New player needs help understanding silver lions

[frank_william]

So im about 300hr into the game, just reached 9.0 yesterday. i bought premium and a tank, plus a bunch of extra crap. I dont understand silver lions, how am i suppossed to earn them? I just found out like a week ago that you can lose them by just playing even if you have preminum. Like wtf? How does that make any sense at all. Help me understand please. Is it so only good people can play higher BRs? I can understand you not gaining any money maybe but losing them? Do they not want us to play or whats the deal here? I was so stoked to play 9.0 yesterday but was just met with the biggest anticlimax. The games are terrible, heck like 9/10 rounds last for about 5 minutes, no joke. And then it also costs money to play it? What the shits man? I paid real money to skip the grind (which it does actually do) and then when i reached a certain level i cant get any further. Im completely dumbfounded.

So please can someone help me understand what the reasoning behind this is?

[Schindibee]

@frank_william

skip the grind

That’s your problem right there.

You paid money to get into a Tier and BR where the majority of the players have not played just 300, but literally thousands of hours, and thus have a very good understanding of the vehicles they use and they fight again, they know the ins and outs of the maps and the game mechanics.

As to SL, you win them by hitting, critting, killing the enemy, by killing AI targets, bases, by capping points, etc. etc. etc.

And you LOSE the silver lyons by repairing your vehicles and by buying ammo.

I fear right now you may be in aposition where as a beginner you barely survive, without killing or othewrwise earning a lot, and thus loose a lot on repair especially.

I can only recommend to take a few steps back, play the game from the beginning, to really learn how to best play it.

Also - often vastly underestimated - it does NOT mean that the higher you are in BR, the more fun you can have! You can have fun at every step, and fo myself I think for example with tanks I’ve had the most fun around BR 3.7 to maybe 5.7…

[frank_william]

Ok that makes little sense. So you have to be good at the game to play higher tier? What kind of logic is that? A big part of War thunder is progressing up the tech tree it makes zero sense punishing you for not performing well. Hell most of the time its out of you hands anyways. Like i said i can buy not earning any silver but it costing you silver just to pålay the game? And that being on top the cost of premium. I feel tricked, like i have to put more money on silver just to be able to play?

[Schindibee]

The logic?

Well, when you start for example with planes, you got a simple biplane with maybe a machine gun, no retractable gear, no flaps, etc.

At top tier you have supersonic jets with guided missiles, complex radar systems with different modes, flaps, airbrakes, CCIP and CCRP bombing, guided and unguided bombs and missiles with varying guidance methods, etc. etc, etc.

Similarly with tanks, you start with a fairly simple bucket with a machine gun or light canon, and end up with high tech beasts with various weapons, varous and complex ammo, guided ammo in some cases, thermal and other night vision devices, etc. etc. etc.

Yes, you need to learn to go from simple pre WW" to mModern Era weapons systems and vehicles.

[Schindibee]

@frank_william

up the tech tree it makes zero sense punishing you for not performing well. Hell most of the time its out of you hands anyways. Like i said i can buy not earning any silver but it costing you silver just to pålay the game? And that being on top the cost of premium. I feel tricked, like i have to put more money on silver just to be able to play?

And no, you don’t need to pay SL to play the game (except in some game modes), but you earn SL by playing, and it depends of course how well you play, what you play, etc.

But maybe to ask a question to you: what exactly do you play right now, and where do you struggle?

[frank_william]

I like sim ground the most but its useless because you can only play certain vics on certain days for some reason. I struggle with having spent money on a product for a service that is not available to me. I struggle with gaijin not explaning how any of this works. I feel tricked and i feel like im still playing a shitty free to play game even though i have already given them my money. And i struggle to grasp how this works. Like can play higher tier sometimes? But mainly you have to grind for silver even with premium to be able to play the game? Its fucking retarded.

[Schindibee]

@frank_william

I struggle with gaijin not explaning how any of this works

https://wiki.warthunder.com/Main_Page

Read this then.

Maybe especially focus first on the chapters under the header “Game Mechanics”.

