World of Tanks

[Simon_Jester]

Is this going to make it impossible to play on low-end systems?

Or are they doing it all without changing the computing requirements?

Because damned if I'm going to buy a new computer just to play World of Tanks and a couple of other games.

[Skywalker_T-65]

Actually Simon, according to the video it should make it easier to play it on older/lower quality computers. You'll have to play on lower settings most likely, but it should still improve from how it is now.

Here's the link to said video for anyone interested:

WoT 8.0 Preview

[Skywalker_T-65]

Well, finally unlocked the 3601, and I'm enjoying it so far. Something nice about being able to bounce shells from M6's (which one or two-shot my III/IV) and shooting clean through their turret in return. Oh, and I also managed to kill a Lowe in it somehow...still not exactly sure how I managed that but I'm not complaining by any means.

And I also managed to shoot through the front of a SuperPershing with my ELC...not sure how I did that either (and it did a pretty decent amount of damage too).

[Zinegata]

If you've got a Type for credits don't worry about the Super Persh. This goes double if your main top tier is going to be a 110, the T34 can get probably better credits and train your US heavy crew at the same time, which is why I got the Super Persh, I'm a huge fan of my Patton and was looking for a way to give it an amazing crew.

Yeah, I'm using the T34 for credit grinding now mainly; albeit the 7.5 patch distracted me with a huge pool of free XP (from the SU-85) which I used to get the Tiger up to snuff.

My T34 crew is indeed earmarked for the T110 - they're almost on their third skill.

Finally - and hilariously - I ended up fighting with a German fanboy clan (5Panza) twice last night and they were bitching and moaning about "Russian Bias" because they couldn't drive their Jagdtigers to save their lives. It was especially fun getting 2,800 damage (at least) while I was down to 8 HP in an M103 in one of those rounds while the JT driver camped and spent half the match bitching .

[Simon_Jester]

Well, finally unlocked the 3601, and I'm enjoying it so far. Something nice about being able to bounce shells from M6's (which one or two-shot my III/IV) and shooting clean through their turret in return. Oh, and I also managed to kill a Lowe in it somehow...still not exactly sure how I managed that but I'm not complaining by any means.

The traditional means of killing Lowes without knowing how the hell it happened is by shooting the turret mantlet just below the gun barrel and having it ricochet down into the thin top armor covering the hull just in front of the turret.

Shot traps are fun!

And I also managed to shoot through the front of a SuperPershing with my ELC...not sure how I did that either (and it did a pretty decent amount of damage too).

I'm going to chalk that one up to quantum tunneling.

[Zinegata]

Bah, always go lower glacis with the German tanks. You'll even set a few on fire this way .

[weemadando]

I just took 9% off a Lowe with a direct face to face shot from the ELC. Gun makes holes.

[AniThyng]

Note to self: do not poke out of the forest in Murovanka in a KT. I promptly got tracked, took like 15 hits and blew up.

[AniThyng]

@Zinegata

I saw your post on the Panzer III in tank lore. The responses from the "illiterate" are hilarious.

As a work of Pop history, what do you think of the book "Hitler's Panzers" by Dennis Showalter? I have a copy I picked up at a book sale, though I've only flipped through it so far - from waht I can see it does emphasize that there is a difference between Panzers - the tanks themselves and Panzers - the doctrine and employment thereof and that ultimately it is the latter not the former that mattered.

[Skywalker_T-65]

The 90mm on the ELC is actually surprisingly good at making holes in things. Then again, (after the glacial reload time) the next shot bounced off the side of the SP...so it was a stroke of luck that the first shot went through?

As for German tank fanboy's...I had a guy complaining about 'they got rid of historical realism for fun!' in his III/IV. I promptly told him to get over it since he was using a tank that never even got off the drawing board, let alone into combat (however much I may like the tank). I find it hilarious how it is only the German tankers who complain...not the Merican's or the Soviets, or even the French, though we like to mock the AMX 38/40.

[Broken]

Ahh, the much delayed 8.0 physics engine. I eagerly await the youtubes of Maus driving off cliffs to smash puny tanks below them.

[CaptHawkeye]

The Marder II with 7.5cm gun has a lot of staying power i've found. Even Tiers 2-3 ranks above it need to be careful. If it's the same gun to be found on the Panzer IV I think i'll be able to play that tank forever.

[PeZook]

Ahh, the much delayed 8.0 physics engine. I eagerly await the youtubes of Maus driving off cliffs to smash puny tanks below them.

If you just allow me to drive off clips arbitrarily designated "impassable" I will be a happy man.

