World of Warships Vol. 2

[[VR] optimal_909]

I've seen there was already a thread about this, but it got locked.

Long story short, I had to mothball my rig this Summer for almost 2 months, and in-lieu-of it I downloaded WoWs Blitz on the phone to have my gaming fix. I didn't expected much given the free to play nature, but got positively surprised by the decent gameplay with tense moments.

Then as I finally was able to get back, I thought I give it a try on PC.

I read previous criticisms about the 'shallow' PVP nature of it and the repetitive maps, but I found it a very-very good game.

To begin with, all the videos and the detailed modeling shows that it was created with passion - and I indeed developed an interest towards these magnificent ships and their usually tragic stories. What a shame I wasn't that interested when I visited the U.S.S. Missouri!

Then, the quick(ish) gameplay perfectly fits those times when I am either too tired or simply don't have time to dive into VR and Elite. Unlike FPS games, you don't have to have the reflexes of a mongoose to survive, tactics and careful aiming are the key. Different ship classes offer very different gameplay styles.
The graphics, sounds and music absolutely nail it. The ambiance is great, the only missing bit is the crew on the ships. Artworks are equally nice.

Progress is slow, but I don't have anything against that (rather the opposite), battles are entertaining at lower tiers, though at the bottom loads of bots are needed to fill a session. In any case, matchmaking is quick and it is easy to progress through Tier 3, which already offers full rooms and decent opponents.
The P2W element is there at exorbitant prices, but there are no 'faster bullets' and the offers aren't intrusive/predatory - i.e. the experience is absolutely fine as is, I'm considering to buy something just because I feel the devs deserve it. Yes, there are lootboxes, and countless stat boosters, but nothing deal breaker.

The fun angle of all this: also recently I bought AC: Black Flag (which BTW failed to engage me), and many/most Steam reviews highlight ship battles as the best part of the game. Yet here is this F2P game with 1000 times more satisfying ship battle gameplay.

The bottom line is: the nature of this game is certainly not for everyone, but in case you (might) enjoy the sight of a heavily leaning-while-turning battleship while it fires all its batteries with huge smoke, flames and drama, it is certainly worth to give it a chance.

Note: I created an ED related player group (there was none!) in the mobile version of the game.

 

[Goose4291]

I've seen there was already a thread about this, but it got locked.

Long story short, I had to mothball my rig this Summer for almost 2 months, and in-lieu-of it I downloaded WoWs Blitz on the phone to have my gaming fix. I didn't expected much given the free to play nature, but got positively surprised by the decent gameplay with tense moments.

Then as I finally was able to get back, I thought I give it a try on PC.

I read previous criticisms about the 'shallow' PVP nature of it and the repetitive maps, but I found it a very-very good game.

To begin with, all the videos and the detailed modeling shows that it was created with passion - and I indeed developed an interest towards these magnificent ships and their usually tragic stories. What a shame I wasn't that interested when I visited the U.S.S. Missouri!

Then, the quick(ish) gameplay perfectly fits those times when I am either too tired or simply don't have time to dive into VR and Elite. Unlike FPS games, you don't have to have the reflexes of a mongoose to survive, tactics and careful aiming are the key. Different ship classes offer very different gameplay styles.
The graphics, sounds and music absolutely nail it. The ambiance is great, the only missing bit is the crew on the ships. Artworks are equally nice.

Progress is slow, but I don't have anything against that (rather the opposite), battles are entertaining at lower tiers, though at the bottom loads of bots are needed to fill a session. In any case, matchmaking is quick and it is easy to progress through Tier 3, which already offers full rooms and decent opponents.
The P2W element is there at exorbitant prices, but there are no 'faster bullets' and the offers aren't intrusive/predatory - i.e. the experience is absolutely fine as is, I'm considering to buy something just because I feel the devs deserve it. Yes, there are lootboxes, and countless stat boosters, but nothing deal breaker.

The fun angle of all this: also recently I bought AC: Black Flag (which BTW failed to engage me), and many/most Steam reviews highlight ship battles as the best part of the game. Yet here is this F2P game with 1000 times more satisfying ship battle gameplay.

The bottom line is: the nature of this game is certainly not for everyone, but in case you (might) enjoy the sight of a heavily leaning-while-turning battleship while it fires all its batteries with huge smoke, flames and drama, it is certainly worth to give it a chance.

