I've got a lot of time in this game seeing as how I played way back in 2013, and I must say the game has gotten better insofar as new and interesting vehicles being added from different eras over the standard "ww2 tank battle" games that exist, but that's come along with an ever-increasing descent into garbage. The economic system is a joke, with the cost to repair many vehicles far outstripping their earning potential (maybe as a way to get people to spend real money on in-game currency?) as you progress, making the entire line of "free to play" a complete and utter lie.

At the same time, the devs outright ignore most feedback and actively censor any criticism (both valid and not) with blanket bans or disabling of chats (go look at most every community post or official video and see how open to comments they are...not really a sign of a positive company-community interaction). Heck, when they made a big show of "gathering player feedback" on a slew of economic changes a while back, they offered the community a number of choices, with none of them being particularly great, and when they implemented the changes they tacked on a massive nerf to earnings overall and had the audacity to ask "why doesn't the community like the changes? There was a vote!"

Add in the bog standard spamming of premium vehicles that cost as much as AAA titles and the nerfs that come after a few updates to "encourage" people to buy the next one that practically all "free to play" games have these days and its no wonder why so many players will talk about how they want a similar game to release so they can ditch War Thunder for good.

And to any new players thinking of coming in...just don't. Once you get to where the interesting vehicles are the game becomes a nightmare to try and keep up with for non-premium players. Unless you're an old player with a lot of premiums and skills built up over the years it flat out is not worth it: Gaijin Entertainment doesn't give a damn about you or their game.


EDIT as of 08/18/2023: Gaijin, likely after the massive amount of backlash against the aforementioned problems, have introduced numerous QoL changes that the playerbase voted on. It is definitely a step in the right direction, but we as consumers and players have to remain vigilant as Gaijin has backtracked before.

EDIT as of 12/22/2023: As per my previous call to remain vigilant, it seems as though Gaijin, despite making positive changes in how the game works, is digging in its heels with dubious justifications. As such, it is up to us as consumers to do whatever we can to correct their behavior. Until they give reasonable justification for their balancing decisions and release their utterly authoritarian enforcement against genuine criticisms of the game on their forums, I cannot in good conscience recommend the game to new players.

I've got a lot of time in this game seeing as how I played way back in 2013, and I must say the game has gotten better insofar as new and interesting vehicles being added from different eras over the standard "ww2 tank battle" games that exist, but that's come along with an ever-increasing descent into garbage. The economic system is a joke, with the cost to repair many vehicles far outstripping their earning potential (maybe as a way to get people to spend real money on in-game currency?) as you progress, making the entire line of "free to play" a complete and utter lie. At the same time, the devs outright ignore most feedback and actively censor any criticism (both valid and not) with blanket bans or disabling of chats (go look at most every community post or official video and see how open to comments they are...not really a sign of a positive company-community interaction). Heck, when they made a big show of "gathering player feedback" on a slew of economic changes a while back, they offered the community a number of choices, with none of them being particularly great, and when they implemented the changes they tacked on a massive nerf to earnings overall and had the audacity to ask "why doesn't the community like the changes? There was a vote!" Add in the bog standard spamming of premium vehicles that cost as much as AAA titles and the nerfs that come after a few updates to "encourage" people to buy the next one that practically all "free to play" games have these days and its no wonder why so many players will talk about how they want a similar game to release so they can ditch War Thunder for good. And to any new players thinking of coming in...just don't. Once you get to where the interesting vehicles are the game becomes a nightmare to try and keep up with for non-premium players. Unless you're an old player with a lot of premiums and skills built up over the years it flat out is not worth it: Gaijin Entertainment doesn't give a damn about you or their game. EDIT as of 08/18/2023: Gaijin, likely after the massive amount of backlash against the aforementioned problems, have introduced numerous QoL changes that the playerbase voted on. It is definitely a step in the right direction, but we as consumers and players have to remain vigilant as Gaijin has backtracked before. EDIT as of 12/22/2023: As per my previous call to remain vigilant, it seems as though Gaijin, despite making positive changes in how the game works, is digging in its heels with dubious justifications. As such, it is up to us as consumers to do whatever we can to correct their behavior. Until they give reasonable justification for their balancing decisions and release their utterly authoritarian enforcement against genuine criticisms of the game on their forums, I cannot in good conscience recommend the game to new players.