WAR THUNDER - THIS GAME IS PAY TO WIN

[Antiriad]

The first thing any player should realise is that this game is pay to win. Don't let anyone else say otherwise, forget what the reviews say, this is a pay to win game. The interface and game mechanics do a very clever job at hiding this and trying to confuse you, but after 114 hours of game time, I now have come firmly to the conclusion this is a pay to win game. Those sneaky folks at Gaijin will not advertise this.

What proof of this is there? Well the easiest example is to say that the lower level tanks are pretty accessible but soon you realise this is only to make sure that the premium players have a steady flow of cannon fodder. Even after you upgrade your tank to a higher level, you are simply put in with other tanks that have paid upgrades and no matter how well you play unless you pay (or do literally hours and hours of grinding) you will find yourself with a slower tank, less gunnery and more visibility compared to other players. Visibility matters in war thunder because premium players can get camouflage and non premium cannot. But is it WAY worse than that - camouflaged players are actually graphically INVISIBLE. That's right. INVISIBLE, not just harder to see, but the game actually makes the tank DISAPPEAR from the non premium screen. Not matter what resolution your monitor, no matter how hard you squint into the distance, you will not see a premium player before they can see you and voila you are zapped first and die.

this is just one example,; there are loads of others. For example, every tank upgrade essentially gives you a slower, less powerful tank until you upgrade it. And upgrading it requires, guess what, more currency, i.e. cash, unless you go for the long hours of grinding options. Your slow new tank will be put against the fast, upgraded premium players and there is no chance you will win. Unless you pay for something, then you will be doomed to be blasted and cannon fodder for others, maybe achieving a mid rank score in a battle at best, but never ever being able to come out on top.

Why is my opponents tank faster than mine? Because they paid and you didnt.
Why is my opponents tank got a more powerful gun than mine. Because they paid and you didnt.
Why is my opponent LITERALLY INVISIBLE and I'm not. Because they paid and you didnt.
etc.
This applies to crew as well by the way, another nice little infinite money pit you can put your cash into to improve your teams ability.

So payment is needed to win. But is it also needed to buy and play with the vehicles on display. Improving your battle rank is a linear progression, but lateral vehicles exploration across the countries and vehicle types also costs money (both real and in-game currency). Its like a giant toy shop - all the toys are there, but to play with them all means you have to buy them all.

So bear that in mind before dipping into this game. If you want the 'free to play' experience, it will be many, many hours (hundreds) before your crews and tanks are good enough to compete even at the lower tiers. Without paying, I estimate probably thousands of hours will be needed of grinding to have some capability to win at the higher tiers.

At least know what you are getting into. I did my own calculation and estimate that to unlock a battle rank 11 vehicles with fully trained crew and all modifications would cost somewhere between £300-400 Euros, or the alternative would be probably something like 10,000 hours of playtime. The only 'free to play experience' is probably at battle rank 1, which is the lowest level using early WWII tanks that are pretty shonky, but a good blast I suppose (having now played 114 hours of it anyways).

So don't be deceived. It's pay to win. End of. Some fun to be had along the way though.

[Crazy Tiger]

Best to post this in the game hub.

[B-o-B]

This is a rant after being banned from a forum and now spills over to here?
Don't die on this hill.

[Antiriad]

Originally posted by B-o-B:

This is a rant after being banned from a forum and now spills over to here?
Don't die on this hill.

thanks for comment. I tried to be a truth teller - but I didn't pay enough to have my voice heard :-D

[Washell]

It's a free online multiplayer game. What the hell did you expect?

[Antiriad]

i expect it to be pay to progress

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

Originally posted by Antiriad:

i expect it to be pay to progress

That ship has sailed on that philosophy.

[Washell]

Originally posted by Antiriad:

i expect it to be pay to progress

Well, now you know.

[Qbert ⭐]

Tl;dr

[Antiriad]

Originally posted by Judgmental Amaterasu:

Skill issue

Players who pay for premium can become invisible to non paying players. How's that a skill issue?

[nohuman]

Too many lifers/losers in these games. WoT too. Sooo many whales too. Pretty much done with them all.

[Tipoff Giggots]

git good

[Tom]

No it's not, it's pay to progress

[Washell]

Originally posted by Tom:

No it's not, it's pay to progress

If it takes, say, 5 years to get to the same point as someone who paid for the shortcuts, it may technically be pay to progress. But 5 years down the road they'll have added bigger and stronger things to keep the paying crowd happy and most importantly, spending. Then you need another 5 years to catch up to their current state. And so on, and so on.

This means you'll never catch up, and the only way to get into a place where you can win, is to pay. At best, you can catch up for "free" by devoting almost every waking hour to the game.

[Tom]

Originally posted by Washell:

Originally posted by Tom:

No it's not, it's pay to progress

If it takes, say, 5 years to get to the same point as someone who paid for the shortcuts, it may technically be pay to progress. But 5 years down the road they'll have added bigger and stronger things to keep the paying crowd happy and most importantly, spending. Then you need another 5 years to catch up to their current state. And so on, and so on.

This means you'll never catch up, and the only way to get into a place where you can win, is to pay. At best, you can catch up for "free" by devoting almost every waking hour to the game.

it would take you five years as you free to play if you didn't even get one kill a game, it's actually a couple months if you play well, also you don't even need to get to the top to have fun, as you won't be facing the latest weapons in your soviet T-34, you only need to pay to progress way faster if you want the latest aircraft, which even then aren't the most fun

[nohuman]

I have like 100 tanks in WoT. How many does one really need to play the same old ~5 maps?

I'm definitely NOT playing just to buy the next monthly tank, which have def. been OP more often than not for quite awhile now. I'm just there for the blood, and I have enough of that on my hands already.