is as stereotypical a British facility as you can imagine, with wood-panelled walls, leather armchairs, and copies of the Times scattered around next to the tea and coffee pots.

There was a further knock-on effect: The night before my flight home, I had to stay in London. They wanted to put me up in the Household Cavalry barracks so I would have a nice convenient evening, but the dress code there was even more strict: One was not allowed to be seen leaving the barracks unless in a full-on suit. I had to stay at an RAF base a little outside of town.

They have a strange mix of formality to casualness: For example, in addition to the above requirements, the newest second lieutenant is expected to be on first-name-terms with the Major (usually company commander). US, not so much. “Sir” is considered a little more appropriate. Yet the US is often viewed by other militaries as being one of the most egalitarian there is.

Perhaps part of this can be demonstrated by the French.  I spent some time with the French Army in Afghanistan as they were our neighbouring battlespace owners and I was about the only officer in the squadron who spoke French.  (If it were a Spanish unit next to us, we’d have been sorted). We are invited to dine with the Battalion commander.

Now, let me show you a picture of our chow hall in Afghanistan. Pretty simple, really, rows of tables, cheap folding chairs, cardboard food trays, plastic cutlery. Open seating, you could be a PFC sitting next to a full-bird colonel.

I didn't think to photograph the DFAC in its usual boring state, but remove the decoration and tablecloths to get the idea.

The French do things slightly differently. We follow our hosts around the buildings to the mess. We are brought to the bar, behind which a junior enlisted soldier is standing. “What can I get you to drink, Sir? Please note, alcohol may not be served before 1800.” After the ‘cocktail hour’ equivalent (we were there for lunch), we were seated at the table.

You will note that the table is a fairly solid affair, as are the chairs. The food was brought to us by more junior soldiers on the regimental china which had been brought from the unit’s base in the South of France. And, it must be said, it was excellent. One of my colleagues leaned over to me at this point. “You know, Nick, we’re doing this wrong in the US.” Perhaps, but I have a sneaking suspicion that were I to instruct an E-4 to serve me my dinner I would likely be best advised to not actually consume it.



There was another food-related oddity. They had two soldiers in the unit whose sole job during the war was to bake bread. They were good at it, mind. I never had a shortage of volunteers to do the transport duty to drive us the two hours to their base, we'd stock up when there. I did inquire if we could borrow one of them for a couple of weeks, but I was told in no uncertain terms that if bread production were reduced, there would be a mutiny.

For those who are wondering, I have no quarrels with their soldiering. As an amusing side-note, they put me in a VBL named “Ricky Bobby”, it’s painted on the back door.

Adding an American to the load plan

I never did a tour in the Former Yugoslavia, but I’m told that such multinational missions have a bit of a tradition. It seems that first thing the Finnish army builds when they establish a base is a sauna. So if you feel like relaxing, hop over there. Then adjourn to the Irish facility: The first thing they build is the bar. I recall once seeing an Irish Naval vessel with what appeared to be depth charges lashed to the deck. I thought this somewhat odd given that I knew the ship had no sonar and I was unaware of depth charges in the inventory. Foolish me. They were kegs.

The Irish officer’s mess is far more down-to-earth than the other two above. As you can expect, it’s basically a pub, just a lot of the customers are wearing green. Can’t argue with that. They have their own unique problems, though. Being a rather small nation, they can’t afford to have many training areas. As often as not, the Army just finds a quiet little part of the countryside and has at it.

Typical Irish training area and weather

It can lead to occasional interesting incidents: I saw one time when a brisk firefight was taking place, with one team using a car for cover. A group of hikers came down the hill, walked through the firefight, got into the car, and drove away with the cover. Civilians could occasionally be mis-identified for participants in insurgent scenarios as well. I mean, what are the chances that a family would happen to be out for their Sunday drive in the Wicklow Mountains in a blue Toyota Camry, the same type of car that the insurgents used to shoot at a patrol five minutes previously a mile way? I recall seeing a Youtube video of a French Army training exercise in the middle of a shopping district during business hours, lots of shouting and runing around between the shoppers. A bit odd to my mind.

