Tobold's Blog
Sunday, June 23, 2019
 
Should you be playing World of Tanks in 2019?

Short answer: No

Long answer: World of Tanks is a fun game, and can be played for free, so you might want to try it out. However you need to be aware that it is an ageing PvP multiplayer game, which is definitely in decline. There are very few actual new players in the game now. You will constantly fight against people who know the game far better than you, and have amassed as sorts of advantages over you in the form of better equipment or better crew. You basically can't get a fair fight. And if you would really want to invest yourself in the game and get as good as the current players, you'd have to take into account the declining server populations. Especially if you live in North America, where the servers are already pretty empty.

I was playing several tier VIII games this weekend, and noticed that in several of them the average number of battles played per player was 30,000. And several of the players with lesser number of battles played had suspiciously high win rates and WN8 ratings, suggesting that they were second accounts. Me, with my 10,000 battles, am still considered a n00b. Even in low tier games I meet players that have played far more battles than I have, and many of them in low tier tanks, trying to get high ratings by preying on less experienced players.

While technically World of Tanks is better now than it was 8 years ago, with better graphics and features, the lack of new and casual players, and the lack of game mechanics that would separate players by power, pretty much tipped the game over the edge. It is unlikely that it will ever "revive" and suddenly gain large numbers of new players. If you played before, you might want to play again now. But getting into the game now as a real new player would be painful. I'm not saying that "World of Tanks is dying", as it will probably still be around for a number of years. But the era where I would with a good conscience recommend World of Tanks to a new player is certainly over.

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Comments:
> short answer: no

Placing the answer right on top made me want to read the entire article. I wish everyone had the guts to do the same (Youtube creators included...).
 
F2P games have this weird dichotomy where they are often the best they have ever been when they are long past their peak and are seen as "dead" games.

Currently the two games I spend the most time with are both "dead" or declining games; Heroes of the Storm and Mech Warrior Online.

Every few years I jump back SWOTOR, another "dead" game. Heck I would call WoW declining if not dead since it doesn't seem to be gaining very many new players, but instead relies on veterans re-installing the game every expansion or major content patch.

All the games I mentioned are probably in the best shape in terms of gameplay, user experience, and content they have ever been in and yet they don't really garner attention anymore. (With WoW being the exception)

World of Tanks I bet is in a similar boat. These games will probably still go on for years but its a shame most people will never experience them at their best, because they have long since moved on.
 
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