The Grass is Always Greener (Online Store)

[LittleWhiteMouse]

One of the more common threads on the North American server (where I play) are complaints about the availability of premium ships and deals.  I don't think a month goes by without another handful of people lamenting on what's available on the RU, EU or ASIA shops and how North America is clearly the red-headed step child of the Wargaming family.  I think the EU and ASIA servers could teach NA a thing or two about feeling left out of deals or suffering bundles.  People are quick to forget when North America does get ships either first or early (Saipan, Fujin), especially when there's a deficit of highly sought after vessels appearing for sale on other servers.  They're also quick to forget that one of our Community Managers is doing everything they can to give non-bundled options.

 

When I started reviewing premium ships, I didn't think I would eventually be checking the NA online store every morning and combing my sources to try and find what's available  I try and keep an up-to-date page on the NA Newcomer's forums with a list of what premium ships are available, through which sources (online store, giveaways, contests, promotional codes through 3rd party sites, etc).  This started simply as a quick summary of ships as an alternative to the 1500 to 2500 word reviews I normally churn out.  This became a catalyst for keeping records of what was sold when and often for how much.

 

So for those that are curious about if the EU Server gets it worse than elsewhere, here's as complete of a record as I can make of the availability of the limited release premium vessels on the NA server, going back to the beginning of Open Beta back in early July of 2015 after the account reset.  This does not include the standard available ships on our server (Atago, Atlanta, Aurora, Murmansk, Ishizuchi) which have been permanent features since September 2015.  This also does not include the three pre-order ships (Gremyashchy, Sims & Yubari) which were only sold through the Closed Beta period.  If the ship could not be bought or acquired directly from Wargaming, I am not listing it here.

 

•  Warspite - July 2015
  First sold for 48 hours when Open Beta launched through the in game tech tree for 6500 doubloons.  No announcement made.  Players that did not log in immediately and check the tech tree missed out, making her quite a rare ship for a long time.
   
•  Tirpitz - September 2015
  Sold in the online store through bundles that began around $70 USD.  Enormously popular on the NA server (and I suspect elsewhere).  The high cost put a lot of players off and many lamented not being able to afford her, especially players from other countries playing on the NA server (such as those from Brazil).  This prompted a rather heartwarming surge of gifting from various forum members to others who weren't in a position to pick them up.  Pretty cool overall.
   
•  Fujin - October 20th to November 1st.
  Sold infamously for $32 USD bundles through the online store through mid October to just after Hallowe'en.
   
•  Imperator NIkolai I - November 28th weekend.
  Part of two Black Friday deals on the NA server.  This ship was a steal at a mere $20 USD.  We haven't seen her since and many people lament missing out on grabbing her, doubting we will ever see her return.  Largely seen on the NA server as being gratuitously overpowered, with some players honestly believing she can take our a Fuso single handed.  Me?  I chuckle a little at this but admit she's overperforming
   
•  Warspite - November 28th weekend.
  The HMS Warspite returned for realsies on Black Friday.  This was the only opportunity for most to buy her and she was gone almost as quickly as she had appeared.  Still, many players missed the chance to get her despite all of the hinting and warnings that there would be some limited release ships on the Black Friday weekend.
   
•  Tirpitz - December 11th to 13th.
  The second pass of the Tirpitz, again sold in $70 USD bundles. There was no real warning about this sale -- it just sort of happened all of the sudden.  I was told it did not sell well.
   
•  Blyskawica - December 25th to January 4th.
  This Polish destroyer was a long point of contention for many NA players who saw the early Supertest stats as early as September of 2015.  That we kept having to wait and wait and wait to finally get this destroyer set many people off. 
   
•  Emden - December 25th to January 4th.
  Though this ship was available through completion of an in-game mission sequence, it could also be bought for 1500 doubloons for a brief period through the in game tech tree.
   
•  Mikhail Kutuzov - Mid January until January 25th 2016
  We've seen this ship a lot on the NA server.  I'm not sure how well she's selling.  It has almost as many games played on the NA server as the Admiral Hipper, so I guess that says something?  Sold in two different bundles, one filled with more goodies than the other for roughly $50 USD.
   
