WWII Online News

Xoom has requested our team at CRS has restored perpetual Free Play to WWII Online, effective immediately. I'd like to go into detail as to the available access Free Players will receive, discuss the big picture of Free Players and how they will be integral to the WWII Online experience, and share some insights and reflections that I have had reviewing recent decision making. If you've created a Free Play account now - or in the past, it should now be active and available for you to play. Continue reading for the details on this significant announcement.


WWII Online, as we all know, is a Massively Multiplayer Online Game - the very first MMO FPS in fact. By definition, it requires a large number of players online for the game to be successful, and that is the root cause for reflecting on the decision back in August to phase Free Play access out, and then coming back to make a course correction.

I'd like to share a quote by Steve Jobs, which has been weighing heavily on me personally in the last 6 weeks:

"Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations."

I'd add onto that it is best to also come to the table with a sense of humility and recognize that some times we make bad calls, and we need to fix them instead of trying to brute force an outcome that is not natural.

In other words, the decision to remove Free Play was seen as a gateway to encourage more personnel to actually convert users into some form of payment, and it did not directly consider the essential component of how these users directly contribute to the overall success and health of the game.

We have since evaluated, discussed and worked out a plan to correct this and we're hoping for your assistance to not only spread the news but also get reinvigorated about the potential for us to grow the WWII Online player base. Continue the read for essential details.



Cornered Rat Software is looking at all Free Players who have signed up since 2012-Present, letting you know that we're committed to making sure your experience is worthwhile, fair and reasonable with the understanding of what our product is. It is not a micro-transaction game and it will not, for the foreseeable future live up to the expectations of some of our competitors because WWII Online is designed (in terms of monetization) at its core to be a subscription-based game. There are many advantages to having things this way (no magic powers, quick rank boosters, pay-to-win ammunition) it keeps things relatively fair. Please remember that going forward.

We have, with immediate effect, reactivated ALL Free Play subscriptions, and there is no time limit whether you signed up from www.wwiionline.com (organic channel) or if you play on Steam. We have given them locked, indefinite access, with a much larger equipment and feature list (as seen below) to not only show you that we are serious about our commitment to making your experience great, but that we genuinely want you to play, share the joy of our game and help us build it.

Forum access will be dedicated to supporting these users specifically and we will periodically collect feedback about their experience through standard means such as available support forums and routine surveys / all other channels.



All Free Players will receive the following:

• Locked Free Play access (indefinite)
  
  • Permissions / Game Access
    
    • Capturing Facilities
      
    • Using Infantry Binoculars
      
    • Deploying Player Placed Objects
      
      • Including mobile spawns from Trucks
        
    • Rank Attainment to 2nd Lieutenant (Rank 9) ~ All branches
      
  • Rifleman
    
  • Paratroopers
    
    • Rifle
      
    • SMG
      
  • Reserve Submachine Guns
    
    • All tiers
      
  • DLC Vehicles (You do not need to buy these, that's just their names in the list presently)
    
    • Panzer II C
      
    • Panzer III F
      
    • R35
      
    • H39
      
    • Vickers
      
    • A-13
      
  • Light AA
    
    • Flak30
      
    • Hotchkiss 25mm
      
  • Light AT
    
    • Pak36
      
    • FR/US 25mm AT
      
    • 2 Pounder
      
  • Trucks
    
    • Opel Blitz
      
    • Bedford
      
    • Laffly S-20
      
  • Fairmile Riverine
    
• New sign-ups: 1 month FULL premium trial
  
  • Includes NCO (during trial only)
    
  • Includes Ammo Bearer (during trial only)
    

Steam users who have purchased DLC tanks, will be receiving the PREMIUM versions of these vehicles.


Our hope now with this announcement is that you'll assist in spreading the news and that our Free Players will give us another opportunity here at CRS to make your experience great again. Our commitment will remain in-tact to create the most likely scenario for players to try and continue to play WWII Online all over the world so we can create some of the most compelling and memorable grand-scale warfare gaming experiences that only WWII Online is capable of generating.


