Hello all,
I've already discussed why I switched from World of Tanks to War Thunder (read it here), but since that inital reaction-post, I've thought of several reasons as to why War Thunder offers so much more intense fun, than World of Tanks does.
Nothing like sharing a brain-storming list, so here goes:
No Camping:
Unless you are playing in a fast light scout tank, during the duration of an average World of Tanks game (app. seven minutes) at least half of these is either passively camping (sitting in a bush waiting) or 'actively' camping (i.e. driving to the same spot you went to last time, and sitting behind the same corner with the same type of tanks waiting on the other side). World of Tanks does not really support/allow any initiative, and most bold moves are instantly punished (although they can still be fun). The best way to win a game is to be cautious, bordering on passive, and waiting for those two intense minutes wherein you can kill the best players on the opposing side and secure victory.
In War Thunder, there really is no camping - you are thrown into the action from the beginning and the following ten-fifteen minutes feels like a non-stop action packed war movie, where you are zooming and booming, watching your six and blasting the enemy with lead. Getting to the action is quick, and unless you are in a bomber, there is never a dull moment. And initiative, and bold moves, often pay off and the rewards are huge - sneak capturing an airport, outflanking an enemy, divebombing a destroyer, its all possible and fun!
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| War Thunder - Campers never gets the girl |
Fair Rewards:
If your team looses, you won't get shafted experience and money. In World of Tanks, even though you do great, if your team sucks you will not get great rewards. But why should I be punished for getting on a team of lemmings, if I kill the five tanks on my side of the map?
You did well = A ton of experience and money.
You did well, but your team sucked = You still get a ton of experience and money.
On the other hand, this also means that if your team did well, and you sucked, well, then your rewards will suck equally).
Multiple In-Game Achievements:
I love getting rewards for playing the game how it is supposed to be played - and then getting extra rewards for all different kinds of things.
I.e., in a given game of War Thunder you are awarded for killing other players - but you are also rewarded for air kill streaks of 3, 5, etc dead enemies. So, thats extra money and experience for doing well.
You can get all kinds of awards, Bullet Proof, Magnet (getting rammed five times in a single game, ouch), Fighter Rescuer etc., often just for doing what you were supposed to do, but doing it well.
The Crew Advancement system:
I really, really like being able to customize my crews skills. Now you can do this in World of Tanks as well, but in any given tank you are looking a dumbfoundingly slow progress and perhaps, realisticly, two crew skills for each crew member.
In War Thunder there is a ton of possibilities and choosing between them (after each battle) is great fun - should I get that low level Keen Sight up, or wait two more games and get better at Reloading the Gun? I enjoy that, even though I realise that it is somewhat illusionary and that each crew will, with time, look identical. But I also believe this is an area that will be further developed as the game grows.
Tons of Challenges and customizable models:
I love the in-game challenges (i.e. get so and so many kills in that particular plane, or kill x-amount of ships with torpedoes) and getting new plane skins, or equipment for completing them. This is a huge factor for me.
Also, the sheer amount of customizable elements is stunning - in principle you should never see two identical planes - me like! For instance, I've been persuaded by my family to paint the same two decals on all my Russian planes:
But there is still room for uniqueness. In some, I'll have Russian Slogans (For Stalin!) while others will have kill marks in the hearts.
Its New...
Let's not forget to factor this in. Instead of World of Tanks where I new each map intimately, and the 20-35 tanks you always encountered - here I'm a noob again. I hardly now any of the maps well and most planes are something of a mystery to me. But its fun figuring out which canyon to attack through, and what planes to fear. Or which bombers to attack from the front, and which have noses made from machine guns :-).
Oh well, just some random thoughts - if you happen to agree, disagree or be madly in love with me, please leave a comment or a tip :-). It really motivates all blogowners to keep blogging!
All the best,
Kasper
It is a great game
ReplyDeleteSo let me get this right. You think sitting in a metal box, knowing that if you are spotted, you will be ultimately destroyed and probably die a horrible death. So the best thing to do and try and survive is to camouflage yourself and wait for your unexpected prey.
ReplyDeleteIf you are a tank destroyer this is very important to your survival. My point is you call it camping like so many? Camping derived from FPS's such as Quake and games such as WOT are not that. Please get it right, the term camping is for FPS not games such as WOT.
Next you will be telling me that staying high above the clouds waiting for a bomber or squadron of planes to fly by in War Thunder is camping? Its called surpise and survial and happens in war of which both these games depict.
I understand your reasoning for switching games, and will admit that War Thunder with tanks and ship (if implemented right) will be a great game, maybe better than WOT. But all i hear is camping and its a bit annoying when players use the term in correctly, it shows gaming and war tactical ignorance and age. Another example being players Tiger tanks to sprearhead attacks and not hide and shot like they were designed for.
Anyway both are great games, but are better if they are played the way they are meant to be, hence they have cover in WOT for a reason.