•  Anshan - Early to Mid February 2016.
  Part of what ended up being a Destroyer-themed February. Sold in (small) bundles on the online store starting at $20 USD. 
   
•  Kamikaze R - February 12th to 26th.
  Project R ran from early January until mid-February, ending early.  Though the Community Managers did everything possible to facilitate extending the event for the NA server (including adding a new end-goal for the campaign), not everyone could collect the 260 Pearls to earn this ship on time.  Many players deliberately stopped playing after collecting their 260 Pearls to try and draw out the deadline to allow others to sneak through.  Pretty classy.  As promised, once the event ended, the Kamikaze R appeared on the online store for approximately $25 USD.  This didn't sit well with many people that had paid almost $10 more for the Fujin (also a Kamikaze-class) back in October.
   
•  Lo Yang - February 22nd to first week of March.
  More February-destroyer goodness.  Sold in bundles on the online store starting at $50 USD.
   
•  Marblehead - March 18th to 21st
  The PAX-East promotional ship was quite commonplace on the NA servers thanks to an in game spelling competition hosted by the Community Managers in August of 2015.  If you couldn't attend PAX East or score one of these ships through a promotional code that streamers and Youtubers were giving away, all you had to do was spell "PAX MARBLEHEAD" with the first letter of the names of enemy ships you killed and host the proof up on the appropriate forum thread.  This ship first went on sale in March of 2016 for $20 USD.
   
•  Mikhail Kutuzov - March 25th to 28th
  Like the Tirpitz back in December, the Mikhail Kutuzov makes a ninja appearance without warning on the online store.  This wasn't too surprising, given the release of the Soviet Cruiser tech tree, but it did blind side a few players that were disappointed they didn't have time to put some money aside for her. 
   
•  Mikhail Kutuzov - April 6th to April 16th
  ... and she's back?  There was more than a few cantankerous comments about the poor showing with the April online store.  The "promotion" that was advertised was a sale on the Aurora while on other servers we were seeing the Warspite make a reappearance.  Many were the rustled Jimmies.  And suddenly the Kutuzov reappears.  This was only available in a larger bundle for $55 (which rustled more jimmies).  Also, people complained "Why the Kutuzov!?" as it had just been on sale.  So many rustled jimmies.  At least those that missed out on the end-of-March sale got another chance to grab her.
   
•  Blyskawica - April 8th to April 10th
  This was a welcome sight, but again it blindsided us with no advance warning.  Maybe we should have predicted it what with the WoT finals in Warsaw.  Shame on us.  With the Saipan promised on the 11th and the Mikhail Kutuzov jumping up and down and begging for our wallets too, a few players felt a little overstretched.  Sold in a small bundle for $33 USD to start with a larger bundle option too.
   
•  Saipan - April 12th to April 25th
  The Saipan has been delayed and delayed and delayed.  It was first promised sometime in March, but that got pushed back.  The next firm date was set as April 11th, but with 0.5.4.2 dropping on that date (and bringing more changes to the Saipan to boot), the release was pushed back for 24H.  She's finally available with a price of roughly $43 USD to start WITHOUT a bundle (shock!  gasp!).  A bundle option for $10 more is available too.

 

You'll notice some missing ships.  The Iwaki Alpha and Arkansas Beta were gifted to Alpha and Closed Beta testers respectively if they met the required participation benchmarks.  The Albany was given away by WG on their anniversary.  The Diana has never been sold and remains a bit of a unicorn on the NA Server.  They have only been issued as promotional codes or contest prizes.  In addition, the Mikasa has never been available on the North American server for money.  The only chance to get her was through a Christmas Tree ornament contest which involved making an Xmas ornament and mailing it off to WGNA.  The Tachibana was awarded through the Kaiju Hunter in game missions.  Out of the Apreggio of Blue Steel ships, we've only seen the Arp Kongo and Arp Myoko from the January to March missions.  There hasn't been anything since.

