Reflecting on year 4 of WoWS - What have you liked/disliked?

[Admiral_H_Nelson]

My own personal list goes a long way to explaining my increasing disenchantment with WoWS. However it is no more valid than yours of course - just personal opinion.
What have you liked/disliked?

 

Liked

• (0.7.9) British Destroyers
• (0.7.12) Snowflakes that gave steel
• (0.8.4) Soviet battleships

Disliked

• Relentless Grinding has now become the default Way of Life in WoWS.
• Increasing presence of loot crates.
• Proliferation of in-game currencies.
• The threat to introduce submarines to the main game.
• (0.7.10) Terror of the Deep operation (with *Cough* *Spit* submarines)
• (0.8.0) Reworked Carriers
• (0.8.0) 5 Operations removed from rotation
• (0.8.1 to present) Constant chopping of Carriers & AA mechanics as "live" server used as "test" server
• Premium ships.  Counting the 38 since last birthday and including the Thunderer and Ohio

- skewed to higher tiers ( 7 tier X, 6 tier IX, 12 tier VIII)

- imbalance by nation (9 x USA; 6 x IJN; 5 x UK;5x France; 4x USSR…only 2x Germany!)

 

"Marmite" items - they have their fans, but not my cup of tea.

• (0.7.9) Arms Race mod
• (0.7.10) Halloween
• (0.7.11) Twilight battle
• (0.7.11) Thunderstorm Front
• (0.8.2) Space Warships Intergalactic games
• (0.8.5) Rogue Wave Event
• (0.8.6) French Destroyers(From a guy who is generally a "Vive la France!" type, I have to say: "Me*de!" to the gameplay)
• (0.8.8) Research Bureau

[pzkpfwv1d]

The CV rework is the principal dislike and judging from the comments I would say that a lot of players really dislike this 

 

The other dislike is the Epicentre mode, and again I notice a lot of players dislike this as well

[22cm]

47 minutes ago, pzkpfwv1d said:

The CV rework is the principal dislike and judging from the comments I would say that a lot of players really dislike this

Yes, the CV rework, which is not even finished yet (!) was the worst thing. They should have done it in in Test Server, like they are doing it with the submarines now.

This CV rework failure, with the neverending fixes and balances, ruined the game for many players. This is something normal for a game in alfa or beta testing, not for a finished game here you expect players to pay for content.

Premium ships which were marketed as very strong AA platform when sold, became CV targets.

[Sir_Grzegorz]

44 minutes ago, pzkpfwv1d said:

a lot of players dislike this as well

That is biased observation. If I would ask you how many people is registered on forum and how many is complaining you would have no idea.

 

People like to moan much more than say what is good.

 

I will simplify my answer, I like the game. I have been in love, but that is gone. When I start to dislike it, well I have other games.

There is simply a chance that game is made for such bad players as me, thus it fits me.

[mtm78]

Dislikes:

 

-CV rework favoring battleship survival over gameplay in other classes

-CV rework failing to do anything about vision problems

-CV rework failing to do anything about skill gap between absolute horse poo and somewhat capable CV players, or do anything about the sudden Skill™ once get's when moving to a carrier from other classes. ( no sorry, the occasional bad player which stays bad even in a CV does not outweigh the number of CV's I see in game being used to pad people's peen. 

-CV rework failing to do more between interaction between player and enemy planes ( DFAA not influencing drop patterns is the worst thing that could have been done ).

-CV rework failing to limit CV influence on battle outcome because ( how predictable.. which is the worst part ) the damage shifted from battleships to anything on low hp, having lower averages means nothing if CV's are ultimate clean up tools. 

 

-Difference in meta between tiers 5-7 and 8-10 has increased over time, mostly because the content around the top tiers offers different gameplay options.

-Kremlin's long range dispersion.

-Enterprise

-SAP on ITA cruisers hurting lolibotes dis-proportionally ( *yes it's always DD's fault if you get shot by them  you should just ignore PTFO and run away if they are on enemy team right.. )

-Threatening to kill the game by shoehorning submarines into combined fleet operations

-Coming back on old promises.