Note: I created an ED related player group (there was none!) in the mobile version of the game.

Two very different types of game though, tbh...

That said, if you're wanting the World of Warships combat experience, but with proper ships of the line, I'd suggest Naval Action, which is getting a WoWS type 'subgame' bolted onto it in due course.

As to the matter at hand. Love World of Warships, have most of the British tree in my possession, and looking forward to the new British Destroyers, which if the Gallant and Campbletown are anything to go by, should be quite good fun. However, the new carrier gameplay that's coming soon might not be all that good IMO.

 

[[VR] optimal_909]

Sure, two very different games, just a fun fact that the ship battle minigame prominent feature of Black Flag, yet it is incompaable to a F2P game.

Both on mobile and on PC I started unlocking the Japanese ships with the ultimate prize of Yamato. Destroyers are very good, so are most battleships, but the cruisers are a bit weak (on mobile the Aoba is a struggle, I only have Tenryu on PC, which is actually a decent ship).
I tried the carriers on mobile and it was not my cup of tea, so far I have avoided them on PC.

Edit: on the sidenote of cruisers, got the Kuma - in two out of two battles I've got a hit into the magazine, blowing me up instantly - with a magazin mod 1 upgrade! I guess a Juliet Charlie flag is mandatory on this ship.

 

[Hank]

I've been a casual WoWs players for a couple of years. Its a tough grind if you can't play a lot of hours/day. But, I enjoy the gameplay so much I can't quit and most ppl who play are not too toxic either (in my experience so far).

I need to look into Naval Action. There's not many choices for surface contact naval sim/arcade type games; in any era. I would like to see a WWI naval game too. (thinking Jutland and Dogger Bank) If anybody knows of other games like WoWs, please let us know.

Edit: I forgot to mention I have not gone far in the tech tree, I'm only up to the cruiser Mogami, the BBs Nagato and NM. My other lines are dragging around tier 4 and 5 and will probably stay there for a while. Edit 2: I put WV when I meant New Mexico.

 

[Chris Simon]

I've been a casual WoWs players for a couple of years. Its a tough grind if you can't play a lot of hours/day. But, I enjoy the gameplay so much I can't quit and most ppl who play are not too toxic either (in my experience so far).

I need to look into Naval Action. There's not many choices for surface contact naval sim/arcade type games; in any era. I would like to see a WWI naval game too. (thinking Jutland and Dogger Bank) If anybody knows of other games like WoWs, please let us know.

Edit: I forgot to mention I have not gone far in the tech tree, I'm only up to the cruiser Mogami, the BBs Nagato and WV. My other lines are dragging around tier 4 and 5 and will probably stay there for a while.

Same here. I play WoWs on and off for years, but I only have a couple of tier VII ships, but mostly I'm still in fives.
But it's fun. Great game when you have an half an hour you don't know what to do with.

 

[Goose4291]

Well 0.7.9 Drops on the 20th, so get ready for some... White Ensign love.

[video=youtube;T4CgTRgvnRM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4CgTRgvnRM[/video]

Hopefully we'll get some RN CV's next.

 

[Goose4291]

Also: Submarines for the Halloween event

 

[Chris Simon]

The CV rework looks interesting. Though I doubt it will make me actually try CVs. More likely it will just alienate the current CV players...

I'll stick with my USN cruisers.

Though I am tempted by the Vanguard. I am kind of cross with the RN battleship line. Half of them are for trolling other players and the other half trolls you...

 

[Goose4291]

Though I am tempted by the Vanguard. I am kind of cross with the RN battleship line. Half of them are for trolling other players and the other half trolls you...

It's just a different type of gameplay. The point is to have one of your mates constantly pounding them with HE to damage weapons and cause fires, while the other two guys in your division chip away with the AP.

 

[Chris Simon]

It's just a different type of gameplay. The point is to have one of your mates constantly pounding them with HE to damage weapons and cause fires, while the other two guys in your division chip away with the AP.

