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First, I am going to start with a disclaimer: I am a 100% free-to-play. Now, before you guys accuse me of not knowing what driving premiums feel like because I haven’t paid WG anything, I DO have premiums. And not trashy cheap stuff like tier 5s or IS-5. I have a Type 59, a Lowe, and an IS-3 Defender, and used to have a Gravedigger. But yes, I have not spent any money in this game, so this is somewhat a normal, casual player’s viewpoint.
I personally find ratings to be fun. I love the fierce competition and the great friendship among ratings teams, especially the top guys all trying to go for the gold. I have made several new friends there, and it has been a fun month. However, there is one point that irks me the most: premium tanks in ratings battles. And don’t say “oh, you’re just bad”, because I am among the top-rated players. So, it’s not a matter of skill, but rather a problem that I noticed while playing ratings.
First, I am going to clarify what I mean by premium tanks. Any vehicle that is not obtainable from the tech tree at the moment is in effect a premium. So this also includes collector tanks that were sold exclusively at tier 9 and 10 for large sums of money or gold. I am advocating for ONLY tech tree tanks in ratings battles for the sake of fairness.
Ratings is supposed to be a game mode where experienced players can show off their prowess in battle, and be a competitive place away from normal daily pubs that fosters better team cooperation and more dynamic gameplay. Which it does, at least most of the time. However, players should be grinding to tier 7 8 9 and 10, not buying a vehicle from the store and in effect cutting the line in front of everybody that are grinding tech tree tanks. People should grind up from the bottom to participate in this special game mode, not buy themselves into it.
The first reason is less experienced players. I think all of you here would agree that an inexperienced player that either only has premium tanks or bought premium tanks several tiers above where they are in the tech tree is a nuisance when they are on your team in pubs. But this is even more frustrating in ratings. When your rating rank is on the line, one guy in a premium that has no idea what he is doing can throw the entire game, especially if that guy is giving out incorrect directions / spamming in chat / being toxic and confusing or distracting your team. And now that WG is selling tier 9 and 10 “enriched” tanks and collectable tanks, even the top tiers are not immune. First thing the ban on premiums would do is take these players out of ratings, because this is unfair to the people on their team.
The second reason is the fact that many of these premiums are better than their tech tree counterparts. This is debatable, but very readily verifiable. Why else would tier 7 and 8 ratings be full of premiums? Simply said, most of the competitive tanks at tier 7 and 8 are premiums. Ratings is where winning matters, so people drive what they perceive to be their most competitive tanks, with the result of ratings being full of premiums.
The prime example would be the WZ 120 G FT. This TD is all over ratings, and since WG can’t nerf premiums, it absolutely dominates. It is very difficult to deal with because of its DPM, pen, mobility, armor, and camouflage value. It can snipe, brawl, bounce shots from any tank, flex around the map, and has gun depression on a tank with a super low silhouette. Anybody that calls this balanced is crazy. No player, good or bad, should be able to spend 50 dollars and instantly increase their rating because of the tank.
On top of that, almost every single tier 8 heavy or medium you see is a premium tank in tier 7 and 8 ratings. You just expect to meet mostly premiums in ratings. A medium tank? Most likely a Type 59 or a T-54 Mod 1. A heavy tank? Most likely a T34, M6A2E1 EXP, or an AMX M4 49, along with IS-5 and IS-3 Defender, Lupus, Nameless, and all these other premiums. A tier 8 TD is very likely to be a WZ FT, Scorpion G, or a T28 Defender, or a SU-122-44.
Then there are tier 9 and 10 collectors or enriched vehicles, which people buy for hundreds of dollars. 121B. AMX 30er 1st Prototype. Kpz 70. Chieftain Mk.6. T22 Medium. All these tanks are super competitive at tier X, and are definitely among the top performing tanks in their tiers. Take the AMX 30, for instance. For a hundred bucks, you get a Leo PTA + Centurion 7/1 + M46 Patton crossover. It gets great gun depression, a low silhouette, great turret armor, great mobility, and a fast firing 105mm gun with good pen. Literally the medium tank version of the WZ FT at the tier above.
This influx of premium tanks, especially at tier 8, is leaving few options for tech tree tanks. I have mainly only seen experienced players play three tier 8 tech tree tanks: the T49 and the VK100, and maybe the occasional ISU or Borsig. Like, the state of lower tier ratings just automatically excludes most tech tree vehicles from even being competitive. Trying to play lights? Have fun with Type 59s and T-54 Mod 1s. Trying to play heavy tanks? You better be in a Vk100, or have fun dealing with M6 Mutants, Libertes, and T34s with impenetrable armor for any shell and high pen.
And I won’t be a hypocrite here: I myself play tier 8 ratings with premium tanks. But why? Because there is really no other way for me to significantly influence the outcome of the battle. The only way to beat’em is to join them. I’ve tried to play T-54 Ltwt, IS-3, Cent 1, and T-44 in ratings. They just get completely outclassed.
Tl;DR
WG needs to allow only tech tree vehicles in ratings. Ratings Battles should only be reserved for people who have worked hard and ground their way up into the upper echelons of the game through the tech trees, not for people that take the shortcut and pay money for premium tanks.
