2016-04-21, 05:47
|
Link #62 |
|
Sleepy Lurker
 Graphic Designer
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Nun'yabiznehz
Age: 38
|
Apparently, the NA server took a huge hit when TD came out - as a result, PvP on that side of the pond practically became a ghost town, while the remaining players are huddling up in PvE.
 There are talks of either shuttering it or merging it with the EU server, though it'd reportedly cause certain technical headaches (and OE is currently not known for fielding updates without breaking more than a couple things at the same time).As for me, I've kind of put FPS on hold...I still do play BF3 MP (though, alas, most of the remaining BF3 servers no longer play certain favorite maps of mine) every once in a while, but I'm not too enthused about large, free-roaming shooter worlds where players can easily run across each other. I've still got bad memories of GTA5 Online and its horde of griefers...it was practically impossible to get from one side of Los Santos to the other without being shot at, or complete a mission with other players and go our separate ways without the said former random teammates gunning you down to loot your mission rewards. :X EDIT: right after I typed this, I finally got my M1128 MGS (the XM8 has less DMG and DPM, though it should have better armor than the M1128, and the Wiesel is basically a more armored VBL with the same [stock] autocannon, so...nope). And I got my two final vehicle ownership achievements (Tank Collector Rank 8 and Dealer Access Rank 7), which bounced my bank balance from barely $35K back to $15M. XD I...suppose I can grind a couple more days to clear the $22.9M price tag attached to the Tier 10 tanks (ATM I'm thinking of getting the XM1A3, though the Challenger 2B does seem rather enticing) and raise my B1 Draco to Renowned (thereby securing a second Tier 10 token), then I'll take my break from AW. EDIT bis: got my $22.9M and maxed out my Draco. I will therefore have two Wölfli Tier 10 tokens free for the taking once 0.15 makes landfall.
__________________
Last edited by Renegade334; 2016-04-23 at 15:37. |
|
|
|
2016-09-08, 07:14
|
Link #63 |
|
Sleepy Lurker
Graphic Designer
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Nun'yabiznehz
Age: 38
|
Sorry for the necro, but there are a few developments for us military (arcade) game players out there.
1. AW just made available for download a Public Test Server (originally it was only available for the RU community, but now there is an EU/NA version just for us RoW) where you can test the preview of the Lords of War mode (PvP 5 vs 5 in teams where prestige -and therefore rewards- is earned on the basis of win streaks). Note: there is a solo mode for LoW, but the queues are horribly long. 2. AW will soon introduce a new game mode called Global Operations, which is a mixture of PvP and PvE. It's essentially a 15-minute, 15 vs 15 PvP match, except with the following perks:
The only map that'll for now support GO is a massive one called Desert Crossing, centered around a port with a massive aircraft carrier whose flight deck you can access thanks to interactive bridges. 3. Balance 2.0 will bring changes in physics, penetration models, vehicle armament (autocannons are being nerfed, while ATGMs are being seriously buffed), a new garage with armor inspector. At this very moment, Boot Camp Fresh Batch is in full swing (the tracker is finally running!), so be sure to play at least 2 matches with a Tier 1 vehicle, then 2 matches with a Tier 4 to get your 4 daily rewards (maximum of 150,000 credits and 3,750 rep each, depending on the highest-tiered vehicle sitting in your garage). But before that, make sure to play at least 1 PvP or PvE match with your highest-tiered vehicle (in my case, a Tier 10) to kickstart your event tracker. Right now I'm gathering the funds for my FV510 Warrior; the BMOP Ramka-99 I bought after maxing out the BMD-4 is a bit underwhelming despite its 4 missiles, but the Warrior has MUCH better penetration despite a rather tricky small ammo clip (it's kind of like a Fox or Begleitpanzer-57) and the absence of an ATGM launcher. Maybe if I grind a little harder I could even max out my long-eschewed Akatsiya and get the Panzerhaubitze-2000. Spoiler for Vehicles I bought since my last post:
__________________
Last edited by Renegade334; 2016-09-09 at 17:29. |
|
|
|
|
2016-09-23, 07:46
|
Link #64 |
|
Sleepy Lurker
Graphic Designer
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Nun'yabiznehz
Age: 38
|
Apologies for the double post. Here's a better look at what Global Operations (AKA Conquest mode) will look like once 0.18 is rolled out:
Looks like there's also dynamic weather in the works. Also, Obsidian has announced there'd be an overall reduction in accuracy (not exactly an increase in RNG, which is set to 10%) to reflect real-life ballistics and reduce pixel-hunting, and autocannons will likewise suffer a nerf (ATM the newly-buffed ATGMs are becoming a real menace) to prevent them from being too OP (especially in PvE where autocannon-equipped tanks just gobble up targets and damage points). Well, aside from events I guess I can kiss the regular PvP goodbye and stick to GO instead. That looks more fun.
