World of Tanks Generals Announced

[Svend Karlson]

Ah, right - for Generals. Actually, we don't even have the French in the closed beta yet. My expectation is that the reason for this is that France was attacked directly, by tanks, during the early stages of the war, while the British attacked (counterattacked I guess would be more accurate) a bit later. Although war was declared, the invasion of France was fought and done before the British army launched any major offensives. I'll ask the lead producer for that project if that was the reason, and whether he has a timeline for the British cards that he can let slip.   :o

Oh dear, you need to look at your history books young man.

British fought in Belgium and France, have you not heard of Dunkirk?

You may or may not have a greater knowledge of WWII than he or I but he didn't claim that the British didn't fight, he said they didn't launch any major offensives before the fall of France. True, no?  :)

[FlickJax]

Ah, right - for Generals. Actually, we don't even have the French in the closed beta yet. My expectation is that the reason for this is that France was attacked directly, by tanks, during the early stages of the war, while the British attacked (counterattacked I guess would be more accurate) a bit later. Although war was declared, the invasion of France was fought and done before the British army launched any major offensives. I'll ask the lead producer for that project if that was the reason, and whether he has a timeline for the British cards that he can let slip.   :o

Oh dear, you need to look at your history books young man.

British fought in Belgium and France, have you not heard of Dunkirk?

You may or may not have a greater knowledge of WWII than he or I but he didn't claim that the British didn't fight, he said they didn't launch any major offensives before the fall of France. True, no?  :)

OK so that leaves Germany on their own then!!!  What I am saying is that of the 4 main protagonists at the start of the war they miss one completely.

Also look at this:

http://forum.worldoftanks.eu/index.php?/forum/165-european-community/

Which forum is busiest and yes I know a lot of europeans can speak english

and this:

http://forum.worldoftanks.eu/index.php?/topic/301851-where-are-you-from/

And still we are an after thought and it's not just British as we also account for all the commonwealth forces.

[ChrisK]

Oh dear, you need to look at your history books young man.

Like any self-respecting grognard, I have hundreds. Unfortunately I am traveling and don't have any with me.  :-\

British fought in Belgium and France, have you not heard of Dunkirk?

The BEF had very little armor with them, and most of that IIRC was armed with nothing but machineguns. The French army had at least 10 times the number of tanks as the British (something like 3000 vs. 300) and they were generally much heavier. Even at Arras, I think half of the tanks 1AD used were French, and there weren't all that many used. Less than a hundred perhaps? And Dunkirk, an armored offensive? Certainly a valiant infantry holding action, but if you think it's an example of British armored warfare, perhaps I am not the only one who should be reading up.

I am still awaiting a reply from the Generals producer. I'll let you know as soon as I hear. ;D

[Slick Wilhelm]

Holy cow, what is up with the negativity in this thread? ChrisK, sir, you are welcome here and thank you for contributing to this discussion.

I must respectfully disagree with SgtRock's statements. Wargaming.net has made a huge hit with World of Tanks. In my mind, any game that can generate interest in wargaming in the younger generatons, is a boon to us and to wargaming in general.

As to WOWarplanes and WOWarhips: Game developers can never win with some people. If they rush a game out before it's ready, they get blasted for releasing a buggy mess. If they wait to polish and make the game stable, some people whine because they're...they're...I dunno, what exactly is the problem of not releasing a game until it is ready for prime time?

World of Tanks is a hell of a lot of fun. And for what it is, it is very good. I don't believe wargaming.net ever claimed that WoT was a tank sim. It's a 3rd person shooter with elements of realism.

To be honest I'm not looking forward to playing World of Warplanes, as I'm too much of a realism freak when it comes to flight sims. I will probably try it out, but I doubt that it will trip my trigger.

World of Warships is really what I'm waiting for with great anticipation. I'm extremely curious to see how they architect the gameplay in that one.

[LongBlade]

World of Warships - never seen a gameplay video, not even in beta yet.

Right now it's in internal-only "Friends and Family" Alpha. I expect closed beta early next year, but don't hold me to that as we're trying to avoid a too-long beta period as we've had for World of Warplanes. FYI I have played Warships and it's amazing - I've never been a fan of naval games, but this one has changed me. Flight sims, including Warplanes, on the other hand, are still not my cup of tea.

Well, I'd love to get in on some of that action, even if it means signing an NDA.

And when the time comes that you're ready to share coverage on it, I'm more than happy to write up some previews.

[ChrisK]

OK so that leaves Germany on their own then!!!

Umm... yes? As long as your view of World War II focuses completely on the war in Europe, which I think we can both agree on at least as a starting point.

What I am saying is that of the 4 main protagonists at the start of the war they miss one completely.