Of course, these are just amusing little annecdotes, there are many practical things to learn from our foreign colleagues and any soldier who thinks that there is nothing that other armies do better than his own is blinkered. Such observations I shall leave for a future article. In the meantime, go ahead, click the 'discuss' link below, and tell us all your culture shocks.

Senegal, and a Tier VII


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Tankers!
Would you like to know what's in store for our 7.3 update? If so, then check out our In Development page, where we've listed some of the upcoming changes! You've probably already heard about the Soviet tech tree changes but there are also two new maps, new French premium tanks, and more!


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The World of Tanks official forum will be unavailable for a period of time on May 2 due to maintenance.

The works will start at 00:00 PDT and are estimated to end at 02:00 PDT (10:00 - 12:00 UTC).

Tankers!

We are pleased to announce the 7.3 #2 public test.

Please note that the public test server will go through a restart every other day at 1:00 UTC, which will last for 25-45 minutes. It is currently set to have a player cap of 26,000. Once the cap is reached, players will be placed into a login queue.

The World of Tanks development team is pleased to give all of our players the opportunity to participate in the update 7.3 mass test. The update will be released in the near future, and we would like your feedback on the latest build.

During this test a special World of Tanks update v. 7.3 will be available for playing on test servers only. The estimated end date of 7.3 test is May 2, 2012, but is subject to change.

To participate in the test you need to do the following steps:

1.  Download the test game client in a separate directory:

• Download full game client with 7.3 update here (2.9 GB)
• Download v.7.3 test game client torrent file here

2.  Run the game. The test #2 file will download automatically through the launcher. Test #2 file size is 16.3 MB.

Attention! Please, install the test game client version in a different folder, other than the current game client version! Also switch off the game client before installing the update. Only players who have registered prior to 21:00 UTC, April 17, 2012, can login the test server.

Please, keep mind certain special features  of the public test server:

• Payments are not accepted on the public test server.
• Credit and experience rates for public test server are multiplied by 10. All players are given 15k gold for testing purposes.
• Progress wasn't saved from test #1 and won't be transferred to the main NA server.

Important:

We draw your attention to the fact that the test server is subject to EULA and general rules of World of Tanks game server. The restrictions and punishments are the same as on the official game server of World of Tanks. The details of the v.7.3 update public test can be discussed in a special forum section. Bugs related to the 7.3 public test should be posted in this special sub-forum.

Preliminary list of changes of v7.3 #2 changes as compared with v7.3 #1:

• Fixed several bugs with objects location on the South Coast map.
• Fixed base icon location on the minimap of the South Coast map.
• RAM consumption was significantly reduced on the Dragon's Ridge map. It was a direct cause for the so-called ‘red screen’ during a sniper mode on this map.
• Fixed some obstructions on the Dragon's Ridge map.
• Reduced penetration of the М-62-Т2 gun (top gun for IS-4, IS-8, ST-I) from 270mm to 268mm.
• Fixed several errors in the T-150 damaged model.
• Fixed several errors in the T-54 damaged model. (the turret was ‘hanged’ above the hull).
• Fixed the BL-10 gun scale for Object 704 TD.
• T-43 moved to a new 16 groups armor system.
• Fixed a bug with the IS-4’s D-10T gun: when this gun was researched and mounted on the tank it couln’t enter a battle.
• Fixed a bug with a substitution of the IS-4 tank: the IS-8 tank did not become Elite if the D-10T hadn’t been researched on the IS-4.
• Fixed a bug with a substitution of the KV-3 tank: the ‘Accelerate crew training’ stayed ticked after the conversion.
• Fixed a bug with a substitution of the KV-3 tank: if to enter a battle without resupplying the ammo the ammo icons become doubled.
• Fixed some errors in the IS-4 damaged model: the mantlet thickness was increased from 200mm to 250mm, the frontal armor plate trim was increased from 58 degrees to 61 degrees.
• Fixed a bug with the traverse speed on the ST-1 tank, when the stock tracks had a better traverse speed than the top ones.
• Fixed a large scale pattern of camouflage on the IS-8 tank.
• Added the skipped icon of the IS-8 tank on the research tree and service record list.
• Reduced the maximum speed of the KV-4 to 30 km/h
• Fixed the cost of different camouflages for the IS-4 tank
• Rebalanced the parameters of the 85mm S-31 gun on the KV-3 tank.

