Hi everyone!
In the previous episode we closely studied the World of Warships game engine.
Now it's time to get back to the main characters of the game-warships.
We'll talk about the most interesting of them all: Premium ships, their purpose,
and gameplay peculiarities.
Full speed ahead!
Developer diaries
In World of Warships, ships become more and more powerful and modern
as you progress through tiers of the tech tree.
However, some ships are special: they start with the top configuration.
But to acquire them, you need to either spend money or distinguish yourself on the battlefield...
A Premium ship is not researchable.
It doesn't have researchable modules, therefore it's an elite ship by definition.
It means that all the experience earned on this ship can be converted to the free experience.
We can make a clear distinction: there are ships that are researched with the experience you earn
and there are all the other ships.
They have a distinctive feature: in the game client they are all marked with a yellow gold color.
These ships are divided into those that you can purchase in the client
or in the Premium shop and, roughly speaking, all other special ships.
For example, they include the ships awarded for participation in Alpha and Beta tests,
gifted for Wargaming's birthdays and so on. Traditional gifts for players.
Rarely, a ship may be strictly tied to a player's skills.
Under no circumstances can this ship be given to a newcomer.
On the other hand, a player who understands all game aspects and has the skills
may receive this ship as a reward for successful play.
Those players, who are really skilled, receive a deserved reward that suits them the best.
Many formidable ships can be found throughout naval history,
but not all of them can become Premium in World of Warships.
For this to happen, a ship must conform to specific requirements
that can be described in a single word "unique"...
We always strive to select a special ship.
A special ship, as we understand it, can have very different aspects:
it may be as famous or well-known, as Tirpitz for example.
It may be a legendary veteran ship that fought in the war and survived, it might have had an enormous service record,
or contributed directly to the victory of its country, Gremyashchy for example.
Apart from that, we often choose ships notable for their technology to become Premium ships.
They have fairly original performance characteristics:
either a special design or an unexpected set of armament, for example.
U.S. cruiser Atlanta and Japanese cruiser Kitakami became the first Premium ships in World of Warships.
Developers used them to fine-tune the mechanisms for selling and awarding
these kinds of ship and to determine what battle capabilities they may have.
Tests showed that our players are able to handle the guns,
but most of them have difficulties when they have a large number of torpedo launchers
at their disposal and, simultaneously,
have to cope with high visibility, sluggishness, and the need to plan ahead.
First of all, Premium ships add diversity to the game and allow you to show off your tactical skills.
In addition, they offer some bonuses.
Of course, they won’t make you a master of the seas, but will offer new possibilities
that a regular ship from the tech tree will only provide after a long time playing...
First of all, Premium ships are an option, available to every player.
Everyone can purchase them and, by doing so, skip lots of tiers
that they would otherwise have to research.
Accordingly, it's an opportunity to see the future development of your game account...
... Just like a Premium Account, it doesn't give you an advantage in battle.
However, it allows you to save some time that you would have spent in the game,
achieving or researching something.
Premium ships are very good for power-leveling commanders,
thanks to the fact that they can be transferred to and from Premium ships without penalties.
Besides this, they are great for earning credits
that you can later spend on purchasing ships from the tech tree.
In our game, different Premium ships provide different bonuses.
Some ships will earn more credits and some will earn more experience.
Some ships help earning more crew experience;
some give a bonus to both crew and total earned experience.
Firstly, it will add diversity to the game,
and secondly—this is very important—
it will add value and meaning to Premium ships of medium and low tiers.
World of Warships, just like a powerful battleship, gains speed.
New Premium ships will soon appear in the game.
Because these ships are special, you will need to work out special battle tactics for each of them.
But once you master them, you will enjoy new gameplay like no other.
Premium ships create a completely different battle experience,
both for an individual player and for the team in general.
Each of these ships can be yours, you just need to set a goal.
We expect many new Premium ships next year: American, Soviet, and German.
I'd like to emphasize one thing for our players:
when we say Premium, it doesn't mean that all these ships will be on sale.
Moreover, it means that only a small portion will be sold,
while the majority of them will be available as rewards for different activities,
participation in contests, events, tournaments, different leagues, etc.
Follow the news and stay tuned for more Developers' Diary episodes
to get the latest and most interesting information about World of Warships.