I play alone. I don't have friends. So I have to play in something that is self-sufficient and not dependent on someone willing to cooperate…

*sad eyes*

 

[Surefoot]

I have to play in something that is self-sufficient and not dependent on someone willing to cooperate…

While i also love this game graphics and the very tactical nature of this game, this is what made me quit. Cooperation in open games is non-existent, in a game where team play is the key to victory. Players will camp in one corner of the map, trying to avoid the fight entirely until the end, and will vocally insult players who try and tell them to join the action so they can put some armor on the front line.. I've seen that behaviour in many online games (like MWO) but there it's so prevalent, that some people even think it's a valid tactics (it's not, this is a positioning game, not a camper game..). For zeus sake, some of them go *backwards* when the game start.. I did join a group but the small amount of enjoyable group play we could do did not balance out the horrible open play experience.
I even tried CV's and saw the torrent of hate you receive (even from your own team !) when you have that role, especially when your team is utter crap, like some times when i had to go to front line because no one would want to fight (then what's the point of playing this game ???).

 

[Chris Simon]

While i also love this game graphics and the very tactical nature of this game, this is what made me quit. Cooperation in open games is non-existent, in a game where team play is the key to victory. Players will camp in one corner of the map, trying to avoid the fight entirely until the end, and will vocally insult players who try and tell them to join the action so they can put some armor on the front line.. I've seen that behaviour in many online games (like MWO) but there it's so prevalent, that some people even think it's a valid tactics (it's not, this is a positioning game, not a camper game..). For zeus sake, some of them go *backwards* when the game start.. I did join a group but the small amount of enjoyable group play we could do did not balance out the horrible open play experience.
I even tried CV's and saw the torrent of hate you receive (even from your own team !) when you have that role, especially when your team is utter crap, like some times when i had to go to front line because no one would want to fight (then what's the point of playing this game ???).

Agreed.
My problem is... I really like ships.

At the beginning the game was much better. It was a simple Rock, Paper, Scissors type of gameplay (Well, technically Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizzard. ). A simple play and counter play.
The problem, now, is that the BBs are supposed to be the front line. They should stick in, brawl it out, soak up damage, while the destroyers cap and spot and cruisers support them from behind. The reality is that destroyers are brawling, cruisers are soaking up damage, battleships camp behind them, and CVs are non-existent.
WG say that they are "doing something about it". And what they are doing? Introducing more and more destroyers that are more and more ridiculously OP. When matchmaking puts 3-5 destroyers in a game and I'm in a battleship, like hell I'm going to go and brawl in the middle.
Cruisers have also problems with the roles. They do too much damage to BBs. And they have heals, now. And radars that see through mountains.
...and I could go on and on.
The whole thing from tactical part is broken. It simply doesn't present an incentive for players to play the ships the right way.

Still. I like ships. So I play, from time to time, one or two battles. I wouldn't give WG money for the experience I'm having, though.

 

[[VR] optimal_909]

Even though I rock some tier 5-6 ships, my skillset is better suited to tier 4 - it's been two weeks of experience only, and while the gameplay is familiar, the dynamics and tactics is very different to the mobile version.

Teams are mixed bag really, so far I have no complaints.

I am usually trying to follow team dynamics, so:
BB: if I see 2-3 ships pushing forward, I am joining them, and try to shoot larger targets in the distance first, switch only to short range against DD/CAs if those pose immediate threat
CA: to me the most difficult tier, I am trying to support DDs in scouting, otherwise I found them very fragile, so I am trying to support only with boom and zoom tactics (if I survive, that is)
DD: I am trying to explore and/or push into occupying territories - if I survive the initial phase, I am usually joining a BB that pushes forward and support it by attacking enemy DDs and covering them with smoke screen

If I see the team is hapless, then I go Bushido and die like a hero.

Quite often I am more successful in aiding the team with tactics than outright damage. With a DD, yesterday I occupied and defended a zone B for long minutes before I got support. I tried to hide, spam torpedoes and harass all ships that came close, but actually caused like 2000 damage only.

Given I am having hours of proper fun, and that there are no ads or too intrusive/predatory sales system, I am actually considering to buy something as a gratitude to devs. I think this could be a $20-30 game on Steam, easily .

 

[Chris Simon]

I can agree that the game economy is great, in comparison to WoT which is downright cash-grabby.

As for the "personal tactics" I employ, I, too, am trying to stick with the team, usually. Especially when they're lemming-training to one side. There's no use in trying to defend a whole flank in a light cruiser. And yes, when I see my team crumble, I usually go for quick damage. I am trying to get at least around 800-1000 xp from every battle.