-Giving us a Dutch ship, but again tarnishing it with the threat of seeing submarines act like they were part of fleet operations ( and could do 30kts submerged  ).

-Finally giving weebs access to Yuudachi so they could poi in game, but WG decided IJN DD's fired sea mines

 

edit: after this morning I figured I had to add some more dislikes:

-low WR players playing the same way constantly since they don't care about their WR since WG doesn't put any incentive up for not being crap at the game. 

-players with low WR in DD's without cammo's, ESPECIALLY IJN DD's without cammo. 

-low WR BB players sniping whole game from 20km

( see the commonality these people have? They all win less games. Maybe they should stop doing what they are doing..... and do something else ).

 

Likes

-I can always play something else if I feel like it. 

-Community is what keeps this game 'interesting'. 

-Sitting in port, looking at my ships and thinking about long lost patches where the grass was green and the girls were pretty. 

[BanzaiPiluso]

I agree with those lists. 

Does anybody sane in their minds actually cheer when they see the MM with CVs in it? Or is it only me swearing?

And now the threat of subs making it into randoms.

I love this game and I am not sure I can play anything else, but WG seems to be pushing for more and more and more forgetting what makes this game so appealing.

 

[Merlin851526]

1 minute ago, Winged_Cat_Dormant said:

I agree with those lists. 

Does anybody sane in their minds actually cheer when they see the MM with CVs in it? Or is it only me swearing?

And now the threat of subs making it into randoms.

I love this game and I am not sure I can play anything else, but WG seems to be pushing for more and more and more forgetting what makes this game so appealing.

 

Couldn't agree more.

[kfa]

12 minutes ago, Winged_Cat_Dormant said:

I agree with those lists. 

Does anybody sane in their minds actually cheer when they see the MM with CVs in it? Or is it only me swearing?

And now the threat of subs making it into randoms.

I love this game and I am not sure I can play anything else, but WG seems to be pushing for more and more and more forgetting what makes this game so appealing.

 

I like cv's, always has been. I play them from day1 RTS style and i only "swear" when i want a chill game in a DD and they crap my plans. Other than that i dont see the point being annoyed, they wont go away ever, i just adjust my playstyle and dont go soloyolo on the flank with my Yamato and then complain about CVs being OP... 

[mtm78]

1 minute ago, kfa said:

I like cv's, always has been. I play them from day1 RTS style and i only "swear" when i want a chill game in a DD and they crap my plans. Other than that i dont see the point being annoyed, they wont go away ever, i just adjust my playstyle and dont go soloyolo on the flank with my Yamato and then complain about CVs being OP... 

 

I never really played them, but I've always advocated they should be in the game. Just like now, I might not like how they are implemented but without CV's you can't have a WWII based fleet op arcade game. 

 

It just feels so frustrating going back through patch notes and being able to checkbox all changes favoring a certain class more as others, and then realizing that the constant whine from the players in that class had lead to this.... which WG tried to make out like a 'total rework' but is nothing more as a buff to battleship survivability at the expense of the other classes. 

[BanzaiPiluso]

8 minutes ago, kfa said:

I like cv's, always has been. I play them from day1 RTS style and i only "swear" when i want a chill game in a DD and they crap my plans. Other than that i dont see the point being annoyed, they wont go away ever, i just adjust my playstyle and dont go soloyolo on the flank with my Yamato and then complain about CVs being OP... 

I adapt my game as well, but I am not happy about it, because it gets too different. Is not clever anymore, is annoying.

[kfa]

9 minutes ago, mtm78 said:

 

I never really played them, but I've always advocated they should be in the game. Just like now, I might not like how they are implemented but without CV's you can't have a WWII based fleet op arcade game. 

 

It just feels so frustrating going back through patch notes and being able to checkbox all changes favoring a certain class more as others, and then realizing that the constant whine from the players in that class had lead to this.... which WG tried to make out like a 'total rework' but is nothing more as a buff to battleship survivability at the expense of the other classes. 

Yeah no matter how we twist it, this game is about battleships and their escorting fleet. 

