GulvkluderGuld

Join a clan with a decently built up base, and you can have 15% credit discount on all ships among other goodies aswell as playmates. There isn't many events with better discounts, but I dont keep track any longer

No doubt it's a FXP / credit sink and a money grab, but I expect this is as much about player retention as direct financial gains (converting FXP). And done right, by offering exclusive ships (and LMs as current side-grades) and without upsetting the game balance, I'm okay with that. The problem is of course if WG can resist upsetting the game balance by introducing OP stuff.....The last year of WoWs does not leave me filled with confidence. Without the incentive from RB, do you actually play the Leander though? I don't touch IJN gunboats or any other ship unless there is some ulterior goal, like grinding the next ship in the line, earning credits, playing ranked. If there isn't a reason to play the line, I just play 1-2 games of premium tier IX ships to farm credits, get bored and log off to fire up another game. The only high tier ships I dont have are: Colbert (1 reset short) Smaaland (1 mio FXP short), Thunderer, Georgia and Neustrashimi (dont care). I'm not interested in Random battles, Coop or Operations. The only thing keeping me interested are Ranked, CB and new content. So for me it worked in the sense that I'm a completionist and keep playing the game instead of quitting. If this is done by offering exclusive balanced content, I'm okay with that (see above) But.... This looks entirely too much like WG preparing to NTC 2.0 via "rebalanced" LMs, making them tier XI stuff that will be required in competitive. For the sake of the game, I hope for the mother of all Dumpster Fires, should that happen.

If FdG is trash, Alsace is a dumpsterfire about to go critical. I can't believe I'm actually writing this, but compared to Alsace, the FdG main guns have laser accuracy. FdG is also tankier. The dream BB is called Bourgogne.

Anybody notice what is missing...? Yes, Hakurury and Midway LMs arn't there. WG what are you going to do with the CV LMs that are sitting in my inventory? 9.5 will be interesting as in the ancient chinese curse. I wonder if WG will launch LMs for all the tier X ships that do not yet have a LM? And how broken they will be? Will start sharpening the pitchforks and heating the tar for Dumpsterfire NTC 2.0 arriving.... Some will undoubtably do this. But if you treat the RB in the spirit it was phrased - as a way to keep playing (lower tier) ships you enjoy - then it actually works as intended. I enjoy playing IJN gunboats a lot, so it does keep me interested where I might've quit the game otherwise. FXP to tier 6 or 7 does not cost all that much, about 60k fxp to a stock Hatsuharu. 64k if you want torps upgraded for the 10 km range, which is more realistic. IJN gunboat line is playable from there. Hatsuharu is no great prize, but with TA and torp module, the torpedoes get surprisingly fast and accurate. 70k fxp can easily be aquired in a month. I rarely upgrade the ships / torps / range at all on a re-grind, they're fine as stock. Makes me wonder when WG will get around to "recalculating the research cost of certain ship-lines", since it's ruining their good business model.

No, it is you who kept stating the 406s were objectively superior. That is the statement i disagree with. It depends on the situation and the playstyle (and not just borderhumping). I realize and agree with all the numbers and uncertainties including it will be hard/impossible to recognize when the 420s make the difference (mostly because it is not really possible to know the exact relative angles involved). What I do know is the 420s are superior in some situations at very relevant ranges. The 420s might be only 1% better, or 10%. We likely will never know since testing it is a biatch, nobody cares enough after GK became powercrept by 30 mm overmatch and Kremlin exists. The fact that we do not know does not make the 406s better, it just make their advantages easier to comprehend than the advantages of the 420s.

Play only DDs, CVs above tier 8. Anything else is an exercise in frustration. Possibly Jean Bart/Bourg and DM/Stalingrad can work too.

Being able to penetrate a citadel vs not being able to penetrate a citadel is not inconsequential. Nobody is calculating anything huge, one just need to know the breakpoint ranges where getting citadels isnt possible any longer. Reload is good, dont get me wrong, but one needs to fire the guns on cooldown to take advantage. Something that you might not necessarily do in a BB, since waiting for the crucial moment/turn is part of the gameplay. I'm not claiming the 420 are better than 406, but it's not so clear cut as saying the 406s are always objectively better.

