WWII Online News

S! Soldiers, Airman and Sailors of WWII Online. Yesterday we had our greatest online presence of users since our original Steam release, with over 2.5x the normal population and we got up to 6 Attack Objectives ~ which is seriously awesome! I have seen many great friends of our community come back, a wave of enthusiasm from our players who are here, and a request from many to continue WBS. Therefore I'm announcing today a free 72-hour extension to "Welcome Back Soldier," which will push the end date from March 24th (Tuesday) to March 27th (Friday). I am also announcing, that all Free Players will receive ALL INFANTRY access with immediate effect, until March 27th as well.

We know that times are hard and we're happy to be one of the online services in a position to help ease the current burdens being placed on friends all over the globe. As WWII Online has a worldwide fanbase, we take this entertainment option quite a bit more seriously. I think it's also important to say that WWII Online has had a hard time in Q4-2019 and we're still coming out of recovery. So we hope that we've been able to show our willingness, in mutual tough circumstances, to provide the free service that we can to the extent that we can. I am also hopeful, along with all of my colleagues at CRS that we see many of you stay, and subscribe come this weekend. Veteran players... be on the lookout for a special offer e-mail sent to you, we will do everything we can to accommodate these difficult times.

This past weekend demonstrated that while WWII Online has been around a while when we have our players packed into the server, it's unlike anything else in the gaming industry. It was truly exceptional and I'd like to thank everyone for their participation over this weekend, we hope you stay with us for more!

Operation "Mental Floss" will be a live server event for ALL players! Welcome Back Soldier remains activated (Premium veteran reinstated until 3/24) and we're calling for maximum server participation this Sunday at 11AM (Pacific Time, GMT -8), which is 1PM Central, 2PM Eastern or 7PM GMT. The objective of this Operation is to provide an increased level of cohesion and participation, allowing High Command officers on both sides to rally troops and conduct large battles in WWII Online.

We expect a very large turn out from now until this weekend. As of this article we are seeing 4 AO's in the Campaign server, which marks a significant boost in server population and participation. Meanwhile please let all of our veterans know that they can get in until the 24th. SEE YOU AT THE EVENT!

We are pleased to announce a free welcome back soldiers during the next 7 days, that will last until Tuesday March 24th, 2020.

All players that had purchased a premium access in the past (at least once) should get full premium access to all air/ground/sea units on the live campaign server.

We hope to release the next patch soon, thank you for your patience!

Good luck and stay safe during these difficult times!

Zebbeee

A lot to update you on this week!

WAR DRUMS...… Campaign #172 will begin Thursday, 3/12/2020 at about 4:00 server time (PST) or 7:00 PM EST. There are no planned changes to the campaign setup.

We had some great fights this past Sunday during Operation Fury IV. Player pop was through the roof and really we received some really good feedback!

We are deploying a hotfix to just the server that might fix the host crashes that have been driving us crazy.... And 64 bit open beta testing continues.

Axis Commander in Chief Lafleur and Chief of Staff Dudecan have stepped down and transferred to CinC staff positions to make way for Googs and his leadership team.


Clean your gear, grab food and ammo and be ready to launch Campaign #172 on Thursday, 3/12/2020 at about 1600 hours server time (PST) or 1900 hours EST. We are not making any changes to the campaign setup. Both High Commands are submitting their initial divisional deployments today. We expect this campaign to be especially long and hard fought.


This past Sunday hundreds of your wiionline friends got together and created some incredible combined arms battles during Operation Fury IV. This was a CRS led event that was supposed to be part of the campaign but the Axis ruined our plans by reaching victory conditions in Campaign #171 just hours before the start of the operation. We reset the map to fight in England and after a slight delay in the start - we set off to create some crazy action. These events really highlight the greatness of our game. We did experience a supply issue in Margate which actually drove Xoom to drink! But in the end players moved to other targets and the fighting continued. After every event we debrief and critique ourselves in order to make changes to better the next one.


Since our colo move in late December we have experienced periodic host crashes of the game. Frustrating to you and us! Before campaign #172 starts we will be deploying a server hotfix that "we think might" solve the problem. We will of course be monitoring with our fingers crossed. Resolving these crashes is our highest priority.

64 bit open beta testing continues with the QA Team. We should have more information of full deployment of 64 bit during next weeks update, Watch the forum for next testing session.


