Why should new players stay?
Дата: 23.09.2014 02:23:25
Kendo_King, on Sep 19 2014 - 14:52, said: For me this is a serious question.
After starting the game and playing for about 1 1/2 weeks I
have to ask. Why should I, or other new players, stay? Here are a
couple of things I have seen that make me wonder why anyone in the
right mind would continue playing let alone give money to fund
whoever designed this game.1: RNG is not what it should be called. It should be called "you will hit if we want you to hit". On several occasions I have the target painted with over 75% of the reticle and hit a couple times in a row only to have my gunner start killing gophers. This is without nothing moving on screen except where the shot is landing and it usually results in my dying by shots from the same unit I needed only one more shot to kill.
2: Match maker. Now I have read the post and watched the video, thanks for the help concerning this everyone. But when I am sitting in a tier 3 light tank, German Pz IIIA and the German PZ 38(t) specifically and trying to grind my way out these two units only to have 75-80% of the matches where I am the lowest tank, yes the lowest tank, in tier 5 matches believe me I am not sitting there and saying "MM is working as intended". Lets face it those two tanks, and I know there are others, are not going to do any good in a tier 5 match. PZ IIIA can do some spotting, but dont even try to shot anything as the gun bounce 90% of the time. So I feel I am basically a worthless teammate and a handicap for the unit.
3: 15K plus players in the lower tiers. This one I expect some people to get upset about as they will say they are only trying to blow off steam, relax, etc. Nothing wrong with that. But when I am trying learn the game some, cover, movement, how to actually hit with the crap RNG, etc. it is only made worse by a guy that is padding stats that can wipe the whole team by themselves. We all know players that have 45% win rates overall but 60%+ in tier 1 and 2 units and have tier 8+ units. A few honestly do it to relax but the person with the overall 45% is only trying to get stats up by hammering noobs like me. I have gotten rid of the two tanks mentioned earlier and picked up the unimpressive D.W. 2. Same crap guns and only slower and easier to hit by everyone. Nice upgrade WoT. So I am new to the game and I am trying to figure out why you guys stay for so long and suffer through all the crap that this game provides?
KMaus: These are awesome, legit questions, and i'm glad you're in
the forum asking, rather than playing something else. Welcome, and
thanks for sticking around~!
First off, we realize there are a lot of things that may not be as new user friendly, as we would like. We're working on this in a number of ways, including guides, videos, tutorials, and hopefully eventually being able to work towards something in-game for you as well. Any technical in-game changes may take a while, but we're listening and looking into answers on that front. As for currently, I came into the game a bit of a n00b myself, which has allowed me to identify a lot of issues that new players have (understanding game mechanics like sight, that aren't well articulated to new players, can be super confusing). I'll try to speak to a few of the points you mentioned.
- RNG. RNG is complicated, there's detailed breakdowns of it out there to find, but think of RNG like a tabletop game. There are a lot of factors in a battle that are being calculated, and I like to compare it to dice rolls. Sure, you made your dice roll to hit, but what did your dice roll for damage look like? If you have angles on your tank, you've got ANOTHER dice roll in the mix. RNG is complicated, and it's imperfect, but it's a very interesting and complex system. What we're doing: first off, we realize that it's a confusing system so we're listening and taking in your feedback about what you'd like to see different, but we're also working on making it so that the system is more understood - WHY does it act the way it does? because without the why, it can certainly seem random, confusing, and certainly frustrating. Your frustrations are valid, understood, and shared by many players. and we're working on how to address that. Until then, I recommend tapping into your D&D side when you are frustrated with RNG; think of it as though you rolled an 8 but it takes a 10 to hit. That's my suggestion anyway. If you'd like more in depth info on RNG and matchmaking, i think we have info around here somewhere.
- Matchmaking: Why am i so much lower than other tanks in my matches?