Your argument is based on spending the majority of time inside secondary range of opponents. That is a very questionable premise, based on actual gameplay. GKs problem isn't minuscule reload advantages inside secondary range. If you can get there, the fight is already won. So if anybody lets GK that close, they deserve the consequences. My experience is players try very hard NOT to let GK close with them. And as it happens, they can usually succeed, since full secondary GK is spotted from 15,9 km away (no points left for CE). Thus most time is spent between 15.9 km and 12 km range provided opponents play optimally (and no permaspotting forces GK to back off further still) - not from the border. Secondary range and 420s as the main guns are the best way to increase the overall effectiveness and versatilty of the ship. It loses a little bit of reload, but I find the penetration worth the trade. We will probably have to agree to disagree, but stating the 406s are the objectively superior guns is flat out wrong, since the 420s have objectively superior penetration at the sweetspot ranges where GK tends to fight.

Arn't you just listing reasons why the 420's are superior outside secondary range? (eg more than 11,5 km) Thanks, I have one in port but I actually never noticed (no doubt because I dont play BBs much)

It isnt specific to Kremlin, the other tier X BBs have 400ish belts too.

Thank you for crunching the numbers for me although my memory got the range wrong 11,5 km is a fairly interesting range since it is the maximum range of secondary spec GK and most players will take great pains to stay outside that range. Oppertunitites to citadel slight to moderately angled BBs is more common at medium ranges than close range brawls where reload might matter, so I will stick with the 420s. Especially on secondary GK where those secondaries will simply melt anything at closer ranges, no brawling necessary.

No contructive feedback to offer to russian bias-cruisers. Those guns are rediculous. I'm quitting WoWs when they get introduced. I'm pretty sure if you compare 406 and 420 gun penetration to a slightly angled up to 50% angled Kremlin at around 14-18 km, it IS significant. I remember changing over to the 420s after doing the calculations based on typical engagement distances. Also the reload difference in a brawl is neglegible compared to more reliable penetration since a) nobody with any skill brawls a GK - and if GK pushes in, smolensk welcomes him with open arms. b) GK do not have a citadel and cannot get oneshot c) you dont use GK back turrets anyway (terrible angle).

Yeah the teamwork I enjoy, but I leave the CV gameplay to others. Fortunately we have a few other decent CVs in the clan

Agree with both.And if enough quit, I wonder what they will do? I have all tier X CVs and I even ranked out playing CVs, but it's not gameplay I enjoy. And not as surface ships either, even though I have little trouble surviving. Part of me want WG to fail, because I will most likely quit for good rather than be forced to play something I dont enjoy. That is the point of games, afterall. And the rework IS a failure, even if WG cant admit it. There is no point in AA builds or grouping up any longer. I actually liked this recent Clan Brawl, having had the oppertunity to play some games since earlier. Maybe there are ways to make games fun, despite the CVs.

Bye Bye WoWs.

Like I say, it is a huge risk, but whether they would lose before or not, it's not the main issue. Many clans have problems gathering 7 people on the same day and time to even play. If CVs are added, fewer players may want to play, especially if they dont have a CV player on their own team. Who enjoys getting permaspotted and farmed? Take my clan HEROZ: We were finally able to play this last season, but if only 1 or 2 regular players were absent one night then we could not field enough players. Soif just one or two players quit, none can play CB. There would need to be new players to recruit. Nobody expects WG to care. But if player numbers drop, like on the RU server, they've been forced to. CVs are the single most hated feature in the game judging by the number of complaint threads here. Players who are invested in the game probably will swallow anything WG introduces just to keep playing, but we dont know the proportion of those players, so dont pretend this isn't a massive risk for WG. Just one or two disgruntled players leaving their clan can mean those clans cant field a full CB team.

If WG see CB participation dropping by >50% because lots of the bronze and gale teams tab out due to having no CV players/No fun (which imo is realistic), then WG will also be facing their own Quit or Adapt situation in the CB department. I can also see a lot of players from storm and up being fed up with CV games quit, if this season does not turn out well. I'm one of those players. The decision to include CVs in CBs is a huge risk for WG. If it fails, they will not get those players back.

