The bombshell, dropped from up high.

A habit I have developed from a long time of playing online games, is logging into their website first, before starting that day's gaming session. Sometimes, it's to check on any specials that might be running, here is what World of Warplanes is offering  http://worldofwarplanes.com/  If I have some extra time, I will compare events across all of the regions by going here http://worldofwarplanes.eu/ and finish off with here http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fworldofwarplanes.ru%2F

When nothing of real interest popped out at me, I continued on by reading through the dailies here http://forum.worldofwarplanes.com/ It was the topic titled "What the devs really think of us" that caught my eye. Thinking it was a continuation of discussion about the recent announcement of the upcoming changes to Flights, I passed over it, at first. Seeing nothing else that overly interested me, I went back to the eye catcher and clicked....

It was the content of that post that flicked the on switch of mixed emotions for me. At first, I just sat there in disbelief. I gathered up my strength and proceeded over to the posted source http://ritastatusreport.blogspot.ca/2015/04/scandalous-world-of-warplanes-stream.html

In an attempt to get a much clear understanding surrounding the content of the now captured stream on Youtube, I wound up reading through the usual comments from posters continuing to bash the game, leftover resentment/ill-will from the long ago closed For the Record days http://ftr.wot-news.com/ Not saying they are right or wrong, just voicing an observation. Overall, nothing to help me get a clearer, true picture.

Based on what has been presented so far, my initial reaction of shock was replaced with contemplation. I have read both Grenoli and Galm before on the RU forums and how they interact with the Community can best be described as....different. Definitely not something that we would be accustomed to in the West. Anyone who has seen SerB interact through the World of Tanks Q&A might have a better understanding of what I am talking about, his most common answer to just about every question that annoyed him was that catch phrase "How terrible".

Perhaps, this is how they really are? Or, could it be a Customer Relations/Publicity stunt? Some poor attempt at "reverse psychology" treat the international playerbase like idiots and unwanted baggage, thinking it will have the complete opposite effect of drawing in even more players? The garbage will come back for more? 

Perhaps, if somebody out there can find a properly translated transcript of what exactly was said (I know some words won't have the same meaning in English, or survive the translation process well) I might take the time to read through it, attempting to understand not just what they said, but also why.

Until that happens, my fleet is grounded and my aircrews will be getting extended leave time, if they like it or not.

***Update***

After reading the North America forums for many hours, one player name Gang_Starr volunteered to translate the captured stream. Here are the results of his efforts....

Gang_Starr, on 28 April 2015 - 04:03 AM, said:

Full Q&A Translated from the Stream

* = question,
- = dev's answer.
---------------------------------------
*Why did WG make the change from 3-man flights to 2-man flights (for 1.8)?

- "We were testing the Auto-flight function and found there to be a big problem with it in that it will consistently create flights of 2, but getting it to auto-flight a third person was troublesome. I think flights of 2 will be beneficial to the game for that reason alone, because it is much easier to get 2 man flights than 3 man flights via the auto-flight function. Even when flighting up regularly, it's much easier and faster to find one wingman as opposed to two."
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*Do you have any plans on decreasing the amount of GAA in matches?

-"No, we're not going to do that. Players themselves can decrease the amount of GA in battles by not flying them. We don't want to limit anybody's fun, if a player wants to fly nothing but GAA he can, we're not going to set any limits."
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*Will you implement dynamic Ground Targets? (for example: ships moving on water, tanks moving on land etc..)

-"No, we already get a lot of complaints regarding how unresponsive and laggy the game client is, this would only make it even more laggy if we implement dynamic GTs."
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*Are there any plans to change/tweak the current Superiority System?

-We think the current superiority system works without a flaw (that we know of) and there are no plans to make any changes to it in the near future. If you notice any bugs with the current system please submit a ticket and we will fix those bugs."
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*Is there any work being done to optimize the settings interface and decrease hangar loading times for those players with lots of planes in their hangar?

-"Yes, we plan to make a better settings interface for the 'Sounds' tab, since there is a lot of problems with it now. As for the hangar optimization, it's already done. The change will come with the 1.8 patch and those players with lots of planes in their hangar will instantly notice the difference in hangar load time (load time will be approximately 3 times shorter). Although if you have 45 planes in your hangar and your hangar takes longer than 30 seconds to load I would recommend switching internet proviers.
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*Why is WoWp having so much trouble retaining players?