[shangxiang]

That’s the major problem in the game with top tiers premium aviable for new players …

[shangxiang]

WHAAAAAAAAAT??? it is the hospital who f… the charity …

@Schindibee come explain to you it is a bad idea to purchase a hight rank premium and invite you to read the academy of the game for understand mecanics in top tier… And you shit on him without a try for understand you havent the skill for top tiers vehicles …

[T3ddy4]

Its not their fault you decided to spend money without first finding out what you were spending money on. SL as a mechanic is designed to negate the effectiveness of afk or bot systems that you can leave playing the game, contributing little to nothing to the team or the matches you are in, and grinding your way through the tech tree without spending any money, because if it were that simple to get all the vehicles then nobody would spend money, gaijin would have no money to continue the upkeep of the game and it would die. The problem you have is that your mindset is wrong. Top teir should not be the goal. you have come in and decided you wanted to get to a specific set of vehicles and caveats be damned. War thunder is not a simulator game, it is not for people to just pick their favourite vehicle and only play that vehicle, and frankly if you could do that the game would not be very fun, as there would be little to no variety in the matchmaking. War thunder is a game best played with the vehicles that are in front of you, you play with what you have until you get something else then you play that too. Your money is spent now, and the best way to get the most out of it is to now go and play all the vehicles you have skipped. Here is a challenge, go and spade all of the rank 1,2,3 and 4 vehicles you have researched but not yet played.

[Schindibee]

Do you remember the time where you got a hundreds of pages long printed manual with your game, and you really had to read it or be completely and utterly lost?

I still have a few of them, and even sometimes browse through them. Falcon 4.0 for example…

[frank_william]

You are missing the point. Listen me, I am a new player yes. Im telling you i feel cheated and fooled. I feel they mislead me regarding what i was buying. As a consumer i have the general expection from a free to play game that you get to play a limited version of the game for free. And if you BUY the product you get full access. Im sure we can agree on that right.

Now if i were to explain what war thunder was to a friend. I could summarize it like its an MMO with tanks and planes. You have different countries with unique vehicles which you can research by playing against other people. Theres tech trees where you can get better and more modern vehicles starting from early WW2.

Ive spent 90 euros on the game. I consider myself to have bought the game. I expected to be able to fully access the game before i made my purchase. Ive played 313hr so far and have had a blast. Part of the game is progressing up the tech tree yes? But now i have hit a point were playing my top tier tanks(br 9) doesnt let me make any further progress. What am i expected to do here you think? The only options i see are 1. buy silver for real money. 2. grind lower tiers for silver to be able to play higher tier?

Ive played sim ground for the better part of the day today. i started with around 100k silver and now im down to 40… and im not the worst player. I do get kills every round i do cap flag and all that stuff but still im not making any progress except research. Its not fun, its just demoralising losing progress. like whats the point of even paying for premium if it just locks you out when you reach high enough. And dont tell me i have to play lower tiers. I “bought the game” to enjoy and have fun, not to farm imaginary money for no fucking reason.

[SpankdaMonkey]

@Schindibee

Falcon 4.0 for example…

That’s hilarious I just last week went through a box full of my old games getting ready to toss them out laughing at the text books that came with them. Falcon 4.0 and the Armoured Fist series were in there.

[frank_william]

Teddy my man. I spent money expecting to get the full version of a free to play game and i was sold on the idea by them.

SL being a mechanic to stop bots is just a lie. Its to make money. Please explain what function losing silver(progress) have other then to make more money. Forgive me if you already knew this but the cornerstone of any free to play game is the 80/20 rule. 20% of player will be 80% of their income. Everything about their games is centered around this principle. Why do you think their prices are so absurd? Most player will maybe spend litlle money once in a while but whats earning the real money us people with lots of it.

I see what you mean about mindset but thats not a problem i have. I dont have a end goal. I want to fun and just play the game, i dont think thats too much to ask. I think its fun the play the vehicles i want to play. And if i get a new vehicle i would like to play that one. But now ive hit a point where i have to go back just to earn silver and i dont find that fun. It sounds stupid and fucking retarded.

[SpankdaMonkey]

You hit the same wall many of have, bit of advice ? Setup a couple presets at lower BR levels and just play, not so much farm SL’s as to really get your head around all the little quirks and tricks to this game. You’re skills get better, you make lions quicker, your crews gain experience quicker without the hard drain on the SL bank like playing the top tiers is designed to do.

Does help and you can select what BR level you want to play per game, more choices more fun.

[Schindibee]

@frank_william

I spent money expecting to get the full version of a free to play game and i was sold on the idea by them.

But you have a complete wrong expectation of War Thunder then.

This isn’t DCS where you buy a vehicle and can start to master it, even most modern one.