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http://worldoftanks....litarymonth.png

Tankers!

The first special of May is here! This week's special is themed around Military Month.

Starting at 11:30 UTC on May 4, 2012 and lasting until 11:30 UTC on May 7, 2012 the following discounts and bonuses will be active.

• x3 XP for the first victory
• 90% discount on renaming crew members
• Up to a 58% discount on premium ammo
• 50% discount on the following tanks: M8A1, T49, M18 Hellcat, T25/2

Please note that selling the above-mentioned vehicles during the special will return 50% of their current sale price.

Be sure to take advantage of this special while it lasts! The above-mentioned items return to normal on May 7, 2012.

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Tankers!

We're thrilled to announce our first Skirmish tournament!

Skirmishes will occur on a weekly basis and be a bit more light-hearted than our current tournament lineup. Including everything from tier 1 tournaments to tank vs tank faceoffs, the format will be different every week!

Skirmish I

• Tournament Page
• Registration
• Discussion Forum

[/list]Here are the rules for this week's Skirmish:[/color]


Tier & Point Limits

A team must field a selection of tanks based on the below tier limits.

• Heavy tank - 4
• Medium tank - 4
• Tank Destroyer - 4
• Light tank - 4
Schedule

The full schedule will be provided at the close of registration, once the final team count has been determined. Note that only 64 teams will be allowed to participate. Teams will be accepted on a first come, first serve basis, see Registration for details.

• Round 1: May 7
• Round 2: May 8
• Round 3: May 9
• Round 4: May 10
• Round 5: May 11
• Round 6: May 12
• Round 7 (Finals & Third place): May 13
Prizes

The following prizes will be provided to each member of the respective team, including reserves.

• First place: 5,000
• Second place: 2,000
• Third place: 1,000
• Fourth place: 1,000
Maps

There will only be one map used during Skirmish I. The map played on will be Prokhorovka.


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Tankers!

All Stars 33 and 34 are announced!

All Star 33:

M5 Stuart

• bigotico - 28 All Star points (99.1 XP score)
  
• lisitut - 28 All Star points (87.7 XP score)
  
• Shiftec - 26 All Star points (95.9 XP score)

T-127

• kufo - 40 All Star points
  
• ImDrone - 34 All Star points
  
• Fingerz318 - 33 All Star points

All Star 34:

T-14

• Cue22 - 29 All Star points
  
• Lucciola - 27 All Star points (116 XP score)
  
• Monthar - 27 All Star points (93.8 XP score)

M40/M43

• PlayerSlayer - 23 All Star points (112.2 XP score)
  
• xiantom - 23 All Star points (107 XP score)
  
• Major_5 - 21 All Star points (128.06 XP score)

Congratulations to our All Stars!

Please allow up to 72 hours for gold distribution.

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Tankers!

Thanks to the success of our tournaments in World of Tanks we will be hosting a series of exhibition matches at E3 2012 this year!

World of Tanks E3 2012 Invitational

We are very proud to announce the E3 2012 Invitational Exhibition which will begin on June 5th and end on June 7th. We have invited one of our best regular tournament teams to attend E3 2012, team SIMP; there they will play against some of our other top teams hand-picked by the tournament staff.

We will be contacting various tournament teams over the next few weeks to invite them to participate in this event!

