beenanincrediblechallenge,and
there’snothinglikeit elsewhere.What
werethemostinterestingorsurprising
factorsyouhadtodealwith?
Themostinterestingthingaboutallthe
historicalmissionsandmodesis thatwe
cannotjustdefinethe“right”balance
andleaveit likethatforever.Even
whenwedonotchangeanythinginthe
initialsettingforthebattlingsides,the
gameitselfchangeswithtime.Thereis
alsoa constantinfluxofnewplayers,
someofthemhavea completelynew
gameplaystyleandeventhatcan
changethebalance.It waslikethatfor
themissionsthatwerepartoftheWorld
WarChroniclesmodebefore.Soweare
readytocheckthebalanceandimprove
it assoonasweseethatthisis needed.
Noticeably,statisticsthatwe
collectedduringthefirstpublicseason
provedtobesomewhatsurprising
comparedtothedatawecollected
duringtheclosedtest.While,as
anticipated,thepublictestmostly
attractedseasonedplayers,their
coordinationandeffectivenessinbattle
wasn’tashighasourclosedtestdata
suggestedtheywouldbe,meaningwe
hadandstillhavetomakeadjustments
tothebalanceaccordingly,bothin
regardstomissionsandtheentire
operationsthemselves.
Butthehardestparameterto
balancefortheWorldWarmodeis
theratiobetweenplayersthatplay
ascommandersandregularplayers
- their“soldiers”.Wedonotregulate
thisratio,butit stillis veryimportant
forthemode.Whentherearetoofew
commanders,thereareonlya few
operationsandmissionstoparticipate
in.Accordingly,if therearetoo
manycommanders,wehavea lotof
operationsandmissionsbutnotenough
soldierstopopulatethemandtheplayer
experienceis notasgoodasintended.
We’vealreadyintroducedseveralfixes
tothisproblem but there is still work to
dohere.
Howdoyouincentiviseplayerstowork
togetherina teamwitha common
goal,andencouragethemtousea
vehicletypethatmaynotbetheir
favouriteinWorldWar?
Themissionobjectivesthemselves
aredesignedtomotivateplayersto
coordinatetheiractionsandwork
togethertoachievesuccess.The
assaultonheavilyfortifiedpositionsin
a “Defence”typemission,forexample,
cannotbewonbyoneplayeralone,but
onlyasa team.Theplayersunderstand
thatandwaitfortheirteammates,check
thesituationonthemapandcoordinate
theirattacktostriketogether,whenthe
timeis right.
Ina WorldWarmissionthebattle
conditionscandramaticallychange.
For example, when you’re constantly
attackedbyenemyaviationandyour
anti-airgunsarealreadywipedout,
yourcommandercansenda teamof
fighterplanesforhelpandturnthetide
ofbattle.Inthiscase,eachplayercan
respawnona fighterplaneevenif he
doesnotowna fighterofthisnation.
This,bytheway,underlinesanother
goodaspectoftheWorldWarmode:
Allplayerscanusethevehiclesthe
commanderassignstoa battle,even
thosevehiclesthattheyhavenotyet
unlockedandbought.ThismakesWorld
Wara greatopportunitytodrivetanks
orflyplanesthatare normally not yet
availableforyou.WorldWarwasalwaystheendgoal
forWarThunder,asyousaidwhen
thegamefirstlaunched.WillWorld
Wareventuallybecomethesolegame
modereplacingallothers?
TheWorldWarmodewon’treplace
theclassic“RandomBattles”or
otherexistingmodes,butratheris an
expansiontothealreadydiverselist
ofgamemodesthatallowplayersto
fightintheair,onlandandatsea,both
versusotherplayersorcomputer-
controlledopponents,aloneorasa part
ofa squadron.Theglobaloperations
map,wherethehundredsofplayerscan
trytochangethecourseofhistorical
battles,is a newexperiencethatwe’re
happytopresenttotheever-growing
communityofWarThunderplayers.Dopeoplefromparticularglobal
regionstendtoplayfortheircountryin
thegame?Is anynationmorepopular
thanothersinWorldWar?
Thisis truenotonlyfortheWorld
Warmode,butforthegameasa
whole.Peopletendtofocusonthe
nationwheretheyactuallyliveora
neighbouringnation,butthatdoesnot
meantheyplaythisnationexclusively.
ButfortheWorldWarMode
specifically,geographyandnationality
arenottheonlyfactors:Someplayers,
forexample,basetheirdecisionon
thelistoffullyupgradedvehiclesthey
ownandwhicharealsoeligiblefor
thisscenario.Someplayersfollowthe
decisionoftheirsquadronorteam
leaderandsomejust join any side that
has free slots.INTERVIEW