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World of Tanks

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Dzimitry (talk | contribs) at 12:44, 13 April 2011 (Wargaming.net is the British company and not a studio - WG publishes World of Tanks by itself). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

World of Tanks
Developer(s)Wargaming.net
EngineBigworld[1]
Platform(s)Windows
Release
  • RU: October 30, 2010
  • NA: April 12, 2011
Genre(s)RPG, Simulator
Mode(s)Multiplayer

World of Tanks is a free 3D team-based massively multiplayer online game featuring historically accurate fighting vehicles from the 1930s to the 1950s. World of Tanks is a PvP-focused project that promises action and strategy based gameplay. In the release version, World of Tanks will include more than 150 armored vehicles from America, France, Germany, and the Soviet Union, carefully detailed with historical accuracy.[2][3] All in all there will be around 500 vehicles available in the game. At the moment, World of Tanks features light, medium and heavy tanks, tank destroyers and self-propelled artillery and some well-known prototypes and low-volume vehicles. The game blends action, strategy and simulation genres.[4]

The closed beta test for European and American players started on July 8, 2010. Fighting vehicles from USSR, Germany and USA are available for play. World of Tanks was released on April 12,2011 on the territories of Europe and North America.[5] The game is also commercially operated in CIS.

World of Tanks is the first game of the British company Wargaming.net to be released under "Play 4 Free" model, which will see the game released for free with revenue generated from micropayments in the form of Gold.[6]

World of Tanks has set up a World Guinness Record™ in the category of Most Players Online Simultaneously on One MMO Server. The record was registered on January 23rd, 2011 when the number of players on the game’s Russian server totaled 91,311.[7]

Gameplay

Each new player will start a game driving a Soviet, German or American light tank. By gaining experience and credits, a user will be able to upgrade his tank or other unit to a heavier model. There will also be a chance to modify the existing tank by changing turrets, chassis, engines, guns, radios and various ammunition types and thus try a new experimental machine and increase the player's fighting potential. Every unit has about 10 modifications with different combat characteristics and all modifications are historically grounded, meaning they were either implemented in real life or existed as prototypes.[8] An average tank will have 2 modifications of turret, 2 variants of chassis, 3 models of engine and 2-6 modifications of the main gun.[9] Each player has a garage capable of holding several vehicles. If needed, the garage can further be extended, or unused vehicles can be sold. Tank crew members can increase in experience as well. World of Tanks has a "virtual" crew system with certain leveling options. With every new battle the crew gains experience which leads to improved performance on the battlefield. For example, a veteran gunner increases the accuracy of a tank's main gun. When crew members reach maximum skill, they may acquire side-skills; for example the driver may learn the ropes of maintenance to reduce repair time.[10] All of the modifications and changes take place in the period between the battles.[11]

World of Tanks will run on a microtransaction business model using gold in addition to experience and credits. Gold will only be available through purchase with cash. Gold is used to purchase premium items, such as improved HEAT or APCR ammunition, or consumables like medkits and camouflage nets. In addition gold can be used to purchase premium mode for game users which increases the amount of experience and credits earned from a battle by 50% for a limited amount of time (up to a month). Several tanks are also available for purchase with gold.

File:Screenshot WoT.jpg
A screenshot showing gameplay from the World of Tanks Russian closed beta.

Gameplay described in short review on IGN:

A flexible system of authentic vehicle upgrade and development allows you to try any of the vehicles and weapons in the game. Whether you prefer to exhaust your foes with fast and maneuverable light tanks, make deep breaches in enemy lines with all-purpose medium tanks, use the force of giant tanks to eliminate opposing armored forces, or become a heavy sniper with long-range howitzers, each unit type has its own advantages and can be extremely effective when operated by a true tank ace.

But being a great tank commander alone isn't enough to win! In World of Tanks, it's all about teamwork. Victory is achieved by combining your combat skills with those of the other members of your team, each playing their own role on the battlefield. Just add your favorite strategy to build your own iron empire and manifest the indisputable authority of the tank! Feel the TANK POWER![2]

Damage system

The game has a complex multilevel vehicle damage system that includes parameters from armor thickness and the angle of armor slope to certain "soft spots" of particular models.