The entire E3 2012 event will be streamed with shoutcasting. Those who defeat team SIMP will earn 25,000 gold for each participant. We will provide further details as the event gets closer!

Participating Teams

• Team SIMP[list]
• Simpsonia
• macg1991
• Sonork
• HerrDuck
• AbsoluteRoyal
• fmlrommel
• Noquar

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Tankers!

We are changing the format of our All Star Contests. From now on, we will have only one All Star per week. The All Star event will last 3 days, from Tuesday to Thursday, and you will be able to choose from 3 tanks, each ranging from low tier to high tier! Standard and Premium tanks will be included randomly between the tiers.

France #35, May 1 - 3: D1, AMX 13 90, Type 59

Please send your submissions between Tuesday, May 1, starting at 12:01 AM PDT, and Thursday, May 3, ending at 11:59 PM PDT (6:59 AM UTC Friday). Curious what time this is in your region? Use this handy Time Zone Converter to help you out.

When you send in your submission, please also add the amount of XP you earned for that battle.

• Double XP: divide your total XP by 2 and then:
• Premium accounts: divide your total XP by 15
• Standard accounts: divide your total XP by 10

These XP calculations are not to be added into your MVP points. They are only useful if you tie with someone else.

There will be 3 top spots for each tank:

Prizes for each tank:

• 1st: 3000
• 2nd: 2000
• 3rd: 1000

Rules:

• Stay alive!
• Only NA server players can participate in this event
• Submit your best battle to allstar@worldoftanks.com, with the name of the tank you used.
• Only one battle can be submitted
• Add your game name in the email
• Add "All Star [name of tank]" in the subject line
• Add your All Star points and calculations in the email as well as your XP calculations.
• You may participate in only one category; you cannot win in both categories.
• Only random battles or platoons allowed.

These are the achievements to calculate:

• Destroyed tanks: 2 All Star points
• Damaged tanks: 2 All Star points
• Spotted tanks: 1 All Star point
• Defender: 3 All Star points
• Invader: 3 All Star points
• Scout: 3 All Star points
• Sniper: 3 All Star points
• Top Gun: 3 All Star points
• Confederate: 3 All Star points
• Steel Wall: 3 All Star points
• Boelter’s Medal: 3 All Star points

Here is a list of what we require for your entry:

(missing any of these will cause your submission to be disqualified):

• A screenshot of the end of battle window (preferable)or the replay file of the battle you are submitting (can be found in /games/World_of_Tanks/Replays). To activate replays: In game, go to your Settings, in the Game tab, and you'll see towards the bottom left "Enable Battle Recording." Check that and your games will be automatically saved in the Replay folder within the World of Tanks Game file.
• One screenshot of the garage with the end game pop up showing the achievements (We need to see the whole garage with your name included.  Do NOT send us a shot of just the cropped pop up).
• Show the All Star points calculations and total in your email.
• Add your game name in the email.

These items are all mandatory; it makes it much easier for me to determine the winners as quickly as possible.

We will post a reminder of these rules before each All Star.

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Tankers!

May has arrived!  It's National Military Appreciation Month in the United States, so we've lined up events for you all to enjoy. Stay updated about the contests and events on the News page and forums! We will post more detailed news about each event before it happens.

Here is a brief preview of our upcoming May events:

May All Stars:

• All Star #35 France, May 1 - 3: D1, AMX 13 90, Type 59
• All Star #36 USSR, May 8 - 10: S-51, IS-7, PzKpfw S35 739 (f)
• All Star #37 Germany, May 15 - 17: PzKpfw 35 (t), VK 4502 (P) Ausf. B, Matilda
• All Star #38 USA, May 22 - 24: T57, T95, Ram
• All Star #39 France, May 29 - 31: AMX 38, ARL 44, Lowe

Creative Contests:

Our creative contest this month will be a long one.  Break out those paints, sprue cutters, and magnifying glasses; it's a tank modeling contest!  When we post the rules for this one, be sure to read them carefully--we don't want you to miss a step.