So Poland, Germany, Slovakia, and the Soviet Union as the 4 main protagonists involved in actual combat and not just the Phoney War? Or are you speaking of a different year than 1939? In 1940 we would have to go with Germany, Belgium, France, and the Netherlands (leaving out Denmark, Norway, and Luxembourg) if we focus on both the largest ground forces and nations upon whose soil the war was actually fought. But since we are covering the entire war, why limit ourselves to the outset of the war?

Also look at this:

http://forum.worldoftanks.eu/index.php?/forum/165-european-community/

Which forum is busiest and yes I know a lot of europeans can speak english

and this:

http://forum.worldoftanks.eu/index.php?/topic/301851-where-are-you-from/

Well, you're comparing apples and oranges here, but this is certainly where hearsay and forum activity are overshadowed by actual player data. Which, unfortunately, I can't share. :-X However, suffice it to say that the European cluster makes up only about 10% of our players, and that fewer than 5% of players ever post on the forums, and then in the traditional 80% negative/20% positive fashion and by almost entirely hardcore players. The actual data of vehicle popularity by in-game nation and physical region for World of Tanks does not support advancing the British tanks as an initial faction in Generals, but we do want to include them in all of our games. However, we did get a lot of feedback about British aircraft being popular for World of Warplanes, which is one of the reasons we delayed the launch of that game to include them. Certainly, the Royal Air Force was far more active and influential than the Royal Tank Corps in the first couple of years of the war.

Holy cow, what is up with the negativity in this thread? ChrisK, sir, you are welcome here and thank you for contributing to this discussion.

My pleasure. ;D

World of Tanks is a hell of a lot of fun. And for what it is, it is very good. I don't believe wargaming.net ever claimed that WoT was a tank sim. It's a 3rd person shooter with elements of realism.

Exactly! I play it to blow off steam and see cool tanks in my Garage. To go head-to-head with other tanks and get the rush of (play) battle - I have seen enough of the real thing, where the only rush is fear. I would love to have some historical battles though (and so would SerB, and we're working on them). But FlickJax and I are actually discussing the Generals online CCG game, not World of Tanks, although it does creep into the conversation quite a bit. ::)

To be honest I'm not looking forward to playing World of Warplanes, as I'm too much of a realism freak when it comes to flight sims. I will probably try it out, but I doubt that it will trip my trigger.

I've never liked flight sims, with or without a joystick. Warplanes is fun, but not for too long for me. I'd rather plan/think than twitch/shoot. However...

[quote.World of Warships is really what I'm waiting for with great anticipation. I'm extremely curious to see how they architect the gameplay in that one.
[/quote]

...I've also never liked naval sims, but Warships has changed me. It requires more teamwork than Tanks, it's less forgiving of bad decisions (it takes a long time to turn the USS Iowa around!), and includes some novel RTS-like features that help balance air and sea power across ginormous maps.

Well, I'd love to get in on some of that action, even if it means signing an NDA.

And when the time comes that you're ready to share coverage on it, I'm more than happy to write up some previews.

Duly noted. When I get my hands on the first closed beta codes, I will let you know.  8)

[FlickJax]

Hi Chris,

I am probably just a grumpy old man, but one last comment was the Royal tank Corps not involved in North Afrika then? first against the Italians and then against the Afrika Corps?

Anyway isn't Generals a joint operations game? not just tanks?  I am a great fan of your games being a premium account holder on WoTs for over 2 years I was just hoping for a bit of love for the British and Commonwealth from the start for change.

Flickjax

[ChrisK]

I am probably just a grumpy old man, but one last comment was the Royal tank Corps not involved in North Afrika then? first against the Italians and then against the Afrika Corps?

Anyway isn't Generals a joint operations game? not just tanks?  I am a great fan of your games being a premium account holder on WoTs for over 2 years I was just hoping for a bit of love for the British and Commonwealth from the start for change.

North Africa didn't start until after the German invasion of France, and it didn't get hot with armor until after Torch (I believe the Western Desert Force had fewer than 100 tanks all told in 1940). Using your previous methodology, that would mean the Italians should have come in at least as early as the French, and probably also before the British, although certainly their participation in the remainder of the war (as well as their lack of effective tanks) pretty much precludes them from any reasonable consideration. The mainstay of British armored combat took place at the same time as (and usually alongside of) American tank forces. The French, while certainly eclipsed early, at least had tank combat take place on their own soil.

Generals is only slightly more "joint operations" than World of Tanks itself! There are tanks and SPGs and TDs, but no field artillery, airplanes, mines, or other kinds of units. All supporting units (engineers, commo, scouts, etc.) are included only as part of your headquarters, and are lost with HQ (and the game). Generals is primarily a game of strategic use of card selection, vehicle special abilities, bonus combinations, and resources. It's much more like Stratego with tanks than Axis & Allies with cards.

Again, we're loving Great Britain in World of Warplanes. I don't think we've announced anything for World of Warships, but given the history of the Royal Navy, I would expect it to be in the first wave (sorry, pun intended!) of nations. ;D