I have played this game, without great consistency, since around 2014 or 2015. I can say, without a doubt, that this game has a hideously exploitative business model. The game, and specifically its economy are designed to frustrate, irritate, and confound a player at every turn, to try to strong-arm them into paying for one of the many, many money sinks that the game has integrated over the years.

As an example, I can make a solid showing of killing of 5 kills and 1 lost vehicle (total) in a Realistic battle, end up in the top 4 players for my team in a match, and still end up losing more than 10,000 silver lions in repair costs and the like, despite such a solid showing. I'm a slightly above average player, according to comparisons with other players and I can tell you, especially at high tiers, it is nigh-impossible to earn even a modest surplus of the Silver lions you need to buy new vehicles and train crews, much less repair vehicles.

I have looked at how the 'free' repairs works and it seems like my vehicles would take several IRL months to completely repair for 'free', but with how the interface is set up, there is no clear indication of what the order of these repairs would be, the cumulative time for all of them to complete or any other useful information for someone trying that route might have. I do know that, after leaving the entire top tier of the German tree to stew in 'free' repairs for more than 30 days, none of those high BR vehicles were repaired.

The only option you really have if you want to play at higher tiers and make some SL is by paying for premium and buying/playing your way through their season bonuses, which you can't enjoy the full extent of until you put down money for a ticket. Otherwise, more than half of the 'bonuses' are locked away from you, including regular injections of around 100,000 SL.

Gaijin is entirely aware of what they are doing and how they have designed this economy to operate, which is to take every cent they can squeeze out of a player, and give practically nothing in return. War Thunder's devs claim that they could never possibly offer this game with a different model of operation, ignoring counter examples like MechWarrior Online or Star Trek Online, both of which have the ability to earn and convert premium currency during in game events without having to pay any real world money to their respective companies. Gaijin has never to my knowledge, ever offered such an opportunity during an event unless someone wins some sort of contest with limited slots or a tournament. These aren't the only FTP games that have more generous models for the players and it is a source of continued bewilderment why Gaijin doesn't bother to even try to court the goodwill of its player base.

Never mind that there are ongoing bugs and issues with the game that have never been addressed, poor game play decisions that detract from the player experience, uninspired/uninteresting maps and objectives, events that are less about having fun, and more about subjecting yourself to a horrifying, onerous grind unless you pay them money to shortcut it, ignoring all of that, I still could never recommend this game to another person because of how broken the core economic model is for me. If it wasn't so broken, I might feel like I was paying for a product I enjoyed, getting a little boost from premium or some golden eagles once in a while, instead of paying that money into the game just to try to unlock the next module or vehicle and feeling constantly exploited for it. I'd rather not get spit in the face, and then get told that I should thank Gaijin for the honor of that experience. To that end, I'll continue to caution all my friends and anyone else who will listen to look at other games and experiences that aren't designed to insult the player's intelligence or exploit their pocketbook. And it's a damn shame, because under all the warts and stench, there's a unique and fascinating game waiting to happen, if only the Gaijin were willing to let it be that.

[h1]TL;DR - Do not give Gaijin your money or your time until they actually have a modicum of respect for the player base. It's not worth it to get spat on, even after you've paid money into their broken, exploitative business model. [/h1] I have played this game, without great consistency, since around 2014 or 2015. I can say, without a doubt, that this game has a [b]hideously[/b] exploitative business model. The game, and specifically its economy are designed to frustrate, irritate, and confound a player at every turn, to try to strong-arm them into paying for one of the many, many money sinks that the game has integrated over the years. As an example, I can make a solid showing of killing of 5 kills and 1 lost vehicle (total) in a Realistic battle, end up in the top 4 players for my team in a match, and still end up losing more than 10,000 silver lions in repair costs and the like, despite such a solid showing. I'm a slightly above average player, according to comparisons with other players and I can tell you, especially at high tiers, it is nigh-impossible to earn even a modest surplus of the Silver lions you need to buy new vehicles and train crews, much less repair vehicles. I have looked at how the 'free' repairs works and it seems like my vehicles would take several IRL [i] months[/i] to completely repair for 'free', but with how the interface is set up, there is no clear indication of what the order of these repairs would be, the cumulative time for all of them to complete or any other useful information for someone trying that route might have. I do know that, after leaving the entire top tier of the German tree to stew in 'free' repairs for more than 30 days, none of those high BR vehicles were repaired. The only option you really have if you want to play at higher tiers and make some SL is by paying for premium and buying/playing your way through their season bonuses, which you can't enjoy the full extent of until you put down money for a ticket. Otherwise, more than half of the 'bonuses' are locked away from you, including regular injections of around 100,000 SL. Gaijin is entirely aware of what they are doing and how they have designed this economy to operate, which is to take every cent they can squeeze out of a player, and give practically nothing in return. War Thunder's devs claim that they could never possibly offer this game with a different model of operation, ignoring counter examples like MechWarrior Online or Star Trek Online, both of which have the ability to earn and convert premium currency during in game events without having to pay any real world money to their respective companies. Gaijin has never to my knowledge, ever offered such an opportunity during an event unless someone wins some sort of contest with limited slots or a tournament. These aren't the only FTP games that have more generous models for the players and it is a source of continued bewilderment why Gaijin doesn't bother to even try to court the goodwill of its player base. Never mind that there are ongoing bugs and issues with the game that have never been addressed, poor game play decisions that detract from the player experience, uninspired/uninteresting maps and objectives, events that are less about having fun, and more about subjecting yourself to a horrifying, onerous grind unless you pay them money to shortcut it, ignoring all of that, I still could never recommend this game to another person because of how broken the core economic model is for me. If it wasn't so broken, I might feel like I was paying for a product I enjoyed, getting a little boost from premium or some golden eagles once in a while, instead of paying that money into the game just to try to unlock the next module or vehicle and feeling constantly exploited for it. I'd rather not get spit in the face, and then get told that I should thank Gaijin for the honor of that experience. To that end, I'll continue to caution all my friends and anyone else who will listen to look at other games and experiences that aren't designed to insult the player's intelligence or exploit their pocketbook. And it's a damn shame, because under all the warts and stench, there's a unique and fascinating game waiting to happen, if only the Gaijin were willing to let it be that.