The Real Problem With 1.20.1

This will be at least the umpteenth post on this subject, rightfully so, and there will be many more after mine. But as I have read the previous posts and comments, as I've watched cc videos … I feel like most people aren't talking about the biggest problem. I understand my opinions are my own, and won't be shared by anybody else; but I've got to vent somewhere.

Obviously, the biggest complaint from the player base is in regards to the major crew skills rework. And the truth is, these changes stink. But in my opinion, not for the reason other people are upset. I believe most players are upset for 2 reasons: 1, the rework as implemented is a blatant money-grab by Wargaming that has little benefit to the players, and 2, the new crew skills are overpowered or too difficult to achieve or both.

The money-grab point is 100% accurate, and it's insulting. Actually, it goes beyond insulting. Proposing a major rework of a fundamental part of the game, only to penalize players for taking advantage of it (giving only 12 retraining orders is criminal) is an unfathomably bad decision by wargaming, and obviously a decision driven only by greed. But as for the complaints about the crew skills themselves, or that crew skills are too hard to get … who cares? One of the most common explanations I read is that changing the crew skills will punish the new player and reward the play to win players? Who cares? Let the pay to win players continue to fund the game I like, and let the casuals like myself figure it out.

Do you know what would really help the new players? Fixing the broken crew system at it's core. There has been some improvement, sure. Giving all commanders 6th sense was the single best change yet. But there is so much more needed. What happened to not having less than 100% trained crew anymore? I guess Wargaming forgot about that. I would wager a guess that many of you would agree that while we appreciate some of the historical accuracy of the game, we don't care if one tank had 4 crew members and another tank had 5. I could not care one iota less that the commander also served as a radio operator in tank a and the driver was the radio operator in tank b. Great, now my barracks is full of radio operators that were required for low tier tanks (that I had to spend gold on) which can't be used in higher tier tanks. Worse yet, despite the fact that my premium tank which I paid real money for claims to be usable by any crew member, the minor qualifications don't matchup so now it's kind of pointless. And as much as I would love to go back and play some of my lower tier tanks, I don't want to pay 800 + gold to retrain the crew each time. This broken crew system is the biggest problem, and 1.20.1 hasn't addressed any of these issues. It only adds more potential problems with new skills.

Here is what really needs to happen with the crew:

1) Simplify tank crews. Rather than having individual crew members, simply have tank crews (an American Heavy Crew or a German Medium Crew). They can be compatible with any tank of a specific nation and type. You can still have your gunner or driver injured during battle, just like any critical hit. This would eliminate the major and minor qualification "incompatibilities" within tank trees, and also enable players to get the most out of their premium vehicles.

2) Multiple tank proficiency, without penalty. The bare minimum would be 2 tech tree tanks, but I personally think having one crew trained for 3 tech tree tanks is fair. And training for additional tanks should not cost your skill progression or some asinine amount of experience either. Sure, there could be a reasonable xp cost to unlock a new vehicle slot … but it should be achievable by all players.

3) Tank crew skills. Since we have eliminated the individual tank crew members, skills now have to be applied to the entire crew unit. Honestly, wargaming could keep all of the existing and new skills, but the xp progression would have to be adjusted. There are 5 crew roles, and since you'll only be taking one entire crew skill as opposed to 5 different skills each time … you'd either have to lower the overall cost of each skill or allow the skill to learn one skill/perk for each of the 5 roles at once.

4) All crews are 100% trained. They can either drive the vehicle or not. I understand wargaming likes to charge the gold for the "trained crew", but this just punishes free to play and specifically new players.

5) Keep the new change that all skills/perks go into effect immediately. Waiting for 100% was a terrible progression, and again, punished the newer and more casual players unfairly.

6) The most difficult and controversial part of this system will be the compensation. But the complexity of a compensation system is no reason not to make changes that will have a profound quality of life impact on the game.

So there it is, the end of my rant. I'm sure many of you will disagree; please share your reasoning why. I'd love to hear opinions and discuss it. Perhaps you can even change my mind.