Because on some maps this is just ridiculous, I drive towards a slope I should be able to go through and SLAM TO A STOP.

When driving a medium, that is...annoying.

[Skywalker_T-65]

Yeah, that's annoying. Some of these 'OMG its a CLIFF!!' moments where it won't let you move are very annoying. And Broken...you just gave me a hilarious image of a Maus falling on a T-50-2 or ELC

[AniThyng]

The Marder II with 7.5cm gun has a lot of staying power i've found. Even Tiers 2-3 ranks above it need to be careful. If it's the same gun to be found on the Panzer IV I think i'll be able to play that tank forever.

So all those cries of "they nerfed it i'm quiting forever" was just so much QQ?

The bit I don't get is all these people whining about how the new MM doesn't let them "feel the challenge of fighting a KT in a M4"(!), or that "MM should only put me in matches where I'm top tier". It's like they lack the self awareness to realize they are playing a pure PvP game and that for them to be on top some poor sucker must be at the bottom or vice versa.

Mayhaps they should introduce a new mode: BOT SLAUGHTER! Where people can take 5 tanks in and fight waves upon waves of AI tanks, starting with LOLTractors and going up a tier each round! That way we can all satisfy our urges to slaughter Shermans en masse, much like...I dunno, slaughtering waves of lvl10 zombies in WoW while lvl15. That sort of thing.

[Skywalker_T-65]

I like the new MM personally. I'm still not top-tier very much, but I have been that way for so long I'm used to it, and understand what the poor shumucks who are lower tier feel like. Plus now that my biggest tank is the 3601 I don't need to worry about being lower tier as much.

And a WoT Horde Mode? I realize it was a joke, but that actually sounds somewhat fun.

[CaptHawkeye]

So all those cries of "they nerfed it i'm quiting forever" was just so much QQ?

I'm new to the game so I have no idea what the neckbeards want. I frankly don't care either since balance doesn't seem to be a real problem in the game. Power creep is the bigger issue. IE: Too much "this turret/gun/track is better than the old one in every way".

The bit I don't get is all these people whining about how the new MM doesn't let them "feel the challenge of fighting a KT in a M4"(!), or that "MM should only put me in matches where I'm top tier". It's like they lack the self awareness to realize they are playing a pure PvP game and that for them to be on top some poor sucker must be at the bottom or vice versa.

Welcome to competitive multiplayer. People have been playing video games just so they can feel like big bad tough guys for years. They make up a substantial portion of the consumer market too.

Mayhaps they should introduce a new mode: BOT SLAUGHTER! Where people can take 5 tanks in and fight waves upon waves of AI tanks, starting with LOLTractors and going up a tier each round! That way we can all satisfy our urges to slaughter Shermans en masse, much like...I dunno, slaughtering waves of lvl10 zombies in WoW while lvl15. That sort of thing.

A horde mode for WoT would be fine by me. It just depends on how easily they could implement AI.

[AniThyng]

I like the new MM personally. I'm still not top-tier very much, but I have been that way for so long I'm used to it, and understand what the poor shumucks who are lower tier feel like. Plus now that my biggest tank is the 3601 I don't need to worry about being lower tier as much.

And a WoT Horde Mode? I realize it was a joke, but that actually sounds somewhat fun.

Yeah the new MM really makes playing at T6 and T7 pleasant regardless of where you're at, I know I've had so much fun with my VK and Tiger post patch even if I'm in the bottom 3rd.

Then I got my KT and now T8 is pretty much a bitch as you need to fight the T10's and all that, but eh, after spending all my time in 7.4 anyway it's something you get used too anyway. It's still way better then taking on T10's in a Tiger I

[Zinegata]

@Zinegata

I saw your post on the Panzer III in tank lore. The responses from the "illiterate" are hilarious.

As a work of Pop history, what do you think of the book "Hitler's Panzers" by Dennis Showalter? I have a copy I picked up at a book sale, though I've only flipped through it so far - from waht I can see it does emphasize that there is a difference between Panzers - the tanks themselves and Panzers - the doctrine and employment thereof and that ultimately it is the latter not the former that mattered.

I can't say since I haven't gotten the book yet. Might want to take it up with Thanas or Skimmer in History as they may know better.

As for German tank fanboy's...I had a guy complaining about 'they got rid of historical realism for fun!' in his III/IV. I promptly told him to get over it since he was using a tank that never even got off the drawing board, let alone into combat (however much I may like the tank). I find it hilarious how it is only the German tankers who complain...not the Merican's or the Soviets, or even the French, though we like to mock the AMX 38/40.

