World of Tanks

[Skywalkre]

Fuck these idiots. Nine games was all I could stomach. It's not worth it, for a long shot at a Type 59, to put up with these mouthbreathers.

 

I just had a game where tier 4 was top tier. Enemy has a minimaus, though. I maneuver to its rear, unload who knows how many gold rounds into its ass, and kill it. Minimaus was smart, though. He was blocking me from getting to the rest of his friendly force that was en route to cap. No biggie. It was clearly visible on the minimap that a large enemy force was near our base and my teammates, who were closer to our base than theirs, moved to stop them... right?

 

NOPE.

 

Dipshits keep moving towards the enemy base. That whole 'cap faster' mentality at play again. I rush in after finishing off the Minimaus. Interrupt one capper. Take damage. Move to interrupt another. Take more damage. Try to move to cover. Dead.

 

I'm going back to play high tiers and work on my other goals. When I get enough free xp unlocked I'll go back to my original plan and start at the T-34 regardless of whether it's before or after this contest is over.

[Skywalkre]

I don't know how you all can stand these low tier games. I've been playing for an hour and I'm ready to throw my keyboard out the window. These people are awful at this game.

 

And high tiers are any better in this regard?

On the NA server? Yes.

 

Edit: It also helps that at high tier I have tanks that are more capable of carrying a game compared to a POS like the Stuart.

Edited January 17, 2013 by Skywalkre

[Fritz]

Yeah low tiers are quite a challenge when you're the ONLY player in the whole battle who has any clue.

[Przezdzieblo]

Welcome back, Jeff

[Skywalkre]

What sort of frequency does WG turn over new maps? I've seen tons of AFVs added to the game in only the short amount of time Ive been playing, but nothing in the way of new maps or even hints of new maps.

It's rare and when they do they're often not very good. They've pulled about 1/3 of the maps they've released in the last year. Not the greatest track record.

[Skywalkre]

Ahhh... much better.

 

Victory!

Battle: South Coast Thursday, January 17, 2013 11:17:28 AM

Vehicle: M26 Pershing

Experience received: 1,431

Credits received: 41,440

Battle Achievements: Sniper

The Pershing is growing on me. I think I've figured out how it needs to be played. You can't be out front with it. Use mobility to get in position after the enemy is focused on teammates, not because it's particularly mobile (my own testing showed it's at the bottom for tier 8 meds) but simply because the armor is tinfoil and you can never hope for anything to bounce.

[Fritz]

Like with the M46 its strengths are in the soft stats. I like my Pershing a LOT. I think it's the only tank of mine that I've had two 2000+ xp battles in one day with.

[Skywalkre]

Just the Dicker Max.

[Skywalkre]

Where can I see number on vehicle signature? I suspect the T28 hides more easily, but how much more?

You have to find info from players doing their own testing. Sadly, most of this comes from the RU server so you also have to find a translation.

 

Here's one link I found in my bookmarks:

 

[cptcav]

We're having a discussion on our clan forum about Serene Coast getting pulled, and I opined that perhaps a map that needs to be made is simply a square of gently rolling hills with little to no bushes or trees. No true arty cover--but a lot of spots to get hull down or move about disguised by the terrain. Simply put, a map with lots of places to run to--but nowhere to hide. A guy told me I was crazy because TDs and slow heavies would be super vulnerable on that map, and this was my response: [M]aps already totally don't marginalize entire classes of tanks by their mere existence? The one piece of the trident of a tank's usefulness (Armour-Firepower-Mobility) that is not exercised much in the game is mobility. In addition, imagination in attacks and defence are taken away by the fact that maps are designed to be maps to be gamed upon, and not realistic layouts of land where the strategic and tactical movement is not already thought out for you by the map creator. Don't believe me? Look at how the maps are actually laid out. Roadblocks, indestructible buildings, and impassable terrain funnel us into predetermined fighting areas. All we get to choose is which killing field we get to camp at. I'd love to see a wide-open map if for no other reason than to watch the mouthbreathers flop around trying to figure out what to do because SerB and Co. didn't think about how to fight for them beforehand. I'd be willing to bet a map like that would more closely correlate average win rate / XVM / WN3 rating of the teams opposing each other with which side wins on that map than any other.

Have only been playing WoT for a couple months now -- but Big +1 to the above. The few maps currently available get way overplayed. Many players seem to have very carved in stone and repetitive tactics for each map. Himmelsdorf comes to mind-- "who's going up the hill" and "the hill is the key" are the inevitable comments at the start of each Himmelsdorf session. While I get the importance of the Hill in the STANDARD battle where each side has their own base -- it dominates that half of the map. However, I don't get the hill's tactical importance in the ENCOUNTER version of Himmelsdorf in which the single base is located way the hack on the other side of the map. There is no direct LOS from the hill to the base. No flank domination in this instance. But i digress... I'm still having a lot of fun with the game, but can see it getting stale for me based solely upon playing upon the same terrain over-and-over. Having done a fair bit of "level" construction for a number of games of somewhat similar ilk, I know the huge amount of work that goes into creating Maps (or "levels" -- whatever you want to call them). But given the popularity of the game and the size of, and resources that are now available to WG, I'd think dedicated "level" designers would be part of the key design staff. What sort of frequency does WG turn over new maps? I've seen tons of AFVs added to the game in only the short amount of time Ive been playing, but nothing in the way of new maps or even hints of new maps.

