4Game

I just wanna get three things out of the way before I start.

1. This is not a "trash game, uninstalling bc gold noob/bad rng/crap mm" or whatever else post
2. I don't really know what I'm expecting to get out of this post. I guess closure with my "relationship" with WoT? That sounds cringe.
3. It's a big ol' chonker, so I hope you like reading.

My IGN is borange01, same as my reddit. I made my account in July of 2011, over a decade ago, and played on my $300 Walmart laptop and was lucky to get 5fps, not joke. And I still loved the game. Since then I have played over 30,000 battles. I got a better computer and starting learning how to play. I learned quickly and moved my way up through the clans, and eventually I became among the most privileged of WoT players.

I had the opportunity to play in some very high level clans including OTTER, SIMP, YOUJO, and GIVUP, among others. I have (had? I don't know if they've added more since I've stopped playing, last I got was the Carro) all of the Tier 10 CW Reward tanks. I earned my 907 back in the Third Campaign through a month of grinding. I have my broken Chieftain, and I was able to roll around and spam HEAT in my VKK.

But, I still wonder if it was worth it. I felt like I had to have the best/newest thing. If there was a new T10 or T8 CW tank, I had to get it. If there was a new season of Ranked with a new reward, I had to play. I had to earn gold. I felt that earning these tanks, getting these badges, etc., was almost critical. Like I had to do it to truly be a good player, to show that I've been grinding, I've earned my scars or whatever. Really, it just meant I felt like a slave to the game. I would hope that WG wouldn't announce a new CW season or something just so I didn't have to do the grind. I would get heavily mentally invested in every battle of ranked, and the game honestly just caused me anxiety in general. I'm actually feeling it just from typing this out. Sure, I enjoyed the battles, but it was always a grind. There was no such thing as casual play for me anymore. Every pub match I thinking I had to get 3k WN8. Every session I'd play and play and try my ass off for 60% WR. Had to get those numbers up on WoTlabs.

Eventually, I started college and didn't have 8 hours a day or whatever to drive around pixel tanks, and I realized that I simply couldn't do it all. I couldn't play the game the way I wanted to. I wasn't going to be able to play often enough to stay skilled enough to play at the level I had set as the bare minimum for myself. I wasn't going to have time to do the campaigns. WG just kept pushing harder and harder. New season of ranked, new season of frontline, new season on the global map, new clan wars campaign, new mission marathon, new season of steel hunter, special seasonal game mode, this, that, it was impossible for me to keep up and so I just had to stop altogether. And that's what I did.

Honestly, I haven't even worked up the courage to actually uninstall the game yet. This game and that account that I poured probably thousands of hours into will always have a special place in my heart. To be very clear, if I still had all the free time I needed, I'd still love to play the game. But I don't, and I can't.

So that's it, that's why I left. A few other notes I'll make.

1. WG really is trying for some big changes for WoT, and I really hope they turn out well. New crew, the HE changes, the new types of tanks their adding, T9 prems, this could be a huge turning point for the game one way or another.
2. Yes, there are some changes WG made that I disagree with, but I they aren't the only reason I left. Personally, I think they are starting to lean a little too hard towards to monetization side of thing. I always, always, always felt like I had to get the next best thing and WG just started adding more and more and pushing harder and harder so that it'd be impossible to keep up without pulling out my wallet, and even then…
3. I will never not be salty that they mutilated my Obj. 263, dropped it to T9 and replaced it with the absolute scum that is the 268 V4. May you RIP my love.

That's all I've got to say, I just needed to get that off my chest I guess. I hope you all enjoy your battles and I hope the game does well and that WG can make the right decisions. I will no longer be playing, but I do plan to at least keep up with the general news and state of the game.

Best of luck to you all!