Thank you all for your active participation in testing the revised HE shells!
The number of players who played on the Sandbox server surpassed all of our expectations. Your engagement in the game process helped us collect important stats. The feedback provided and the number of tankers who filled out the survey shows that the newly introduced ideas didn't leave you indifferent and sparked a discussion among all kinds of players on a variety of sites.
Preliminary Results
Based on the preliminary survey results, we can state that players liked the key aspects of the revised mechanics—more than 70% of the reviews were positive. In particular, we found that tankers liked the following aspects:
- A significant reduction in damage from reworked HE shells when they hit the frontal armor of heavily armored vehicles
- An improved UI for notifications about hits and penetrations
- The ability to inflict minimal damage with HE shells when "reaching" armor
Based on these preliminary statistics and your feedback, we can say that the redesigned mechanics accomplish our goals and do not cause serious technical or design issues.
Current Discussion Topics
After reviewing your feedback, we've identified the main points on which you focused your attention in the discussion:
- The ability of HE shells to penetrate side skirts and tracks
- The impact of the new mechanics on such vehicles as the KV-2, the FV4005, and others that use HE as primary shells
- The impact of reworked HE shells on lightly armored vehicles
- The performance of Premium tanks that use HE shells as the primary ammo, for example the KV-2 (R)
- The number of critical hits caused by HE shells
- The performance of high mobility vehicles that carry high-pen HE shells (in particular, wheeled vehicles)
All these points will be carefully analyzed and addressed based on the collected data.
What's Next?
The next stage of testing the reworked HE shells in the Sandbox will begin in late March or early April. Currently, we're analyzing the collected data and taking your feedback into account. We'll focus on examining the concerns mentioned above by reviewing statistical analysis. We'll separately inform you about the content and exact dates of the next Sandbox iteration.
You tankers have done a great job—your feedback and questions have proven extremely useful.
We thank you for your dedication and will be waiting for you during the new Sandbox iteration!
More information about the previous Sandbox testing can be found here:
