World of Tanks....

Well it got me back to the game alright, for about 3 minutes.... Of course they have to be 'purchased'...... What was I thinking.... Cool as the theme and tanks are....Sod that.

World of Tanks....

Well this is bringing me back to the game.... Just to see. Last time didn't go so well for me.

Just need to wait for the 14GB patch.....

Well..... That's Cool....https://t.co/HPaNb1AFWc

— A Casual (Carebear) Gamer 🇮🇪 🇪🇺 (@ACasualCarebear) June 29, 2021

World of Tanks....

Xbox Version that is, not the PC version. As always my super casual take on the Xbox version.

With the games birthday/anniversary rewards of 'premium time' on top of two (I think it was two) further premium time rewards from the Xbox app(reward claim(app) of a reward claim(game)); I had about 10 days built up. It's been a while since I was in game so I decided to use them.

Getting back into the game was 'interesting' of a sort, over the last week or so. I've stuck with the WW2 side of the game as I've the most hours put in there. I did try out the new Cold War stuff but it's not for me. If it was I'd already be playing War Thunder.

The game has been updated and redesigned a few times over the last while. However this time I'm not feeling the play-ability. Things have been tweaked and changed too much. The game has changed from casual fun to "OMG War Thunder is really stealing players away, we have to do something". In doing that something they have lost the fun factor and game balance from the game(imho).

World of Tanks has changed dramatically since my last post about the game for sure.

For me the biggest change has been with the balance. There used to be a fighting chance as a Heavy Tank, you used to be able to take punishment. Survive-ability has sunk through the floor.

I used to love my Tiger tank. I was looking forward to working on the upgrading my Tiger II. Not any longer.

No fun means not sticking around in game just to be cannon fodder. The number of matches I've been in the last week where I've just started, get spotted 20 seconds into a match and am then a smoking wreck after one or two hits..... Sod that. 

I may have a lot of time put into the game but that was down to it being fun. I've no cash investment to keep me rolling with it. With the fun drained out I've no motivation to even finish off the remaining days of 'premium time'. Disappointed to say the least.

World of Tanks....

Nearly a year since I last waffled about WoT. I've still pottered about in game on and off but the last few weeks I've been getting more and more (back) into World of Tanks in a meaningful way. While I've left the game for long stretches, it's a good one(and easy) to hop back into. No pressure. 

Luck is as much a part of WoT gameplay as skill. Both are a part and both are outside of the class of tank you might play. A light tank can run rings around a heavy inflicting a kill by a thousand cuts. A heavy will one hit from a distance etc..

A quick assessment of my tank roster indicated that I've been reaching a lot of the larger tanks; Which in turn means spending more time to grind out each with XP and currencies of one form or another. This time round I spent some quality time in a Tiger I finishing off pimping it out and unlocking the Tiger II. The Tiger II with no upgrades or additions is a massive climb down so more of a grind to make as truly viable as the Tiger I. I'm happy to stay in the Tiger I but then the XP would be going to waste(I don't spend cash on the game for currency conversion). 

I took another look at the PC version of the game and was put off by how low grade it was in comparison to the Xbox version. I've so much unlocked and so many hours put in on Xbox it would be a no go to restart on the PC version. There's some crossover with play accounts(Xbox to PC) but you'd still need to 'put in the hours'.

Given the number of players with a 'monitor' icon next to their names it seems that 80% of the players are not on an Xbox platform. So cross-play is saving the game on Xbox. I presume these are mainly Playstation gamers.

So yea I've been having fun in game, good multiple kill matches, good survival matches and even good getting pwnd matches. It's a fun game. Granted I'm happier in the medium to heavy tanks but as the saying goes 'a change is as good as a rest'.

Taking a break from my 'main' grinding I hopped into one of the not so leveled up countries. The light French tank AMX40. Small and not nimble at all, I love it because of the punishment it can take. A true underdog. Rounds bouncing and ricocheting are fun to take here. 

A Casual Carebear Gamer

World of Tanks....

I was always 'into' World of Tanks on console, 360 first then the XBox One. Nothing serious and I've never spent any real-world cash on it. Casual fun for free; And as such I've had long stretches of time where I didn't touch the game and had even uninstalled it at times. I've found myself coming back mainly for December and the winter/chrimbo events which I've always found fun. Over the last week I've gotten back into the game.

I've been surprised in two ways with my experience playing it so far. That streaming it to my PC has been a flawless lag free experience(STO is still jumpy when I do that) and how quick I got back into the game(and doing well). It's the little things, like reading what the enemies are doing on a map and preempting a flanking manoeuvre.

Starting from scratch again on the PC version seems like too much work. Besides I've received a few freebies from events and anniversaries over the years I'd like to keep. Pity there isn't cross platform account usage.

I've been having some good fun; More than I've been having in Battlefield 1 this week.....

A Casual Gamer

WoT....

I've been having a blast (pun pun) in World of Tanks, another game I've gotten a lot out of playing for free. I do enjoy their Chrimbo events.

What really caught my eye of late is their 2018 info(https://worldoftanks.eu/en/news/general-news/2018-preview/). Tis looking good:

World of Tanks 1.0 - March 2018: Gameplay Trailer

World of Tanks.... Winter changes....

I'm still plugging away every now and again with World of Tanks on my Xbox One.
Part of the changes for the "holiday" winter season is the introduction of a toy tank and a related map to play on, fun, free and worth a blast for a game or two at the very least. Comparing this to what other games do is like night and day. I've never put any real world cash into the game but they have my interest.

WoT....

With the new "Motherland" event for World of Tanks I've been playing it more.
The event for me has turned from excitement to grind. The event is a mission that upgrades once completed.
The first was to get 10,000 points. The second to get 20,000 and now I've been hit with the 3rd of 30,000 points. I'll be seeing how the next few day's of it go but it is a real grind.

The new tank does look cool:

But I'm just after seeing this video detailing the full events needs.....

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdDeQa8UCP0GzU23-G-rAwg

That's a lot of work to play "casually". Sod it. Engage fist shaking mode!

WoT....

World of Tanks is still a blast, pun intended. Quality game that you can jump in and out of at short notice.
It has enough badges and awards to make it feel like your really getting things done. Even if you enter the game in a light tank, speed drive to the oppositions flag/base and get assploded in a rain of fire.
It is a one death per match game but I like the way that once destroyed you can leave the current game and hop into another of your other tanks for another match. AND you don't get penalised for it. Once the game ends even if your not in it you get the rewards. Which is fun as you can have a few tanks in battle while you wait in another for your next match.
Each day seems to have a 2 times reward per tank for your first win which helps with the need to progress and gain research points to both improve your current tank and unlock the next.

I've been playing it on the Xbox One. Due to some household DIY I only recently re-setup my Xbox 360. I wasn't tempted to try the game on the 360 but once I heard that both xbox consoles shared players and game stats and I wanted to see for myself. True enough when I downloaded the game on the console and started it, it showed the current tanks I was using on the Xbox One. The 360's graphical changes to the garage were obvious even with the same stats and details under the hood. Still very playable I found the main difference was the view distance, which was feeling a lot more limited.
Long story short I'm glad to have it on both but I'll take the better Xbox One version any day.