 

Where NA does excel is the number of prizes awarded through contests our Community Manager, NikoPower runs through our Forums.  There has been at least five separate contests to win the Saipan in the weeks leading up to her final release.  Usually when a ship goes on sale, Niko will run a concurring highest-damage-per-game contest to win the same ship over a weekend in a specific class & tier.  In addition, he will occasionally give out prizes to third-party contests, such as the top NA Ranked Battle performers.  This has made harder-to-acquire ships like the Tirpitz, Warspite, Imperator NIkolai I available.  Overall, I have to applaud how extensive his collection of contests are and they've proven to be quite popular.  In addition, Niko has really gone out of his way to ensure that events like Project R were as inclusive as possible, even bending the rules to make sure that goals were achievable. 

 

So is the grass greener on the NA server?  I'll let you decide.  This is as comprehensive a list of premium ships we've had. 

[Xerkics]

I think the best thing RU gets that we dont have is the 100% extra xp ship camo they sell.

[Mister_Greek]

Its funny how people on different servers whine about the Deals and Premium shop of other regions....

 

NA guys cry how EU shop is better, RU guys cry how EU and NA get everything, EU cries how NA gets everything....

 

Its really bizzare how human nature is so greedy,wanting everything for themselves while acting like little children...

 

It is also bizzare that some people wonder why WG ignores most of the "Premium Shop" whine...

 

When people grow up and realise that the servers have different handlers with DIFFERENT deals, they may "get in the shoes" of the other and stop crying like babies.....

 

Meanwhile,i am here almost broke with capital controls installed for almost a year 

 

GG WP

[Spellfire40]

Tachibana was buyable using Google Play to buy a digital copy of a british Magazin. It was also in an an german gaming Magazin special. We dont have Saipan even in sight yet but complaining before anything is set into Stone is easyer too.

[Mister_Greek]

Humanity is excellent in whining.

 

Even if we had 1 billion Euro/ Dollars each, people will still whine cause they want more...

 

Meanwhile,i prepare myself for the USS Saipan spam....

 

 

[Vanhal]

I have only one thing to say here:

 

Mikasa won't be forgotten. Ever.

[robihr]

well whine would stop if they made same deals and same missions with same rewards for all servers. this way everyone will feel like someone other got better deal than them (well they usually do->remember the kamikaze mission, if not for the whine on the forum there wouldnt be so much kamikazes now)

[HMS_Worcester]

I have only one thing to say here:

 

Mikasa won't be forgotten. Ever.

 

One of these days I intend to form the "Mikasa appreciation society".....i might end up being the only member, but so be it!

[Aotearas]

Humanity is excellent in whining.

 

Even if we had 1 billion Euro/ Dollars each, people will still whine cause they want more...

 

Pretty sure they'd whine about inflation first.

 

Point is people are unhappy for a reason. Whether that reason is percieved inequality, a sense of entitlement or genuine criticism of a release and pricing philosophy is for everyone her/-himself to decide.

[anonym_gCiyicUsNYGl]

as someone with t10 ships on both servers, i can definitely tell you and everyone else that NA is the superior server.

MrFingersEU made a very good post regarding which server gets the best events etc and it turns out EU pale in comparison with NA.

 

why did you mention Arpeggio events? it's not a valid reason to go for when comparing each region. NA will eventually get it and it was only delayed because they got some exclusive basketball event which split the client temporarily. personally, i felt the basketball event was so much better than reskinned Myokos and Kongos because it made grinding IJN ships so much easier and i'm fairly confident that Arpeggio ships will disappear in the summer when the license expires.

 

nobody really cares about low tier premium ships, i always sell mine when i get them but you did mention something interesting... when was the last time EU got an exclusive event that gave away Tachibana + a captain with 6 points?

don't forget the project R treasure chests on NA.. they gave away lots of good stuff every day while EU got 50k-200k credits every week.

 

and how could i forget, the superbowl event on NA which gave away 3x bonus for EACH WIN during a whole day.  you will never see something like this on EU rofl

 

edit:  i support server roaming so Europeans and Americans can transfer their account once a year. locking people to a server is wrong and inhumane and it's 2016,

the technology is there and WG already implemented it in 2014 (google world of tanks 2014 server roaming) so why are they continuing to lie about it!?

