In Naval Battles, the rules for creating game sessions (matchmaking) have been changed:
The minimum number of players required to start a session has been reduced.
The number of ships controlled by AI (system named bots) in sessions of all Battle Ratings has been increased to the maximum (32).
The time during which players can join an ongoing battle has been increased (if the corresponding setting is enabled).
These changes are aimed at creating battles faster, even with a small number of players in the queue. At the same time, the maximum team size remains unchanged (equal to 16). So if there are enough players in the queue, they can get into the same battle, which in this case will be held in the format of “16 players vs. 16 players” without the addition of AI-controlled ships.
Other
Battle tasks that need different interactions with enemy players to be completed (for example, destruction or damage) can now be completed against system named bots as well.
Patch notes reflect only key changes, meaning they may not include a complete list of all improvements made. Additionally, War Thunder is constantly being updated and some changes may not require an update. Changes reflected in patch notes are formed by taking reactions and requests of the community from the bug reporting service, forums and other official platforms into account. Bug fixes and changes are implemented in order of importance, for example a game-breaking bug will be worked on and implemented sooner.
Always appreciate updates to Naval Battles, however, ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶o̶n̶l̶y̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶N̶a̶v̶a̶l̶ ̶n̶e̶e̶d̶s̶ ̶r̶i̶g̶h̶t̶ ̶n̶o̶w̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶B̶a̶t̶t̶l̶e̶ ̶R̶a̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶d̶e̶c̶o̶m̶p̶r̶e̶s̶s̶i̶o̶n̶.̶ the only thing I need Naval to change is to get some Battle Rating Decompression. It is effectively impossible to use any Heavy/Light Cruiser at 6.0-6.3 BRs. The matches almost always end up being teams of only Battleships, which the cruisers basically cannot damage, at all. Even during the span of a full match, most/all Cruisers cannot hope to take down a Battleship. And if the enemy team has a Scharnhorst, its already game over before the match starts.
And if the intent is to get players to play Battleships more, it is not going to work. Most players in the Naval groups are now playing 5.7 and lower, or even 4.7 and lower to completely avoid the mess that is 6.0-7.0 So, the issue with high BR Naval isn’t the lack of players, it is lack of playability.
While I understand the addition of AI Battleships, it is has only made this BR compression situation worse for Cruisers.
There is never going to be an increase in player counts within higher BR Naval Battles until there is some serious decompression with Naval. It has been years since the Battleships where added and nothing has been adjusted. With each additional Battleship added to the game the situation is only becoming worse.
