As you know, we always avoid any kind of politics and focus solely on creating interesting games. All of our ideas regarding new additions to War Thunder, including the Thai subtree, are purely aimed at improving progression and gameplay. There is no intention to create a political statement with anything that we include in the game, as doing so would benefit no one and only cause negativity and discomfort. We do everything possible to ensure all War Thunder fans around the world can play together and have fun.
It boggles my mind that the developers of this game can state something like this, yet act in a manner that is completely antithetical to this.
- Gaijin claims to be doing everything possible to ensure all fans can play together and have fun, yet they are only seeking to soothe the anger of a particularly loud group of a SINGLE playerbase (note that I take care to note that playerbases are not monolithic.
- Gaijin claims to be avoiding any kind of politics, but in reality, they are only kowtowing to the politics of a single group. If I am reading this correctly, Gaijin may very well withhold the VT-4 entirely from the Thai subtree because of “sensitivities”. However, isn’t the act of withholding a vehicle in active service in Thailand to cater to these sensitivities political as well? Why is it that Gaijin must bow to the pressure of a particular playerbase, yet literally ignore the wishes of every other player, including those in China who don’t mind the addition of the VT-4?
In past updates, Gaijin has been bold enough to create content for the benefit of all players despite sectarian outcries. For example, we saw a particularly loud group of Indian players protest against the addition of Indian vehicles to the British Tech Tree, even though these vehicles would be under their own flag (as with other subtrees). Yet, Gaijin forged ahead anyway! What is so different about Chinese vehicles that Gaijin acts in a manner antithetical their statement, unfairly giving precedence to the sentiments of a loud group within the Chinese playerbase?
I also want to note that this is NOT THE FIRST TIME that Gaijin has removed content entirely to cater to these sentiments, such as when the Ki-27 camo in the War Diaries event several years ago was removed. And that was when that playerbase was forced to have its own server.
Ultimately, I recognize that Gaijin is in a difficult situation, as War Thunder is one of the very few games out there where nationalist sentiments color the feedback, criticism, and even development of game content. However, I have seen that for nearly all content concerning outside the Asia-Pacific region, Gaijin has purposely forged ahead regardless of controversy to improve the game experience, such as adding the UMPK to the Su-34.
So if Gaijin can be so brave, then, why can’t they be brave enough to add a vehicle in active service with Thailand to the existing subtree?
We want our decision-making process to be as open and clear as possible, so today we’d like to explain our approach to new subtrees and balancing vehicle characteristics in detail.
I appreciate Gaijin for releasing this statement rather than blindsiding the playerbase by withholding the VT-4 and any such related vehicles without telling us. However, if Gaijin goes through with this, I see little reason to believe that Gaijin is acting fairly to the playerbase when they so readily favor a vitriolic subgroup.
Gaijin themselves admit that such sensitivities are in the minority:
We see that even the theoretical possibility of a Thai VT-4 being added to the Japanese tree is perceived with sensitivity by some players, as the tank for Thailand is produced in China
So why cater to them? Do what’s best for the game in its entirety, or at the very least, for the nation that should actually be using it. I hope to be pleasantly surprised next update.