None of my ships are really that effective. Because I play so little, the best captain I have has just 11 points and I don't have many flags or camouflages, because I usually earn just one crate a day, so the idea of clutching the match is not something I'd consider.
I recently unlocked and bought the Pensacolla and I'm loving it. The guns are awesome and I am usually able to keep myself alive long enough so I can be useful later, when most of the ships are below half health, which means that I can delete any cruiser that gives me broadside with one salvo. Which is very satisfying.

So yeah, I'm enjoying it, too, but it can still be frustrating at times, when a Colorado, which has been camping the map border the whole game is yelling that we're all idiots for dying in the middle while trying to cap and then proceeds with losing on points. But with full health, which, in his eyes, probably makes him a good player.

Oh well.

 

[Surefoot]

Good luck with the Pensacola and its paper armor.. It's a priority target in any upper tier game where *everyone* knows they can pretty much one hit kill it (or at least get a few easy citadels) and get excellent experience points for little effort. Hell even a DD with correct guns can citadel it. Hiding along with your BB pals doesnt help as they'll all see "tasty xp" before "tactical importance"..
As for the "lemming train" i heard that mostly from complete campers, who just back up at the beginning, let their own team die, then rake up some tasty exp while getting killed last. A BB as a last survivor is a BB that refused to play the game... At least a team group that moves, is a team group that wants to fight...

 

[Chris Simon]

Good luck with the Pensacola and its paper armor.. It's a priority target in any upper tier game where *everyone* knows they can pretty much one hit kill it (or at least get a few easy citadels) and get excellent experience points for little effort. Hell even a DD with correct guns can citadel it. Hiding along with your BB pals doesnt help as they'll all see "tasty xp" before "tactical importance"..
As for the "lemming train" i heard that mostly from complete campers, who just back up at the beginning, let their own team die, then rake up some tasty exp while getting killed last. A BB as a last survivor is a BB that refused to play the game... At least a team group that moves, is a team group that wants to fight...

I am used to paper ships. That isn't really a problem in my case. I was gifted the Atlanta a couple years ago and I learned to play it. I play Pensacola the same way with the added bonus of being able to keep my distance (Atlanta's short range peashooters can be really frustrating). So I don't have problems with dying. I have the concealment expert and I upgraded both engines and rudder so it's "Shoot - dodge - get unspotted - shoot again" tactic for me. It works well as long as I can keep the enemy off my detection circle.

As for the lemming trains. No, I am not a camper. I use that term for situations when whole team abandons one flank. Ideally what you want is for the team to either split in half and battle it out on the flanks while destroyers deal with the middle, or at least split the team into a large group going one flank and a smaller group (DD and two BBs, for example) who don't have to win THEIR flank but they need to hold the enemy long enough so the other group wins their flank and then squeeze the rest of them from the other side.
And that doesn't happen often, unfortunately. At least in my experience.

 

[Surefoot]

And that doesn't happen often, unfortunately. At least in my experience.

No it does not in open play, even less so in higher tiers where map border camping becomes prevalent. Group play is the only place where you'll find tactics (and dont think the other side will just let you do this scissors approach by the way..), and my gripe is if your group is not big enough you get grouped with randoms who usually will not cooperate and go their merry solo way and give easy kills to the other team (or just camp back on the map border, and let everyone die..).
While yes, faction/group play can be excellent and highly tactical chess-at-sea game, where you try and surprise the other team with clever positioning, and indeed proper armor sharing (BB's are not there to sit pretty on the map border...), there are also so many games you play where you find a part of your team has been lobotomized, the other will not want to fight because it would scratch the paint of their expensive BB, the CV will torp his own teammates because he's frustrated, etc... I even had people ask me why i would not get closer and stealth spy on the other team while i was in one of those russian gunships that can be seen from like 12km and rely only on their speed for survival. On tier 8-9. These people still cannot make the difference between Japanese DD's and Russian ones.
I put a lot of effort in this game, about 2 years, went through a a few ship trees (mostly Russian and US), but the quality of matches did not improve with tiers, actually low tier games are much more fun. This realization made me lose a lot of motivation...

Oh if you like guns on the Pensacola, and paper armor, you should try Russian DD line of gunships (the one that ends with the fantastic Khabarovsk). They have no stealth at all, and torpedoes are for suicide runs only (3km range !!!) but these high velocity shells are amazing, and the ships are so fast and agile... Pensacola has no armor, no speed, no agility, sub par AA compared to other US ships, and yeah good guns, but IMHO that doesnt save it from being the worst of its line.