Usually its not hard to hit BBs and CAs. Maneuverable ships like CLs and DDs can often reactively dodge at much shorter ranges than normal using the border's "push". Imo borders should act like an island, but WG doesn't care.

CVs. Ships with high dpm and utility. Fast ships. Broken ships for their tier. TL;DR - ships that can dictate the terms of the engagement. For DDs only the british DDs, IJN gunboats , rench dds, and Benham can reliably deal with most classes. For CAs, USN CAs like DesMoines fullfill the criteria. Russian balance-(smol, stalingrad) do the same. BBs with reliable guns, speed & utility like Missouri, JB/Bourgogne and ofc, Kremlin.

This. Also the higher tier, the more damage since more hitpoints are available in the games played. Best of all is Arms Race modes where classes get passive constant healing for the same reason.

Yes, my mistake. Not much chance WG would add T9 operations with suitable xp modifier after Narai removal, unless it was impossible to complete. If you already have Ohio and dont have a Bourgogne? If you dont want to miss out on JB,since it will be gambling-boxesonly from now on? Can't speak to which is better, since Georgia is the only coal ship i dont own. I dont think overmatch is a big deal when you can simply switch to HE in JB, then follow up on DCP use with MBRB to set multiple permafires. Plus breaking all sorts of modules. JB is a much better fire-starter than Ohio and i imagine, Georgia. Plus having all guns in the ront can be very convenient. And the while 11 km secondaries are fun and can be hilarious, they usually dont matter that much.... On the other hand, Georgia is a lot faster than Ohio - the same as JB- so maybe I'm missing something.

Dont you play new lines? If you need credits --> tier IX are your friend. They earn much more credits than tier Xs. If you like BBs, get JB, see below. Yoshino: it is a megaZao spamming high caliber HE from long range. That is virtually the only playstyle it is suited for since it lacks the aneuverability of the Zao. Smolensk: Best way to farm reports short of playing CVs. Fun to spam HE from 16-19 km without using smoke and watch AP splash all around, but gets boring quickly and cannot play aggressive, only farm targets stationary or moving towards it. I recently got JB over Thunderer despite collecting mainly tier X ships ( I already own smolensk). Didnt regret it. It is fun to play and very good, because it has multiple builds and playstyles. Having access to french speedbost, it is really fast and can play as a battlecruiser spamming HE from the back, hit speedboost and dash in to deliver some AP and be back out very quickly. Or it can bowtank as needed and reverse really quick with speedboost out of danger. Or you can build it for secondaries and use it in operations. Plus MBRB on a BB is just filthy. Well said too. The french tech tree ships are not really comparable to the JB/Bourgogne since those have both MBRB and much better dispersion, only the speed is really the same.

Not completely true. Most enemy teams will suffer an acute case of "victory disease" when they have an overwhelming numbers advantage and rush in for kills to (sometimes) throw the game. Example: Once I even earned Solo Warrior by killing all 4 remaining ships rushing in to kill my DM. Thus having overaggressive bad players is often better than having passive bad players. And at least the games are over faster, so less time wasted. As for getting riled up, it not the problem. I'm almost not touching the game since this patch due to boredom. Too many 3000 IQ teams proceed to reverse to their own border, then cluster in one corner and wait for the reds to take all caps and overextend. Sometimes they win, other times, not. Boring. Yep, there are plenty of better games out there. And with a lot less bugs too.

One of the times the server crashed, I still got pink for "leaving the game" that was currently loading in. I imagine another 23 players got the same penalty, but no way to confirm it. Have you been playing Random battles lately and still ask that question?

Hard not to agree with the sentiment. Got quite a few High calibers and Dreadnaughts in Daring during latest Ranked, but that was a special case. Spotting damage is an obvious case. And Targets spotted (CV not elegible, because it would be dumb) Also Permaspotting targets if such can be measured by the game. Potential damage would need to be restricted to specific DDs, since Khaba and Kleber exists. Problem is it does not cater to the BorderBoys playstyle, so WG won't do it