I know that the date of this blog is before the general release to the whole wide world but I feel compelled to put my stamp once again on World of Tanks for the Xbox as someway to alert people who are looking to start the game out what to expect.
The game itself is not too different to the beta so a lot of points I've raised in the previous blog are similar to the actual game and as such don't need to be repeated but I can at least provide a view from a standard gamer on the pro's and con's of the game play itself.
We start off with the normal problems that people have posted in the forums surrounding players just starting out ( West coast players )
Things such as spotting and MM at the moment are working as they should. Once you get to play the game your understanding will improve. This is not Call of Duty or Halo and should not be treated as such. Each tank class and tank themselves have aspects about them that make them good in certain situations. The T25 AT as an example is a good Tank Destroyer at medium to long range. Not a lot of armour so is best to avoid being spotted. The AT7 on the other hand has a lot of armour and is very good at supporting heavys in an assault forward. Not as powerful gun as the T25 AT but a quick fire rate and chances of the other team bouncing make up for this downfall.
Matchmaking is currently under fire for placing in higher tier games then what your tank is. This is going to happen until more players join. It's even started with the low T2 and 3 games. Since there are 100+ people as T2's and 3's you will rarely find yourself in a game more then 1 above or below. On the odd chance you find yourself the top tier, spare a though for those lower tiers that your playing against.
The first issue I'm going to touch upon, one which I will know will be the biggest issue from new players is the grind.
The grind is called as such due to the amount of effort you have to put into the game to see a reward. Lower tiers isn't so much of an issue. This is something you will find as you progress through the tank trees. My biggest gripe is being given a gun that although worked at the tier below now becomes even harder to use at a higher tier. A perfect example is the T28 American Tank Destroyer. Within normal MM rules I can go 2 up and 2 down. This is fine as it is the MM rules. The problem is the gun. The standard gun on the T28 is the 90mm. Its ok on the T25 AT against its own tiers but not so good against T8 tanks. How then can the T28 go up against T8 tanks with a gun that didn't do well against T8's in the first place. Its MM rules and they do not take into account packages when searching. As you progress up the tiers the guns that become most effective are the last ones. In the case of the T28 its the 120mm. To get there though you have to purchase the 105mm ( again very good on the T25 AT but now its on a tank that doesn't move fast and has to be well placed in order to do damage to T8's and above ) This is the grind. In order to have the next upgrade you need 70k in XP for that tank. In a tank that does 300 odd damage when it actually hits and either doesn't miss or bounce makes it more difficult.
The thing that makes the grind so difficult is the lack of XP you get for games you lose so meaning without buying premium you will maybe need to play 400+ games in a tank that doesn't perform as well as what the previous one did. The factors that take into account how long and slow the grind is is well a lot.
Here are some examples.
Bad team mates
These can make you lose a game in no time at all. Team communication is a must. Since the platoon size is only a max of 3 that leaves 12 other random people to join your team. Now add into that the likely hood of getting into games with other tanks you have trouble damaging, map and gametype choice, types of tanks that have been selected to play on either team, you're now down to luck on how well the game goes. Then you have people that are new to the game and are not sure on how to play the tanks. Pushing a lightly armored tank forward when it is better used further back is a good way of getting killed early and not improving your chances of winning. I may be different to other people but I'm not a fan of playing games that use more luck than skill to play. You can't beat luck. I would also like to add in people taking in lower tier tanks into games that possibly reduce your chances further but this is sorta of a rare thing and there isn't anything you can do about it.
Tank allocation
I'm not sure on what the algorithm is for this part but you will find yourself in a game with one team ( either yourself in which case it helps or the other team in which case it can hinder ) with more tanks than yours. IE tier 6 game and the other team has 3 AT8's. Difficult to take out with T6's and act as good cannon fodder, distraction and can deal damage when ignored. This can lengthen your grind time.
RNG
RNG will be the vain of your life. Sometimes it's good other times it's really bad. It will save your life or will get you killed. Leaving someone on 1HP is not fun. Not when you have started hitting them when they are half health and your full. That extra shot they fired because they are 1HP is enough to get you killed in one shot by the next tank coming round the corner.
Take this game with a pinch of salt. Take breaks when you're doing bad. It's been designed with Premium in mind as it's core. Without buying your way through the game makes your life harder, understandably, and as hard as I've made it sound the game can be fun. More so at lower tiers. When you play, expect to lose. Expect the other team to be firing red rounds. Expect the unexpected. You will get better and then the game handicaps you when you progress.
As it stands I found myself asking the question will I be playing this game when it is released like I did during the beta and only one answer ever came up with me and other people I asked. Yes but I will play it when I'm bored. I can't play a game with so many inconsistencies and luck based games as I don't enjoy them. Others might but I'm unable to pay to play.
Don't take my blog as anything to say this is not a good game. It is a very good game and you can have a stupid amount of fun playing it but when you try to play properly be aware that unlike other games, you can't do it alone. Team mates are what make the difference between winning and losing. And ignore what people say, the game is all about winning. If you want to progress, winning in any way shape or form is pretty much the only way forward. I challenge to see anyone who enjoys playing the game properly whilst losing 70% or their games because of issues I've raised within this post.
Stay tuned to here what I have to say about the new Warface Closed Beta currently out.
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