After the insane turn out we had for our cake contest, we're pretty sure you're going to impress us with your submissions this time around too.

Weekend Contests:

Do your adopted nation's tank line proud! We've got a challenging French vs. German Scavenger Hunt lined up for you toward the middle of the month.

It's not quite the weekend, but we're also hoping to squeeze in a WGNA Tank Company on one of the Fridays.  Keep your eyes peeled for the exact date.

Are you a fan of the tanks from the USSR ?  We've hosting an MVP event that may interest you.

Twitter Contests:

We will be holding only one Twitter Quiz this month on the 25th.

Please remember, all of these contests and events can be changed by the NA Community team with or without notice (we will of course try and keep you posted!). Also, all the discounts, patches, specials are not included in this news.



http://worldoftanks....party-6apr2012/

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Tankers!

Due to player feedback we have decided to allow a one-time roster change for teams in the World of Tanks Classic, Season I. See details below.

World of Tanks Classic, Season I Roster Change Requirements

All roster changes should be sent to tournaments@worldoftanks.com, may be sent ONLY by the team captain, and should include the following information:

• Division:
• Team Name:
• Your nickname:
• Name of any players you would like removed, and reason you would like them removed:
• Name of players you would like added:

Additional Regulations:

• A maximum of 5 players per team may be changed.
• Team sizes may not be changed. If a team currently has 15 members, it may not have 16 memebers after the roster changes.
• Team members will not be removed simply because they left a clan as this is not a clan tournament.
• All applications for roster changes must be submitted by Thursday any applications to change the team roster submitted  after Thursday will be declined.
• Valid reasons include: violation of World of Tanks rules, inability to show up for matches, refusal to participate in tournament, etc.

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With the "soviet" 7.3 update fast approaching live EU and US servers (RU release has just taken place while you still have some time to grin IS-4 ),




the development team is now switching its focus to the next step, namely 7.4 update. The upcoming update is supposed to be more than just a content patch.

While the exact content and features for the next update, which is 7.4, is still to be finalized and extended.
1. Extension of French tech tree
SPGs:

• Renault BS
  
• Lorraine 39 L AM
  
• AMX 105 AM
  
• AMX-13 F3 AM
  
• Lorraine 155 (50)
  
• Lorraine 155 (51)
  
• Bat. Chatillon 155 (features cassette reloading or autoloader)

TDs:

• Renault FT AC
  
• Renault UE 57
  
• Somua Sau 40
  
• S 35 CA
  
• ARL V 39
  
• AMX AC de 100
  
• AMX AC de 120
  
• AMX 50 Foch

MT:

• Renault G1R

2. New premium vehicles previously available only to supertesters:

• Soviet premium heavy tank of tier 8 Object 252/IS-6
  
• German TD of tier 8 JagdTiger mit 8.8cm KwK 43 L/71

3. Two new maps:

• Wide Park. This map is based on Munich landscape and contains a large city part.
  
• Airport/Airfield. The map features airport located in the desert.

In addition to that we can expect a bunch of new premiums available for supertesters only until 7.5.

Also at this stage a lot of work is being done on the following stuff:

• multiple UI improvements, especially the design of tank trees
  
• new camo patterns
  
• new game modes - Assault and Counter battles, both entered the final production stage
  
• new sound effects
  
• improvements to the current team damage reimbursement mechanics
  
• The updates of the 7.4 current status will be provided closer to its release date.

Q: In which update is the premium tank Jagdtiger going to be introduced in?
A: It will be publicly available in 7.4 update.

Q: I would like to ask when there might be some new game modes making an appearance, is this ever actually going to happen?
A: We expect new game modes to arrive in 7.x series.

Q: Hi Overlord, can you please tell us if it's planned to implement an option to demount equipment using credits?
A: No, it's not planned.

