WoT: Further PMM Tank Changes

Once again (again… again…) a new iteration of changes to PMM Tier 8s. Some of this will be taken from a portal article released today on the subject. As for the stats:

111112fcm 50tis-6jag88kv-5m6a2e1t-34-3type59

The Situation

  • Problem: Vehicles with preferential status are likely to get matched into dual or single-tier battles, where their status combined with combat parameters does more harm than good. In certain battles, they can’t compete with Tier IX and feel inferior against regular Tier VIII vehicles.
  • Goal: Improve the experience for preferential vehicles while keeping the preferential matchmaking parameter and their unique characteristics intact.
  • Solution: All-around vehicle rebalances on a vehicle-by-vehicle basis to improve their statistics combined with matchmaker rule revision. The latter is aimed at reducing instances of getting matched at the same position (top/middle/bottom) on the list for several battles in a row by fixing the current template distribution. Vehicles with the same base model, such as the WZ-111 and the WZ-111 Alpine Tiger, will get the same improvements.
Side note: Regular Tier VIII vehicles face a similar issue with matchmaking, amplified by the fact they also compete with Tier X’s. The underlying problem for these vehicles is too many battles versus Tier X. The matchmaker rules revision is designed to better the experience for them, too.

The First Stage — What Has Been Done

Here are the steps we have already taken. We started with making characteristic and statistical changes to the 10 preferential matchmaking vehicles we currently have in-game to make them more competitive in same and +1 Tier battles, without making them perform better than non-preferential vehicles, as they will see +2 Tier battles.

All of this was done on the Supertest and we believe we got the desired result. In terms of combat effectiveness, these special Premium vehicles are now much closer to non-preferential matchmaking ones.

For example: The IS-6 has received buffs but it will not eclipse the IS-3 as the IS-6 only sees up to Tier IX, but the IS-3 must be competitive against Tier X tanks.

The Iterations

The following changes were available on the Supertest:
  • First iteration: Level the preferential matchmaking vehicles with each other
  • Second iteration: Choose the parameters for improving the vehicle’s characteristics on a case-by-case basis
  • Third iteration: Polishing these changes

Using statistics, it’s easy to see the big things that need changing, but stats alone are not enough. We also wanted to make minor changes, however, and this is where your feedback is vital. A request to increase the number of shells the IS-6 carries, for instance, doesn’t affect its combat effectiveness but will impact gameplay and how players feel while commanding the vehicle.

Work is complete for this step but we’ll continue to monitor the stats and feedback in case additional changes need to be made. Now onto the more pressing issue for these vehicles: the matchmaker.

Next Steps

After the release of 9.18, the new matchmaker was introduced (with the 3-5-7 format). Yet, this system is not efficient for preferential matchmaking vehicles: after all, they aren’t as effective against their own Tier and the Tier higher. So, what can be done?

Our initial plan is to look at ways to change the matchmaker and control distribution among all six template possibilities. We cannot improve the current system without a full rework of the architecture, however, and this is planned for the future.

We are actively disassembling the current matchmaker, making important changes, and then adding them to the new system. A complex adjustment, to be sure, and one that needs time to ensure nothing breaks!

Due to the complexity of the issue, we’ll have upcoming articles on the matchmaker and the changes required. In short, it requires delving into the entire matchmaker architecture, and is much more complicated than individual vehicle changes. We understand you want as much information as possible regarding this issue, and we’ll release more as soon as we can.

Liked it? Take a second to support jerryatrick53 on Patreon!
WoT: Further PMM Tank Changes

14 thoughts on “WoT: Further PMM Tank Changes

  1. Anonymous says:

    honestly i smell faul play from WG , its that strange feeling they will fuck up these tanks even further then what they had become , thanks to who ever retarded asshole that came up whit the concoction of the 3/5/7 match making system has behing a logical workablr choice…

    1. Anonymous says:

      Since I can taste the salt in the air from ur illogical comment, would u care to explain how buffing tanks that r too inadequate to play against their current competitors is making them worse?

      1. Dickher Max says:

        He is one of the guys who still did not get the fact that PPMs gonna keep their PPM, they will not get MM 8-10 as originally intended. It seems like this change slipped the attention of like 70% of players.

      2. Anonymous says:

        Buffs won’t change a thing. These tanks will still get farmed by the tier 8s and 9s that they always see and they will be better against the tier 7s (some times see) and 6s (almost never see). 175 or 186 mm of pen will still be irrelevant against an o-ho,type 4,defender,vk100.01 etc.

  2. Mikosah says:

    A much simpler and easier solution has been right there the whole time- simply making 5/10 the most common format and only using 3/5/7 as a last resort.

    And as of the proposed buffs to limited MM premiums, I say let them have comparable pen values as their non-limited peers. Pen alone would allow them to comfortably deal with tier 9 games without being better than their standard peers.

  3. the fcm50t isn’t so bad currently, so buffs will help negate the fact its big enough to be classed as one of the wonders of the world, while fighting those oh so sleek low profile russian (and their clones) tanks.

    On those oh so made for russian (and their clones) sleek low profile tanks, maps.

    Any buffs to gun depression is just making a mockery of players these days from WG, when a chinese or russian tank whose supposed weakness is poor gun depression, STILL dominate hill tops and work ridgelines of maps. And with stupidly Op turret armour to boot.

    But never fear, the russian and chinese tanks have bad accuracy, poor aim times.

    Rolls on floor laughing. Is that still a thing?. Maybe it’s in fortnite as a dance.

    Yeah they got this game sewn up.

  4. Doesn’t matter how much they buff the pref MM tanks. They are still inadequate in an ecosystem filled with Defenders, Chryslers and other less than balanced tanks.

    Let’s not even mention fucking 3-5-7 MM. I’ve been playing this game since 2011, but I’ve stopped for the last two months and I doubt I’ll start playing again until they fix this fucking MM fail.

  5. Wargame being Belarus or Russians to rest of world are very stubborn slow to change anything months to even see there is a problem and then blame some other person to deflect criticism BUT in the long run as real money is involved and a lot of money

    Wargame as soon as they can figure out a way to change the 3-5-7 MM which importantly makes them look clever and wise and ‘ahead of the game’ or ‘save face’ then will do something ‘important’ to make the WOT players genuinely content

    however its Wargame gonna take a long, long time ……………………… while they think!

  6. bbmoose says:

    I don’t get how everyone is bashing the 3/5/7 template. It wasn’t bad in 9.18. Back then you had mostly single- or two tier games and the mm would put you on top if you were at the bottom a couple of times.

    I was happy with it, but in 9.19 they changed the mm. After that you were constantly bottom tier. And that sucks.

    The template system isn’t bad. It only has to prefer single tier, or two tier games. 3/5/7 would be the last option if the mm can’t find a proper match.

    1. Hooli_Gun says:

      So, when they first introduced this MM, they claimed officialy, that top/middle/bottom placement would be balanced. You were bottom tier this battle comrad? No worries, our algorithm sees that, and you will be top tier next battle.
      NOW they say that they have to rework the whole architecture, to achieve balance, which means, that the problem is not minor, and it cant be fixed with some tweaks.
      A MM designed from the beginning, as they claimed, to give you a balanced top/middle/bottom placement, should be easy to tweak and finetune.
      Commrads, they were either lying to us then, or lying to us now (or both).

      1. “Commrads, they were either lying to us then, or lying to us now (or both).”

        It’s the asian effect: they never say the all story. Being belorussian or russian, doens’t matter, they will always say one thing and do the opposite.

Leave a Reply