Why play this game in 2023?

Probably just gonna be written off like every other valid argument against the game as just some "whiner" as I see happen so often but:

What's the point of continuing to spend time playing this game in 2023? Am I wasting my time trying to chase the enjoyable parts of the game that have become increasingly difficult to experience in the modern age? As a veteran player of the game (created july 13, 2012: 23,719 random battles and many more in clan wars, tournaments, strongholds/etc) i loved this game in its heyday. Sure, it was still a grind to work your way up the ladder but it always felt worth it enough to me at the time. I could earn new tanks that felt balanced and competitive in their own ways and the main goal was getting to tier 10 tanks. With a lot of effort and time I could fill new roles in my clan and be competitive against other clans. I think my biggest complaint back then was artillery. That's still an issue nowadays to me, but far from the main one.

After over 10 years, where has the game gone? Starting with the positives: graphically there's been some really nice improvements I can appreciate. I also really love the move to start introducing styles for tanks you can earn as rewards and such. Love that touch of customization even if they're not "realistic". It's an arcade style game anyways. The move to give every tank sixth sense for free is also a big positive. Making consumables able to be used multiple times in a battle can be argued as a negative by some, but overall I see that as a positive too. Making it so arty can't one shot tanks in high tiers or do massive damage is a slight positive move.
so:
– Graphics Improvement
– Styles and Customization
– Sixth Sense
– Multiple Consumables in 1 Battle
– High Tier Arty Nerf

Okay, some of those are big but that's a pretty small list… How do the negatives stack up?
– Low Tier Arty Overtuned
– No longer can access skill spots/climbs: invisible walls and rocks added to prevent players from putting any effort into learning maps or actually trying.
– Lack of weakspots on tanks: now you load gold and hope to pen. Sometimes you can't even pen with gold. No longer have to wiggle, hide weakspots, etc.
– On the other side, tanks that do have weak points are now easily abused: effective armor indicator means you move your cursor til its green and you pen the tank. Such skill!
– Clan wars seemingly no longer accessible to players/clans who don't have a credit card and high WN8: CW "Reward" tanks being the meta, clans without these overpowered tier 10 tanks no longer able to compete with clans who got them, who can afford to sling only gold, players who have spent many battles in tier 10s earning bonds so they can get better equipment and directives that allow them to be better in the same tank. Hard for the average clans to compete
– WHEELED LIGHTS
– Autoloaders/Autoreloaders meta: why drive a tank that fires one shot when you can do massive damage in the time it takes them to fire one shot?
– Seems like most games are a complete wash: 0 – 15 games in random battles frequently makes you question things. Can we get a more in depth matchmaker? Preferably not just by player skill/win rate but tank type too.
– You can do basically everything a light can do and more in a medium tank (exception: wheeled lights). Why play lights when if you try to sneak into a good position it's a 50-50 every game on getting taken out instantly at the start of the battle or outspotted, and if you sit in the back and snipe youre going to be doing less damage than other tanks and just going to get screamed at by your team for not "scouting"
– PAY TO BE COMPETITIVE:
– Premium tanks that are straight up better than counterparts at their tier and ruining games at nearly every tier. Often just as abundant as tech tree tanks or more abundant.
– High demand to use gold rounds if you want to do damage: autoricochet and tanks with no weakspots or easily hidden ones means LOAD GOLD! (Better have a premium account!)
– No way you're affording competitive equipment for your vehicles if you don't have a credits booster and premium account running

The list could probably go on but man does it just give me a headache. I want to still enjoy this game but it seems like every time I try to come back to it I'm just depressed by my experience. On one hand, I can't blame em. Nowadays everyone just wants your money and no one really cares about much else. On the other, I have to face the fact that this game used to be something pretty cool and something you could actually express true skill on. Nowadays it's far from that.