[HMS_Worcester]

Edit: Forgot it is a bad idea to try sarcasm with trolls, whoops.

 

[anonym_gCiyicUsNYGl]

should i hit my head on a wall to lower my IQ down to your level so i can understand why you quoted and wrote that rubbish?

[HMS_Worcester]

should i hit my head on a wall to lower my IQ down to your level so i can understand why you quoted and wrote that rubbish?

 

Awww, keep trying.....you might master trolling one day.

[anonym_gCiyicUsNYGl]

 

Awww, keep trying.....you might master trolling one day.

 

you've played 53 battles so far and you feel that EU doesn't need events, are you sure you should be calling anyone a troll here you cretin?

[Seaman_Staines1]

 

One of these days I intend to form the "Mikasa appreciation society".....i might end up being the only member, but so be it!

 

Can I be a member.......

I love my little Mikasa, I love her so much she never go's out of port. All the ugly ships hurling big lumps of metal at her no no...............

[HMS_Worcester]

 

you've played 53 battles so far and you feel that EU doesn't need events, are you sure you should be calling anyone a troll here you cretin?

Yes, I've only played 53 battles since OBT started, because I simply don't have the time to play as much anymore. I played vastly more during CBT. Not that any of that is really your business.

 

Edit: Also, where exactly did I say I think EU should not have events? Think you might be reading a different post.

[LittleWhiteMouse]

 

why did you mention Arpeggio events?

 

I mentioned the Arpeggio ships not the events.  This is only meant to be a list of the available ships of the North America region.  I do not have an accurate record of the events that have been hosted on the North American server and digging them up would take time independent of recording which premium vessels have come on sale at which time.  For example, the Tirpitz has been awarded at least three separate occasions that I can recall, but for the life of me I could not tell you any (never mind all) of the event details.

 

My hands are already full keeping track of when premium ship are available and keeping their reviews semi up-to-date.

[HMS_Worcester]

My hands are already full keeping track of when premium ship are available and keeping their reviews semi up-to-date.

I imagine that would keep you busy, I don't think I would have the patience

[StringWitch]

I only heard Mikasa was made available from a mission, not a contest. That's some limited distribution. Kinda glad EU was greedy enough to sell her.

 

I have only one thing to say here:

 

Mikasa won't be forgotten. Ever.

 

You've said this before. What do you even mean?

[Shaka_D]

What is this, a Pro-WG thread? Obsequiesm much? Trying to talk sense into us is a no go, I have nothing to gain from being a soft-touch with WG, maybe you do OP, and maybe so do some of the 'others', who knows, but I have a right to gripe and quite honestly so do other folk. If WG do as they said they would at one stage and maintain fairness and equality across the server groups then maybe some of us wouldn't complain, but for some really really odd reason they want the inequality, they insist of there being different offers at different times and henceforth they are the masters of their own negative criticism in this regard.

 

Don't look at us as ingrates and hard to please, look at your own masters and ask them why they see the need to do it. It's not like we can roam servers and all.

 

There is absolutely NO reason they cannot maintain consistency across the server groups, no reason at all. They promote the bigotry and bitter feelings, and they create the 'us' versus 'them' atmosphere, not us. We only react to their poor methodology, and rightly so. Are we not all one big happy family? Why do it in the first place unless they want us to feel segregated?

[anonym_gCiyicUsNYGl]

 

why did you mention Arpeggio events?

 

I mentioned the Arpeggio ships not the events.  This is only meant to be a list of the available ships of the North America region.  I do not have an accurate record of the events that have been hosted on the North American server and digging them up would take time independent of recording which premium vessels have come on sale at which time.  For example, the Tirpitz has been awarded at least three separate occasions that I can recall, but for the life of me I could not tell you any (never mind all) of the event details.

 

My hands are already full keeping track of when premium ship are available and keeping their reviews semi up-to-date.

 

but who really cares about reskinned Myokos and Kongos with a brand new captain? don't forget, EU is a cash cow for WG so they'll continue selling tirpitz here on different occasions although they've said "nobody is buying tirpitz since we first sold it"

[BiL]

Suddenly the following crossed my mind ...