__________________
Last edited by Renegade334; 2016-09-23 at 07:59. |
|
|
|
|
2017-02-12, 08:13
|
Link #65 |
|
Sleepy Lurker
Graphic Designer
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Nun'yabiznehz
Age: 38
|
I don't think anyone here is still playing (I still was, part-time, until a couple weeks ago), but I'll still make the disheartening announcement: Armored Warfare may as well be dead (to us non-Russians).
https://aw.my.com/gb/news/general/my...rmored-warfare After a tumultuous year that saw a lot of bugs, lack of new material, the introduction of end-game content (the Tier 10s), a new game mode (Global Operations) and the announcement of Balance 2.0, My.com (or, should we say, their parent company, Mail.ru) has decided to throw the game developer, Obsidian Entertainment (based in Irvine, California), under the bus. The official announcement is far more mellifluous in tone and form, but basically, My.com brutally rescinded the development contract and ordered their own developer pool to take care of it. Those lurking on the AW forums have known for some time that there were occasional tensions between OE and my.com, especially on where the game should go, and it looks like the situation reached its paroxysm a couple weeks ago, resulting in this divorce. You can read what went wrong here: https://www.reddit.com/r/ArmoredWarf...hat_went_wrong And this arrives a few weeks or a month before the much-advertised Balance 2.0 (which introduces a flattening of the HP and DMG curves as well as an erosion of the high-tier power creep), which is extremely worrisome. OE had already laid off some of its devs on January 1 and offloaded some of the work to My.com's Moscow offices (maps and tanks were to be My.com's territory, while engine and mechanics development would remain under OE's purview) and we knew something was up, but the latest announcement had still the effect of a thunderbolt. Judging from all the turmoil on the forums, no one on NA/EU trusts the Russians (my.com, despite being a European company, is under the full command of Mail.ru, who are practically short-sighted when it comes to their games' scope and care only about the Russian base) to not introduce national bias the same way Gaijin and Wargaming did. OE was kind of the last bulwark standing against this threat, and they were the ones mainly pushing for the game to have its own flavor with different mechanics, whereas Mail.ru wanted a mere WoT copy, but just different enough to not earn them plagiarism lawsuits. If declining population doesn't drive the final nail into AW's coffin and forces the game to retreat exclusively behind Russia's borders, then the loss of trust most certainly will. Now that OE is gone, the widespread fear on the forum is that My.com will just pander to the Russian base and simply advocate: Rossiya stronk! BTW, the EU/NA Public Test Server for Update 0.19/Balance 2.0 is a detestable mess. It is replete with bugs (you crash when loading the garage, when loading or exiting a mission, in the middle of driving, when Alt+Tab'ing, etc) and the gameplay did NOT live up to its expectations or accomplish what it set out to do on paper. Tiers 1-5 were a frustrating cesspit of limitations, where MBT mobility was over-nerfed, autocannons had become worthless to the point where AFVs could only rely on secondary recoilless cannons or ATGM launchers, and the reworked artillery (basically now sluggish, extremely-high-caliber tank destroyers) were massively overpowered. T6-7 slapped power creep back into the player's face, with some tanks (M1A1, Chieftain 900) being abnormally resilient in terms of armor. T8-9 continued the PC trend, with more broken vehicles like the Ramka or the Dragun 125 (the ERA destroys even APFSDS penetrators shot point-blank! WTF is this madness?). And the reload times are practically double what they are in real life! The PTS will continue for a few more days (I think I might fire it up one last time to see what they did to my beloved XM1A3, though at this point I only expect more horrors), but I do not expect to play this game any further. I could use the free space on my HDD for other, more enjoyable and stabler stuff. Balance 2.0 (AKA Update 0.19) doesn't sound like something we might want due to its brokenness (some of the mechanics, like the bush concealment, create too many situations where exposed tanks will be singled out by the enemy and mass-prosecuted to death in under three seconds); some are looking forward to it, but there is now a growing movement to ditch 2.0 and stick to 1.0 (I adhere to this idea