World Of Tanks

[TheWombat]

Thanks!

I'm finding that 1) I never use auto-targeting; 2) the game, simple as it is, actually captures the tradeoffs of WWII tank combat pretty well, and 3) it's surprisingly addictive.

They have publicly announced that there will be various historic modes or battles where IIRC tanks will be restricted by nationality and in some cases by year of availability. There are also clan wars where clans duke it out over a persistent map.

American tanks (but apparently not TDs) will be available at release. British, French, and Japanese tanks are planned after release, and the German, Russian, and American trees will be extended considerably. They are also talking about adding the Italians, but I think that's more up in the air than the other three.

You can find the release and full tech trees (i.e., the list of tanks) here.

[Marcin]

At what point should people jump from recruit battles to standard? When you get a tier 3 vehicle?

It may actually be useful to hang on to a low tier vehicle for the free XP you get since you maxed out your unlocks on it.

I'm finding that 1) I never use auto-targeting; 2) the game, simple as it is, actually captures the tradeoffs of WWII tank combat pretty well, and 3) it's surprisingly addictive.

I use auto when on the move. Just having the turret rotate for me while I'm trying to see where I'm going - especially true in the faster tanks - is helpful.

It is amazingly addictive for something with only what ... 5 maps? I put RDR, Crackdown 2, Darksiders and Skate3 aside for this and Minecraft.

[Jarrodhk]

Even once you have tier 3 and above, the recruit battles can be useful to maintain some money income. The tier 1 and 2 tanks have almost no costs, even when completely blown apart.

Plus you are developing/continuing to develop a crew, especially if you are concentrating on one nationality/tree at a time.

[Sepiche]

I messed around with this for a few nights, but so far it hasn't really grabbed me.

The ballistics seem good and (once you get used to it) the movement system is solid (if very laggy for me). The upgrade process is also interesting and mostly fun, but I find fighting the same basic battles on the same maps to get tiresome pretty quickly.

I really hope this is just a side effect of the beta and that they are planning on having a more elaborate campaign system of some sort for the battles. Making the battles the focus of the game instead of the quest for more upgrades seems like the way it needs to go to be successful in the long run.

[Jarrodhk]

Biggest thing about the game as it is right now for me is the lack of being able to play with friends.

Put that in and I'll play quite a bit more and longer.

[TheWombat]

Yeah there's zero sense of community beyond the online FPS sort of camaraderie. Doesn't help that apparently your log in name is in fact your screen name (doh!) and many of them are freakin' odd, and not in an easily remembered sort of way. And the netcode/lag/whatever may need tweeking (it's a beta, after all) because sometimes tanks seem to warp around pretty badly.

But...it looks good, it's got great tank geek cred, and even if it is really just CounterStrike with tanks, it's a hoot.

[vyshka]

Yeah the warping is frustrating at times. Hopefully they will get the clan support implemented soon, and we can have a Qt3 clan.

[cliffski]

I thought the warping happened when tanks popped in and out of radio detection range?

[TheWombat]

I thought the warping happened when tanks popped in and out of radio detection range?

That could be part of it, except when they're right in front of you, in gun range and clear LOS, that doesn't seem logical. At distance, I can buy it. In fact, I love the fact that your ability to track the enemy on the map depends on people scouting and having the radio capability to report it. That's pretty cool.

[Soapyfrog]

Friendly tanks never warp so I'm inclined to think it's an effect of the detection system.

[Nathan Phoenix]

Really not digging this so far. It feels like it should be called world of artillery, since spotting + arty seem to account for most of my deaths and most of the friendly kills I've seen. :(

[Marcin]

Really not digging this so far. It feels like it should be called world of artillery, since spotting + arty seem to account for most of my deaths and most of the friendly kills I've seen. :(

Arty dominates early on, this is true. It also doesn't help that those highbie bastards keep playing arty in Recruit to pad their free XP and earn money... (/hides).

Also, keep moving. :) If you see them, chances are they see you and so does arty.

[Kalle]

Really not digging this so far. It feels like it should be called world of artillery, since spotting + arty seem to account for most of my deaths and most of the friendly kills I've seen. :(

I know it can be a chore to get to that point but trust me, once you get out of the recruit battles artillery will most definitely take the backseat.

Before that, get a quick tier 2 tank and zip around and kill artillery yourself. I still have a BT-2 that I take out now and again because it's a blast to play.

[TheWombat]

Friendly tanks never warp so I'm inclined to think it's an effect of the detection system.

Hmm, could well be. In that case, I withdraw my objection, your honor.

[ydejin]

If you need to stop for accuracy - which makes sense, given the period - doesn't that contradict the earlier advice by other players to "never stop moving?"

Depends on whether you want to be offensive or defensive.

Suppose your light tank is forward scouting for enemy tanks. You are in the middle of a field and have already noted several enemy tanks around the field. You see an enemy artillery unit -- a high-value unit that is actually quite vulnerable to your small caliber gun. You probably want to take the shot on the run, instead of stopping to make sure you hit. Because if you stop while exposed you will probably get blasted.

Just keep in mind that if you stop moving you are vulnerable and if you don't stop moving you will probably miss. Also if you're moving directly toward or away from the enemy you're going to get blasted anyway. You want the enemy to have to traverse their turret to hit you. Plus you need a good head of steam, moving slowly is not going to help that much.

I probably over emphasize offense which reduces my overall effectiveness. I always want to hit my target, and as a result I get hit too often and die too often. I tend to stay there unmoving blasting at my enemy as he blasts back at me, and we just slug it out until one of us dies. Even if I win, that means I'm pretty badly damaged.

