RichVR
4921
I’m pretty sure the Priest was the first and last arty that I played in the game.
schurem
4922
naw i was talking about the priest, the arty gun. guess it got hit hard by the HE nerf or something. like i said, about the best stats on that thing in all my garage. odd.
AMX40 not only gets to be juggernaut once every five matches, but it looks so retro scifi cool. at the .eu servers they are discounting camo on the french camo’s this weekend. i am SO getting the flame/stripe thing on it lol.
[french accent]it may be slow and getting buttfucked by the matchmaker on a regular basis, but is it art? zis it is the important question![/french accent]
Never tried this before. Does it work?
Best…game…ever.
I certainly agree with your first point but it has nothing to do with the freemium model, just the kind of game WoT is - competitive PvP only, no PvE.
As for your second point, some tanks are better or worse than others and some tanks have some questionable “features”. IIRC most tanks (at least at tiers 7+ because I haven’t played low lvl tanks for a long time) can equip predecessor’s top gun right from the start. It certainly the case with KT, E-75, AMX50-100, AMX50-120, IS-3 and IS-4. It also seems to be the case with T34 but I never had it. With all these tanks, you never feel weaker than the predecessor. Yes, less mobile, clunky and slow. Yes, weaker against the same tier opponents. But never weaker against what used to be easy in its predecessor.
There is also a module you can buy for credits (silver, not gold) that increases the allowed weight.
So T32 seems to be rather an exception than the rule. It sucks but I’d say it’s developers’ oversight (like when Maus couldn’t equip some module combinations due to weight limitations of the top tracks some months ago) rather than a move to force you to spend RL money.
It’s just I really like fremium model. Of course some of its implementations are going to be better, some will be worse. Some developers will be more greedy than others. But in this particular case (WoT), I don’t think developers push you TOO hard towards paying.
pyrhic
4925
Except that the only way to make silver in the game is to either buy gold and convert it, buy a tank to farm with, or have a premium account.
I keep wavering between hating and loving that model.
Last night, i played 3 rounds in my T-50, my T-43 and my IS-3 (yes, i like me some russian tanks). I won in each round, survived 2(my IS3 got jumped by a T29 and IS4), was a substantial contributor in all 3(my T-50 even won the match, solo capping the flag as one of the last two tanks left alive on our side(and the lowest tier tank on either side - which was a tier 4- 9 slog) and deftly dodging the IS-3 coming to stop the cap)…and i netted about -1000 for my efforts…
and even that was only possible because i made 5k on the t-50, which, as anyone will tell you, aint that easy in a tier 4 to tier 9 battle.
I dont play that often now, but every single time i do, i lose silver on the session. I have about 700k silver from when i last had a premium account, and that’s getting slowly eroded…
ShivaX
4926
I know a guy who’s never paid a dime and has an E-100 and Patton. He plays a lot of lower tier battles, but he always makes money with his Panther. So its definitely possible to play the entire game for nothing, he does it and has been doing it for quite some time.
You’ll have to play lower tiers quite a bit to afford the big dogs, but that was supposed to be the way the game was played anyway. Its only Tier8 premiums that broke that mold. Plus you can get quite a few freebie tanks here and there. The tetrarch and T-127 are both free tanks that can pretty easily net 8-10k a match.
That’s not the only way, that’s a faster way.
Like Shiva said, it all depends on what kind of tanks you are playing. Can’t say anything about the T-50, never had it but both T-43 and IS-3 are pretty mediocre earners due to relatively low damage output.
It definitely depends on your playstyle too but I, for example, had a lot of success farming on Ferdi (fully upgraded, of course). King Tiger was also pretty decent but not really exceptional. Other than that, yes, lower tier tanks are the key. SU-100 is a very good earner, so is Stug or KV or T-34. I’d say tier 5 is the sweet spot, excluding the new light tanks, though, as those are designed to lose money.
Remember, “free” in “freemium” means it’s POSSIBLE to play the entire (or most of the) game without paying for it but it doesn’t mean that “free” playing will be fast and efficient. So, personally, I decided to pay $15 a month for premium account, since I like driving lots of different tanks. OTOH, if you enjoy tier 5-6 and don’t mind playing longer on the same tank(s), free is very much an option.
Besides, also remember, if you got to tier 10, you are a decent player and you get into a decent clan, you can get gold from playing Clan Wars. I got paid several thousands of gold for playing a few fights a day 3 days a week for a couple of months. That’s what (mostly) paid for my skipping the low level French tanks and getting the AMX50-100. :)
The IS needs to unlock a turret upgrade before it can use the KV-3 gun. And the stock IS gun is horrible in comparison. Got me to blow 6K free xp to be able to use it.
Well, KV-3 really has 2 top guns, which are similar in performance but fit different playstyles (122mm has more damage but much longer reload than the 100mm). And one of these two top guns (the 100mm one) is available on the IS without upgrades.
Now if you didn’t open the 100mm on the KV-3, that’s a different story. :)
Huh, I didn’t unlock that gun and didn’t notice that. Not sure I would have wanted to grind that gun unlocked on the KV-3 anyway, but considering how little money I usually make with the IS, I might need to play that tank later anyway.
pyrhic
4931
Corrected that for you. Tier 10 != being good | Tier 10 = spending money or time. Not saying there arent good lvl 10 players…
But all that’s beside the point: If i’m playing low tier tanks to earn money to pay for tanks that can’t earn money themselves, why am I buying the higher tier tanks in the first place? Then if I’m then not buying tanks, why am i playing the game at all? It’s certainly not for the incredible broken matches that get thrown my way via the MM. I play multiplayer games all the time, and i don’t need an inducement(ie achievements, unlockables) - but the game has to be good and the balance has to be fair.