personally)...even though it is fairly obvious my.com will forge ahead and ultimately force 2.0 upon us, flaws and all. Anyway, AW as we knew and loved, might have voiced its death-knell yesterday. My.com has a very bad reputation; it cherishes paywalls, doesn't mind broken games and only cares about the Russian playerbase, and they're now 100% in control of the development process. They were already a disastrous mess when trying to manage the events, and now they've been entrusted with ALL of the coding? Oh heeeeell no! I'll mourn AW's downfall for quite some time, I must confess. It was one of the few games that I had personally invested in (and not just financially) for the long term and the realism (tempered by a big yet constantly flip-flopping dose of arcade) it offered had me interested in tanks again, enough to dig deeper and acquaint myself a section of military hardware I had eschewed for years. I absolutely loved lurking in their forums' "Armor in Real Life" section and gathering tidbits hither and yon, and will probably continue to do so even if I play the game no more. The passion was so great it even compelled me to get nearly all of Richard Pearce Hunnicutt's books on American tank history (I strongly suggest you give him a try, the man is so thorough in his research he makes many tank encyclopedias look like Teletubby picture books) and even go dumpster-diving into the DTIC's PDF archives. RIP AW 8th October 2015 - 11th February 2017 "I could have been a great game" P.S. Don't expect me to find refuge in World of Tanks or War Thunder, I have little interest in WWII technology. I'd give SteelBeasts Pro a try, if not for the rather steep financial commitment it requires, and the fact that it apparently needs some sort of USB authentication stick (it's a smart way to protect your IP, though) to work. I guess I'll just wander on looking for better pastures. P.P.S. Here's my garage pool - I managed to earn a lot of gold during my time in AW, so I was able to purchase more than a few premiums. As I type this list, I only had two tanks missing from my garage: the PL-01 and the Challenger II ATDU. Spoiler:
__________________
Last edited by Renegade334; 2017-02-12 at 14:18. |
|
|
|
|
2017-02-12, 12:06
|
Link #66 |
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2014
|
I've been worried about this game for a while since they have sunk nothing into advertising. Most of the issues related to the game have been normal Beta issues, mainly because the game is still in Beta. Sad thing is it looks like they were only in getting OE to build them a game that they can use to turn a quick buck, shame for the OE devs because they seemed to really love what they were doing
|
|
|
|
2017-02-12, 18:16
|
Link #67 |
|
Sleepy Lurker
Graphic Designer
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Nun'yabiznehz
Age: 38
|
Unfortunately, odds are that it'll suffer the same fate as SkyForge (another My.com game): once it reaches a certain level of stability (and 0.19 is one step closer to an actual, final release), they'll surround the game with paywalls and let the coding quality go to hell. Then they'll just go collect the checks at the bank and watch as the playerbase thins out until it is limited to Russia only.
There have been less players tonight providing feedback for the PTS, and my last session went something like this: - Tried to join PvP match. - Crash. - Signed out of Windows, signed back in. - Opened my.com launcher. - Rejoined match. - Crash. - Signed out of Windows, signed back in. - Opened my.com launcher. - Rejoined match. - Crash. - Howled in agony. And that's how my last day in AW ended. To be honest, I abhor Balance 2.0; it's full of broken vehicles, every tank now has a hard-coded weak spot on the lower glacis, the reload times are horrendous, the mobility has taken a hit, the APS system has been nerfed to the ground, the autocannons are just garbage, everyone is bush-camping, the arties are now the new Centauro 120s and the developers are introducing features certain specific tanks never had in real life such as autoloader clips (the Armata has a carousel autoloader, not a frigging autoloader clip!). We could have forged ahead using Balance 1.0, which is still good enough despite some flaws (the T9-10 power creep), but nooooo...my.com wants its WoT clone (many users in the forums now call AW "the actual WoT 2.0") no matter what. ...Right now, I feel more depressed than angry. I feel sorry for Obsidian Entertainment, too. These guys have had shit luck with their publishers (SqEnix, Microsoft) over the years.
