I downloaded the server. I logged into my account and for the first time I came across the test server with the merge update.
I want to leave all my impressions on this topic so let’s go…
1 - First, I realized that it only had 6 squad slots, which was expected after all it is a test server. I went to discord where many people said they had been refunded and others had not (like me). Thanks to the helpers, especially @Euthymia07 , they showed us that we would be refunded when the update was released. It was the first incident. Caused a lot of confusion.
2 - After that I thought about joining a game, played a little and left because I forgot to deactivate the random faction. I started a new game and after playing a little I noticed that the uniform of the premium soldiers had changed, I didn’t like that. Then the game literally crashed and I was forced to open it again.
I already knew that soldiers would have different appearances on different maps but I didn’t expect premium squads to lose their premium uniform in campaigns other than the original campaign (this needs to be changed).
3 - I finally thought about checking the ‘‘progress’’ tab after all it’s the big change in this update. And I saw a visually confusing tree. I already have everything unlocked in most nations, but even so, many vehicles and weapons appeared with the ‘‘search’’ option. I reported this and many other bugs on the site.
I’ve tested the server for approximately 6 hours and still haven’t discovered what I’m researching for. I haven’t finished the US tree yet but I couldn’t figure out what I was researching there, it’s not visually clear what equipment you’re researching. They need to change the color scheme. I still don’t know what I’m researching. If I’m researching for something
For me the whole rework is sufficientaly good most of the aspect who warried me seems be already adressed or planned to be worked on, what i disliked is
the non presence of the BR matchmaking: this is what i was waiting for enjoi some low level gameplay and reuse old equipment but currently is impossible withaut accept to be a ****
strange silver income: this is a sus point, i know that income are artificially modded for the test but if they stay like this? Withaut a 200% booster (minium) you need 4 battle for buy one tier 1 gun if the base income stay like this
lack of camo for veichle in different map: this no need explanation if soldier can change uniform i wish even veichle can change camo
lack of italian uniform for stalingrad and moscow: its ok that italian in normandy and berlin get the german uniform because they was already incorporated in the italien SS divison, but in moscow and stalingrad italian soldier was still under the italian high command so they need use their army uniform not the german one
idk what is so strange about this… before you needed to grind 25k xp to get 1 silver weapon order, aka 1 new t1 gun…
now you will get equivalent of 1 silver weapon order, 0.5 silver soldier orders, 8.33 bronze weapon orders and 4.17 bronze soldier orders. calculated in new economy you will get 500+500+833+833=2667 silver for equivalent. for same xp you can buy 2.5 t1 guns in new economy.
there is nothing sus in new economy… it just shows how old economy was shit.
But of course, they’re still extremely weird things.
For example, SU-85m in progression after both T-34/85. This SU thing is extremely underperforming in comparison to both T-34s. No MG, no turret. Just slightly better armor lol
i didnt forget anything. economy was shit before also. now imagine how much you needed to play to get squad full of soldiers (50k xp per soldier), with every soldier equipped with gun (minimum 25k xp per weapon) with upgrade that costed with 18-69 bronze weapon orders per weapon with -40% discount (6000xp per weapon order).
this conversion only holds water for players unfamiliar with the game. you get ~106 silver per 1k xp. for me good match gives me more than 10k xp without premium and boosters (just win bonus and battle heroes bonus). @VoyoMayPL calculated “good” match around 3.2k xp match.
i am not saying that economy is good. just that it was always bad. currency conversion has nothing to do with shitty economy that was shit from the start.
Seems most matches I get sent into are VERY late spawns, like one team has already capped 3 - 4 objectives. I also noticed mass deserting to be even more of an issue than in the regular game, which is probably also connected to all the late match spawns.
well there is only a fraction of players on test server, so it is somewhat expected… anyways from what i saw in other thread this test server is mostly to test xp/silver conversion with any other bug as bonus.
Yeah I guess its to be expected, my only real complaint TBH is that there is no BR, so you can’t test out load orders to see which maps you will get, just have to read the tech tree and make assumptions until they release a test server version with BR
Devs, theres still stime to stop this and theres no shame in admitting that the merge just isnt a good idea, despite what a minority of people here would have you believe. you had a great game, you still have a fine game… youre trying to make too much happen to quickly, this simply isnt going to work.
yes game that on average has about 40% of bots camouflaged as players at start of the match and 50% at the end of the match. game was just fine.
game that couldnt add new campaigns without further diluting number of players in other campaigns.
game that had veterans with top end vehicles and weapons sealclubing newbies with starter vehicles and weapons.
yes game was totally “great and fine”
idk about too quickly… they announced this 8 months ago and this test server is just to test transfer and conversion of silver and xp. we probably wont see next test server for at least a month…
the merge itself is a good idea. the execution on the other hand, leaves a lot to be desired. in my opinion, what is needed is
remove perk reroll costs. make it free. no strings attached.the little money you can earn from people buying silver with real money to reroll a given perk will not overcome the brutal PR nightmare you are getting into.
reduce all prices by a lot, OR increase the gains by a lot. things are extremely, ridiculously overpriced, even for veterans with a lot of silver stocked. think from a new player with no gear, no soldiers, no research and no stock of silver.
completely remove RNG on soldier stats. is bad enough a single t4 cost 11.5k silver, for it to not have max rolls and having to buy from 10 to 20 soldiers to get a maxed one is absolutely brutal. vets can go for max stats soldiers now with stocked silver, new players wont even be able to think of rebuying just for the sake of better stats.
rework the armory to show all your owned gear, be it equipped or not, and let the players move, equip or remove gear directly from the same screen and menu, reducing the amount of clicks needed to a reasonable amount. clicks needed to get things done in any UI is a key metric in UI design.
make a rule that right before the merge, all devs, helpers and testers must make a completely new account and play at least 20 solo public matches in random armies to really get a taste of what the new player experience feels like.
do not, i repeat DO NOT take the top of the final match table scores and consider it the median value as standard. look at the middle point of the score table and base economy and balance on that value.
do not let the new player experience be an afterthought. the main focus of the merge must be an increase in population, and new player experience is what makes or breaks it. veterans will always end up leaving, but if you dont have retention from new players, the trend will always be downwards.
do not sacrifice long term gains by short term income, and do not trade good image and PR for immediate money grabbing schemes. long term is where the real money is.
you have a very good base for an excellent game, but a brief look at gaming history will show that good base and solid foundations will only carry weight if its correctly built upon. noone wants to live in a house with excellent foundations if it has a thatched roof that leaves rain through.
learn from past mistakes and avoid repeating them, be it in this same game, or others. remember what happened to other games form your same company and others when you tried to mess badly with its economy. dont hit twice the same wall, dont do the same things expecting different results.
just out of the top of my head, there are many more issues but these are kinda burning important, sort of make or break stuff.