Q: Progression from % to % is not linear. Hence it takes 20 battles to get to 50%, and 200 to get to 100! (rough guess). If it was linear i.e 100XP per 1% training, it would be so much easier for everyone to understand. Please clarify?
A: Progression within a particular skill is not linear, the higher percentage, the more exp is required. There is a consideration to make the progression linear.

Q: Are there any plans to add some kind of gamemodes related to training a trank driver etc.? Maybe something like an obstacle course for handling practice?

Real tank drivers get the benefit of familiarity training, seems like a good idea to allow players to do so.
A: There is such a consideration like obstacle course.

Q: Will the camouflage paint ever give camouflage bonus in the game engine like for instance the camouflage net does?
A: Yes, that's still in plans.

Q: Can you please make a more specfic statement what changes are plan for the German tanks? Especially the heavy ones?
A: At this stage we are not announcing the changes until they are within reasonable release timeframe and not subject to any further revision.

Q: Overlord, I've got a question about 0 damage critical hits. Do they happen at random, or can you prevent them with good aiming?
A: Such "zero damage crits" can happen when you hit external module (gun or tracks) or in some cases when shell goes through the optics inside the tank. So, basically you can reduce this happening by precise aiming.

Q: Two questions - are there any plans to limit SPGs per battle/team? And are there any plans to limit the amount of premium tanks per battle/team?
A: At this stage - no to both questions. We are waiting for the new matchmaker first, to assess its pros and cons.

Q: Are you considering adding the Super Pershing as a premium US tier 8 medium tank?
A: The introduction of Super Pershing is possible.

This week we get to hear from Strykewolf of the AR15's clan. After reading there replies we have gotten, it seems to me that they are honest and really like their firearms. Seeing that many of them have military backgrounds, those that server always get my respect and I think them all for severing and protecting our freedoms.


Q: Please tell us about your Clan. What brought your group together?

A: Well, as of now, we actually have two clans going. AR15 and AR-15. That aside, we have common interests in firearms and many of us are veterans or, currently serving. You would find a fairly large cross-section of various careers in either clan variant. Very nearly all of us, are adults...well, sort of.



Q: How long have you been formed?

A: Well, officially, August of 2011. Though, many of us where in contact with each other before we finally set up the first, and eventually, the second clan.



Q: Is there a particular history or story behind your Clan name?

A: AR15 (Black Rifle) is a reference to the civilian model of the military M16/M4 series issue rifle. It is also a reference to the website that most of us come from which would be AR15.com. The clan logo is easily recognizable by those of us from there, and familiar with the AR15 platform of firearms...ie: the bolt-face logo.



Q: What insight or philosophy is the driving force behind your union? In other words, what motivates your members, what instills that esprit de’ corps so many clans seek?

A: Not sure if it's insight, or philosophy. Many of us are already familiar with each other from another site. Although we do not always get along with each other, or , always play well with others, we have a 'live and let live' mentality with regards to the game, and clan...for the most part. What keeps us together, I guess, would be common interests outside of WoT, as well as similar backgrounds and life experiences.



Q: What leadership/management style can you share that has helped [AR15] stay together as a vibrant and active Clan?

A: Ever herded cats? Well, since most are adults...they tend to handle things on thier own. Occasionally, an issue will be brought to me, or, one of the other commanders for input/handling.



Q: Many Clans play other games together as well, all for a variety of reasons. What brought your Clan specifically into WoT? What, if anything, would encourage [AR15]'s continued gaming and expansion within WoT?

A: Aside from firearms enthusiasts, the site that we came from boasts a fairly healthy amount of folks who also like to game. A member there posted links to the Beta testing of WoT and we've been coming over ever since. A few more have shown up in just the last couple of weeks. Not all who came over are in either clan. Some were already clanned elsewhere and, some prefer to roll solo. There's probably around 200 arfcommers who play WoT to one extent, or another.



Q: What can we expect to see from [AR15] in the future?

