3381

For what it’s worth, I don’t see a lot of problems with the matchmaking. With one caviat though - I haven’t played any tier 1-4 vehicles since the release week. Not sure if tier 3-4 really suck now.

Oh and another caviat, I was playing heavies and TD’s exclusively. Only now I am aiming to switch to the medium line by going through the KV-1S to the KV-13 and so on.

So as I said, I decided to check out the mediums, so I parked my IS-3 and Ferdi and went back to the KV to unlock the KV-1S (I went through the KV-3 earlier on my way to the IS-3). I had zero issues with matchmaking while making the necessary 26K or so - some games I am in on top, some in the middle, some at the bottom. Then I got the KV-1S and tracked my progress a little. On the first day I had 9 games, which consisted of: 3 on top, 3 in the middle and 3 at the bottom. The next day it was 3 at the bottom, 2 in the middle, 2 at the top (I played less that day).

So, for me, on those days, the matchmaking was pretty much perfect. I’ve made 2 observations though.

Several times I was like 3rd-4th from the bottom. But when I actually looked at the list, it turned out that a whole bunch of tanks above me were actually the same tier as me. And only a handful of tanks were above me, something like one IS-3 and like 3-4 IS/Tigers. So yes, while technically I was (mostly alphabetically) at the bottom or near it, practically tier-wise I was very much in the middle.

Second thing is, on my second day, I had a streak of 3 “bottom” games in a row and then a mix up of “top” and “middle” games. At the end of the day, it FELT like I had majority of the “bottom” games, even though statistically it wasn’t the case.

Take it as you wish - it’s only about 20 games on 1 (heavy) tank so it’s not very scientific but that’s my experience so far.

Last thing, you are supposed to do completely different things in the “bottom” games comparing to where you are on top. Such games are also more challenging but often are more interesting (but in a different way). Don’t ride (and promptly die) in front of your pack when you are 3 tiers below them, find a smarter way to play that match and it will feel much more satisfying.

3382

What really pisses me off about the grind is that unless I can kill at least two tanks, without missing any of my shots and without taking damage in a match. I’ll lose more money then I’ll earn in that match, further setting me back. At least when I play League of Legends, I’ll walk away from a match with some IP. Now in WoT, I can spend 15 minutes playing a match and be worse off then I was before I started.

3383

Back a few pages, I expanded on my stats I collected for 100 games where I divided it up into fifths while playing Tier 4/5:

Top : 2
4-6 : 15
Middle : 17
9-12 : 28
Bottom: 41

Total 103 Matches

It’s not even close to being even - so your experience is either weighted because of some intrinisic value for being premium for many months or you need to go to vegas.

I haven’t done this lately - and while it “feels” slightly better in the Tier 5/6 range than Tier 4/5, it doens’t feel appreciably better.

3384

I can see this kicking in at Tier 7 non-premium. If I didn’t buy premium I cannot imagine going beyond that.

3385

My experience has not been nearly so kind, my first match today saw the opposing team with five Lowes, to my tier 6, I was bottom tier except for a poor panzer 38A.

Next game with my tier 5, and I still end up facing off against an IS-3, a Lowe, a KV-5, an ISU-152 at Tier 8. 3 tiers above really is ridiculous, i’d happily wait and play in a game with only one or two tanks a tier above, and the rest the same tier.

3386

The A-20 is going to get the short end of the stick. The A-20 and Pzkw III both get treated as scout tanks, and that really needs to be fixed.

My impression is that Artillery tends to be at our near the bottom of the heap. Artillery can damage just about anything, so I see less of a problem putting a lower level artillery in with higher level tanks.

Other than that, not sure what to say. Maybe the game knows you’ve been bitching about it and is purposely trying to screw you. I’ve played a lot of Tier V mediums, mostly in the Sherman M4, 543 battles so far, and at least lately I’ve ended up in the top 3 tanks a lot.

I’d be interested in the breakdowns of the A-20 and the SU-5 vs. the other tanks.

3387

I think you guys will have a lot more fun if you stop focusing on what the top couple enemy tanks are. Personally if I can have a reasonable chance of taking on half the enemy tanks, I’m pretty happy. I don’t need to be able to go toe-to-toe with all the enemy tanks. If you all had your druthers we would all be driving exactly equal tanks and the game would be a lot blander.

For the top enemy tanks, I’ll try to get in a side shot, maybe I’ll be successful maybe I won’t. I can still have a lot of fun doing it. Sure some matches, it ends up being all Lowes and IS-4s, but that doesn’t happen very often. Some matches, I end up just playing peak-a-boo with the enemy heavy behind a rock – if I can delay him or prevent him from advancing, that’s a big plus for our team.