-"The reason we are having trouble with retaining players is because of a steep lurning curve. If you have mastered the game you will have fun playing it, but many players give up and leave before they become better at the game, the reason is because it's not easy for an average gamer to become an expert pilot in WoWp quickly. That is why we have trouble retaining players. This will definitelly be looked at closely."
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*Will there be any new game modes?

-"We will have new game modes, I won't say when because I don't know exactly when, but we will bring new game modes. Right now instead of waiting for new game modes from the developers, set goals for yourself and make your own game modes. Try to play without the lead indicator, or the crosshair for example."
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*Which Nation will the next new line be introduced in?
-"I won't say which Nation, all I'm going to say is that it will be an already existing Nation, not a new one."
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*Are there going to be new pilot skills introduced?
-"The whole skill system is going to get an overhaul, I won't go into details but yes there will be new skills and the system will not be the same as it is now."
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*Will you introduce any "gold" Pneumatic restarters, which could possibly be used to repair a damaged engine twice in one match?
-"We are planning on doing an overhaul of the current consumables AND equipment system. Some new equipment will be introduced, some of the current equipment will have multiple uses, some will have completely different effects than they do now. There will be changes to both the consumables and the equipment, that is all we can say at this moment, no details."
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*Will there be a patch in 2015 which will include major game changes?
-"Patch 1.9 will bring major re-balancing of the standard game mode and major re-balancing of larger caliber weapons. Can't comment more on this topic."
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*Will bots be introduced into standard game mode?
-"Most likely yes, WG seems to have this task set as a priority and I'm predicting it will happen in patch 1.9. Player feedback on this topic has been overall negative, but we will work hard on making these bots more polished and I assure you that there will be an enormous amount of testing done if bots are to be introduced into standard battle mode in 1.9.
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*Will critical kills be brought back (One-shot insta kills from large caliber guns)? Will there be a change for already shot down "dead" planes flying through the sky to deal damage when rammed by players?

-"The answer is no, for both questions. We will however increase the chances of modules getting damaged (Fuselage, wings, tail etc..) in patch 1.8."
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*Will Cache problems be resolved in 1.8? (Bomb explosions in the air, invisible bombs, invisible rockets, store doesn't show sales when it should, etc...)
-"If players submitted tckets on all these things and if we have enough data to fix these problems then they will be fixed. If you see these problems persist in 1.8 then we urge you to submit tickets with screenshots, replays, videos etc.."
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*Is there going to be any major response to the recent "flash-mobs" on the forum stemming from the petition made by Furious and signed by thousands of players?
-"Well we have increased our communication with the community since that happened, and we plan on keeping in close touch with our players on the forums. Honestly we thank Furious for starting the petition, it put us on a hot-seat and helped speed up our current progress with the game development and communication. That is one of the things I like about our community, players are passionate about this game and that inspires us."
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*How will the problem with high ping for players who live far from the game servers be fixed?
-"We had been testing a new "Client-side prediction" in 1.7, we will implement it for everybody in the 1.8 patch, I gave it out to some players that live in the far side of Russia and play with pings of 250+, and they gave me very positive feedback on it saying they felt an  immediate difference in game-play and plane responsiveness.
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*Are there any plans for any major "Nerfs" and "Buffs"? As we all know there are OP and UP planes in the game.
-"I can't comment on that since I'm not in the game-balancing team, but there will be a continuation of the "Balance" topic in the dev blog, be on the lookout for a part 2 from our balancing team. Obviously there are nerfs and buffs being planned for multiple planes in the game, I just can't give any details on that."
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*Will you bring back rockets/bombs to planes that historically had them regardless of their in-game class (fighters)?
-"No, it has been said many times already, this is a game an in a game there needs to be balance. We understand that some planes historically had rockets but here we have a game design that has to be balanced, fighter planes will not get their rockets back even if they are supposed to have them."
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 Source: http://forum.worldofwarplanes.com/index.php?/topic/37947-what-the-devs-really-think-of-us/page__st__120__pid__543948#entry543948

Well now, that doesn't seem to be nearly as bad as first advertised.