Another tip, when facing an enemy tank destroyer, it is particularly important to keep moving. The enemy TD has a very limited traverse for his gun. If you move a bit to the right or left he'll have to realign. It's often useful to come in on his side and slam into him -- hopefully pinning him into something like a wall. Anything you can do to prevent him from turning or at least make it harder for him to turn to face you is good. I learned this trick from one of the Qt3 folks on the in-game chat channel.

[Jarrodhk]

Enjoying the game, but, really wish someone would do a mech game along these lines. Something slow paced and tactical with lots of upgrade options.

Battletech setting would be my personal preference, but, I know that won't happen. Chromehounds was a lot of fun because of the teamwork and tactics and building your own mech.

Oh well. For the meantime I'll enjoy blowing my tank up and occasionally blowing up enemy tanks.

[Marcin]

Enjoying the game, but, really wish someone would do a mech game along these lines. Something slow paced and tactical with lots of upgrade options.

Battletech setting would be my personal preference, but, I know that won't happen. Chromehounds was a lot of fun because of the teamwork and tactics and building your own mech.

Oh well. For the meantime I'll enjoy blowing my tank up and occasionally blowing up enemy tanks.

Good grief, yes. Wouldn't leave the house ever again.

[ydejin]

Yeah there's zero sense of community beyond the online FPS sort of camaraderie. Doesn't help that apparently your log in name is in fact your screen name (doh!) and many of them are freakin' odd, and not in an easily remembered sort of way. And the netcode/lag/whatever may need tweeking (it's a beta, after all) because sometimes tanks seem to warp around pretty badly.

I was also surprised at the login name being your screen name. Usually for MMOs I try to come up with something quite obscure for my login because AIUI that improves your security a bit. All my MMOs have different login names and none of them are the same as my e-mail or bboard login names. Fortunately I didn't do that for this one since it's a beta. Now my WoT login is only mostly obscure instead of truly random.

Another security related issue, if you've logged into their forums it appears to send your name and password in clear text. The login page is http not https and the login <form> itself also uses http not https.

I e-mailed them about it and they said they were working on improving the security of their website.

[Gus_Smedstad]

It's an interesting game, but there is practically no information available for new players. Even the boards supposedly for "new players" don't cover basic concepts.

For example, how are you supposed to earn gold? To buy things like APCR?

This is clearly a game where if one team could manage to get their act together, move tanks in groups and designate defenders, they'd walk all over the other team. Yet that's nearly impossible with random players - I can only really see it happening if you could somehow join with specific team-mates, who had arranged for voice communication beforehand.

- Gus

[ydejin]

For example, how are you supposed to earn gold? To buy things like APCR?

After release if you want gold you use real life cash. It's a free-to-play game. There may be a few ways to earn small amounts of gold after release -- we shall see. During the beta you get 150 gold per day that you play at least one match. I believe the gold is deposited in your account at 0:00 GMT.

This is clearly a game where if one team could manage to get their act together, move tanks in groups and designate defenders, they'd walk all over the other team. Yet that's nearly impossible with random players - I can only really see it happening if you could somehow join with specific team-mates, who had arranged for voice communication beforehand.

AIUI the next patch will support 3-5 person groups. Larger groups will be supported in the "Clan Wars" mode, and possibly other modes as well.

[MrCoffee]

Actually i kinda like the random battles, you never know how its going to unfold.

[Gus_Smedstad]

True, I just can't help but think that a lot of the current tactics exist because of the lack of coordination. Tank destroyers, for example, have a real ambush advantage due to their sighting range and heavy guns, but that only works if you can reasonably set up coordinated ambush defenses of your base. Single players laying ambushes rarely works.

- Gus

[ydejin]

True, I just can't help but think that a lot of the current tactics exist because of the lack of coordination. Tank destroyers, for example, have a real ambush advantage due to their sighting range and heavy guns, but that only works if you can reasonably set up coordinated ambush defenses of your base. Single players laying ambushes rarely works.

Proper coordination would really change the game a lot. Given the impact movement has on firing proper use of fire-and-movement tactics would likely work quite well. A four tank team broken down into pairs with two tanks moving forward and two standing would be quite effective. Similarly because of turret rotation time a group of tanks moving with each covering their own sector is a good idea.

I am a little worried about mixing in pre-made teams with pickup groups. I don't want anyone not in a team to get crushed. Or teams without Ventrillo to get crushed.

[MrCoffee]

Game could really use voice chat for the teams.

[Incendiary Lemon]

Wow... the heavies are a real money sink.

Repair costs run about 11k for a Tiger so getting killed is a quick trip to bankruptcy. With a premium tank I have to kill at least two lower tier tanks to offset the cost of getting destroyed.

[MrCoffee]

I read the Tiger 2 is around 20k for getting destroyed, my VK3001P is around 6-8k i think and ammo is around 6k

[ydejin]

Game could really use voice chat for the teams.

Yes and no. Given the occasional trash talk that already shows up in chat, I'm not really sure I want to listen to my team mates unless it's a premade team.

Apparently they decided not to have a post game chat for that very reason.

[ydejin]

I read the Tiger 2 is around 20k for getting destroyed, my VK3001P is around 6-8k i think and ammo is around 6k

There's actually a thread on the official forums where someone is trying to collect data on tank repair costs. As MrCoffee says Tiger II is 20K to repair if completely destroyed. Tiger I is 11.5k. Panther about 12k.

[ydejin]

Updated my response to Mysterio's question on how the targetting optics work after playing a battle. Basically I had forgotten that the triangles were the center of the two circles. Clarified that one circle was where the commander was looking and the other circle is where the turret is pointing.

Also I've seen on the official forums that you are supposed to be able to determine if you can penetrate the enemy's armor by looking at something in your HUD. Anyone know what it is?

[MrCoffee]

The triangle turns green if you can hit it, yellow if there is a chance and red if you cant hit.