Here’s another thought - maybe the only reason the MM is ‘broken’, is because that’s the way they want it. They don’t want you to play just tier 5 tanks, because then there’s no false inducement to buy the next tier (so you can pwn next round). Players would just spend all their time playing like-tier matches. I know I would play a whole lot more - I also would have spent a great deal less money.
schurem
4932
I keep a whole stable of tier 6 medium tanks expressly for grinding silver. the VK3601 and easy8 sherman are particularly good at it, but the T34-85 and su-100 are no slouches either. They also get fun matches. rarely if ever top dog, but rarely just cannon fodder either. They can always get in some hits on something, and often that something is bigger and badder, making them very good earning hits.
you just dont have to mind dying a lot ;-)
In theory it’s a good system. Gives people a reason to play Tier 5-7 even after they’ve unlocked a Tier 10. Should keep matches from being too top heavy. Unfortunately premium Tier 8s break that system.
Talorc
4934
Yeah, if you see 4+ Type 59’s on the other team, you can pretty much call the result there and then, no matter how many Tier 9 or 10’s on your team.
Busy grinding credits to try and get to 1.5 million during sale to get IS and T-29 ;-) can get at least one so far, just need like another 400k credits for both.
Got the Tiger and jagdpanther last week half price, so worked out really well for me.
Easy 8 can really generate cash, 20k-30k per win and 5k to 10k in costs, depending what consumables you burnt. M6 is a good earner as well with the 90mm gun.
Well, not in my experience. I agree that the premium Tier 8 tanks compromise the system’s workability, but they certainly don’t dominate matches in my experience. They can, but only when they’re working together; if you get a platoon or two of Type 59s, yeah, that can hurt, but really, a platoon of Pershings or Panther IIs working together is brutal as well. ANYONE working together is going to be tough. And a bunch of Lowes on a team certainly does not mean doom and gloom.
The Type 59 gets played because it’s a fabulous silver generator, and secondarily because it’s a relatively solid medium tank. My biggest complaint though is that their ubiquity takes away from match diversity, and it gets really boring seeing that many of them all the time and far fewer T-44s and Pershings, etc.
As for the matchmaker, I think it works much better than many people believe, but of course that’s subjective. I see people in matches, though, bitching that the “MM is broken!” when they’re in a Tier 6 tank in a Tier 5-8 match, or in a Tier VII in a 7-10 match. While it’s no fun to be cannon fodder, it’s also very fun to figure out where you can best fit in and contribute. The problem is that often the lower tier tanks are terrible tanks–an M6 is going to have issues in most matches because it blows, for instance, not because the MM screwed up. And when I see people in T29s for instance saying they’re getting screwed because of the Tier 9s in their match, I have to laugh. Worst of all though are the Tier 5 light drivers, who can’t seem to understand that in the game’s model, those tanks are scouts and are counted as two tiers or so higher for MM purposes. They get pissed that they can’t kill things when their job is to spot–for tanks and arty both–and then /ragequit half the time.
pyrhic
4936
And I enjoy that role. I just think there’s a better way to do it - like maybe creating scouts at similar levels that can actually pose some kind of threat (particularly important now that there are so few arty). When i scout now, i win when i see the tank i’m spotting start turning for me - particularly when its like a Tier 8 or 9. Every second they’re trying to hit me, they’re vulnerable to my teammates (and in particular i love seeing the slow traverse spin back to their real threat when they realize their mistake). However, against an experienced player, they just ignore me - and thats bad design. I should be able to do something else…
It’s part of that love-hate thing i have for the model. I like that there’s some variability, or challenges, in the MM selection - i think that makes for a better game. Unfortunately, for the most part, that variability is too great and there should never be more than a 2 tier spread in a match (4-9 is about the worst bracket I’ve seen).
Large spreads on the MM are awful, unless you are at the top in which case it’s like an all-you-can-eat smorgasbord. I have a win rate of 50% over 5,439 battles so I reckon it’s perfectly balanced for my purposes.
As for the T59s, I agree with Wombat. Unless you stick together in a wolf-pack you will lose to the heavies, and even then if they prepare for the rush they will usually beat you off.
The beauty/horror of this game is that it’s a continuous PUG of 15 people and sometimes you can get people who throw themselves into the correct role and other times you get campers and nitwits. My worst games usually happen when most of the team is platooned and players defy good tactical sense to stay with their platoon-mates.
I agree that scouts need more utility. I’ve often wondered if some form of target-designation or something might work, but I have no idea how to implement it. It is very frustrating sometimes because the game really and directly rewards you doing damage to tanks, and even more directly killing them, and even if it ultimately does reward you for things like spotting, the returns aren’t immediate or visceral, and scouting thus requires you to really take a big-picture view of things. Also, the limited upgrade path for scouts, stopping at a dead end at Tier 5 as they do, makes playing them an even more specialized niche.
Luckily, with the advent of Fog of War in Clan Wars, scouts may actually have a high-end role now.
Talorc
4939
You guys go and play anything tier 6 or lower up against a Type 59! It’s largely invincible from the front and manoeuvrable enough to not get caught in the ass. M6 with the 90mm, KV and maybe Su 85 with top gun are it. I’ve been able to do OK with easy 8 in the rear, but it is tough.
Type 59 Really really eats out against tier 6 or lower. Other tier 8s you can usually do something against.
Probably panther II and Pershing are just as bad, but you hardly ever see them.
Lowe never feels more dangerous than say tiger or tiger II and you can readily manoeuvre to get them in a soft spot.
True, the sloped armor on the Type 59 is often frustrating. But then again, all Tier 8 mediums are tough for Tier 6 tanks, generally. Of course, as noted, you see a lot more Type 59s, so they sure seem icky.
