I have been playing since 2011 and come back regularly when I have the itch for tanks. What drives me away every single time is not poor balance, OP premiums, arty, or even RNG. It’s the players. Specifically the smooth brained morons who leave an entire lane open, refuse to spot/shoot what’s spotted, or camp/push in the most inane positions. There is just no reason a player base this small and this loyal should be so mind-bendingly inept at the game. Each time I come back for my darling Chimera the honeymoon is shorter.

I love hopping on old Battlefield/COD/whatever old multiplayer title when I have the nostalgia and being able to enjoy THE BEST that game had to offer. People know how to play, use good kit, and PTFO. I love getting slapped around and crushed by the dedicated veterans and forced to “git gud” or die. Meanwhile in WOT 3/4s of the matches are one sided routs decided not by the skilled players, but by a un-carriable weight of gibbering apes with 50,000 battles who still don’t understand the basics of armor, spotting, or lanes.

I’ve never played a game that so ruthlessly discourages selfless, PTFO teamplay. In Battlefield you can have a great match even on an awful team. You might get killed more, but you can still be a menace and the rewards for a loss are the same. In WOT you just get crushed, your contribution is squandered, AND you lose credits/progress on marks. The only clear eyed meta is to farm off your allies in success and failure. Play for yourself and yourself alone until you just get tired of it.

Why is this game the way it is? How do the players not learn after such an extent of time? Why is there not some attempt at SBMM?