The new Axis Commander in Chief (CinC) is Googs.

Chief of Staff (CoS) is Thomboi

Deputy Chief of Staff (DCoS) is Shagher

Country Commander (CO) is Cyyoung

Country Executive Officer (XO) is Eyeshank

We at Cornered Rats Software want to take minute to thank outgoing Axis CinC Byron "Lafleur" LeFlore and CoS Craig "Dudecan" Demmings for their long standing contribution to the game and to the Axis high command. Both of these players came into their positions over two years ago at our request to help stabilize the Axis high command which had been plagued by frequent turn over and a significant loss of institutional and organizational knowledge. Both of these guys stepped up in the past two years and helped us through a difficult time by rebuilding the high command. They will both retire to positions on the new CinC staff or return to the HC orbat. We wish them both well and thank them for their contribution to the game!


Returning CinC is Justinrot

Returning CoS is Colsmith

New position this campaign DCoS is Jwrona

A special thanks to all volunteers in the high commands. We appreciate your service!

Telegram from TMAN, community manager:

This Sunday, March 8, 2020 is our huge live server event "Operation Fury IV." This is a Rat led event that will involve combined arms with multiple targets resulting in big battles! Campaign #171 is in full swing as Axis forces continue their westward push toward French factories. Read further to see messages from the Axis and Allied High Commands. Finally, and update on our 64 bit beta testing and a rough roll out schedule.


It's this Sunday, March 8, 2020 starting at 1:00 PM EST (6:00 PM GMT). The event will last 3 to 5 hours and you will see most Rats in-game for some part or all of the event. We will have Kill-A-Rat turned on and we will recognize the top 3 Rat killers in next week's Community and News posting.

More importantly is the event itself. This is combined arms action with high command AND players leading their side in battle. We will have dedicated Discord channels for voice comms. The links for Discord are posted below. If you can make it Sunday, please sign up in advance!

38 steam players already signed up and if you decide last minute to join the operation that's ok too. There will be plenty of direction to the general player base through .Axis or .Allied chat messages. Get in-game whenever you can on Sunday!!




Campaign #171 just reached the day 40 milestone. So many battles in this campaign have been long and intense. Although the Axis forces are pushing to the French factories, the Allies have not given up. They continue to defend valiantly and force the Axis to fight and claw for every inch they advance. See messages below from the Axis Campaign Commander Eyeshank and the Allied Commander in Chief for the Allies Justinrot.

AXIS REPORT:

!S Soldaten,

Reports from the front line are increasingly favorable Axis, as we have started the beginning stages of Operation:: "Sea Lion", and will be upping the ante on the Allies in the coming days towards the British invasion! Well done Axis, the shores of the West are upon us!

Continue STABBING WESTWARD AXIS!

On behalf of the Axis CinC Lafleur the following recognition is bestowed for:
-Officer of the Week: Klaus
-Player of the Week: Eagle
-Honorable mentions to Volke11 and Bloodybill.

!S Campaign Commander, Eyeshank


ALLIED REPORT:

Allied Force have been working great together bring fms, tanks with air support. We took lumbres while gravelines was p1... took it easily....tried avricourt right after lumbres.....they were better prepared with their defense. The Germans tried to head to ramsgate with battleship. Allies RAF were sent out to scan for the battleships. We had 5 aircrafts up in the sky with 4 of ours ships scanning for them. But no sighting of them. The ews went off after 10 mins of looking for the germans ships. Last night the Germans retook Lumbres

And Gravelines back . As the Current battle for tonight allied re AO Lumbres and Saulty so moving attacks waiting for our armor and fms to make it into town. Calling for some RAF air support. The allied forces are not giving up we will keep on fight the German till we cant anymore.

S! from Justinrot

Allied CINC bestows honor and recognition for:
Officer of the week: Gipper. Showing other AHC officer not to give up keep on fight till the every end.
-Squads working together: AEF and Lancers!
-Player of the week: Zuviel who Kept bringing FMS's for all of our attacks.



Last night we had a successful closed beta testing session with CRS and some HC and Game Trainer volunteers. As long as everything keeps going well, we expect an open beta starting this weekend. We have not determined our open beta testing timeline but 7 to 14 days is likely.

Stay tuned for further updates on this exciting release!