__________________
Last edited by Renegade334; 2017-02-12 at 18:38. |
|
|
|
|
2017-02-12, 22:25
|
Link #68 |
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2014
|
A OE insider spilled some of the beans on what has been happening
https://www.reddit.com/r/ArmoredWarf...at_went_wrong/ |
|
|
|
|
2017-02-13, 00:16
|
Link #69 |
|
GT-R Fanatic
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Toronto, Canada
Age: 34
|
Wwaitwaitwait.......
So whatever Jingles was talking about in regards to Balance 2.0 (Vehicles having their HP based on tonnage, no ramping up of damage by tiers especially if two different tier vehicles use the exact same gun unless the higher tier one had more modern ammo choices, etc.) Is that still part of it or has it been chucked out the window?
__________________
|
|
|
|
|
2017-02-13, 02:47
|
Link #70 | ||
|
Sleepy Lurker
Graphic Designer
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Nun'yabiznehz
Age: 38
|
Quote:
Every same-caliber gun deals more or less the same damage (you can increase ammo DMG by 10-15p, by upgrading to the tank's best ammo in the module window), and some folks have been complaining about that, because the over-homogenization killed the variety (and they're now tried to compensate for it with unrealistic stuff like autoloader clips, for tanks that never had them in real life!). Remember the retrofits that helped narrow down the maximum and minimum reticle size or helped boost flat damage? They're gone. Zilch. Now you have three must-have firepower retrofits, which are very basic: aimtime, reload and accuracy. And that's all - no more Mk.1-2-3. And ALL tanks get three universal retrofit slots from the get-go, with T9-10 getting a fourth slot, only unlockable after reaching 50% progress (AKA Proven status). So if you enjoyed the Centauro 120 before, put on your mourning clothes, its huge DPM is going to go away soon. BTW, a 120mm smoothbore deals ~500DMG, for reference. Keep in mind, the small wheeled vehicles like the VBL, the CRAB and the Fox now suffer increased damage when they accidentally crash into something (or get rammed by an ally) - and that includes BUMPING ON A SMALL ROCK while driving at high speeds. I lost almost 150-200HP that way (nearly 15% of my life) in a 1vs1 match (yeah, in the PTS, the matchmaker could pull stunts like that on you). BTW, every tank now has a cupola, glacis and lower mantlet weak spot, regardless of whether those areas are actually extremely reinforced in real life (like the Abrams' LFP, the T-90's UFP, etc). Less pixel-hunting, more dumbing down to help make the game more accessible to WoT players. The armor angling will be a real thing in 2.0 (a little less so in 1.0, but it did work), but the problem is that those WS kinda make it a gamble - sometimes you bounce, sometimes shells just pass through. HE has been buffed and 155mm arty can now deal 700-800DMG in one shot. Make no mistake, 2.0, as it was advertised, WILL be implemented now that My.com is in full command. And it's not necessarily a good thing, because 2.0, in its current incarnation, has a lot of downsides and bugs. But since the development will be fully transferred from Obsidian to the my.com dev team, expect some additional delays as the Moscow office familiarizes itself with the source code and goes through the PTS feedback (and, of course, they'll prioritize the RU PTS) back from the first page. Quote:
My.com is already in full damage control mode.