A: Well, generally we're pretty layed back. Mostly here for fun, mostly clanned so it's easier for us to platoon up and, set up occasional company fights. That said, we are considering clan wars fairly soon. Still have some things to sort out, in that direction.



Q: What are your basic requirements for application and membership in [AR15]? Is there anything specific you look for in an applicant?

A: Well, we set up the clan, primarily, for arfcommers and thier RL friends and family. Sort of a home for them to get together easier. That's why we really haven't advertised for players...already knew we'd fill the clan up with just folks from the other site. Not sure how LCPL4ever is running the other one. We needed more clan slots and LCPL4ever stepped up and set up the second since we had quite a few folks waiting in line, so to speak.



Q: What council or advice would you offer those new to WoT? And the more experienced?

A: Patience. The game will frustrate the hell out of you at times. Other times, you'll have a match and wonder "How the hell did I pull that off?". Not every tank fits every tanker. You will come across tanks that everyone seems to love and, you will hate it. The opposite applies, as well. Don't take everything you're told by other players as gospel on how to play...though, in general, they may have good advice.



Q: Since the release of Clan Warfare, how has it impacted/affected your Clan?

A:  It really hasn't since we are just getting to the point of, possibly, entering into clan battles.



Q: How has the most recent clan wars update affected your clan?

A: See above.



Q: (For [AR15] members) How has the release of CW Beta impacted you and your game play and/or style, ie; time, focus, team-play, etc?

A:  Hasn't as yet.



Q: (For [AR15] members) Back when your clan was doing CW, what suggestions would you offer to other tankers and Clans in the Beta?

A: At this point, I would not even think to offer any.



Q: Our final question: For those interested in applying to [AR15], what is the next step?

A: trykewolf: Well, we've been full for a long time. We're mostly here for fun, and since some members are active duty, we do not automatically remove inactive players since they may very well be, deployed. If we did have room, and folks were interested...we are more of an adult-oriented clan that doesn't require anything special from it's members. We have all skill levels in the clan...and we're cool with that. The primary commonality we do have, clan-wise, is that we're enjoy firearms.

AR15's website
Clan Page

"The Gripes"
Figure it out already!

First of all, this article is not my normal type of piece I usually write about.  My normal writing usually covers particular tanks with opinions on how those tanks perform.  This week is going to be about a series of common gripes.  We all know them, I have written a couple of articles on them and so I will only do some follow up on those.  The one thing that people have to remember is that this is just a game.  When you throw in twenty thousand people in any given day, you are bound to get some people who are...well to put it bluntly, grumpy buttheads!  These types of people tend to be your chief culprits in the realm of complainers.

Wallet Warriors!  
         This is one of the most common that gets said in the game.  People usually complain about this after they get owned by a premium tank.  Most of the time this is one of the Tier VIII's.  It always makes me laugh when the first thing they say is "blanking wallet warrior!"  What they don't realize is that any player who has at some point in time purchased a premium account has just become a "wallet warrior".  When someone purchases a premium account it is for one reason only and that is to make more credits and experience.  Plain and simple.  They know that if they were to be in a standard account they would not gain as much.  So do not get upset because someone is able to purchase a Tier VIII premium tank.  Always remember you have other tanks to play.  And if you want to have a premium tank, figure out a way to save up some cash.  Maybe it is not going out to eat one day a week for 5 weeks and then you can buy a KV-5.  It is a great Tier VIII premium tank.  It does not have the biggest gun for the Tier VIII tanks but it is the most economical purchase at this time.  So please take this to heart before you complain about a wallet warrior.