 

[Goose4291]

While i also love this game graphics and the very tactical nature of this game, this is what made me quit. Cooperation in open games is non-existent, in a game where team play is the key to victory. Players will camp in one corner of the map, trying to avoid the fight entirely until the end, and will vocally insult players who try and tell them to join the action so they can put some armor on the front line.. I've seen that behaviour in many online games (like MWO) but there it's so prevalent, that some people even think it's a valid tactics (it's not, this is a positioning game, not a camper game..). For zeus sake, some of them go *backwards* when the game start.. I did join a group but the small amount of enjoyable group play we could do did not balance out the horrible open play experience.
I even tried CV's and saw the torrent of hate you receive (even from your own team !) when you have that role, especially when your team is utter crap, like some times when i had to go to front line because no one would want to fight (then what's the point of playing this game ???).

The camping thing is an oddity... but nowhere near as odd as the static carrier that doesn't seem to notice they're on an exposed flank, no matter how many times you try to get their attention.

 

[MTBFritz]

I think I tried 2 or 3 times to get into WoW over the years and my biggest gripe is the same-old-same-old "World of Warcraft BG syndrome". A quick explanation for everybody who doesnt know what I m talking about.

Spoiler

Battle Grounds are maps with opposing starting points giving both factions supposedly equal terrain advantages/weaknesses. Maps have capture-the-flag, conquer-and-hold or both of these combined as victory conditions. Matches usually are fast-paced and short in duration allowing for some quick plays if you dont have the time on your hands to spend hours in one session. Apart from a multitude of classes bringing all their abilities into play the gear of each individual character determines his/her biggest strength mostly. While the system was an incredible success early on the ever-lasting grind for honor points soon killed off the excitement of new/fresh and replaced it with the feeling of "work". While it took time to learn each map and how to play it, then find ways to overcome certain opposing playstyles it simply wasnt enough to keep people motivated over long periods of time. After a while you ve seen all the moves, all the tricks, all the exploits and winning lost its appeal while losing became very very annoying. if you play the same map for the 452nd time its understandable if you are not giddy with excitement.

So "maximizing" your progress became the new meta-game. People did this first by teaming up and queuing together in order to allow for coordinated teamplay giving an immediate advantage over an uncoordinated enemy team. "twinking" also became a thing where people would grind enormous times of PvE content in order to achieve the very best gear possible for their characters often providing over-level enchantments to boost ones performance even more. This has become so drastic over the years when the game "improved" that twinks easily one-shotted equal-level opponents and maps degraded to "who has the most twinks" and individual skill or teamwork didnt really affect the outcome anymore.

When group-queues and twinking was rare at first it soon became the norm when everybody else followed suit. And again matches deteriorated into slugfests where people on both sides simply yolo'ed in the middle while a select few tried to play the map. It was at this point when I became very frustrated with BGs in general and disgusted with the community in general. I was one of the few people who played the map rather then simply rack up kills or camp the enemy at their spawn point. Frustration was ever-present when you feel like you carry your own team and people who benefit from your efforts dont even recognize it or have the nerve to tease you for "failing" while they stand around and wait for the match to end.

In the end winning or losing comes down to your team and how it performs. Simply talking to each other can result in massively increased winning chances or at least an enjoyable match where even if you lose you know you gave it all you got and the enemy team simply got lucky or was superior. Thats not how I came to know World of Warships tho. People usually remain silent, everybody does his/her own little thing and expects everybody else to fall in line and follow their lead. Mistakes are therefore a given, add the facts that you probably have people on the team who didnt master all the basics yet (concealment and spotting was a mystery to me for the longest time) its easy to lose a match within the first couple of minutes when early losses in ships and control points present an unrecoverable condition. When you are experienced enough to realize after the first couple of minutes that you are going to lose simply because you have more "idiots" on your team the reaction usually is..

- venting
- raging
- flaming

And while its very possible that these are only individuals I can tell you from my own experience that these few managed to blot out everybody else because I saw this behavior in every match from tier 1-4. I never had the stomach to progress further. I was still trying to come to terms with all the mechanics and was often struggling to understand what was happening around me (and the game does change every few tiers as well). Even if I did everything right (or so I think....) I was losing the match often enough and losing aint fun especially when you have people on your team who dont offer any kind of help but simply pounce at you for being "stupid" as they say.