This gets into a lot of heavy detailed stuff. But there's also a pretty simple answer in this particular scenario - you're playing a light tank! Light tanks are scouts, and some argue that they are the most difficult class to master (note: i said 'some say'. you'll find that everyone plays differently, has their favorite tanks, and their opinions on what's best. totally valid.). Light tanks are generally used to scout and spot for other tanks. You've usually got faster movement, smaller target, sometimes better camo rating, and usually a decent radio. So as a light tank, you go in and use your range to spot for the larger tanks in the match. Because you're the scout, you're usually the lowest tiered in the match - you aren't intended as a light tank to run in and start taking out all the mediums and heavys. Thus, you don't need to be the same tier, and matchmaking accounts for that. Can it be frustrating? Heck yes. But it isn't always, and it can be fun when you learn more about lights. Or maybe you found that you don't like Lights - everyone usually has a favorite. I'm a Tank Destroyer fanatic. But because players have been having a lot of questions about Lights, I've started playing them. They're tough! but they can be fun. My recommendation is to check out your Tech tree, find what tank you want to try next, and work on that. I highly recommend going for a TD or a Heavy, if you want to see some other layers of gameplay, without diving too deep too fast. Feel free to jump in and try Artillery, but know that I'd consider it the least user friendly to use without training. I didn't really feel like i "got" WoT enough to have fun, until I got my first TD - the Universal Carrier. So. When you hop into your match and the map is loading - look at both sides. how far are you on the list of tanks? if you're near the bottom, and you're a lower tier, you know that maybe you should consider playing a bit more conservatively, than lets say... the map where you're the top dog,and you're the highest tiered tank on your team. Always check your lineup when your match starts. And lastly on this point, again - this is all opinion. everyone plays differently, but that's my advice based on my play experience :) Also, apologies if i touched on stuff that was way too basic for you - trying to cover all the bases.
- Getting ganked by higher level players:
Yes this happens. BUT. I have only seen a few of these matches, personally, and I've been messing around in Tier I - Tier III battles all week. If you feel like this happens a lot, i'd love to know and look into that more. I feel like when you start out, you get a lot of mixed teams - everything from people not paying attention, to something that happened to me last week - one match was over in less than 30 seconds, and those were clearly pro players, playing in Tier I that cleaned up the entire map and capped our base in less than 30 seconds. This can suck, as Tier I is way more of a dice roll than higher tiers usually are, because everyone can be in them. I can say that this gets better, from my experience, as you tier up. I think that the experience from Tier I to Tier II is even noticeable in quality. My advice: Team up & Tier up. Platooning makes everything so much better. Add other players, add us staff, start looking into clans or Facebook groups. Ask more questions in the forums, check out our Twitch streams, Facebook groups, etc. Most of the frustrations you're experiencing as a new player, that I relate to - were way better for me after finding people to play with. Get some people on your friends list. Maybe even try a different line? I know German tanks are fan favorites, but maybe that line isn't the most ideal for your play style? I started going down a specific line, and then when I started at WG and had other people give me feedback, i realized there were WAY better lines (countries) for me. So I'd say, don't be afraid to try out different tanks, and try a different line if you're not enjoying your current experience.
As for your question - why? Why play? Why stick around?
I'm not sure how to put it in words. Tanks is fun. It's addicting. It's tactics and tanks. It's got a big learning curve, and we're working on that as a company, but man. It's like any game that is addicting - the ups are worth the downs. I'd say identify what you love in games, and see how to apply that in Tanks. For example: I'm not a lone wolf gamer. I love playing online with other people, and once i started making friends and meeting people that played, and platooning with them - I had more fun! That may not be the case in your situation, but maybe that insight helps?
Seriously. Our new player experience in-game is not always intuitive. And I'm really glad you came to the forums to ask questions. I hope you stick around! Feel free to add me on PC if you need someone to match up with.
First off, we realize there are a lot of things that may not be as new user friendly, as we would like. We're working on this in a number of ways, including guides, videos, tutorials, and hopefully eventually being able to work towards something in-game for you as well. Any technical in-game changes may take a while, but we're listening and looking into answers on that front. As for currently, I came into the game a bit of a n00b myself, which has allowed me to identify a lot of issues that new players have (understanding game mechanics like sight, that aren't well articulated to new players, can be super confusing). I'll try to speak to a few of the points you mentioned.
- RNG. RNG is complicated, there's detailed breakdowns of it out there to find, but think of RNG like a tabletop game. There are a lot of factors in a battle that are being calculated, and I like to compare it to dice rolls. Sure, you made your dice roll to hit, but what did your dice roll for damage look like? If you have angles on your tank, you've got ANOTHER dice roll in the mix. RNG is complicated, and it's imperfect, but it's a very interesting and complex system. What we're doing: first off, we realize that it's a confusing system so we're listening and taking in your feedback about what you'd like to see different, but we're also working on making it so that the system is more understood - WHY does it act the way it does? because without the why, it can certainly seem random, confusing, and certainly frustrating. Your frustrations are valid, understood, and shared by many players. and we're working on how to address that. Until then, I recommend tapping into your D&D side when you are frustrated with RNG; think of it as though you rolled an 8 but it takes a 10 to hit. That's my suggestion anyway. If you'd like more in depth info on RNG and matchmaking, i think we have info around here somewhere.
