Rustar
Back
happy melon
Nov.3,2023
Tens of millions of players boycotting together? The excessive monetization in "War Thunder" is pushing people to their limits! Reducing player benefits in online games to stimulate in-game purchases is a common practice among gaming companies. Typically, players have little choice but to accept these changes, as long as the core gaming experience remains intact, playing without spending money is still possible. However, it's a different story when it comes to "War Thunder." In this case, the players are showing the developers what it means to "mess with the wrong crowd." In recent times, "War Thunder" players from various regions have planned a two-week game strike starting on May 25th to protest the excessive reduction of in-game rewards by the developers. "War Thunder" is a vehicular combat online game developed by Gaijin Entertainment, a Russian company. It officially started open beta testing on November 1, 2012. The game is set against the backdrop of World War II, the Cold War, and modern counter-terrorism operations. It offers a highly detailed and personalized experience of driving and combat with various vehicles from different nations, including planes, tanks, and warships. Initially, "War Thunder" allowed players to engage in aerial combat, but as the game evolved, it introduced ground and naval combat vehicles. As of now, the game boasts an extensive collection of over a thousand vehicles, and the player base exceeded tens of millions as early as 2016. "War Thunder" has been known for its "hardcore" approach, focusing on recreating historical authenticity. Vehicles and crew are treated separately, and there are no fixed health bars; damage to one part affects the overall combat performance. To defeat enemies, players must understand their vehicle's performance, study enemy weaknesses and armor thickness, and consider firing angles to maximize damage. The game's "full-real mode" offers no targeting assistance, requiring players to rely on their observation skills. What makes this game even more impressive is the detailed information about real military vehicles it provides. However, the question arises: how does a gaming company obtain data on real military vehicles? The answer is, they often improvise. The trouble with "War Thunder" players started with a recent game update. On May 4th, Gaijin Entertainment released an announcement about the "New Economy Plan" intending to "completely change the game's economic system from scratch." As a free-to-play game, "War Thunder" relies on in-game purchases for its revenue. After more than a decade of operation, the company decided to significantly reduce player rewards to encourage players to spend more on in-game purchases. However, players quickly realized that this economic system adjustment amounted to a significant reduction in rewards. Based on the data from matches, if a player's KDA (Kill-Death-Assist) ratio falls below 2, they would not earn enough to cover their vehicle repair costs for the entire match. In other words, players needed at least three kills to break even, a challenging feat in a hardcore PvP game. It's no wonder that players were unhappy. To make matters worse, Gaijin Entertainment followed up with another announcement on May 12th, titled "Specific Value Adjustments in the New Economic System." They tried to justify their actions by claiming it was all for the players' benefit. However, instead of realizing their mistake, Gaijin Entertainment further irked the players. This led to a massive backlash, with players flooding the game with negative reviews from all over the world, starting on May 17th. On May 22nd, the game received over 20,000 negative reviews. After giving the game negative reviews, players from different regions even formed an alliance called "W.T.P.U" to defend their gaming rights. Their demand was clear: they wanted Gaijin Entertainment to roll back the update and ensure that a significant portion of the rewards would be restored to a reasonable level. After all, even "whales," or players who spend heavily on in-game purchases, found it challenging to balance their expenses. They were not happy to spend money only to get a raw deal. Initially, Gaijin Entertainment expressed dissatisfaction with players giving the game negative reviews and even mocked free-to-play players as "parasites on the server." However, on May 23rd, the official statement suddenly apologized and invited players to fill out a survey, promising a "more detailed update roadmap" by June 14th. At first glance, it seemed like the players' protest had succeeded. But upon closer inspection, it's puzzling. They were quick to reduce player rewards, but rolling back the update will take a much longer time, making it seem like they are taking players for granted. It's Gaijin Entertainment's stubborn actions that led to the "strike" lasting 14 days. Since the official developer wasn't listening to player feedback, players had to unite and take action to show that "going against the players won't lead to a good outcome." In fact, back in 2019, Gaijin Entertainment had started making minor adjustments to player rewards in matches. The changes were manageable at the time, and players mostly just grumbled. It's evident that the company felt players were compliant and, thus, took a more significant step to reduce player rewards, leading to the current player outrage. In similar past cases, game companies that attempted to "educate" players about such changes did not end well. Currently, the battle between players and Gaijin Entertainment continues, and we'll have to wait and see what the outcome will be.
#News
share
0
26
Best Comments
No more
Add a comment
Selected Games
Download Rustar APP
Join Telegram Group