Hello everyone,
Just thought I’d write down a few thoughts about what a “dead game” is. Lately, I’ve seen various players (including streamers) mention that World of Tanks is dead and same goes for Armored Warfare. At first glance, it’s an obvious nonsense for both games. World of Tanks still has, to my knowledge, 100k peaks or so on EU, while Armored Warfare has… aha, you thought I’d tell you. Can’t, sorry. Wish I could. But it’s much more than most people think.
The main reason is the weird “in queue” number that doesn’t work properly and does not represent the game situation because it only shows players waiting in queue and even that is as far as I know not correct. The real number is much higher but I can’t release it because of production decision. But the servers are still running, the PvE mode is still viable and there are no plans to pull the plug despite the doomsaying of some players. We have plans for the future and all that, but honestly, I don’t really want to talk about Armored Warfare. If you are interested, check the portal.
The second meaning of the word is more interesting as it involves development direction. For Armored Warfare, it was disclosed already plus we have something pretty big (perhaps too big since I am trying to finish the content connected to it since Christmas already) that will not be directly announced next week, but it might be mentioned first off hand in some other article (so I’d pay attention if you are interested).
But what’s the direction for World of Tanks?
I must admit that I haven’t kept in touch with World of Tanks since Rita practically abandoned her blog (to be clear, that’s not blaming her, I think that she got what she wanted in life, any of us would make the same choice) but I did check recently some of the stuff going on in the Sandbox server.
Honestly, I can see some of the Armored Warfare (Obsidian) thought processes in the changes – well, before we decided that the system can’t be recovered and moved on to Balance 2.0. It’s tweaking of existing mechanisms that in the end won’t make a difference. We have yet to see what they have in store for artillery, but it won’t be anything massively drastic (unless they decide to copy the old AW system we are moving away from).
Personally, I don’t think that will happen for two reasons:
- SerB
- shareholders
From what I know, SerB had a massive influence on WoT 2.0 (that thingie with modern tanks reported a few months back – dead in the water by the way) and I seriously doubt he’d just relinquish the reins to someone who thinks completely differently. Second thing is that World of Tanks is no longer a game. It’s a machine. A well-oiled money making machine. That’s meant neither as a praise nor as an insult – it’s simply a fact. There’s merchandise, there’s their expo in Moscow, they are opening branches all over the place – hell, they are even opening a branch in Prague now.
World of Tanks is one of the most successful products in its category (PC games) in the last decade. But that means one thing. The shareholders or whoever acts on their behalf won’t let anyone touch their golden goose. Why would they when it’s all working so beautifully and unpopular ingame changes (RU players might remember the infamous Rubezh and Rubezhon patches) have an actual significant effect on Wargaming income.
And that, my friends, is the true meaning of game death for me. World of Tanks has nowhere to go because of its success in its current form. Sure, World of Tanks could introduce something completely unexpected like some sort of storyline campaign (that would be cool, a PvE mode like that playing as a tanker in WW2) but I think they won’t. Why risk a big change or an unpopular feature when the game makes so much money?
Now, you might be asking, what made me write this.
A couple of players reached out to me on AW forums asking whether this is true. It isn’t, but it got me thinking. There is nothing to return to, there is nowhere to go. I achieved what I wanted in World of Tanks by the introduction of Czechoslovak branch so unless I end up by some weird twist of fate (which I honestly can’t imagine) working for Wargaming, then no, I don’t plan to start writing about WoT or related stuff.
I mean, I tried, just check a couple of last posts on FTR. But it’s not the same anymore. Plus, honestly, I am writing whole day and as a hobby (slowly finishing the book, I can’t believe it’s been two years since I started) and the last thing I want to do in the evening at the moment is write some more. Usually I just sit down and play some Skyrim. Stealth archer FTW!
