This will contain arguments mentioned around here 100 times, I want to discuss it anyways… I started playing the game during the beta phase and from then on I fought around 16k battles until I abandonned WoT in 2015. I loved (and of courae hated) the Game. When I heard about XVM, I installed it, realized I am below average and started actively learning/improving.
In 2015, I had raised my WN8 to around 2600 overall, 3500-4000 recent (I grinded T1-T7 as fast as possible and only really played T8-T10). I played in two different (at that time) top-5 clans.
Now, picking up WoT a year ago, I just cannot relearn it. In the 4k matches played since, I dropped 100 WN8 points, lowered my win rate from 59% to 57.x%, struggle to achieve 2,5 dpg on T10, recent WN8 is 1600ish. I do watch the unicum‘s streams as I did back then, I know about the changes (HE, Arty, vision…)
These are my theories as to why I am incapable to live up to my earlier experiences:
- I used to abuse the hell out of the vision mechanics. When I stopped in 2015, the render distance was a square, diagonally you could see tanks 700m away. Playing medium tanks with good guns picking up a lot of damage early-mid game like this and later using double bushes and relocating often to pick away clueless players was just awesome. This just doesnt work as well anymore
- It has to do with the maps, they were much more open. The playstyle mentioned above needs open maps, the new ones are horrible in that regard.
- I did play heavy tanks aswell and with good success, even with the open map design. In the ST-1, I had houndreds of games averaging way over 3k dpg. I considered it the ultimate hull down beast, so I tried playing it now. Haha, naive me. Playing hull down tanks means looking at other hull down tanks as everybody else fucks off of the area and you exchange shots in the hope of hitting the 1 mm weakspots (I dropped the ST-1 bc it has a HUGE weakspot compared to the new meta stuff). So I got myself a Kran and it is boring as fuck. How do you rack up damage shooting micro-weakspots hitting 1/4 of your shots while the game lasts 4 minutes?
- My aim never was really good. I loved the game because it is not Counter Strike or CoD. I could compensate for my average hand coordination with map awareness, positioning, vision mechanics, outsmarting noobs etc. But I feel like aiming became increasingly important (smaller weakspots, wheeled tanks…)
- The game got older and the player base is more experienced. You cant farm noobs like you could some years ago. Almost everybody wiggles their turret and aims for your cuppola and so on.
- Wheeled vehicles really really mess with the spotting mechanics on open maps. I like to think the old maps were not designed for a fucking race car to show up at the enemy base 30 seconds into the game. Good thing the EBRs always suicide in the first minute being overconfident, so there‘s that. I hate them anyways, even as team mates. I dont think the game was meant to have tanks turning on a 5 m radius at 90 kph.
- Credits are so easy to obtain everybody can shoot premium shells all day long. I mean so can I, but I am certain this was not the case in 2015 and before. Missions, Battle passes, Christmas events, countless prem tanks. I drown in credits and I guess nobody needs to worry about not being able to afford shooting exclusively gold rounds. Armored tanks feel useless except the ones with impenetretable turrets. Such a joy.
- I always played the majority of my matches solo, occasionally platooning with clan mates back then. I‘d say it helps with winning more, not sure about dpg/wn8. Nowadays I only play alone. Shoot i seek company?
- People around here seem to be certain games always were short and one sided. I think it got worse but I might be biased. Maybe I just dealt better with that before..
- Mistakes were not that costly back then. There are soooo many auto loading guns now, you can get wrecked much harder after a bad move.
Tl;dr: Went from 4000 recent WN8 in year 2015 to 1500 recent now after the break, got accused of having bought the account from ebay understandably haha. I simply cant adapt to the current meta. Thought about some possible reasons, maybe some of you can relate or even help. Thanks!