 

 

The circle of 99

Once upon a time it was a king, he was rich, powerful, had a lovely palace, delicious food every day, beautiful wives and he could have whatever he wanted. Despite these, he was unhappy.

This sad king had a very happy servant. The servant was bubbly, smiley and he was always singing happily. The king became inpatient with his happiness and asked the servant to tell him his secret. The servant replied that he didn’t have any secrets. This was just how he felt. Of course the king didn’t believe him and asked his wise consultant to help him solve the mystery of the happy servant.

When the king had explained the story to the wise old man, the old man smiled and replied “It’s very simple my lord, he is happy because he’s outside of the circle of 99”. The king was really puzzled and the wise man suggested to bring the servant in the circle of 99 and see what will happen. The king was very satisfied with this idea.

It was simple. All the king had to do was to leave on the table of the servant’s house a sac with 99 golden coins with a note on top saying “This money is yours. It’s your prize for being such a good man. Enjoy!” When the servant found the sac couldn’t believe in his eyes. He was over the moon. He was hugging and kissing the sac and laughing and singing and thanking the God for his good fortune. Then he started counting the money. There were 99 golden coins. “There is one missing”, he thought. He searched all around the house for hours, he couldn’t find anything. He was sure then that someone took his one coin and he started swearing and cursing. Then he started thinking how he can gain this golden coin. He thought that after having this last coin he would be really happy and he could enjoy his life ever after. He did some calculations and decided that he needed 13 years in order to make one golden coin. “13 years” he though “is not too much, after that he can be happy for ever!” He sold all his furniture and his clothes and his wife’s clothes. He got a second job, he asked his wife to get a job, he was eating only a piece of bread everyday and he stopped burning wood to keep warm so he was sleeping in a cold room every night with hardly anything to wear and starving. And this is how he entered the circle of 99. He stopped being happy and stopped singing.

Moral 99 coins are the 100% of our treasure. Nothing is missing, no one stole anything, 100 is not as round as 99 is. It’s just a trap, a carrot they swing in front of us, to make us stupid enough to keep moving tired, unhappy and compromised. A trap so that we never stop to push so that everything remains the same. Things can change only if we become able to enjoy our treasures as they are.

It was not long before the servant was dismissed. It is not at all pleasant to have a servant about the place who is always in a bad mood

from Jorge Bucay’s book  “Dejame Que Te Cuente””Let me tell you a story”

[Xerkics]

Also quite simply like how Ectar ( i think ) told us on WoT forums and this is not an exact quote :"the offers were different on NA server and events were better because wot is a business and they didnt HAVE to make offers better here on EU".

 IF you want to play on a server where the devs give back to the community play on RU , where the devs read the forums and reward feedback and interesting ideas and caught bugs with bonus codes for anything up to tier 8 premiums etc. The offers and events are not designed to make you happy or enjoy the game more they are designed to retain and increase the playerbase and to make WG money. They are not your friends they are are a business first and foremost. The only reason why offers or events are better is because their business model and statistic demands it. There are worse companies like EA who will want your very last penny there are better companies who believe that happy customer is a loyal customer but we have we have .

[Mister_Greek]

@BiL

 

Too bad i dont have any upvotes left man, excellent example of human nature...

[von_Boeg]

This EU vs NA server war is nonsense, and we should stop it at once. Sure EU might get a sweeter deal in one instance, and NA in another, but things are quite equal in reality. Besides, it is not the shops that is the most defining factor, but the information that is posted to the players on each server.

 

The big difference is between the RU forums and the other forums. One could assume that WG wanted their information posted in the same way on every forum they run, but still we have to translate info from the RU forums by hand here. No one is answeing questions, nobody is interested in our opinions and tries to talk to us about the issues we have. Yes, it is a Russian developer and most of the developers maybe do not speak English (?, not trying to offend anyone), but WG is a multinational company and needs to adopt.

 

How many cars would BMW sell if they only gave out information in German, how many would shop in IKEA if all information was in Swedish? Not many, so why should we just accept the current state of affairs?