I was pleasantly surprised when this dev blog post showed up in my clan’s Discord server.

VIII AUGUST VON PARSEVAL,  X MANFRED VON RICHTHOFEN,  VIII GRAF ZEPPELIN and VIII GRAF ZEPPELIN B

• Changed parameters of bombers:
  • Increased the chance of hitting two bombs at once in the internal dispersion ellipse.

X FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT

• Changed parameters of torpedo bombers:
  • Torpedo Arming Distance increased from 517 to 545 m;
  • Torpedo spread width increased by 5%;
• Changed parameters of bombers:
  • Maximum Bomb Damage decreased from 11,200 to 10,600;
  • HE Bomb Armor Penetration Capacity decreased from 67 to 64 mm;
  • Chances of HE Bombs Causing a Fire on Target decreased from 64% to 60%.

X ALEXANDER NEVSKY

• Changed the “Repair party” consumable:
  • Restoration of hit points after receiving damage to the citadel increased from 10% to 33%.

Graf Zeppelin is one of my favorite CVs in the game, but her dive bombers are mind-shatteringly inaccurate. Her bombs can disperse from each other at 40 degree angles on release. I’ve never seen such pacifistic ordnance before; it’s insane. Even so, my clanmates have known me to bash MVR’s AP bombers and constantly pointing out how I have an easier time getting citadels with Graf Zeppelin’s bombers than with MVR’s. I think that comes down to the way the planes attack. GZ’s bombers don’t climb first, so overall they have the superior approach for hit and runs. They just swoop down and that gives you better lead and timing on the drop. The dispersion ruins everything, but it’s easier to score both hits once you get used to it. Exploiting the large superstructures of some ships can sometimes net you citadels. I’ve even smacked DDs with both bombs on occasion. MVR’s bombers take way too long to drop, so unless you have enough buffer planes to buy time, you’re going to have to drop a little too early. That’s when you get multiple misses and overpens. It’s frustrating at the best of times, so I’m looking forward to testing out the German CVs with the updated dispersion when this update goes live.

As for FDR, she needs the nerfs to account for those tanky planes, but I’m not really sure where you’d draw the line. The most expensive ship in the game should still be the most coveted, if not the most effective at whatever her particular niche is. Otherwise, what’s the point? FDR should be better than most CVs, but I’m not sure how much better. A little off topic, but I think Shikishima should also be more effective than most BBs, though that particular ship set sail quite a while ago. The Yamato hull is a little too easy to exploit, so it’s a good thing the secondary niche isn’t quite dead on her yet.

I don’t really care about the Nevsky to be honest. I don’t dislike the ship or anything, I just don’t play Russian cruisers as a whole. Bug fixes are always a good thing (I heard this was a bug and not just a balance change), so let’s just move on.

I really wish I could see what’s going on inside the Wargaming company itself right about now. It definitely doesn’t feel like they’re a centralized whole all moving in the same direction. That’s almost never the case inside a large company. There are a lot of changes being lined up for the game that are great, even if they take about eight times as long to implement as you’d expect. Let’s not forget WG’s MVPs, the Art Department, or whichever heretics in the gameplay sector that suggested buffing secondaries and stuck to their guns. Even so, the company is driving older players away and just focusing on milking the newer ones. That’s why so many people now, myself included, are either hesitant or straight up unwilling to spend anymore money on the game. (They have enough already; let’s be honest)

Voting with your wallet is actually pretty ineffective when new players that don’t know any better–or equally as likely don’t care–can just about make up the difference over time. That’s why WG just keeps putting out ads and campaigns like nothing’s wrong and only addresses community concerns on the forums or in other places that are nice and tucked away out of sight. It’s irritating but that’s exactly what they should be doing while trying to fix their own mess. The issue is giving players bits and pieces of what they’ve been requesting for ages while avoiding the lootbox issue and the horrific PR management. Shonai said they weren’t going to just talk, but actually take action on the issues, but I’m worried that by the time they decide on what to do, we’ll have moved onto the next big problem. Anything they do about the lootboxes will be too little too late. There’s a vicious cycle forming here.

About Black Friday and Collaborations

I want to talk about Black Friday and WoWs collaborations since we’re in the middle of Wargaming’s biggest mud bath that I’ve seen, at least. I’ve only been playing for a year, so I wouldn’t dare call myself an old player; the game’s six years old. In a previous post I said I’m not spending anymore on the game until the situation improves. That’s not concrete enough of a statement so I’m going to clarify my position as well as outline some exceptions I’m making. My average amount spent on WoWs since I started playing was about $50 a month. It spiked during certain collabs or events like Black Friday and plummeted when nothing interesting was going on. It all still averages out to about $50 monthly. That stops … last month.

