The State of WoT...

Benjammn79, on Feb 16 2019 - 01:28, said: ...from a very average free account player.  So here are some thoughts I've had about WoT.    I freely admit I'm an average player.  My win rate is almost exactly 50.5%.  I've been playing since open beta.  *insert old man voice* "back in my day I, we used to crash into unspotted tanks. In the snow.  Uphill both ways..." (we really did crash into unspotted tanks.)  I also remember when the T-28 soviet medium had an 85mm gun.  Ohhhh yeaaaaah.  I used to play all the time and bought a few prem tanks and some gold.  Over the years, WG would make changes - some good, some bad.  However, the overall direction has been negative and it's effected the game.  Enough so that if you saw Quickybaby's video, it's clear the number of players are dropping off.  Each time WG makes a significant change there's a bump in the number of players, then it drops off again.  So here are my thoughts.  WG, if you're listening and you want to expand your player base, addressing in game issues will work better than really cheesy Youtube ads.  They're really horrible...no, really.   I think the arty changes have mostly been good.  I like not being erased by a vehicle from the other side of the map hiding in a bush.  I'm not much of an arty player but I think it's an improvement from the previous iteration The graphics upgrades were awesome.  Really nice change to the game.  The maps are gorgeous.  As in people would stop mid battle to take it in.  Well done. Autoloaders/autoreloaders: Cool idea in a niche, but not entire trees...on every new tree.  Here is one of the major issues where I think WG f*cked it up so bad, I'm not sure they can ever bring it back.  I've noticed playing frontline in my Pershing (121% crew, fully upgraded, with improved equipment) that the Progettos with their autoreloader just rips through the Pershing.  And if there's more than one, then just get your one, maybe two shots in and then die.  The issue becomes if you don't drive an autoloader/relaoder, then the average player is already going to lose.  I used to play my T30 all the time.  I loved it.  I took the trade off of a long reload for that big alpha.  But then with the flood of autoloaders, they simply take the 750hp hit and then empty the clip into the T30 and it's all over.  For the average player, autoloarders have made half of the tanks unplayable.  Which is a shame because there are some really fun tanks.  Frontline has made this abundantly clear. Premium accounts: I've had premium accounts off and on.  I rarely buy prem time and when I do I almost never spend much on it.  Why?  Because why the f*ck would I pay for something that expires without me getting to use it?  I don't get to play for hours every day so I'm not going to waste my money.  It'd be better spent on lottery tickets or in Vegas than buying prem time. Pay to play/Pay to win: Relatedly, it's time for WG to just admit they've made WoT pay to play/pay to win and get rid of this "free to play" sh*t.  With the power creep and spamming new prem tier 8 tanks every couple weeks just open the wallet if you want win at higher tiers because the prems are better than the tech tree tanks.  Also, anything at or above tier 8 (for the average player) is pay to play only.  It's just too damn much to operate the high tier tanks on a free account.  So you either invest in a prem account or buy up the oodles of tier 8 tanks and just print the credits with better tanks than you'd be able to unlock through grinding. The various gimmick modes: Some were ok, most were not very good.  Frontline is by far one of the better ones and it's already getting old because of a poor reward system (again, screws over those average players and caters to the wallet warriors and those purple aliens) for the obnoxious grind. It's one map with objectives (guns and caps) that never move.  I'm at tier 26.  Been a general a couple of times.  I really enjoy frontline, I really do.  But it's already gotten old because it's the same old, same old.  If you've played it a few times, you know what I mean - same strategy.  Same sniping spots.  Same push lines.  So instead of churning out premium pay to win tanks every couple weeks (or just slapping a black skin on it - how lazy is that?) why not put some thought into a multitude of modes?  The folks at WoWS figured it out (the various modes I mean).  At it's core, WoT is just the same handful of maps played 15v15 and is the exact same way every time.  It just gets boring. Campaigns: Interesting at first and at first glance, a cool idea.  But when considering the average player, unless they have tier 10 tanks they'll never complete them.  And WG of course knows this because it's looking to make a buck and this is a good way to do it.  Have someone get half way into these campaigns and then get stuck and realize if they buy a prem tank it'll be easier!   Overall, I think WG have slowly and consistently made bad choices that have hurt the game.  I think unless they get new leadership and learn to think about the game very differently, it will only get worse.  By worse it will cater solely to the wallet warriors and the purple aliens.  Everyone else, including me, will have moved on.