[LemonadeWarriorITA]

Dislike

• WarGaming lowering the skill floor in general with mechanics as: adding aiming reticle to the minimap, BB AP on DDs, flooding damage nerf, etcetera.
• WarGaming lowering the skill floor in general with ships as the: Smolensk, Benham, Russian BB line, carriers, etcetera.

Like

• New lines

[GarrusBrutus]

What I dislike is wargamings inability to attract new players to the game without boosting them into the hightiers immediately and without properly educating them about the basic game mechanics and strategies. 

 

Yes, I know it's an arcade game but the steady influx of more and more 35-41% wr players is detrimental to the quality of the game. It drives the longtime players away because they can compare the quality of the matches of today with those of a few years back. 

 

It is also the main issue that made me uninstall the game. As a veteran and unicum player there is no challenge left. 95% of the opponents I face tend to be beginners and/or low skilled players. Having a good game is no longer a satisfaction.

 

"but ranked and clanbattles? There you will find players of your own skill lever right?" yeah, but after 13 seasons of ranked and 5 seasons of clanbattles that also becomes repetitive. Playing against the same clans in clanbattles and playing with atrocious and selfish players in ranked really sucks the life out of me. 

 

In my opinion the game is on a slippery slope downwards. We will get more and more content to grind and to pay for but the overall quality of the game will only get worse. That is unless you love 6 minute roflstomps that is..... But it's not my cup of tea. 

[Episparh]

The experience WG gave me since 3rd birthday plus the recent submarine announcement was actually what killed my interest in the game. 

 

I am actually considering not playing 0.8.8 with all the free stuff thrown with it. The chances are 50/50.

[Kenjiro_]

I dislike the fact that grinding tech tree ships is almost obsolete now since there is an influx of premium ships on every tier and they are flat superior to silver ships.. 

 

I also dislike that I was around during every bad update/event while being away during the few good updates 😔

[Srle_Vigilante]

the fact that every ship right now is either sub 4sec reload or 457mm. 

[DragonstrikerOrigin]

Likes:

- British Destroyer's

- Attempt to change the play style of CV (what i believe is a good thing)

- Snowflake event

- Halloween Operation

- Many different looking Ports that look nice.

- French Destroyer's

- USSR BB's (but only to a slight part)

- Finally a proper working MM

 

Dislikes:

- To many stupid events going on with no rewards or to important rewards that you need to pay for it (best example is the french token event for the captain)

- To much is going on in regards of CB, Ranked, Events, Collectibles etc... It's just slowly to much and people tend to burnout

- Kick starting in higher tiers with a new line is to be honest totally not necessary. The should kick start at the lower Tier's like T 2 -4. Then no one can say people are not playing lower tier.

- Removal of national Flavor captains to a stupid currency in the arsenal instead of how yamamoto or willy was handeld with a campaign.

- No new operations and no hard mode for them even tough the promised that us like 2 years ago.

- Battle Royal (i will not say much more then that)

 

That's it for the moment from my side.

[Allied_Winter]

3 minutes ago, DragonstrikerOrigin said:

Removal of national Flavor captains to a stupid currency in the arsenal instead of how yamamoto or willy was handeld with a campaign.

As an explanation: According to Sub_Oct campaigns weren't well recieved nor widely played yet required a high investment with regards to development cost/time on WG's side.

 

I simply assume the average player never/rarley checked the "Campaign's" tab and thus didn't participate.

[SlightlyOff]

Everything pales in comparison to the abysmal carrier rework because the class is funamentally incompatible with the core idea of the game.

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/WorldOfWarships/comments/bdufg4/flamu_explains_why_cv_is_broken_in_less_than_a/

[thiextar]

cv rework and event design were probably my biggest dislikes.

 

arms race was probably my biggest like, one of the few special modes that i enjoyed enough to pretty much exclusively play when it was running. After that i like the extra hope in the community that ntc gave me, was beautiful seeing the whole playerbase stomp its foot down and say no.

 

everything else was either meh or bad id say, i liked playing the russian bbs, but they are bad for the game balance, so cant really include that as a highlight can i.