I’ll explain that in detail but first, the reason I’m drawing a line between not spending anything at all and spending freely like I used to is because part of what got me into this game was the ship collection aspect of it. I’m directly taking away half of my own enjoyment of the game to join in a community-wide statement to Wargaming. I think it’s the right thing to do, but it’s also going to come back to bite me later if I become an absolutist about it. There’s a difference between WG ruining WoWs for me and me ruining it for myself. I’m making two exceptions to my ‘don’t spend anything on WG’ stance right here for the record, both so I can do what I feel is right but also not throw away opportunities I’ve been waiting on for as long as I’ve been playing the game.

Do you think exceptions are a bad thing? Well just keep in mind that Wargaming isn’t factoring the spending habits of specific players into their decisions, they’re adding up totals over time and carefully watching trends. Revenue going up during events is what inclines game companies to do more events more often, so that’s another form of feedback you can give them if it doesn’t go against your principles. Now for those exceptions.

Black Friday

This is entirely about the Enterprise and the potential Enterprise B. Both the Enterprise and the Jean Bart were removed from the premium shop before I had the chance to get either of them. The Jean Bart B is a Black Friday version of the Jean Bart that I bought last year during the event. She’s one of my favorite ships, so I’m glad I had that alternative. There is no Enterprise B at the time of this writing, however, if, and only if Wargaming puts up an Enteprise B for this upcoming Black Friday will I buy anything from them at all.

The last Black Friday event bundled the whole collection of ships for that year and the previous for people who want them all and/or the flags and patches for each ship, but whether I get a bundle or something is still up in the air. It’s unlikely since I don’t get bundles unless there are at least two ships I want in them (and I have an embarrassing number of B variants already). Since I can’t think of any other ships besides Enterprise B I’d really want that could be bundled with her, I won’t hold my breath. They’ve only done Tier 7s up to Tier 9s from what I can tell, so the list of premiums (and more importantly the list of premiums I care to get) is getting very small. Mainz B? Eh. Wake me when Loewenhardt B is a thing. Black Stukas would be hard to pass up.

So to summarize, if there is no Enterprise B during this upcoming Black Friday event, I’m not spending one cent. If there is, I will buy it, and most likely separately.

Collaborations

There have been a few collaborations that have gotten me some ships and commanders I really wanted, and when they do reruns I like to pick up characters I missed or buy the odd bundle here and there. It just depends on the collab, but I actually skip most of them. The WH40k and Transformer events didn’t interest me at all for example. The current Legend of Galactic Heroes does somewhat, but it’s not a collab I’d make an exception for. Something like an Arpeggio of Blue Steel collaboration is a better fit for me. Since submarines are in the latter half of their testing and will be released relatively soon, I’m hoping I-401 among others will show up in the next ARP collab after they’re released. It’s just a vague hope, but some of the data for one of the subs is already in the game. It shouldn’t surprise anyone if that happens.

So to summarize here, if there’s an Arpeggio event or something else over the target, I will buy what I want from it.

I’m making these two exceptions so that I don’t wind up chasing myself from the game over regrets that are entirely my own fault. It’s not my fault I couldn’t get Enterprise or Jean Bart. It’s 100% my fault if I don’t get a hypothetical Enterprise B. You could argue that WG’s mismanagement is a perfectly good reason to jump ship right now, and you’d be right, but I actually like this game. My enjoyment of it is only hindered by a couple of things. What it’s really lacking are more game modes and missions to get higher tier ships without having to pay money for them. Even so, there’s nothing else quite like it. I’d like to see it improve and I want to be there to experience that upward trend if it happens. The game balance is improving in some areas and falling apart in others, but one thing that’s remained constant is my ability to pick up certain ships I want and learn how best to play them. I’ve wanted Enterprise from the very beginning, but it’s never been possible. So, to avoid shoot myself in the foot just to spite WG, I will buy the ship if an opportunity presents itself, be that Black Friday, or some other avenue. No matter what else is going on, that ship in particular is an exception worth making.

… I’m just praying they don’t change up the Black Friday event to make the lootboxes some kind of requirement, otherwise I’m rioting with everyone else ….