I also remember the time when the German fanboys were whining about the Panther being underpowered (which it kinda was) yet the VK3002DB was fine. And how the VK3601H was fine even though the Tiger was kinda sucky.

They totally do not get that adding those extra tons for a bit of extra armor (which was an addition forced on the design by Hitler anyway, who knew nothing of tank design) was totally not worth it, so why should they be surprised the the VK3002DB and the VK3601H would be better vehicles?

[Skywalker_T-65]

Beacuse they know nothing of history? While the Tiger/Panther were powerful (note, I didn't say good), that doesn't mean they should run over everything in sight. And they don't get that against their historical opponents, they do excllent. Stick a Tiger/Panther against a Sherman or T-34 and the Med will come out on the bottom (assuming an average driver). But they complain about a Soviet bias, and how their tanks are horribly nerfed when they get beaten by an M6 (never used) or a KV-3 on up (which are better historically).

It's actually funny to watch now that I think about it.

As for the VK tanks...much like the III/IV, they were never used. So that may be why they aren't whining as much...beacuse they don't have the 'LOL History' excuse to use. Though personally I love the III/IV and the 3601 way more than I am likely to like the Big Cat Tanks (tm).

[Nephtys]

Part of it was from earlier times in how they designed tanks though for that game.

For example, most American tanks (sans the T30) were reasonable vehicles. They were designed with some level of engineering sense in mind. Plus that ellusive factor of 'soft stats'.
But what about napkinwaffe German tanks? Do you just go and assume that X armor thickness, Y gun leads to Z tons and performance?
Or half those Russian tanks, which had an upgrade or two that only existed on a one-off testbed? Like the IDIOT gun T34-85 variant, that apparently couldn't fire without breaking itself? Or how the KV2 could only fire when stopped, turret at certain rotations, or else it had issues? Or how the IS4 couldn't reload it's gun without depressing the thing the whole way? Etc.

Those were most of the complaints. Especially about the IS3/4/7 back when, since they had such incredible combinations of stats.

[Skywalker_T-65]

Well, I'm still a noob player (if a few months is a noob...) so I wasn't around for the earlier discussions. And really, while those Soviet problems were gotten rid of for gameplay, the same could be said about the BCT's (Big Cat Tanks) problems. Like the Tiger being a slow moving monster that could get stuck in the lightest mud. Or how the Panther broke down every other battle.

Or for extra hilarity, look at the Ferdi...the only time they were used in large-ish numbers (Kursk) they were wiped out beacuse they couldn't turn quick enough to get a shot off, and broke down worse than the BCT's did.

But hey, Soviet bias.


EDIT: And considering I almost exlusively play German tanks, I should know if they were bad. And quite honestly...even with my limited time playing, I've found German tanks to be better than the Soviet equivalent. I can take a T-34-85 on with my III/IV and expect to win...could a T-34 take on a Panther and expect to win?

[Nephtys]

You can absolutely not take on a properly handled T-34-85 with a III/IV. The 34 actually has just enough armor to reasonably bounce many of your shots, is well armed, and nowadays, even faster than before. Still has somewhat bad soft stats, but unless you can successfully circle (which is countered by rotating + turret traverse), can't do it.

A T-34 with the 57mm can't take a Panther in this game in any reasonable circumstance.

That said, I'm assuming a basic level of competency. Without that, well. I've had an E8 Sherman take out a Pershing before solo. But one can't really account for that level of BAD.

[Skywalker_T-65]

Yeah, I was assuming the person driving the 34 wasn't that good. And while I have taken the larger tanks down, they were horrid drivers. Could a well driven 34-85 slap down my III/IV? Certainly...assuming a good driver.

I haven't seen a Panther vs. T-34 fight, but if you believe the more whiny part of the German fanbase, then the 34 can own them. Historically, that isn't really the case, which is why I pointed it out.

EDIT: And I have been smacked down by 34-85's...so not the best comparison there...but it was the best I had at the time. While I have been smacked down, I have at the same time beaten 34-85's, which is more than you can say for a basic 34 against a Panther.

[Vanas]

As for the VK tanks...much like the III/IV, they were never used. So that may be why they aren't whining as much...beacuse they don't have the 'LOL History' excuse to use. Though personally I love the III/IV and the 3601 way more than I am likely to like the Big Cat Tanks (tm).

Skywalker, look me up (Seffs) if you want a 3601 platoon at any point. They're truly wonderful vehicles. Even if they do look utterly hideous.

I keep meaning to take a look at the III/IV, but something about it just seems off to me.