It might simply be trolling and I probably need a thicker hide but I like teamplay (the main reason why I picked up MMOs back in the day) and WoW (both types hehe) promise this as its core design. Yet the reality looks different where hostility and toxicity are ever present. It became so bad that I usually only logged in to play a few matches vs AI and that became boring pretty damn fast not to speak that it simply SHOT my progress rate. I dreaded actual matches too much simply for the behavior people showed if things didnt go their way. And I really liked the game due to its graphics and the feel of actually controlling a big chunk of earths warfare history. It might not be the most realistic take on these past battles but I thought it was fun.

Now I picked up various streamers in order to learn or keep me entertained when away from my computer and/or out of time. One of these guys is Flambass a young dude who streams this game as his main job. One of his statements which i clearly remember and agree with is that "the game sucks after a while....its really the chat which keeps me going. playing by myself....I would ve stopped a long time ago already". After i dont know how long he is an experienced player who knows or at least understands everything there is in the game. Still he makes mistakes, often dumb ones, isnt focused or just frustrated, had his fair shares of rages online but usually there is the chat picking him up again or providing comfort or entertainment in real time. His own team usually is the source of his frustration or irritation and I can share that feeling.

Only I dont have several hundred people on my back spurning me on or offering advice or comfort whenever I feel down.

So while watching streams of the game is fun and usually hooks me (still does even tho I quit playing) actually playing the game is a different experience or it simply is for me. Even IF by some small miracle you end up with people who know what they are doing its a short-living enjoyment as you part your ways and usually dont see them again because despite the occasional glimpse of teamwork its not enough reason to reach out and form bonds anymore these days (it was very different in Everquest or World of Warcraft early days) but the sad fact is that knowledge and capability still are one of the most rare things in the world or online.

This is one of the gripes I have with many of todays successful games on the market. When your fellow gamers are the main source of enjoyment you are in for a wild ride where you have moments of glory and joy but also the opposite end of the spectrum where you experience anger and hatred or childish behavior. Take away the players and you end up with a shell of a game which doesnt offer you anything. This is the main reason why I enjoy watching World of Warships but dont play it myself anymore. tho I have to say that simply from watching I have learned a great deal about all kinds of things which were a mystery when i tried it myself. maybe I ll give it another go. The game simply is too beautiful to pass on eh?

 

[[VR] optimal_909]

I think I tried 2 or 3 times to get into WoW over the years and my biggest gripe is the same-old-same-old "World of Warcraft BG syndrome". A quick explanation for everybody who doesnt know what I m talking about.

Spoiler

Battle Grounds are maps with opposing starting points giving both factions supposedly equal terrain advantages/weaknesses. Maps have capture-the-flag, conquer-and-hold or both of these combined as victory conditions. Matches usually are fast-paced and short in duration allowing for some quick plays if you dont have the time on your hands to spend hours in one session. Apart from a multitude of classes bringing all their abilities into play the gear of each individual character determines his/her biggest strength mostly. While the system was an incredible success early on the ever-lasting grind for honor points soon killed off the excitement of new/fresh and replaced it with the feeling of "work". While it took time to learn each map and how to play it, then find ways to overcome certain opposing playstyles it simply wasnt enough to keep people motivated over long periods of time. After a while you ve seen all the moves, all the tricks, all the exploits and winning lost its appeal while losing became very very annoying. if you play the same map for the 452nd time its understandable if you are not giddy with excitement.

So "maximizing" your progress became the new meta-game. People did this first by teaming up and queuing together in order to allow for coordinated teamplay giving an immediate advantage over an uncoordinated enemy team. "twinking" also became a thing where people would grind enormous times of PvE content in order to achieve the very best gear possible for their characters often providing over-level enchantments to boost ones performance even more. This has become so drastic over the years when the game "improved" that twinks easily one-shotted equal-level opponents and maps degraded to "who has the most twinks" and individual skill or teamwork didnt really affect the outcome anymore.

When group-queues and twinking was rare at first it soon became the norm when everybody else followed suit. And again matches deteriorated into slugfests where people on both sides simply yolo'ed in the middle while a select few tried to play the map. It was at this point when I became very frustrated with BGs in general and disgusted with the community in general. I was one of the few people who played the map rather then simply rack up kills or camp the enemy at their spawn point. Frustration was ever-present when you feel like you carry your own team and people who benefit from your efforts dont even recognize it or have the nerve to tease you for "failing" while they stand around and wait for the match to end.