On behalf of all of us at Cornered Rat Software, we'd like to thank our loyal following to WWII Online. We remain a very special place to be and our goal is to continue that by being more inviting and integrate our new users fairly into the experience, recognizing their continued value to helping the overall mission of making WWIIOL gameplay awesome.

We hope now to garner a balanced relationship with these new users recognizing once again that we are offering a perpetual Free Play subscription version of the game that we are able to while balancing the special access for paid subscribers and their privileges. We will both benefit from this and we need to come together, united in making this MMO + FPS + WWII era simulation vibrant and active. That is how we've made it 18 years, and we have to realize that's the core of our culture here at this community.

Thanks for reading everyone, we appreciate your support.

Salute!

For any assistance, please feel free to contact us at http://support.wwiionline.com.

Several refinements to improve the player experience have been made, such as Netcode 3 networking improvements, along with better player ping information displayed, faster and easier mission creations and multi-crew is 100% back to normal so you can crew with confidence. The Char tank positions also have some updates, and the HC Officer class has some adjustments to the available player placed objects (PPOs) that it can deploy. Keep reading as there's plenty more inside to show active WWII Online development continues!

Continue reading here

Today our Halloween sale started with never-seen discounts on World War II Online!



https://store.steampowered.com/app/667291/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/667290/









Each new account is now granted with a 30-days premium pass.
Once the trial ends, players now get an upgraded FREE PLAY account with rifles, reserve SMGs, some paratroopers, trucks, reserve light guns, reserve light tanks and reserve medium tanks. They can continue to capture flags, use the binocculars and place player-placed objects, including mobile spawns.

In counter-part, DLC owners now take their supply directly from premium pools.

We hope this will please our steam players who love our game and want to remain part of our community.

Salute!
Zebbeee

The US forces are now available to play on the Allied side. The campaign is running for more than a month!

We activated back DLCs and bundles at discounted prices (-47%!). Check our store!
Another BIG announcement coming soon for our former f2p players. Stay tuned!

In case you haven't heard yet, we're moving the server base to Portland, Oregon. Since the beginning, the servers have been in Dallas TX, so why the move? Continue reading to find out more, and support this effort (along with others) directly by contributing to the WWII Online funding campaign.

www.WWIIONLINE.com/fund

For sometime now Cornered Rat Software has been working hard to improve and amplify the WWII Online experience. We've effectively restarted game development, added new content and features, and continue to provide bug fixes. We've also re-worked the servers a bit, but there's more to be done.

Not only will the move to Portland OR help provide great connectivity across the globe, it is the home-base of Cornered Rat Software, and the West Coast of USA is where most of our technical team is. Logistically, it makes a lot of sense.

The good news is, we'll be able to retain servers obtained through other efforts that meet the power / performance / remote management requirements that we have. By doing this, we can achieve more and improve up-times.

We're asking for your financial commitment to help us set up this all-new, better connected, better cooled and operated server housing site by contributing directly to the WWII Online funding campaign. By doing this, you're enabling CRS to achieve more, for you.

The more support that comes in, the better of a job we can do to not only create this new server setup (which will also reduce recurring monthly operating costs on our end - enabling more game development), but it will also allow us to purchase important tools and assets to enhance the games performance and visual appeal.

Please contribute to, and support this vital effort at www.wwiionline.com/fund.

WWII Online remains 100% community funded. Your support is greatly appreciated, and funding drives like these help us move mountains in terms of progress made.

Here is the short list of priorities that this funding campaign is designed to support:

1. Create a whole new server base for WWII Online.
   
2. Renew essential software for game development.
   
3. Obtain a newer version of SpeedTree to improve graphics of environmental objects.
   
4. Support the development of the current Roadmap.
   
5. Enhance marketing reach to obtain new players.