Commanders!
Recon Mission 2023 has been a resounding success! Well-known locations with random events introduced to them—Himmelsdorf, Ruinberg, Prokhorovka, and Safe Haven—have drawn a lot of interest from tankers, and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. 86.8% of those who filled in the questionnaires enjoyed playing on maps with random events, and 84.9% would like them to become part of Random Battles. This level of support from you empowers us to develop and improve random events further, making them one of the staples of World of Tanks.
All in all, over 13,100,000 battles have been played by more than 521,000 helpful players during the event, and over 107,000 of you found time to share your thoughts in nearly 400,000 questionnaires. Let’s take a look at the heat maps, location by location, comparing versions with and without random events, and then we’ll discuss the key takeaways!
Himmelsdorf
Before
After
The heat map comparison for Himmelsdorf shows that the introduction of a zeppelin crashing down on the mountain makes the situation in the center of the map more dynamic. Players not only use the new passage leading down the mountain slope but also become more active on the street at the mountain’s base. They are also less shy to cross the square.
Ruinberg
Before
After
On Ruinberg, the aerial bombardment that creates large breaches in city blocks prompts tankers to use new passages and lines of fire very actively. If there’s a deadlock in these parts of the map when the bombs fall, it dissolves very quickly due to the sheer number of opportunities for a breakthrough.
Prokhorovka
Before
After
Two bombers crashing down on the bushy “alley” prompt teams to approach and engage each other in that area, instead of waiting for the other side to make their move. The debris from the lone bomber hitting the hill becomes a hotly contested zone in many battles.
Safe Haven
Before
After
The dock rammed by the burning cargo ship and its surroundings are very popular with players on both sides. They try various moves in this area to outsmart their opponents.
Dynamic Cover
Regarding dynamic cover, 74.9% of Recon Mission participants who filled in the questionnaires liked this feature. During Recon Mission 2023, tankers interacted with both types of movable objects extensively and creatively. To give you an idea of how far they have been dragged, there are heat maps of all four locations below. The travels of each individual movable object are marked with a unique color.
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Key Takeaways
The initial analysis of feedback and data from Recon Mission 2023 helped us refine our vision for random events. When they return as part of Random Battles, the following changes will have been implemented:
- We intend to ditch red lines as danger zone borders in favor of something that better suits the map environment (e.g., thick smoke). Round markers over the event zones will go, too, and minimap signs will be reworked.
- The visuals will experience a complete overhaul: All textures, effects, and animations will be upgraded to make random events more spectacular and realistic. Random events will not affect low-end systems adversely, though their overall visual quality will depend on general system performance.
- Random events will behave more like their name suggests: beginning at a random time after the start of the battle, or sometimes just not occurring at all.
Judging by the data we have gathered, the introduction of random events does not affect map balance significantly. We will continue to monitor map balance in the future, fine-tuning random events or making other adjustments if needed.
What’s Next
We want to thank you all once more for your contribution to our common cause of making World of Tanks even more engaging and entertaining. Expect a further improved, release-grade version of random events in late fall 2023. The exact selection of maps and events will be defined later. Stay tuned and follow the news, Commanders!