World of Tanks: war is (still) hell

Posted by on October 29, 2012 in Game Diaries

A lot has changed on the virtual battlefields of World of Tanks in the 18 months since Dave Markell’s excellent series of articles. The matchmaker has been improved. Many new tanks have been added, including French and British tanks and tier X medium tanks and tank destroyers. The roster of available maps has grown significantly. Two new game modes have been added. The graphics have been improved through the use of a new renderer. And a new physics engine has radically changed the gameplay on certain maps.

But to those who are quick to dismiss freemium games, the biggest change is still to come: In the upcoming Version 8.1 update to World of Tanks (currently available on the public test server) premium “gold” ammunition (purchasable only with real-life money) will also become purchasable through the in-game “silver” currency. With a stroke, Wargaming.net has eliminated your excuse for refusing to try the game!

After the jump, your new excuses for not trying the game!

In spite of these many changes, most of Dave Markell’s broad criticisms remain relevant.

-Equipment is still hell. Stock tanks remain notably inferior to upgraded tanks. This is not a major impediment in the game’s lower tiers, but for higher-tier tanks the system seems designed primarily to frustrate players into spending real money to speed up their progress.

-The enemy is still hell. Years of play has made some people really good at virtual tanks, and if they’re on the other team, they will ruin your day in short order.

-Your own team is still hell. Poor documentation and player apathy means that a disturbing percentage of players have managed to play thousands of matches without ever bothering to look up or figure out how basic mechanics work.

-The world is still hell. Not all tanks are suited to all maps, and the inclusion of new gameplay modes has exacerbated that problem (a slow but thickly armored tank destroyer is good on defense, but less useful on the attack.)

-Balance is still hell. While the matchmaker’s narrowed tier ranges have greatly improved the game, the matchmaker continues to value pure randomness over match quality. No attempt is made to rank players, or to ensure that each team has a roughly equal number of skilled players or desirable tanks.

However, there have also been many major improvements to the game, which open up new solutions to old problems. The above photo shows a friendly artillery (a M7 Priest) who has inexplicably stopped in the middle of a coverless bridge to block my advance. It is a relic of past versions for three reasons: The “Komarin” map has been removed from the rotation for being terrible, early-war tanks like the M3 Lee or T-28 are no longer placed in games against late-war Tiger and Panther tanks, and (perhaps most importantly for the above scenario) the new physics engine now allows me to push my teammates out of the way when they try to get me killed!

To new players looking to try the game or veterans looking to return, this is a great time. While improvements to World of Tanks often have a “two steps forward, one step back” feel to them, the new physics and graphics engines released in version 8.0 were unqualified successes. The 8.1 patch should fill the lower tiers with new players and with veteran players trying to learn how to handle the new British tanks, which will be an easier learning environment than taking on veteran players in tanks they already understand. And, as icing on the cake, World of Tank’s recent success in bribing its players into voting in the “prestigious” Golden Joystick Awards mean that you’ll be able to take advantage of the fruits of other people’s ballot-stuffing with free premium time, and accelerated XP gains.

For the rest of this week we’ll be examining what makes World of Tanks so great, and what you should be doing to be less terrible at it.

Next: The new player experience. (Or: “Starting is hell.”)

David Lydon has been playing games since he was very young, and hopes to still be playing games when he is very old. This is his first attempt to write about games, unless annoying e-mails to his friends count. David posts on the Quarter to Three forums as Dave47.

  • Pogue Mahone

    Dave, your reverse psychology has twisted my fragile mind. I think I am finally going to have to jump in and try this out.

  • BLAM!

    Did they fix the problem that only kills get you points, so you’re punished for trying to be a good light tank scout?

  • Dave Markell

    Thanks for the kind comments on my prior article series, David. There have obviously been many changes since I last logged in, which was probably almost a year ago. Your current series may just pull me back in–I look forward to reading the rest of it!

  • peterf

    I’ve jumped back in over the last two weeks after a nine month break, so this series will be very timely. I was burned out from constant grinding (trying to get XP before my willpower would break down and I’d reach for my credit card). Coming back with a fresh mindset focused on enjoying the gameplay and not worrying about the endgame really enhances this game.
    I’m looking forward to this series.

  • tomchick

    Ha, that tank on the bridge reminds me of the various Team Fortress 2 shenanigans when you could block teammates so they couldn’t leave the spawn point!

  • AlmightyPants

    The initial series of articles convinced me to jump in and I’ve been doing my daily doubles ever since. I am a member of a top clan, made tens of thousands of gold in clan wars, played about 12,000 matches and have a stable of tier 10 tanks. I can say that the biggest problems with the game are the simply horrible skill levels of most players, even after thousands of matches, and the power creep that comes with new tanks. The power creep especially has completely changed how clan battles work, from a tactical capture, probe and advance to flat out rushes. Armor no longer matters.

  • Supper’s Ready

    Yes, about a year and a half ago. Scout tanks get XP and credits worth 50% of the damage done (by others) to the target(s) they keep spotted.

    And there was never a situation where only kills gave you points, not even in the beta. You always received the vast majority of credits and XP for doing damage, whereas the kill bonus was very tiny (~5%).

  • Eschatos

    This game was amazingly fun in beta, when every player got a free allowance of gold every day which made unlocks take reasonable amounts of time to achieve. After beta ended I lost all interest, the game is either too expensive or way too time consuming.

  • Dave47

    That’s a good attitude. World of Tanks is terrible if your only goal is to level. The arena battles have more in common with a round of a FPS than grinding through Murloc dens.

    To the extent that you’re trying to avoid spending money, you’re going to have a much better experience in the lower tiers. The narrowed matchmaker brackets have really helped lower tier games. Tier V tends to get a lot of great games, and tier VII tanks like the T29 or IS are great “faux-endgame” tanks for players without premium. They no longer face tier X tanks, and decent play will earn a profit with a non-premium account.

  • Benrix

    About 3 months ago some friends gifted me with an account that someone gave them (the person quit gaming). I had resisted playing WoT, mainly because I was already playing three other games and did not have time. The account I received had tier 5 & 6 tanks in the American & Russian and a few premiums. Starting out playing in the 5 & 6 tiers was not bad and I have about a 50/50 win-loss record. Moving up (I purchased an IS-6 premium) was a real education and it gets really tough in matches with tier 10 tanks.

    The real surprise was trying to go down and play in tier 1,2, or 3. Talk about competitive and fast paced. Those “lawn mowers with guns” are probably some of the toughest (and most fun) matches I have played. I think my biggest, and maybe surprising, advantage is that I have been a table top wargamer for many years and many things I have learned on the table top and about tanks in general have served me well in this game.

  • Dave47

    “Armor no longer matters.”

    I’m curious how credit-purchasable premium shells will change lower tier games. Right now, penetration creep is only really visible in the higher tiers, and was somewhat offset by the normalization changes.

    We’ll see if it stays that way.