 

I agree as well. My time in the Army was spent mainly in the desert of Ft. Bliss, Texas. I would love to see a desert map with gentle contour lines, dunes and some arroyos. The whole map would be fightable and fun. Plently of places for hull-down positions and even total defilade. Yet, you could still drive in a straight line across by going over dunes (for the noobs) with maybe a little channeling by some arroyos. While I would still hate artillery on the map, it would be very vulnerable to the fast scouts racing to the enemys rear.

[Skywalkre]

Over on the WoT subreddit someone posted that the Stuart was a great tank. Showed his stats (18 wins out of 21) and a few replays. His biggest advice was to never stop moving. Use the speed to your advantage and never give the opponent an easy shot.

 

Checked out the replays and that was only partially true. He often would use his speed to get to an odd spot at the start and snipe from weird angles. After that he would scoot around. Interesting strat but he was real lucky in some. Case in point: on Cliff he rushed the west only to climb up onto the raised area. He was real vulnerable and it appeared from where the enemy was later in the match that he lucked out with a team that doesn't even push the corner of their side of that area.

 

Regardless, picked up the Stuart again. Focused on being more mobile. Also tried to make it a point to never be in front. I'll try and get somewhere different and let my teammates get the attention and then swoop in.

 

So far things are better but not great. Finished second in xp in three straight games (one was tier 6 as high tier) and averaged almost 700 damage in all those games. Still, teammates are a huge failure and only one was a win.

 

Edit: Fourth game finished top in xp and better than 12 of the enemy. 1k damage done. Still a loss. Can't do much when your high tier KV decides to push arty over ledges and then go AFK (and distracting most of your team for the first 3-4 minutes).

 

That guy's point about it being a great tank is an exaggeration. It can't win a game on its own, especially when higher tiers are present.

Edited January 17, 2013 by Skywalkre

[Fritz]

I lost at least 2 M4 games due to not following my own rules (go with the lemmings to keep them alive and do not get distracted from doing what's most winning).

 

At least the next 2 were pretty epic. First one I got on fire with the first hit and spent the rest of the game like that with broken engine and 80 hp left. Needed the handicap I guess cause I still killed 5 tanks (it was a T6 game). Next one was with 3 T7s on each side and 3-4 T6s. I did 2100 dmg, top dmg from any of the players in the battle by far.

Edited January 17, 2013 by Fritz

[Harold Jones]

Was platooning with a guy in 3AC who was working on the tier 3 Chinese tank and since I already had the stuart I decided to run my French tier 3 td. We ran 7 games and only lost 1, that thing is just hell on the Chinese tanks, I was getting 3-5 kills a match. I could two shot any Chinese tank while the best guns they have can't reliably kill me with four hits. The tier 4 turns like a barge with the stock tracks, the gun hits and pens but doesn't do crap for damage.

[Skywalkre]

Went 4/10 this morning on the Stuart. Went 5/10 this afternoon. Still a shitty tank.

 

Got the Ace badge already, though, and it won't take too much longer to unlock the T-34. Now really is the best time to play a tank like the Stuart as you'll get lots of battles at or near high tier. Was thrown in a few games with tier 7s at the end of this afternoon's run and it was not pretty.

[Fritz]

Rolled utter f-tards twice in a row with the T34 and signed off. There's no winning move in a T8 when you have several idiot T10s on your team.

[Harold Jones]

I know tier 4 is supposed to suck hard, but the chinese tier 4 light is the biggest shit sandwich I've had at that tier. No armor, not agile, not accurate, and no damage if it does hit. It makes me think fondly of playing the AMX40, the only reason I keep playing it is because I know that by next week it will be even worse to play as the mass of Chinese grinders clear into tier 5+.

[Fritz]

On Type 59, I know of someone that is thinking about selling his account.

 

Anyone wants to buy a quite engorged Euro account with about 40 vehicles? (Batchat 25, E50M, Patton III, T110E5, IS4, IS7, T92, JgPz E100, Type 59, Löwe, T34, M4A2E4 (beta collectible), Tetrarch, Valentine, T-127, Pz. 38(h)...) E100 and Maus researched but not bought.

 

I'd buy it if a) I had more time to play and cared to try the EU server when I'm over there or maybe give to my brother (he's at NA server atm so we can play together but it makes his solo play a bit harder because of ping), and b ) had a lot of cash to burn for no good reason

Edited January 18, 2013 by Fritz

[jwduquette1]

Welcome back, Jeff

 

Couldn't help myself...I got sucked into to WoT and can't get out

[jwduquette1]

What sort of frequency does WG turn over new maps? I've seen tons of AFVs added to the game in only the short amount of time Ive been playing, but nothing in the way of new maps or even hints of new maps.

It's rare and when they do they're often not very good. They've pulled about 1/3 of the maps they've released in the last year. Not the greatest track record.

