We spoke with Community Product Specialist Robert Matuszak about the Blitz Games.
Robert Matuszak: Community Product Specialist for World of Tanks Blitz
Robert stands as the advocate for World of Tanks Blitz and World of Tanks Generals in the Wargaming Europe Community department, being responsible for managing and driving these projects’ assigned publishing activities in Europe. He also facilitates communication with players throughout Community Teams and Customer Support and assists in the project development strategy.
What are the Blitz Games?
The Blitz Games is quite similar to some of the “races” we’ve had before in World of Tanks Blitz. For races, every time we introduce a new line in the Tech Tree, we hold a competition, which can be like accruing damage or vehicles destroyed—check out the latest Grill Party for reference. The Blitz Games will be similar, with the exception that the progress bar will not be separate for each region, but global. And instead of just one objective, we’ll have six of them. There will be a little bit of something for everyone. There’s a progress bar for medal enthusiasts, a progress bar for the destruction of vehicles, for Platoon battles, and others.
These six progress bars all contribute to one general progress bar, which tracks the global score for each region. Let’s say the total for each progress bar is, for instance, 100 points, then the overall progress would be 600 points. There are three stages to the Blitz Games: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. And depending on the stage that players have achieved, within the timeframe, from the 5th to the 21st of August, they receive a specific prize. Bronze is one Premium day; silver is three Premium days; and the gold medal is seven Premium days, plus a special medal for those who met the minimum requirements.
Whereas, in the football-themed event for World of Tanks Blitz, where players could get the “Ole, Ole, Ole” camouflage, for the Blitz Games, they can get the “Faster, Higher, Stronger” camo. You can get it via a mission in the battle mission menu. Then, once you’ve completed the mission in the vehicles of your choice, you’ll get your reward. If you already have it on the vehicle, then you’ll receive 20,000 credits compensation.
For the Blitz Games, you won’t have to check out a separate landing page, like we had for Rise of Continents. Everything will be on the official portal, just like we have done for the races.
Where did the idea come from?
Long story short, we like to design events that tie into competitions of a similar scale going on “in the real world”. With this, players receive additional activities accompanied by a cool and easily recognizable theme. Our community like events that tie into big things in the real world. They get a cool, additional activity to participate in. They just have to play 50 battles to be eligible to receive the rewards. Plus, everyone likes an opportunity to not just work together, but show off their skills.
Which region do you think will be the best in certain events?
On the basis of the last couple of races, and if we’re talking about damage, like medium Tankwondo, it’ll probably be the CIS region. They easily cleared that type of goal in the last two races. I think the EU region will probably come out ahead in terms of medals, because EU did well in Rise of Continents. I’d say EU will be strong in Synchronized Shooting.
Will there be much involvement in the Blitz Games on the Community side?
Community Teams will be preparing additional content for their players. They’ll be shorter, but they’ll complement the events. Let’s say, if we were focusing on medium Tankwondo, then our Community Team may prepare a shorter contest, which may run a week, for people to send in their pics of them causing the most damage. It’s a good way of interacting with the community and providing them with that additional boost to try and compete in whatever we have prepared for them.
What advice would you give to the players?
Play as much as possible. Incorporate teamwork in your battles. I’d vote for Platooning. And don’t be intimidated by different regions. Everyone knows the Russian community is the largest, and there’s a common belief that if your region is larger, then you’re always going to come out on top. For every competition, we always adjust the goals to make them attainable for each region and the amount of people. It’s not about the number of people—300 Spartans, remember. Besides, this time we work for the common goal, so it’s a win-win situation.
What about the medals players can acquire?
There’ll be one unique medal prepared for the people who participate. It was similar to the one we had for the camo contest. That was for people who had the best camouflage. (We named it The Medal for Creative Input), right now it is going to represent player’s devotion to the game and contribution on the road to the best prize distributed for every Blitz Games participant.
What kind of events can we expect for the future?
If you liked the missions we had for Girls und Panzer and Tankenstein, then we may have something cool like that lined up for the future. Just stay tuned to our announcements.