But this is evident from the first minute spent in the hangar: you see those literally hundreds of vehicles, and only the very first and simple ones free to use, and one quickly understands that one has to play to gain research points and silver lions to both research “better” vehicles and purchase and operate them. And how to win and lose SL is very evident from the beginning as well, as all actions that give money are printed in big letters and numbers: “hey look, I killed a player and won 1200 SL by doing so!”. And at the end of the match you see the whole “receipt” of how much you earned and won (and how), and how much you spent, in the form of repair or ammo costs.

It’s all there, very easily visible, right from the start.

Where’s the scam here?

Of course you can purchase higher tier vehicles from the start, but what do you expect of them? That you quickly or immediately master them and excell at using them, with all those other players just waiting to get bested by you?

No, that’s not such a type of game, and it never was, nor was it never advertised as such.

BUT, what I really find very exciting, is that indeed all through the tiers, all betwen the different nations, vehicle types and game modes, you need to learn, you keep getting challenged, you never stagnate. And even after playing tank realistic in mid tiers for a week or so, then air sim high tier for a month, then you go back to the tanks - you will again need to get accustomed to the vehicles and gamestyle.

It never gets boring (in my personal experience), except if I myself chose to play always the same thing and don’t explore the vastness of the rest.

Only point I give is that when you purchase a high tier vehicle you’re not explicytly warned that you may face much more experienced players with such high tier vehicles, and thus as a beginner may struggle. But, sorry if I sound condescending - isn’t this obvious?

[shangxiang]

@frank_william

I consider myself to have bought the game.

Wait what??? you think really you will unlock a full tech tree with 1 premium vehicle? you never play to a free to play … ALL free to play offer opportunities for buy bonues (here premium vehicles) but ONLY for help you in the grind … NEVER for have a god mode … And if with a premium hight rank you lose SL … well well well … I think you must go hard reading academy and seeing tuto on youtube for understand the game …

Ho, and you can inject 50 000€ in the game, you dont have any performance bonuses … Only RP and SL bonuses …

The only point with i agree with you is the informations can be more explicites when you buy a hight rank premium vehicle on possible disavantages for a new player.

[frank_william]

For me it doesnt tell me the repair costs after the game. Where does it say?

I understand your point of view but im trying to tell you mine. Its not fun first of all and i feel tricked. If i want to play higher tiers i have to pay again. Can you see how that is kinda backwords. I understand the economy of skill(?) but to take silver away from players without informing them is borderline scam.

How i see it is. I bought premium hoping to get a full version of a free to play game. But to play higher tier you need to buy silver lions on top of that as a fee. Furthermore the in game currency have a paired value with real life money. So each time you play a round youre essentially playing for real money. And this is not properly explained to new players such as myself. Rather they do everything to hide the fact.

So ive payed money to get a head start or what ever yeah. And bam now i have to pay more money EACH round to be able to play with the vehicles i want to. I always thought you never could go negative after a round, at worst you could gain 0 silver. But you can and it seems like its impossible to play higher tier without losing silver. And like i said in my game it doesnt say what the repair costs are. It doesnt even say i lost silver after a round. Thats them taking REAL MONEY without informing me. That sounds like fraud to me, ofcourse its not but whatever. Can you understand how i see things?

I didnt actually buy a higher tier tank than i was. I bought the swedish 81 with the rockets, cuz i thought it was cool. and it was that you very much. Its just shame, i was having so much fun but now it just feels like ive been scammed.

[AlanHR]

@frank_william

How i see it is. I bought premium hoping to get a full version of a free to play game. But to play higher tier you need to buy silver lions on top of that as a fee. Furthermore the in game currency have a paired value with real life money. So each time you play a round youre essentially playing for real money. And this is not properly explained to new players such as myself. Rather they do everything to hide the fact.

Thats the point, you don’t need to buy SL. You earn it. Since top BR is quite expensive place to learn you have SL issues as it takes time to learn vehicles/maps. Players with gradually developed tech trees are in advantage as they can revert to lower BRs to earn SL easier. For me Obj 120 is my SL printing machine. Its very cheap to repair but gives lots of SL. Whenever I need some SL I revert to 7.3 and earn it.

[frank_william]

Hey no need to be rude. No i did not buy a higher tier than i already was, which was 7. I bought premium to support the game and not having to grind as much i dont find that to be much fun. It is however fun to make progress! Getting new tanks and upgrading them, thats fun. I would like to play with the IFVs i have unlocked but that costs extra money on top of what i already paid for premium subscription. And that was never explained to me which is a huge bummer.

My understanding as for now is that there is no way to earn silver in higher tiers. So it will actually cost you silver to play higher tiers? And silver equete to real money, therefor i have to pay twice to play the game? Im i getting this right?