 

 

[thiextar]

4 minutes ago, Allied_Winter said:

As an explanation: According to Sub_Oct campaigns weren't well recieved nor widely played yet required a high investment with regards to development cost/time on WG's side.

 

I simply assume the average player never/rarley checked the "Campaign's" tab and thus didn't participate.

Problem with that is that they spent a lot of time with historical research and tons of such stuff on the campaigns, which dont get me wrong is nice, it shows quality. But, if i got to choose between a hastily built campaign or none at all, i would pick the hastily built one.

 

I mean how hard can it be to just copy paste an old campaign, change the description, and make the missions a lot harder with a good reward at the end? I like having something to work towards while playing my ships. The historical tidbits and extra effort surrounding the campaigns are nice and all, but if its too expensive, its not needed.

[BanzaiPiluso]

Besides the negatives, the graphical design, the historical research, the fact that the game exists even with its flaws, the chance to play a team based real time shooter with a lot of strategy and cunning against real life opponents is always the best part of the game.

Still that is > than the negatives.

 

[Gvozdika]

Without repeating what is above.

 

I like the visuals of the game. The art department, the 3d modellers, the researchers behind the scenes sourcing the material for them - all first rate. HMS Hood looks like HMS Hood, down to the smallest quirky detail. The Yamato model is fantastic. There aren't many models that let the side down. That was THE thing that sucked me into the game, its probably the thing that keeps me around DESPITE WGs design decisions.

 

I also like the broad selection of ships. With a few notable exceptions (cough - RN Battlecruisers) you can pick surface combatants from most nations from most years in the games timeframe. Dreadnoughts through to Fast Battleships. Early Torpedo Boat Destroyers to the full-sized Fleet DDs. There is something for everyone.

 

Against -  mention has to go to the rework that shall not be named.

 

Also against, the pure-data-driven approach of the devs that often leads to them doing some really stupid things. The 'spreadsheet says you are having fun' meme is trotted out for a reason - largely because its true. You don't play games because statistics tell you to, you play them to have fun. The rework probably looked great on paper - but in practice? It sucked the fun out of the game for many players and the whole debacle is still rolling along 8 months later. WG need to get their heads out of their spreadsheet once in a while - use some common sense.

 

Also-also against. RU BBs. Smolensk. Stalingrad. Can we have less 'balans' of this nature please.... 

 

Also-also-also against. Subs. Nothing I've seen so far fills me with optimism. WG haven't even got a handle on balance ABOVE the water, much less adding a third dimension to the equation....

 

[Shaka_D]

Agree with the OP. Whereas many in the gaming industry are starting to look at loot boxes in a new light with a view to restricting them, it seems WG have turned up the  production of them to try exploit their use as much as possible through the loopholes and gaps in legislation. WG do seem to me to have become more greedy over the last year or so.

 

Further to this, despite their upgrading of certain visual elements in the game their engine is starting to look really dated now, with effects and the like looking old compared to many 'other' games out there. Unless they pull out all the stops I think my own interest in the game won't last very long and I have seen this already with a few pals I constantly chat to.

 

It might be that the only thing WG excel at at the moment in terms of creativity is new ways to make themselves more money, but not much else in terms of gameplay and longevity. It's the same ol grind over and over with WG placing far too much value of silly little consumable items. If I looked at our relationship with the developers in terms of a business deal, I'd say we've not yet reached Pareto optimality, and at present it's WG benefitting more from our player / developer arrangement. The talk of free stuff from them is not free, it never is, and justify it whichever way we like its always the fact that remains that time IS money, time is not free, rewards are not free, so there is no point in treating them as generous benefactors as so many here do.

 

 

[Fat_Maniac]

Likes...

 

The models

The friends I have made playing this game

The amount of stuff WG actually give away for free

 

 

Dislikes...

 

The shambolic CV / AA rework and the way the live environment has been used to test them

The relentless trend of loot boxes and heavy grinds.

The very real and confirmed, by Sub_Oct himself in his last reddit Q&A, Russian Bias.

The shitstorm that surrounded the NTC and the way in which senior WG staff from the dev studio on the official live stream showed nothing short of contempt and disdain for us their paying customers and the concerns we had over the idea