- Matchmaking: Why am i so much lower than other tanks in my matches?
This gets into a lot of heavy detailed stuff. But there's also a pretty simple answer in this particular scenario - you're playing a light tank! Light tanks are scouts, and some argue that they are the most difficult class to master (note: i said 'some say'. you'll find that everyone plays differently, has their favorite tanks, and their opinions on what's best. totally valid.). Light tanks are generally used to scout and spot for other tanks. You've usually got faster movement, smaller target, sometimes better camo rating, and usually a decent radio. So as a light tank, you go in and use your range to spot for the larger tanks in the match. Because you're the scout, you're usually the lowest tiered in the match - you aren't intended as a light tank to run in and start taking out all the mediums and heavys. Thus, you don't need to be the same tier, and matchmaking accounts for that. Can it be frustrating? Heck yes. But it isn't always, and it can be fun when you learn more about lights. Or maybe you found that you don't like Lights - everyone usually has a favorite. I'm a Tank Destroyer fanatic. But because players have been having a lot of questions about Lights, I've started playing them. They're tough! but they can be fun. My recommendation is to check out your Tech tree, find what tank you want to try next, and work on that. I highly recommend going for a TD or a Heavy, if you want to see some other layers of gameplay, without diving too deep too fast. Feel free to jump in and try Artillery, but know that I'd consider it the least user friendly to use without training. I didn't really feel like i "got" WoT enough to have fun, until I got my first TD - the Universal Carrier. So. When you hop into your match and the map is loading - look at both sides. how far are you on the list of tanks? if you're near the bottom, and you're a lower tier, you know that maybe you should consider playing a bit more conservatively, than lets say... the map where you're the top dog,and you're the highest tiered tank on your team. Always check your lineup when your match starts. And lastly on this point, again - this is all opinion. everyone plays differently, but that's my advice based on my play experience :) Also, apologies if i touched on stuff that was way too basic for you - trying to cover all the bases.
- Getting ganked by higher level players:
Yes this happens. BUT. I have only seen a few of these matches, personally, and I've been messing around in Tier I - Tier III battles all week. If you feel like this happens a lot, i'd love to know and look into that more. I feel like when you start out, you get a lot of mixed teams - everything from people not paying attention, to something that happened to me last week - one match was over in less than 30 seconds, and those were clearly pro players, playing in Tier I that cleaned up the entire map and capped our base in less than 30 seconds. This can suck, as Tier I is way more of a dice roll than higher tiers usually are, because everyone can be in them. I can say that this gets better, from my experience, as you tier up. I think that the experience from Tier I to Tier II is even noticeable in quality. My advice: Team up & Tier up. Platooning makes everything so much better. Add other players, add us staff, start looking into clans or Facebook groups. Ask more questions in the forums, check out our Twitch streams, Facebook groups, etc. Most of the frustrations you're experiencing as a new player, that I relate to - were way better for me after finding people to play with. Get some people on your friends list. Maybe even try a different line? I know German tanks are fan favorites, but maybe that line isn't the most ideal for your play style? I started going down a specific line, and then when I started at WG and had other people give me feedback, i realized there were WAY better lines (countries) for me. So I'd say, don't be afraid to try out different tanks, and try a different line if you're not enjoying your current experience.
As for your question - why? Why play? Why stick around?
I'm not sure how to put it in words. Tanks is fun. It's addicting. It's tactics and tanks. It's got a big learning curve, and we're working on that as a company, but man. It's like any game that is addicting - the ups are worth the downs. I'd say identify what you love in games, and see how to apply that in Tanks. For example: I'm not a lone wolf gamer. I love playing online with other people, and once i started making friends and meeting people that played, and platooning with them - I had more fun! That may not be the case in your situation, but maybe that insight helps?
Seriously. Our new player experience in-game is not always intuitive. And I'm really glad you came to the forums to ask questions. I hope you stick around! Feel free to add me on PC if you need someone to match up with.
Why should new players stay?