One of the major 9.7 changes is separating new players from experienced ones on tiers 1-3 (no more pedobears, unless you make a twink)-9.7 will not bring changes to individual missions, 9.8 will bring a large set of changes however;-It's not possible to release the set of changes via a mini-patch;-Platoon finder will not come in 9.7 or 9.8, but later;-The IM changes will include both description fixing and actual changes in IM conditions;-It's not clear yet whether the penetration changes in first 9.7 test will appear in final 9.7 version, developers will think about it (it's possible it will, it's possible it will not);-It's not clear what the conditions for making a difference between newbie and experienced player on tiers 1-3 are (RG: Seriously?);-"Want skill MM? Play team battles with leagues.";-There are more plans (apart from the penetration nerf in 9.7) "to make the life of HT's easier";-Some extremely high pen gold shells will have their penetration nerfed;-More complicated shell mechanisms (like special properties for sub-caliber shells or crit like in War Thunder) will not be introduced, because it would make the game too complicated and when shooting at large distances, the game would behave "randomly". Storm states that one of the main reasons why the game was so successful is the simplicity of gameplay;-Gold ammo (as a premium improved option) will not be removed;-Q: "With the appearance of special MM rule to separate newbies from experienced players, I'll make a twink" A (Storm): "Spitting on you!";-The rules to protect new players do not mean that the old SerB's motto "if you are skilled, you can pwn" is no longer valid, but newbies have to be protected. The issue of sealclubbing grew a lot recently, pedobears are driving new players away (RG: Not just recently);-According to Storm, the pedobear argument of having skilled players play with newbies is good because the newbies learn from them is false: "newbie leaves before he manages to learn something";-The reason why 9.7 has so few HD tanks (again) is WGL Grand Finals, "cybersportsmen do not like surprises" (RG: Seeing the low numbers of the WGL, they should revise their priorities);-Storm denies that the reason for penetration nerf is the need of Wargaming to make money on gold shells;-Q: "Why are the ASAP/KTTS videos so short these days? They used to be 10-15 mins long." A: "Because there few new things in patches. For now." (later, Storm adds that the "for now" concerns the future content in 2015);-Havok will come in very distant future, it's being completely reworked due to insufficient performance (RG: Looks like Roaming got completely scrapped too);-Developers are working on the motion physics based on the test results;-Storm doesn't agree that patch 9.7 has little content - especially the changes to team battles are massive;-HE shells do not count towards damage blocked by armor WHATSOEVER, this will be reviewed;-The information that HD IS-3 would appear in 9.7 was wrong;-No new info on the FV4202 (why it was nerfed) - Storm will ask his colleagues on Monday;-Storm cannot say whether mid-tier penetration will be nerfed as well;-It's possible there will be further artillery changes, developers are currently thinking how to do it;-Third physics test: "when it's done it's done";-The worst (least successful with most corridors) maps will be removed from the game. Currently, following maps are reviewed for that purpose: Hidden Village, Sacred Valley, South Coast and North-West (RG: Glad that its being done, mainly the Hidden Village, it looks like a proper map for a MOBA game);-Storm states that Foch 155 has to be changed to a non-autoloader TD with "normal gun parameters". Either that, or nerf the gun more. But this is still just an idea, not a decided solution;-Regarding whether to buff E50M, no decisions were taken yet;-Artillery autoloader was not discussed yet;-Foch 155 autoloader is unhistorical;-The 9.7 test server was unstable, that's why it was stopped, but on the other hand, the new BigWorld version boosted the performance on some PC's by as much as 25 percent (not on very poor ones, but on mid-range ones);-There will be new Stronghold features, but the developers cannot disclose details yet;-Regarding World of Tanks working on a different engine - "Other alternatives produce significantly worse results on very bad PC's. We had a look at all the trending engines - they don't work well on bad PC's.";-Bonus XP for tanking will hopefully come in 9.8;-There are plans to introduce dynamic mud on tank (the way War Thunder has it, you start with a clean tank and end with a dirty one when driving through mud);-Q: "You suck. When Armored Warfare comes, it will kick your ass." A: "Stop talking shit already.";-T-62 and Leopard 1 in HD will not come in 9.7;-Apparently, HD models of either Jagdpanzer E-100 or E-100 are fucked, one has wrong lower frontal plate angle, resulting in a nerf;-New premium tanks will come in 9.7.