Dear Peter Piper,
ReplyDeleteI admit that I may have misused the term 'camping', but it was the most suitable description of the passive gameplay that I feel dominates WoT. There may be a better term, but I chose camping as it was the first to enter my mind and because I believed readers would now what I meant (also, being Danish, my English vocabulary is at times far too limited). I still find it difficult to pinpoint a more precise term that incapsulates the aspect of WoT that I (after numerous games) began to feel was a somewhat boring gameplay, any suggestions?
I think your comment shows the problem of using that term adequately, yet you may perhaps have misunderstood that I was primarily describing and comparing 'my' experience of the two games. And my comparison of the two (in the one case that you singled out) was simply meant to explain why (i.e. in part because of the need to hide and stay inactive in WoT) I switched to a game that offers, to my mind, superior entertainment (i.e. a gameplay more suited to what I desire at the moment).
Anyways, thanks for your comment (I appreciate you keeping it civil, there is far too little of that in online discussions of gaming).
Kasper
Good article and you make valid points. I discovered War Thunder and WoT almost simultaneously and although most game tests I read favoured War Thunder, I still gave both games a chance and tried them out. Yeah, that was the first and the last day where I started WoT... :D In the end both games are good and it's probably a matter of personal taste but War Thunder is simply better in pretty much every category: graphics, customizability, diversity, detail, fairness. If both games had entered the open beta phase at the same time, it would have been a really hard time for Wargaming.
ReplyDeleteWell I played WOT from Beta and it was only several months ago I found this game through a friend... I also have World of Warplanes as a Beta Tester... I have not gone back to either game... War thunder is fun to play truly dynamic in its game play and as you say when you play well you are not punished for the inadequacies of your team. You can always strive to play better and are often rewarded. Great article
ReplyDeleteIt is still in open Beta and I left WoT ..... That tells you something...I was tier 9 getting ready to buy tier 10....and I left.....went back once...told my clan about it....was told by many that they had spent too much on WoT and would not leave it...REALLY? IDC what I spent, it is static...I love all the updates with new planes/maps/graphics and love the manic play. End of story-nice blog which I choose to agree with on all counts. And by the way , there is a lot of camping in WoT , and none in WT. Live with it. Loved my tank destroyers----they do not camp---it is the heavy that let's 1/2 the team die, and then moves forward that ticked me off...well not anymore----see ya in the skies....
ReplyDeleteAll I can is agree, agree, agree. (I never played WoT, though I tried ONE TIME WoWP and found the graphics to be like a cartoon). I got a beefy system and WT just is stunning graphically speaking. I really wanted just to thank you for posting the pin ups!!!! WOWWEEE! Tasty, tasty. I laughed at the post regarding "camping" and how you have violated some cyber-linguistic terminology usage... ha!!! Peter-Piper must have picked a peck of pickled campers!THANK YOU for using the vocab "camping" since I clearly could understand what you meant regarding the lax game play in WoT even though I've never played WoT OR have only used the word in reference to spending the night outdoors in a tent with a grill and plenty of 12oz-ers and ripping bonfire. Your usage was spot on!!! Your comparison was as well and the pin ups well ... need I say more?
ReplyDeleteWoT was fun but so was Donkey Kong once upon a time. I am sure it will continue to have fans but there are lots of ex-WoT players in War Thunder. WoT is static, tactics don't change and the 30+ maps? Tell that to the players that cycle through the same 5-7 maps over and over again. For me the last few months of playing WoT was due to my friends in game. There are lemmings, campers, are idiots in every MMO so I don't necessarily agree with that logic that it doesn't exist in WT, I have seen plenty o-Yaks camping bombers instead of getting into a furball. Overall I agree with you about War Thunder and am anxiously awaiting the release of tanks in this game. The number one aspect of this game you DID mention is WT is 360 deg of I got you sucka to oh crap he's on my six action that WoT doesn't come close to comparison for game play. SO for my money WT is getting my gold eagles and time. Good post and hopefully will see you before you see me :)
ReplyDeleteI cannot completely agree with this post, but very good argument.
ReplyDeleteI play both WoT and WT, and enjoy both.
However, the playerbase of Warthunder is much better; no trolls, no idiots and no conceited ppls calling others noobs.
Camping is still possible in Warthunder, however is much less rewarding.
World of Tanks still is more fun in the fact that there is more things to see and it requires less patience and waiting to move 10km to get to the action.
There is ONE problem with this article......WoT is very realistic, taking you though what happened very often during WW2 while being a tank commander.And i'm not dissing WT in any way. It takes you though a realistic dogfight from WW2. Mainly, you're comparing 2 things that are not at all the same. The life of a tanker and the life of a pilot during the war were 2 toally different things.
ReplyDeleteWhat? WoT is realistic? Oh NO! There is nothing realistic about tank getting invisible 20m far from you on plane terrain without any camouflage elements. Also there is nothing realistic about dinging light tank with super mamonth... and also artileries are very very far from reality. In the real world artilery hits building and it was a last moment you saw it. SU14 made hole 12m width and 6m deep in Berlin. Can you imagine what THIS make with a tank?