If it really bothers you not being able to penetrate enemy tanks from the front, go up the Russian heavy line. The KVs get great, hard hitting guns that can damage opponents way above their tier. Heck even the T-28 gets a great gun for its tier.

3388

This is a really good point that some people don’t seem to take into account. If you are in, say, a T-34, there is really a HUGE difference between whether the top tanks in the battle are Tier 7, or Tier 9. If your match is Tiers 5 thru 7, even in the bottom third of the list, you should be ok and be able to contribute quite a bit. If you are going up against a bunch of Lowes and an IS-4 (which does happen too much, I agree), then the match is a waste of time for you.

Tman’s list doesn’t address this difference, as far as I can tell. Another thing to remember: if you expect to be able to go toe-to-toe with the entire field every match, it’s not going to happen, and don’t expect it to. I once saw a guy complain about the matchmaker because he was bottom third and then quit the battle during the 30 sec countdown. It was a max Tier 8 battle, and he was in a KV-3! He could have easily damaged every tank he was opposing, but he wasn’t at the top of the list, so he left.

3389

I decided on a whim to try the premium ammo on the Vk3601h’s special gun. Wow, that’s some gun. Haven’t lost a game since buying it and gotten 10k xp just like that.

3390

I had a match the other day with a player in a t-34 complaining about fail matchmaking putting him in a game where he couldn’t kill anything. The thing is, he was tier 5, and there were three tier 6 players on each team, and more people BELOW him than above him. And he was still complaining…

I haven’t recorded my experiences (though I may start to see for sure) but I get the feeling that the majority of my games as tier 5 are in the middle, and it’s a pretty even split between high and low. Tier 6 I think I have more games on the bottom, but I still feel I can generally make an impact because it’s rare that more than 5 tanks are above me.

3391

World of Tanks isn’t a game for the instant gratification crowd. I too see a lot of people have a big dummy spit and leave the battle early simply because they didn’t have the perfect map or weren’t happy with the matchmaking. To be honest good riddance and if they never play the game again it will be better for the rest of us as their slot will be taken by someone who at least makes an effort and doesn’t spend the whole round complaining about trivial shit.

3392

I dont have to be at the top of the list but being in a tier 3 tank with only 150 hps and being on the bottom every time is a legitimate reason to complain about the game. Its not ‘trivial shit’.

3393

No different to the rest of us Brett. I’ve got 3 different tier 3 tanks in my depot and at various stages I have found myself at the bottom of the list. I make the most of it either by scouting, killing other similar levels, or hanging back and letting the big boys move forward before engaging. And if I die early I switch to another tank. It all averages out after enough battles.

3394

Scouting with a 150hp TD when there are multiple kvs and other high tier tanks in the battle? Thats a way to get one shot and make no creds in the battle. Sorry but I am going to keep complaining about what a piece of crap the matchmaking system is. And its not ‘various stages’ i find myself at the bottom 3, its every single time I play.

3395

There is an easy solution to your issues. ;)

3396

Here’s some win statistic for my own battles. I love TD’s and have tier 4 - 9.

(wins/battles)

Hetzer 114/211
StugIII 96/177
JagdpzIV 125/240
Jagpanther 59/105
Ferdinand 43/114
Jagdtiger 96/201

Move up to tier 4 and I am sure you will have a better experience.

3397

I know, the solution is to stop playing the game and tell anyone who asks me about it what a pile of crap it is in its current state, which I will be doing.

And its kind of hard to move up to tier 4 when you rarely make more then 2k in a battle after repairs and ammo.

3398

Ugh sorry I didn’t mean to leave the game. I mean invest in some gold to at least help you get yourself to tier 4 faster. You obviously care enough about the game to be critical of it.

I doubt the devs are interested in changing the way matchmaking works. They could of course narrow the bands to 3 which would then mean battles would be more about tactics rather than a battle of the strong vs the weak. They haven’t given any indication they would do this though.

Having said that it is no bed of roses at the top end either. The Ultimate Conquest system is starting to shake out into megaclans who own all the land zones and then there is the rest of us minor clans who are left battling to establish landings zones for any land at all.

It can be rather depressing when we field our full strength 15 man team of a mix of tier 9 and 10 tanks and then face a team with 5 Maus tanks , 5 tier 8 arty, and various other tier 9 tanks and are completely steamrolled.

3399

The 5x experience bonus is still up? I just got 2k experience in my T-28 but I thought it ended yesterday.

3400

Up until the server reset 3 hours from now as of this posting.