 

That's unfortunate. I kinda wish they'd pull Dragon Ridge. The terrain is too fantasy'ish -- like something out of Kung Fu Panda or Kung Fu Panda 2 (sorry but my Daughter loves these movies so I've seen them a fair bit). Horrible tank country.

 

I would love to see some sort of modular terrain system in which the server generates random map configuration based upon puzzling together individual but vertex compatible modules. Sort of like the geomorphic maps in old games like Squad Leader or Panzerblitz -- and also along the lines of the editor for Combat Mission which could create completely random 3D battlefields. The map modules and various static meshes populating these map modules (buildings, trees, etc,) would have to be less detailed than the current WoT level designs, but a random map generator could provide a huge amount of variety to playing.

 

It would help eliminate rote tactics driven by over-familiarity with battlefield terrain features. Terrain dictates tactics. The Terrain in WoT does dictate tactics, but in a sort of non-organic way. Going into a battlefield with unfamilar terrain puts an entirely different twist into things. Players would have to develop tactics on the fly rather than rely upon finding whatever rock or bush provided them the best shooting position the last time they played on a particular map.

Edited January 18, 2013 by jwduquette1

[jwduquette1]

I agree as well. My time in the Army was spent mainly in the desert of Ft. Bliss, Texas. I would love to see a desert map with gentle contour lines, dunes and some arroyos. The whole map would be fightable and fun. Plently of places for hull-down positions and even total defilade. Yet, you could still drive in a straight line across by going over dunes (for the noobs) with maybe a little channeling by some arroyos. While I would still hate artillery on the map, it would be very vulnerable to the fast scouts racing to the enemys rear.

 

I did a bunch of level designs for a game called Darkest Hour -- an off shoot mod of Red Orchestra. Some were fun – some were hugely unpopular (live and learn).

 

We developed a number of techniques for importing actual topo maps and Google Earth images into the level editor for creating much more realistic and natural looking terrain features for some of our maps\levels. While the amount of level\battlefield eye candy was not – at least in my stuff – was not on par with the maps in WoT, I know it is a very doable thing to generate far more realistic "Earth like" terrain for a game like WoT. The battlefield doesn’t always have to have atypical geologic features and exaggerated topography.

 

There are a number of WoT levels that do look very natural and believable relative to what we typically see around us on the planet earth. But then there are also a number of maps -- which I'll grant can be tons of fun -- which bare little resemblance to Earth like terrain. And Perhaps that’s part of the charm of the game -- I mean outrageous looking terrain. Dunno. But, I’m with you in that in addition to the Cliffs of Insanity sort of maps, I’d also like to see maps\levels generated from maps of actual battlefields: Chinese Farm, A Real Prokorovka map, stuff around Caen\Goodwood – or maps of the training ground around Ft. Hood, Ft. Bliss, Ft. Irwin, or Hunter Liggett.

Edited January 18, 2013 by jwduquette1

[Paul G.]

Ok so I'm not really enjoying my Panther and not really looking forward to Panther II. Considering selling it and going back up the Tiger chain. Thoughts?

 

Also looking at the next tanks after the SU-100 and Jagdpanther. Leaning towards Ferd and SU-152.

[Fritz]

Panther II is vastly better, I'd say stick with the Panther.

[Skywalkre]

I know tier 4 is supposed to suck hard, but the chinese tier 4 light is the biggest shit sandwich I've had at that tier. No armor, not agile, not accurate, and no damage if it does hit. It makes me think fondly of playing the AMX40, the only reason I keep playing it is because I know that by next week it will be even worse to play as the mass of Chinese grinders clear into tier 5+.

Agreed that tier 4 needs a lot of work across the board. They have their chance to fix this with the upcoming rebalancing. Doubt they will, though.

 

What annoys me the most is when you're working up a line and thrown into a light/scout tank when your goal is a medium/heavy (Soviet/German trees here). One tier you're fighting similar tier opponents. Next you're spotting for very high tiers and getting one-shot, and then you're back to fighting similar tier opponents. It makes no sense. Being a scout should be a choice a player makes when working down a line, not something they're forced to do when working towards something unrelated.

[Skywalkre]

Ok so I'm not really enjoying my Panther and not really looking forward to Panther II. Considering selling it and going back up the Tiger chain. Thoughts?

Personally, I'd just ditch the German tree (minus the TD line). The medium and both heavy lines are... bad to average.

 

What do you enjoy playing? If it's heavies with real armor the Soviet IS-4 line is the best for that. If it's hybrid heavies the other Soviet line and the US heavy line are better options. If it's mediums I'd recommend the Soviet or new Chinese lines.

 

I was ready to quit this game when I made it to mid-tier on the German tree for both mediums and heavies. When I went and checked out the other trees I had a much better experience. If I knew then what I knew now I wouldn't even bother with the German tree except for the TD line.

 

Also looking at the next tanks after the SU-100 and Jagdpanther. Leaning towards Ferd and SU-152.

You can't go wrong with either choice in either tree, really.

[medicjim86]

Panther with the long 75 penetrates darn near everything even at extreme range... hang way back and act like a sniper...use stealth and that UBER long reach....

 

Do not close with the enemy