__________________
Last edited by Renegade334; 2017-02-13 at 14:16. |
||
|
|
|
|
2017-02-13, 18:46
|
Link #71 | |||
|
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2006
   |
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
__________________
|
|||
|
|
|
|
2017-02-14, 04:31
|
Link #72 | |
|
Sleepy Lurker
Graphic Designer
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Nun'yabiznehz
Age: 38
|
Quote:
Problem is that over time Obsidian made it clear the game HAD to go into a different direction rather than follow WoT's footsteps. It is no coincidence people call AW's Balance 2.0 "WoT 2.0": that is my.com kicking Obsidian back onto the WoT trail. Heck, to do so, they even hired Felix Kupis (one of the game's lead developers), an ex-Wargaming Seattle developer, to make sure AW does not diverge too much from its main competitor. But tensions grew and eventually led to a conflagration. OE's job was rather subpar lately and they introduced little meaningful content this year (with the exception of Global Ops), but that was probably symptomatic of AW's deeply schizophrenic nature, with two companies pulling in different directions. My.com forced OE's hand in more than a few instances (like when they prematurely released Tiers 9 and 10, and, of course, Balance 2.0), but now that they feel they don't need OE anymore because the game is more or less stable, they terminated the contract and showed them the door. And, yes, expect AW to become more and more like WoT in the coming year...that is, if they don't close the EU and NA servers due to dwindling population (this weekend's s**tstorm quickened the playerbase haemorrhage quite spectacularly) in six months from now. P.S. Due to player backlash, they ultimately decided to reduce the cupola damage by a wide margin, but in the Balance 2.0 PTS, that change didn't make it into the code (probably because the communication between OE and my.com was already in defibrillation mode) and the cupolas still received full damage. Friendly warning to other players: stay the hell away from mail.ru/my.com games. They have a terrible track record (SkyForge, World of Speed, just to cite a couple) and your wallet matters way more to them than your feedback.
__________________
Last edited by Renegade334; 2017-02-14 at 05:48. Reason: Fixed a few errors here and there |
|
|
|
|
|
2017-04-19, 02:42
|
Link #73 |
|
Sleepy Lurker
Graphic Designer
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Nun'yabiznehz
Age: 38
|
Well, apparently Update 0.19 (Balance 2.0, recently rechristened "Tanks Reloaded") launches today. Won't be downloading the game, especially not with its current population issues and my own griefs with B2.0's core mechanics. Whatever vehicles you liked, hope you got your mourning clothes ready, they're gone and replaced by different tanks that can play very differently.
I still go on the AW forums (have some friends, especially in the "Armor in Real Life" section), and this morning, while perusing reaction threads, I came across this topic by the main community manager, Silentstalker - it's about the UI overhaul in Update 0.20.  (click to expand) (click to expand) (click to expand) (click to expand)Does it remind you of something? They aren't even trying anymore... I guess that's what happens when the developer (who wanted a clear, separate IP identity rather than line-toeing copy-and-paste), is no longer present to keep the publisher in check.
__________________
|
|
|
|
|
2017-04-25, 11:10
|
Link #75 |
|
Sleepy Lurker
Graphic Designer
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Nun'yabiznehz
Age: 38
|
I very briefly downloaded the client just to see how the tech lines had changed and (just in case) do some maintenance to my own motor pool. I purchased every new vehicle (I was satisfied to see that current owners of the XM1 were allowed to keep it, even though it has now become a premium vehicle) thanks to the huge amount of free XP I had accrued over time and even treated myself to the PL-01 (the only T10 I lack ATM is the Challenger II ATDU). I tried the Proving Grounds to test some of the tanks and...I don't like how the vehicles feel, especially with the nerfed precision and the feeling that my ping has gone up by 300% (I had 5-10ms before, now I have up to 30ms). It kinda felt sluggish with occasional lagspikes.
... ...And the feedback on the AW forums is...oh, Jesus. Apparently the armor system is full of bugs, like a decaying corpse: a 20mm thin sheet of steel angled at 45° is apparently capable of stopping 125mm tungten penetrator rods shot by a T-14 Armata. Somebody most likely forgot to tell the programmers at Mail.ru (yes, My.com is just the legal front for business and copyright; Mail.ru now does all the programming) that the effective armor thickness is just as important (if not even more so) as armor angling/sloping (it appears the game is now hardcoded to make APFSDS snap at given max angles). The IFVs are...they're trash if they don't have an ATGM launcher (most of them do now, but the autocannons are absolutely worthless unless you're aiming at other IFVs). They now can fire continuously if they have a single magazine, but the dispersion if very bad and you might feel like a mosquito trying to draw blood from a Michaelangelo statue. SPGs are now confined to PVE; the SPG-TD experiment in the PTS showed just how ridiculously overpowered these vehicles can be. The Centauro 155 is particularly derpy in that regard. Some tanks have become particularly overpowered, such as the XM1A3 (to be replaced in 0.20+ by the M1 CATTB) with its two-shot clip system (though it is heavily hampered by disastrously slow turret traverse) and the Dragun 125 (whose ERA, back in the PTS, was even capable of completely negating point-blank APFSDS shots), which is apparently the spiritual heir of the Centauro 120 when it was still at T7. And PVE...oh boy, apparently the missile spamfest is making a lot of the remaining players cry copious tears of blood. And the new waves of bots (which are still wizard-level snipers despite the recent precision nerf) ensure your entire team dies quickly and painfully. I guess I'll just lurk in their forums until the game finally dies.
