Honestly, the grind in War Thunder has gotten ridiculous. Tanks take ages to research — you can play for hours and barely see the progress bar move. Helicopters aren’t any better; it’s the same endless slog of grinding RP and SL just to unlock the next vehicle.
Planes are somewhat okay in comparison, but even there, it’s not without a catch. You still hit paywalls or have to grind specific mods just to make the plane actually competitive.
I get that the game needs progression, but right now it feels more like a job than a game. A bit of balance in research costs or RP gain would go a long way toward making the experience more enjoyable. At this point, the grind feels less like a challenge and more like a broken mechanic. The balance between effort and reward just isn’t there anymore.
2 Likes
It is a fine line that the company walks, they want you to pay money but do not want a subscription game, they also do not want to put players off because it is too hard and too long to make progression.
In the early days it was not too bad as the tech tress were fairly short and the game was just starting so they wanted to attract players, as the game matured and new vehicles added and the player base increased this has lead to the unenviable position we are in now.
Some players who may not be that good struggle a lot to progress and to gain silver lions, some even have difficulties even while running a premium account. Some people will just say they need to get better, which is great if you want to decrease the player base even more.
Now the game is in a horrible position, not quite big enough to carry on and weather the storm but not quite small enough to fail, it is a somewhat managed decline trying to squeeze as much cash as possible before changes have to be made which will annoy and upset people who have paid, or eventually shut down.
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Yeah, that sums it up perfectly. The progression system really feels like it’s stuck between two models — too grindy for casual or new players, but not rewarding enough for those who actually support the game with premium time or vehicles. Even with premium, getting meaningful XP or SL gains for higher-tier tanks and helis feels like a nightmare.
Farming new missiles or upgrades for helis especially takes a ridiculous amount of time if you don’t buy them outright. You can spend hours just trying to unlock one decent missile, and until you do, you’re basically stuck flying with outdated loadouts against fully equipped opponents.
The worst part is that it discourages people from trying new tech trees or experimenting with different playstyles. You either have to commit hundreds of hours or open your wallet just to keep up. I get that the game needs to make money, but the current balance just isn’t sustainable in the long run.