DeleteIf I have say WoT as more realistic than WT, I ll laugh. In my opinion WT is more more more realistic than WoT. In WT you cannot kill enemy hitting wheels by some small HP damage again and again. But you can immobilize him by killing the driver, neutralize by killing loader and sniper. So please, never say again that WoT is realistic. And before saying this remember many "tanks" which were never build. :) For example some WafenTragers (I am not using the WT short to omit some misunderstanding).
Exactly "anonymous", he can't compare a tank game with a plane game. To different things. It is like you would compare formula one with skateboard.
ReplyDeleteHello all - just a quick comment. I haven't had time to play in along time and both games have, of course, developed since I wrote this post, which still attracts comments.
ReplyDeleteNow regarding the question of comparison - of course I can compare these two games. A comparison makes sense if the two things to be compared are similar in several aspects, and I do believe that World of Tanks and Warthunder are similar in many instances. Of course they are not identical (then no comparison would be needed, :-)), but they are both computergames, built in much the same way and to much the same purpose and audience. The only difference is that one focuses on tanks and the other warplanes - this naturally means a difference in some aspects, but from a gamers point of view and for the purpose of this comparison, these are minor differences. and thus I do find a comparison possible and helpful. But to each his own and if this did not help you then I hope some of the other posts on the blog may be of more use.
All the best,
Kasper
That's where you are wrong. Tanks and planes are WAY different. Planes cannot be fully static gameplay. You can for a bit but at some point there will always be some sort of intense engagement.
DeleteWhy? Planes MUST move forward at all times, this won't allow you to stay at the same spot. It's also very difficult to hide your aircraft.
Hiding aircraft depends on weather which is unreliable. This don't allow static gameplay for a long time.
Tanks are all about distant engagements, concealment and positioning. This is more true in ww2 tanks than modern. They don' have computer targeting like modern times so staying static for accuracy is required and to ensure you get the advantage you must position yourself at a good area. This result in what you call "camping"
It's the nature of tank warfare. Modern tanks may be different since they can at least fire on the move accurately.
I Beta-tested World of Warplanes and War Thunder...I'm still playing Thunder. 'Nuff said.
ReplyDeletein world of tanks you are also not allowed to excel as a player because the match maker will put you in crappy teams to face harder oposition, all of this is to bring the player towards 50%, this "fact" came to light when they applied for a patent on their new match maker, and they had to tell how it worked, this is something many have suspected for a long time, but now I know and by that I say good bye Wargaming. Im not playing a single match again of WoT ever! I play Warthunder now and I can't wait until ground forces are released, War Thunder will own World of Tanks in every way.
ReplyDeleteHA!.. in these games that are almost identical you really think that part of it isn't in war thunder as well? why else send you back to the hanger screen to start a match with a whole new team? why not just keep the team going. the only question i have here is, isn't there some kind of copyright infringement here? its like if i took counter strike changed the name and a few gun models. this has to be illegal. if not it should be. i honestly thought this was the world of tanks and world of warplanes guys just rolling their games into 1.. and so the war thunder guys want you to think. it is a complete rip off. and the one thing i hated the most about WoWp was fighting planes 2 tiers up. but again.. fighting unwinable fights. and again. im able to team kill yet get ban if i do so.. WTF!.if im not allowed to do something than don't allow me to do it.. that simple. if i said one is better than the other i would also have to say im retarded. because the one thing war thunder has that the other don't is joint battles.. but they aren't really joint battles. the air fights the air. the ground fights the ground.. there isn't enough interaction between them to mention. and the fact that im playing with people on the other side of the planet (russians) suggests that the community is tiny, dying, or dead. thumbs down on all of these "War" games
DeleteSource please? Explain how there are people that get 60-70% win ratio then?
DeleteYou know why you get 50%? Both sides have equal chance at getting the bad players on their team. And if you excel, your win rate will naturally increase.
I understand the punishment for a team's failure is really dumb. This is to promote team play even though I agree it's failing.
It's new? Really? That's shouldn't even be a reasoning. Almost everything is fun when it's new. There's this quote from somewhere in which I agree, "...there's nothing more entertaining than the first time..."
ReplyDeleteIt's a change of pace, something different from what you are used to which is always an exciting new adventure.
The maps are unpredictable is because you are new, you would get used to it like you did in WoT.
It's a natural thing.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteJust got banned from World of Tanks and I am a paying member on premium paid for time!
ReplyDeleteEvery single time I have hit a tank on my team it was completly unavoidable! Every single time I was shooting at the enemy and my team mate went in the line of fire. Every time! Why am I being penalized for that? That is not fair!
I am going to ad record last battle now; I hope that does not slow my fps.
World of tanks is one of the best game. I have ever played. you can try this game. if you are interested to know more and download …..
ReplyDeleteclick here