__________________
|
|
|
|
|
2017-04-26, 20:00
|
Link #76 | |
|
Secret Society BLANKET
Graphic Designer
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: 3 times the passion of normal flamenco
|
Quote:
Actually starting to balk at how many games just try to copy Wargaming's model outright to their detriment (Dreadnought, one of the space combat games I was looking forward to, went in that direction and now it's very lackluster). 
__________________
|
|
|
|
|
|
2017-04-27, 03:55
|
Link #77 | |
|
気疲れ
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Baltics
Age: 30
|
Quote:
) and now that I do have okay PC I have lost all interest in AW. I did like the differences in gameplay and PvE mode,however now I just mostly play World of Warcraft, since Legion has made the game at least somewhat fun again.
__________________
|
|
|
|
|
|
2017-04-27, 04:20
|
Link #78 | |
|
今宵の虎徹は血に飢えている
Join Date: Jan 2009
|
Quote:
__________________
|
|
|
|
|
|
2017-04-27, 05:48
|
Link #79 |
|
Sleepy Lurker
Graphic Designer
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Nun'yabiznehz
Age: 38
|
The problem is that AW was, from the onset, 100% designed as a means to leech off WOT by presenting an alternative game with all-too-familiar mechanics and concepts. There have been several news articles allegedly from insiders (beta testers and apparently some ex-Obsidian programmers laid off during to the 2017/01/01 crew downsize) and, even with a grain of salt thrown in for safety, everything points to Mail.ru bungling up the handling of the development process by ordering features then shuttering them half-way through, before manhandling OE into sticking to the WOT formula and nothing further. OE tried to reason with MRG (Mail.Ru Group), but eventually MRG got tired of OE and fired them (it even felt like MRG was setting up OE to fail so that they could fast-track the divorce). Now MRG's long-awaited WOT-ification of AW is underway. No surprises here. Even the mods, community managers and developers, once extremely active in the AW forums, are very subdued now and only post news articles. It's very disheartening because, at one point (before June/July 2016), this game and its population enjoyed a very bright and positive atmosphere. It feels like a giant waste and sucker punch.
Now, a new complaint I'm coming across in the forums is that...MRG nerfed the living bejeezus out of PVE rewards and increased the price of consumables, resulting in often paltry financial windfalls...if not downright negative income. Reminds you of another game? This is nothing new, BTW, they already applied the nerf bat to PVE when they introduced the logistics fee for matches...though at that time this mechanic had the benefit of preventing you from going into the red (UNLESS you had the misfortune of using a respawn consumable, which would then make you go into the negatives). I don't know whether they changed anything to Global Operations, which, prior to 0.19, was the go-to game mode for earning mucho credits while having (for some) fun. They already nerfed it a couple days after its introduction ("you guys are making more money than we intended, so have a nope.gif, it's for your own good") and we know they intend to revise how points and credits are earned in GLOPS (capping, etc). As for SteelBeasts, it's 100% simulation, no arcade. The learning curve and mechanics are very different; it's more focused towards military buffs (and the actual military) rather than casuals. It's also not free ($9.50 per month or $39.50 per year), but that's not going to deter true military enthusiasts. Presence of a gaming joystick is highly advised.
__________________
Last edited by Renegade334; 2017-04-27 at 13:32. Reason: Aliens temporarily abducted my grammar and syntax; they have returned to Earth a bit confused but safe and sound. |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
