Earlier I had the opportunity to contact lead game designer for world of tanks: Sergej Burkatovskiy and talk to him about some of the things on the horizon with world of tanks and its sister games.  here is the interview for your enjoyment!

1. We have seen tanks from the early 1930's all the way up to the late 1950's. Are there any plans to add more modern tanks later on for World of Tanks? Maybe even more tiers than just 10?

We have lots in the pipeline for the tech tree. We’ve announced what we could reveal and, for obvious reasons, we ain’t going to spit out more. However, I can assure you there are no plans to implement extra tiers – ten seems enough to us. The bottom line here is: modern tanks are largely integrated into combined arms action, introducing them would call for combined arms, and we don’t plan going this direction, at least not in the nearest future.

2. With the addition of the new crew skills in the 7.2 patch, will there be any additional planed skills in the future?

The work on new skills won’t stop with the introduction of the Update 7.2. Initially, the Update used to field a larger list of skills, but we had to reject some. Mostly, they were really time consuming to implement and would drag the Update release, while we didn’t want to make our fans wait. It doesn’t mean we turned them away for good: they’ll come in one of the future updates, as soon as we feel they are finalized. And of course, we’ll come up with absolutely new skills as the game develops.

3. With World of Tanks being available for modifications or “modding” by the community, will wargaming ever put out a rating system or a “staff picks” section to show new players what modifications are considered safe and/or game enhancing?

We genuinely believe in the importance of players’ feedback and have always been keen on giving back to the community. Aware of their wishes we provided players with “modding” basics. It’s been done by implementing parallel catalogues.  As for the further steps in regard to modding, like, for example, some sort of “staff picks” certification – it’s an awfully painstaking job. Unfortunately, we lack time and recourses to support a full-scale “modding” right now. We are considering it, though.

4.  With sister games World of Warplanes and World of Battleships on the horizon,  is there any plans for interaction between the three games where they will be able to play all on one giant map? or share some sort of common elements between them?

As it has been announced before, three titles will be integrated on several levels. First off, it will concern the game economy: players will get a unified account for three games. As a result, they’ll be able to transfer Free Experience points and in-game gold between titles. Secondly, we’ll overhaul the diplomacy: Clan Wars will now cover seas, skies and ground, with naval, tank and ship Clans cooperating and assisting each other on the Global Map. However, integration won’t let you control tanks, battleships and warplanes on the same battle field. It’s would be impossible in terms of map sizes: 30 planes will be cramped on a 1 x 1 tank map, tanks will be lost on a 15 x 15 km plane one. Plus, it would tilt the in-game balance.

5. Are there any plans to expand the game to include computer controlled elements such as infantry or other tanks where players can interact with by supporting or attacking for a small bonus or just to have on the map to enrich the experience of war?

We’ve been thinking much about adding infantry into the game. Technically, it might seem not a hard task, but once it’s implemented, we would have to reconsider and completely rebuild the game balance. World of Tanks was tailored to pure tank battles in the first place, so infantry will change the concept drastically. That’s why we first want to make sure we keep a good balance between the pillars of our game that we improve and solidify, and then we’ll be thinking on how to implement new elements like, for instance, infantry without any plausible drawbacks to the game’s concept and fun.

6. Some players have complained about “wallet warriors” or people who purchase premium tanks, without the necessary skill for utilizing their higher tier premium tanks.  Are there any plans on putting restrictions on premium tanks so that you would need a credit acquired tank of the same tier before being able to purchase a premium?

Actually, most players need to fight 10-20 battles to grasp the game basics and start contributing to their team’s victory. Of course, there are gifted gamers that rock the battlefield right away! On the other hand, some don’t get to the gist and remain nothing but a burden to the team even after several hundreds of battles. What I’m driving at here is: stats show there’s no direct interdependency between buying a premium and poor gaming skills. Either you see what the game’s about, master your tactical skills and learn to cooperate, or you stay at the newbie level, no matter how many battles you fight or how many premiums you acquire. Sorry to say, but it’s about skills – not money! Therefore, there’s no point in putting any restrictions on premium tanks.

7. Some players have also talked about wanting multiples of the same tank ( I.e 2 or 3 T30’s or Type 59’s,etc,etc) each utilizing a separate crew and fit. What is the reason for each player only able to acquire a single copy of any vehicle at a time instead of allowing them to have multiples of the tank?  And is this something that may be changed in the future?

For starters, World of Tanks role play model is based on the “one tank of a particular model per player” principle. Yes, we are aware of the demand for multiples of the same tank and are evaluating several ways to implement it (e.g., we might simplify the gameplay on different configurations of the same tank). However, it’s not high on the list of common user cases, and we’ll only focus on it once we are done with top priority issues.

8. Since the addition of the French Light tanks, is there going to be a review of the premium light tanks to keep them in line with the balance?

We are testing the Chinese light tank Type 62 on the Chinese server right now. And well, we are seriously considering a thorough review of top tier light tanks. It's not going to be very soon or soon, though. Why? Premiums aren’t top priority, free content always comes first on the list – it’s a firm principle of ours. As for the nearest future updates, we are planning to widen the range of top tier American light tanks.

9. Is there anything just on the horizon for World of Tanks that you would like to share with New Eden Radio patrons that may not be necessarily well known by regular world of tanks players?

Recently, we’ve run an in-depth study of American, French, British and Japanese WWII military history: delved through archives, talked to our historic consultants, met with veterans. And you know what? Whichever nation we considered it had plentiful splendid vehicles (both real life models and prototypes)! So I promise you national tech trees will get a neat pack of new tanks soon. We’re really anxious to see what people will think of new machines. We hope players will (enjoy) them!