Well…I still play WoT from time to time with my WZ-120 with 4 perks, just to chill and sealclub a little. I tried AW but… I just cant get into any PvP… I take my T80 but I need to wait like 10 min before enough players gather so that the battle can start. I would say that WoT and AW are dead because the devs didnt listen to the playerbase. AW is also a money making maschine, it just doesnt have enough players to do it. And from all of that I am very sad because it was the perfect Slav universe ;)
Well that would explain why is balance going to shit.
Just to mention Liberte and Paytriot, etc. Well that’s sad. At least moderation on forums has improved, which is surprising.
Hi SS,
it’s sad to read something like this. This doesn’t sounds like you. Why so bitter?
There’s the other WOT blog, where I’m active, that’s giving “all” info to the players, so no need for Rita, although I love her & her cats :)
Oh, I am in a very melancholic mood these couple of days. Also got sort of writer’s block, hope to break it tomorrow with the kind help of Rush, Nescafé and Johnny Walker :)
It’s not bitter sir it’s just the truth, may I ask how long have you known WoT? I played the game pretty much since the opening of WoT NA server, never missed a test server, or sandbox server etc…, If you trace the lineage of the game and how it developed over the course of 6 years or even more you wouldn’t think of this article as bitter as much as it is the truth
I definitely agree that WoT has perfected the art of getting people to part with actual currency to play their free game. I hadn’t put a dime into it since early 2012, surviving off of gold contests and playing lower tier tanks to make credits to occasionally play a tier IX or X one without a premium account.
But that god damn Christmas Tree and Holiday Tank ornament box bullshit they did over the past few months…I mean, I have no idea how they figured out how to con normally immune people who never bought a hard currency premium tank into paying money for RANDOM BOXES OF HOLIDAY ORNAMENTS…just so they could get a full swedish female crew…but it worked. I forked over $17 after failing to find two tier 5 ornaments to finish the set that I had worked on every few days without otherwise spending a dime. It was the perfect con. Get sooooo close that it will only take a few bucks to finish and you feel like your time would have otherwise been wasted. I tip my hat to their monetization department.
What made you spend your bucks?
I started playing WoT this Christmas after I took a 1 year brake and I have to admit that I spend some money for tonks that where availiable in the calendar but not for those decorations.
I have my four crews and thats all I need because none of the swedish vehicles have more than that.
I started WoT in open beta and stopped at the end of 2015 because the game sucked hard.
I played AW a lot but it became pretty boring after I had a tier X tonk. WoT still has that potential for addiction.
Absolutely LOVE your rants man, couldn’t be more objective keep it up ur the best
Ooooh, love me some Skyrim! Just wrapping up a playthrough as a dual-axe warrior, I’m considering trying out an archer. Are you using any archery or perk mods? Also, how do you handle close-range boss fights?
P.S. I feel obligated to say something on topic. Do you have any opinion on WoT’s decision to add Tier X lights? Is that enough to consider the game at least has a feeble heartbeat?
As always these kind of article is something never to be seen anywhere else who claimed to be FTR 2.0. Very nice indeed.
I think most players take the game too seriously and that’s why thet end up tired of it, sure I think it’s normal to desire the game to improve and there are some things that make me “upset” about the game (imbalance, power creeping, line/tree planning specially the US tech tree, content, some of te mechanics, etc…) but for me it’s better to focus on the little things we find enjoyable in the game
I’m pretty sure that even those who have stopped playing WoT years ago had more than one tank they honestly enjoyed playing with and I wonder, isn’t it enough when you find something that suits you and you simply go back to it when the game frustate you? I think it is and luckily there’s a large number of tanks in the game and I’m sure everyone can find the one right for them
Posting for my man Silentstalker. I grew up with your blog, would always lurk on it – during breaks, at night; typing ftr was muscle memory. So thank you for writing these posts, from the old ftr through this one, they’ve been a pleasure to read. Wish you all the best!
huh true. just realized Deco’s doing all the recent posts. guess even Rita needs a break from all the salt flakers the internet can throw
anyway SS, do whatever you want man. also, stealth archer FTW.