Internal components of each tank can be damaged, requiring repairs. If, for example, the engine is damaged, the tank will be unable to move for some period of time (usually about 30 seconds), and will only be able to move relatively slowly once it has been repaired. Each tank component - guns, turrets, radios, tracks, engines, the ammunition magazine, and even the crew-- can be damaged or injured, leading to performance problems.[12]

Game modes

The players in World of Tanks will have a chance to take part in three primary types of battles: random battles, team battles and clan battles. In random battles players cannot choose in which team out of two possible they can play. On the contrary, in clan battles gamers decide to fight for a particular clan. Each team can have no more than 30 players in it; therefore the maximum possible number of combat units at the battlefield is 60. The goal of each team is to defeat all of the enemies and try to lose as few allied tanks as possible.

The basic mode of the game will be the team deathmatch, therefore teamwork and mutual cooperation will be very important if you want to be successful in the game. The game will also have a capture-the-base mode, with tanks having to occupy the enemy's base for a quicker win. Developers also plan to design capture-the-flag mode and the domination mode with players having to hold certain control points.

Clan wars and historical campaigns

World of Tanks will also include a never-ending campaign with Clan Wars unfolding on the Global Map. The Global Map with a particular part of the Earth will be introduced and split into certain districts. Clans (or blocks of them) will be fighting for these provinces. In the course of time other continents will be added so there’ll be a chance to take part in battles for superiority somewhere in the desert areas of Africa or tropical jungles of Asia. To form up a clan one should gather a team of at least 15 players with up to 100 participants. Joining a clan will open new opportunities for the player – he’ll get access to better tanks, new perks and benefits. However, those willing to stay away from clan membership will be free to act as Mercenaries that could be recruited by clans on special occasions. There will be a place for political and non-political methods of waging war and gaining control and power over their own and foreign territories on the global world map. Diplomacy will play an important part in Clan Wars as there would be various options available – non-aggression pacts, mutual aid treaties, intelligence sharing or free pass for allied armies.[12] Another feature which will be added once the Global Campaign is completed will be introducing historical missions – series of battles set up on the maps close to their historical prototypes where only specific models of tanks will be allowed[citation needed].

Custom features

The player will feel free to choose the camouflage color of his tanks – varying from historically accurate ones to some custom variants. Players will also be able to place some pre-moderated slogans or clan emblems on the hull of vehicles.[12]

History

According to the developers' account, the concept of the game came to their minds on December 29th or 30th, 2008.[13] The game was officially announced by Wargaming.net studio on April 24, 2009. Developers claim that the game budget was the greatest ever in the game industry of CIS,[14] but there has been no independent proof of this claim.

Alpha testing of the Russian version of the game begun September 2009, with only five different vehicles and one half-baked map available. By the beginning of the closed beta test, which started on January 30th, 2010, several dozen vehicles and three maps were completed.[15] In three months, the number of beta tester requests approached 40,000, and over 400,000 tank battles took place.[16]

Open beta test of the Russian version started June 24th, 2010; at that point, there were 7 maps available, along with over 60 Russian and German vehicles.[17]

Closed beta test of English version of the game began on July 8th, 2010.[18]

The Russian version of the game was officially released on August 12th, 2010;[19] however, due to technical difficulties, the game servers went online only on August 13th.

According to Wargaming.net official press release, the number of World of Tanks users worldwide reached 700,000, including 500,000 users on Russian servers (350,000 active players), and 200,000 on Western servers (150,000 active players). The number of peak concurrent users exceeded 43,000 on Russian servers and 10,000 on Western servers. On average, the average active gamer spent 3 hours 20 minutes playing the game every day; over 10,000,000 battles have been fought since September 2010.[20]

As on January 4, 2011 World of Tanks has recorded more than one million registrations worldwide (United States, Europe and Russia). This milestone has been reached in less than a year since the launch of the closed beta in Russia.[21][22]

As of January 5th, 2011, there were 74,536 players simultaneously online on the Russian World of Tanks server, which, according to Wargaming.net, has become a new world record amongst MMO games.[23][24] The "Most players online simultaneously on one MMO server" world record was officially registered by Guinness World Records on January 23rd, 2011 and constituted 91,311 players.[25]

According to the game's official site, the Russian server has hit one million registration mark on January 18th 2011.[26]

The open beta of the English version of the game was launched on January 27th 2011;[27] the official release has been scheduled for April 12th, 2011.[28]

The World of Tanks pre-orders are scheduled to be available for the American and European clusters until the game launches on April 12th 2011.[29]

World of Tanks was released on April 12,2011 on the territories of Europe and North America.[30]