Fail Team!
         These people make me laugh to the extreme.  We have all been there.  For all you new tankers this is when one team loses quite handily to the opposing team.  This is no remarkable feat mind you but it does happen.  I have been on hundreds if not thousands of fail teams.  How is that possible you might ask?  I have over 17K battles so I am speaking from experience.  So the complainers start in when they get killed and a tank on their team is not doing what they want them to do.  This is why it is so laughable.  They are the first to die because they drove out away from the pack.  I know this because I have done it thousands of times.  It does not make my day when this happens but it does happen, that is just my playing style.  The complainers will keep it going using plenty of cuss words and adjectives to describe the players that are not doing what they say.  This is why these people are laughable.  Lopsided victories happen to everyone.  Even the tankers that have just suffered the "fail team" aspect comes into play.  But when they are on the losing team they forget all about their victories they had on lopsided wins.  So I say to them, relax it is just a game and remember...YOU HAVE OTHER TANKS TO PLAY LOL!

You "blanking" hacker / botter!
         This is the most amusing to me.  I am no computer guru nor know much about the programming side of this games, but this is what has been explained to me. Back when games first came about, cheats have been there. From the simple card games, to the slight more complex pinball machine with the use of bumping it, to today's video games. Some video games came with built in cheats such as probably one of the most recognizable codes ever, the Konami code.

This simple code that was implemented into many games from back in the mid 80's. Back then, these type's of cheats were not used on online playing, Since back then, gaming consoles and PC's really did not have online MP playing, so all cheats had to be put into game by the developers. Which is still seen today on allot of games, within the admin side of games and the single player versions of these games. But with games such as World of Tanks here, hacks and cheats have not been built into the game and the best way that they found to battle hackers is to give as little opportunity to hack/cheat.

With WoT how it is, being that all the caculations are done on server side with little input on the client side, if someone were to say, and I have seen this before, "There was no way you could shoot me there, Your a hacker", (language cleaned up, just trying to get the basic idea of what is said). But for me to be able to cause that shell to ignore the fact that there is a obstruction, such as a building or a mountain, I would have to hack the game server it self, go through the firewall, and be able to do real time calculations all at the same time while being undetected. On top of that, if this game is set up like other games, I would have to have it ignore the map information on top of that, which at this time, what I have heard, has never been done on any other game with there weapons.

Overall, hacking in the use of what most people know as hacks, like wallhacks, aimbots, mombots, and so on, just don't exist on Wot for the lack of client side input that other game have. Does this mean there will never be any cheats, well people already proved that there will be, using such things as the old time tracer cheat, which has been long fixed. But with that old cheat, it did give arty players that used it a large advantage over us honest players. People that create things like that and the people that need stuff like that to play, to me are some of the worst players in the game. They prove their lack of skills each time they go in playing with them. But with cheats like that, WG quickly took notice of the problem and came up with a solution to fix the issue and get the feature of tracers back to arty.

Another thing I see allot, is people complaining about bot's, eg. "This guy is a bot", just because he did not leave the base. I chuckle over that because I have seen things like that happen to my clan mates that I have been platooned up with, and they get called a botter for they stop moving in the middle of a match or never move at the beginning of the match. I chuckle a little for its not because he is a bot, its usually because he has timed out or he got disconnect from the game server. I have seen time and time again people throwing around that term falsely without even knowing what they are talking about. What I have gathered a bot is, is a person that uses things such as macro's where its a pre-programmed set of movements, and once in a battle, they hit a key and they they can leave and it will follow the key code commands as if he was at his PC. I been in matches where I seen tanks move up, crash into a building and continue driving, then stop, and turn into another building, and so on. Right there, you could tell that he was truly "botting". But now people seem to over use the term and is making it almost almost like a car alarm, where we hear it, but just ignore it.

Overall, before you start calling someone a hacker, maybe watch the replay of your match and see how they killed you, for who knows, you might just discover a glitch in a map or the game. But the chances of that person actually hacking, is improbable. More and likely, he hit you just at the right angle, or hit something you did not realize was exposed.  As for the botter's, know what one is before over using that term, some of these people just might have times out or they got disconnected. If you think they are truly botting, just use the in-game reporting system. No need to start being a troll about it. If you do, then you would be no better then them by not playing the game nor helping your team, which is usually what the whole grip is about.



Good luck and have fun!

See you on the Battle Field!

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