Statement from Sub_Octavian on the LWM Yukon saga.
I feel I have to comment on all that, as I was probably the most involved in conversation with Chobittsu and AprilWhiteMouse after the incident happened.
But first of all, as my colleagues said above, I am terribly sorry that Chobi and Mouse had such bad experience in dealing with WoWS team. No matter who played what part in this incident, it's on World of Warships side, and I once again apologize for that.
Regarding the conversation, I feel his representation of our talks was not full. However, I understand that both Chobi and Mouse were under big stress from this situation, and I don't think there is any point in trying to dwell upon it further. At this moment, what's the most important is to make sure we understand each other and to find what we can do, apart from apologising. So here's how the conversation went.
- During our conversation, we indeed discussed several various things we could do as a sign of our appreciation and apology. While talking about cosmetic items, I indeed proposed an expendable camo, as I thought it would be cool to have something universally applicable in the game that would be there forever (i.e. a new camo for credits). However, we quickly moved away from this idea due to various reasons.
- We also discussed implementing Permanent camo for Yukon and a memorable flag - based on the designs of Chobi and Mouse.
- Last but not the least we talked about something really big - a new Canadian ship.
With any new ship it should be clear that it's not something that can be done quickly. Especially while talking about IRL ship - not a blueprint or papership. It's a serious commitment that has its own implications, but, given the issue that caused all that, we were ready to discuss it as a long term plan (i.e. the content for 2022 right now is already in active production, so most likely we're talking about later releases).
- Chobi and Mouse proposed Huron or Athabaskan II options due to the special meaning of these Tribal-class ships and their historical significance.
- We proposed Magnificent (CV), Ojibwa and Grilse (subs) due to the fact these ships would be completely new and would better fit game content plans in 2022+
- We decided that we (WoWS team) will evaluate the possibility of Huron / Athabaskan II and would get back to the guys with an answer and, if that answer would be yes, with evaluation. We anyway need to do a serious evaluation for any historical ship we consider - without it it's not possible to commit to its production.
Shortly after, Chobi and Mouse reached out to us and said they'd be actually inclined to settle on two Permanent camos (for Thunderer and Yukon) and a Canadian themed patch. We agreed to it, and obviously that's something that could be done much faster than a new ship. However in some more time they changed their mind and said they'd not be happy with this, actually. To be 100% clear, I don't blame them for changing their mind as it was most certainly a stressful week for them, and I appreciate that it's not easy to make up one's mind in these circumstances. Nevertheless, it means we haven't reached an agreement.
So, where are we at now?
As I said in our private conversation and double that for you here, the options we discussed are still on the table. We would be happy to pursue one of them when Chobi and Mouse approve that it's the direction they'd like us to go. Both options that we're left with are those that were proposed by Chobi and Mouse themselves:
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| HMCS Huron (G24) (Image Source Canada Hobbies) |
- Huron / Athabaskan II ship
- Yukon and Thunderer camo + Canadian themed patch
Other options (the ones we proposed) are not worth it as the guys are not interested in them, and we of course respect that.
It seems now we're waiting for the final confirmation from Mouse if a Tribal-class is the direction she would be happy with. Chobi (it's my interpretation), seems to be in favor of a ship, too. If that turns out to be the case, we will do our best to evaluate these ships and implement one of them in future. Before we do the research, we can't promise it, but we will do our best to make it happen. However, if the cosmetic items will be chosen by Chobi and Mouse, it's also fine with us. We're ready to implement them and make them available via Chobi's and Mouse's givaways and feature them in Community items in the Armory.
Finally, we will keep you posted when we reach any meaningful stage in the discussion. However the discussion itself is private, as we touch upon NDA information there, including long term roadmap and plans. I asked Chobi to treat this information more carefully, because otherwise I won't be able to discuss any meaningful details further on. That said, I appreciate that his intention was to keep the community informed, and I sincerely hope that in some time we will have a solution which will allow us to start moving in the right direction. No ship or signal or patch will suddenly make the situation that happened good, but we will work hard to become a better team and to repair our relations with valuable community members whom we, unfortunately, let down.
Hope to come back to you soon with some news!
I wouldn't mind Maggie or Bonnie in game
ReplyDeleteSame here
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