Awards

  • The first prize for the "Best Online Client Game", KRI 2010.[31][32]
  • "Best New Concept" award on E3 2010.[33]
  • "Best Free MMORPG" according to the MMORPG Center’s 2010 Player’s Choice Awards.[34]
  • "Most Anticipated Free MMORPG" according to the MMORPG Center’s 2010 Player’s Choice Awards.[35]
  • "Most Anticipated MMO in 2010" according to the MMOSITE's Reader's Choice Awards 2010
  • "Favorite Strategy MMO in 2010" according to the MMOSITE's Reader's Choice Awards 2010 [36]
  • World Guinness Record: Most Players Online Simultaneously on One MMO Server [37]
  • "Gold Award" from Gamers Daily News [38]

References

  1. ^ Games powered by BigWorld Technology
  2. ^ a b World of Tanks on IGN
  3. ^ World of Tanks rolls onto the MMO battlefield
  4. ^ World of Tanks on MMORPG Italia
  5. ^ World of Tanks released
  6. ^ World Of Tanks – Q&A
  7. ^ Guinness World Records: Most players online simultaneously on one MMO server
  8. ^ Interview with developer on massively.com
  9. ^ World of Tanks on MMO Station
  10. ^ World of Tanks on Game-Debate
  11. ^ Game description on mmorpgitalia.it
  12. ^ a b c freemmostation.com World of Tanks exclusive interview
  13. ^ "Интервью с Wargaming.net о World Of Tanks" (in Russian). Gamestar.ru. Retrieved 2011-03-07.
  14. ^ "World of Tanks — танковая MMOG от Wargaming.net" (in Russian). Maxigame. Retrieved 2011-03-07.
  15. ^ "Итоги альфа-теста «Мира Танков»" (in Russian). World of Tanks. Official developers' blog. 2010-01-25. Retrieved 2011-03-08.
  16. ^ "Подведены итоги закрытого бета-теста World of Tanks" (in Russian). WorldOfTanks.ru. 2010-06-18. Retrieved 2011-03-08.
  17. ^ "Начался открытый бета-тест игры World of Tanks" (in Russian). WorldOfTanks.ru. 2010-06-24. Retrieved 2011-03-08.
  18. ^ "World of Tanks Closed Beta Begins". WorldOfTanks.com. 2010-06-08. Retrieved 2011-03-08.
  19. ^ "12 августа — день официального онлайн-релиза" (in Russian). WorldOfTanks.ru. 2010-08-13. Retrieved 2011-03-08.
  20. ^ "World of Tanks Reaches Half Million Active Players". Wargaming.net. 2010-11-16. Retrieved 2011-03-08.
  21. ^ "Количество зарегистрированных пользователей в World of Tanks превысило 1 000 000 по всему миру" (in Russian). WorldOfTanks.ru. 2011-01-04. Retrieved 2011-03-08.
  22. ^ "World of Tanks Boasts One Million Users". Eurogamer.net. 2011-01-04. Retrieved 2011-03-17.
  23. ^ "«Мир танков» установил новый мировой рекорд" (in Russian). WorldOfTanks.ru. 2011-01-04. Retrieved 2011-03-08.
  24. ^ "World of Tanks Sets New PCCU Record". GamersHell.com. 2011-01-06. Retrieved 2011-03-17.
  25. ^ "Most players online simultaneously on one MMO server". GuinnessWorldRecords.com. 2011-01-23. Retrieved 2011-03-08.
  26. ^ "В «Мире танков» на русскоязычном игровом сервере зарегистрировался миллионный пользователь" (in Russian). WorldOfTanks.ru. 2011-01-18. Retrieved 2011-03-08.
  27. ^ "Official Open Beta Begins! World of Tanks Open Beta Launched for Europe and North America". WorldOfTanks.com. 2011-01-27. Retrieved 2011-03-08.
  28. ^ "World of Tanks Release". WorldOfTanks.com. 2011-03-17. Retrieved 2011-03-17.
  29. ^ World of Tanks Special Pre-Order Pricing
  30. ^ World of Tanks released
  31. ^ KRI 2010 results
  32. ^ Wargaming.net Wins Best KRI 2010 Game Developer Award from Critics in Russia
  33. ^ Massively's Best of E3 2010
  34. ^ MMORPG Center’s 2010 Player’s Choice Awards results
  35. ^ MMORPG Center’s 2010 Player’s Choice Awards results
  36. ^ MMOsite Reader's Choice Award 2010 Winners Announced!
  37. ^ Guinness World Records: Most players online simultaneously on one MMO server
  38. ^ GDN Gold Award
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