World of Tanks - Supplimental

There seems to be a growing trend in the WoT gaming community these last few days (and by 'last few days', I mean week-and-a-half) for players to NOT scout for their team.  I realize that scouting puts you at risk of being shot, but that's all part of the game.

Oftentimes in game I hear players bemoan the existence of SPGs (Self Propelled Guns) aka Artillery in the game.  "Arty is too powerful.  Arty throws off the balance of the game.  Arty sucks.  Wah wah wah."  However, as soon as something really bad happens (the shit hits the fan) players start pinging the minimap like crazy in order to point out to the SPG drivers where the poor bastard who just got killed found the enemy.  And they being to wail and cry and shout out, "Arty!  Where the fuck are you?!  Why didn't you hit that tank before he killed me?!  I know there is only one of you on my team, but you're supposed to watch the whole map and hit any target whether you can see it or not!  You suck!  This is why arty shouldn't be in the game!!!!!!11!!!!!!"

Understand something please; SPGs were in existence during WW2...which is the time period WoT is based upon...and most all of the tanks featured in the game have some historical basis whether the tanks in question were actually developed or only remained drawn up as schematics. So if the developers have spent so much time and effort to code something in to the game in order to provide three distinct methods of play in the game, I advise you to shut the fuck up and enjoy the game.  If you can't handle it, I suggest you go play Battlefield 3 or Modern Warfare 3.

Back to my opening statement.  SPG drivers cannot hit what they cannot see.  If you refuse to spot for arty, you are not utilizing a very strong tool your team possesses.  Getting shot up and killed is part of the game.  It happens; it's not like what happens to you in the game carries over into the real world.

Pathfinder

So my GM wants to start playing Pathfinder.  Excellent.  For any 3.x DnD gaming, PF is the superior system to anything out there.  I defy you to show me a DnD setting with better fixed rules than what Paizo churned out a few years back. 


The only problem is, he wants to go ahead and finish off the 4e campaign and the Spirit of the Century games that he's got running.  So we may not get into Pathfinder until about this time next year.  Le sigh.

On an off note, I think I'm done tinkering with the look and feel of the ol' blog here.  For now.  Truly.  I mean it.

I Am Feeling a Bit Out of Sorts

Its been...three or four months since I last had a game night?  I might be exaggerating a bit, but if I am it's not by much.  And my dissatisfaction at having no game night is carrying over into the other games I do play.  World of Tanks has lost a lot of its luster.  League of Legends is no substitute for Warcraft 3: Defense of the Ancients.  Even with Star Trek Online going "free to play"  hasn't done anything to alleviate my gaming melancholy.

Speaking of Star Trek Online, Cryptic has screwed up in a major way with how they are rolling out the "free to play" for STO.  Apparently you can download the game without a problem, but the game is still asking you to subscribe in order to play.  Doesn't that defeat the purpose of going "f2p"?

As far as World of Tanks goes, Wargames.net recently (perhaps a few months ago) had a large patch wherein the developers added a few extra tiers to the light tank track.  These tanks now max out at tier five...and somehow they end up in games against tier ten tanks.  This is not a problem if you are in any tank other than artillery.  There are several issues with the game that all come together at this juncture that have considerably diminished the playability of the game in my opinion.  These new light tanks are the catalyst.  The other parts of the equation come from the driving/turning speed. the reload rate, and the aiming time that higher tier artillery suffer.  Against similarly ranked tanks, these SPGs are balanced quite well.  Against these new light tanks, SPGs stand no chance.  Not only that, but rumors indicate that with the next big patch the developers will change the matchmaker to only allow two SPGs per side per match.  I, for one, love playing in SPGs and these rumored changes along with the new light tanks are seriously reducing my desire to continue playing the game. 

On a side note, the folks at Blizzard are prepping to launch their next expansion in time for the Thanksgiving/Christmas holiday season of 2012 with Pandera.  Finally we'll get to see the homeland of Chen Stormstout.  I do like that if you play as a Panderan, you'll be able to play for either faction.  I still don't know if it's enough to make me want to reactivate my account when it launches.  I'm still itching to get my hands on Diablo 3 and The Secret World.

-Bonzo out.