In the end winning or losing comes down to your team and how it performs. Simply talking to each other can result in massively increased winning chances or at least an enjoyable match where even if you lose you know you gave it all you got and the enemy team simply got lucky or was superior. Thats not how I came to know World of Warships tho. People usually remain silent, everybody does his/her own little thing and expects everybody else to fall in line and follow their lead. Mistakes are therefore a given, add the facts that you probably have people on the team who didnt master all the basics yet (concealment and spotting was a mystery to me for the longest time) its easy to lose a match within the first couple of minutes when early losses in ships and control points present an unrecoverable condition. When you are experienced enough to realize after the first couple of minutes that you are going to lose simply because you have more "idiots" on your team the reaction usually is..

- venting
- raging
- flaming

And while its very possible that these are only individuals I can tell you from my own experience that these few managed to blot out everybody else because I saw this behavior in every match from tier 1-4. I never had the stomach to progress further. I was still trying to come to terms with all the mechanics and was often struggling to understand what was happening around me (and the game does change every few tiers as well). Even if I did everything right (or so I think....) I was losing the match often enough and losing aint fun especially when you have people on your team who dont offer any kind of help but simply pounce at you for being "stupid" as they say.

It might simply be trolling and I probably need a thicker hide but I like teamplay (the main reason why I picked up MMOs back in the day) and WoW (both types hehe) promise this as its core design. Yet the reality looks different where hostility and toxicity are ever present. It became so bad that I usually only logged in to play a few matches vs AI and that became boring pretty damn fast not to speak that it simply SHOT my progress rate. I dreaded actual matches too much simply for the behavior people showed if things didnt go their way. And I really liked the game due to its graphics and the feel of actually controlling a big chunk of earths warfare history. It might not be the most realistic take on these past battles but I thought it was fun.

Now I picked up various streamers in order to learn or keep me entertained when away from my computer and/or out of time. One of these guys is Flambass a young dude who streams this game as his main job. One of his statements which i clearly remember and agree with is that "the game sucks after a while....its really the chat which keeps me going. playing by myself....I would ve stopped a long time ago already". After i dont know how long he is an experienced player who knows or at least understands everything there is in the game. Still he makes mistakes, often dumb ones, isnt focused or just frustrated, had his fair shares of rages online but usually there is the chat picking him up again or providing comfort or entertainment in real time. His own team usually is the source of his frustration or irritation and I can share that feeling.

Only I dont have several hundred people on my back spurning me on or offering advice or comfort whenever I feel down.

So while watching streams of the game is fun and usually hooks me (still does even tho I quit playing) actually playing the game is a different experience or it simply is for me. Even IF by some small miracle you end up with people who know what they are doing its a short-living enjoyment as you part your ways and usually dont see them again because despite the occasional glimpse of teamwork its not enough reason to reach out and form bonds anymore these days (it was very different in Everquest or World of Warcraft early days) but the sad fact is that knowledge and capability still are one of the most rare things in the world or online.

This is one of the gripes I have with many of todays successful games on the market. When your fellow gamers are the main source of enjoyment you are in for a wild ride where you have moments of glory and joy but also the opposite end of the spectrum where you experience anger and hatred or childish behavior. Take away the players and you end up with a shell of a game which doesnt offer you anything. This is the main reason why I enjoy watching World of Warships but dont play it myself anymore. tho I have to say that simply from watching I have learned a great deal about all kinds of things which were a mystery when i tried it myself. maybe I ll give it another go. The game simply is too beautiful to pass on eh?

I have to nitpick on a single point, which is also applicable to Elite.

Many/most games have about 20-30 hours of content within them, especially modern day 'rail shooters', like Lara Croft, Uncharted or God of War. Online games/MMOs tend to have much longer lifespan for dedicated players, but no matter what the developer does, you do get burnt out - that is ineviatble. If you consider WoWs, no matter how you put it it, is is about ships sinking each other, there must be a limit when you simply doesn't enjoy it anymore.

I have weeks of gametime in ED, and even though I still love to fire it up, the honeymoon is long gone - but again the scope is so much bigger than that of WoWs, it is much easier to add content that leases it new life (additional 100s of hours ).

What both share, is that their subject is fairly unique, so difficult to find alternatives.

As for teamplay, I am usually trying to figure out what the team is doing, and then play the team itself by supporting or by simply staying close to the most competitive looking bunch.