I started out like any other player, I sucked originally and knew nothing about machinery of war. I was just a random wallet warrior Timmy at the start, grinding out his nation’s TT with their premiums and such. I was by no means “good” at the game in any sense of the word. Had you ever proposed this back then I would say no, it would have been of no use to me. Sadly for most players this is also likely the case, and I think will cause many who don’t see much purpose to this.
That doesn’t mean this shouldn’t be a thing off to the side for those who want it. The players who dislike such a thing can steer clear of it and ignore it if they wish, so long as it’s added in a fashion that makes it completely separate from casual matchmaking we have ingame.
Many players who are active in the online community are above average and I’m sure would love to put their skills at the game to use in a competitive way. Giving them this option wouldn’t be all too bad if you ask me. The only issues I worry about are the toxicity that could come from such a thing as has happened in other communities in the past (maybe auto using name tags during battles and turning of all cha in there would be a viable solution, then again maybe not). As someone whose grown over the years as a player, I think I’m not alone among the above average players in saying this wouldn’t be outright detrimental to the game depending on how it’s added (second main issue, gaijin. We all know they’ll find som way to screw it up lmao).
With that said: +1 as a side option, for this who want it. So long as it doesn’t override what we have or take away from the current system I have no objections and would gladly try out such a system if it provided improved rewards as suggested. Very thorough suggestion, well done!
Adding to all this a lot of mechanics and the general gameplay loop in certain modes (looking at you ground rb) are so fundamentally flawed that a player can easily get amazing stats by just ruining the game for everyone. SBMM would make entire lobbies of M18 Hellcats just running around the map to spawn camp
I think SBMM could bring back motivation and unique fun that has been lost in the modes for a long time now, witch greater focus on teamwork and strategy contrary to the popular deathmatch style games we see with everyone fighting only for themselves.
Spoiler
As to how i think the gamemode should be setup:
3 Active Brackets/Week that feature the most iconic vehicles of a certain period:
Example Tanks:
5.7-7.7 (First Week 5.7 then 6.3, 7.0, 7.7)
8.3-10.3
10.7-12.7
Same for Planes.
This cuts down the active queues while allowing players to choose freely which types of tanks they want to play. 6 Brackets with 16 Players(8v8) per match is easily covered by the matchmakers massive influx of numbers.
For lineups i do think 3 tanks should be required, none lower than the minimum br of the week(not counting spaa). To ensure that you’re not stuck against superior teams.
For planes the mechanic would obviously require the last performance unlock to carry the full missile potential.
For rewards i think anything from camouflages to boosters to wagers and special (edition) vehicles for higher ranks would be fun.
To encourage playing sbmm, which will be a harder gamemode to perform well in it could also add a unique modifier to points scored for vehicle quests. Say Score x Tier x Ranked modifier reaching anywhere from 1.2-1.6
War Thunder already suffers from impossibility of balance between vehicles, putting this would create even more competitive environment, obviously it can always be implemented as apart option to play the game, I just have my concerns how future vehicles would be affected because of Metagaming at so on.
This point is, for me, the main reason why this mechanic is impossible; starting a new tech tree at the highest level would simply be impossible. For example, it’s already difficult to find a match in naval battles; if all players also have to be at the same level, it will make the mode unplayable.
Good suggestion, but has to be a hard no. SBMM has pretty much ruined the casual FPS market and would also do damage to War Thunder.
In games like COD it pretty much allows for the exact opposite to happen. Players abuse the system by tanking their KD until they are put into what is essentially bot lobbies and run rampant.
Different rating in Air Arcade, Air realistic, Air sim.
Different rating for ranks I-IV (Gunfighter era) and ranks V-VI (mixed-jet era) and VII-VIII+ (BVR era). I consider myself an average and somewhat consistent player with my WW2 props in sim. I’ve absolutely no idea how to deal with missiles or use them and BVR would just be instant death.
Idk if tanks would need separate splits since tank gameplay remains mostly the same across eras while aircraft change completely and utterly.
Arcade, Realistic and Sim should however be always kept separate.
most matches go either you get absolutely stomped or you absolutely stomp the other team, i dont think it would work…
also getting absolutely stomped humbles me.
Good suggestion, well written, and I’ll give you credit for that. However, I have to disagree with the proposal. My concern is that War Thunder is ultimately a very niche game, which could be easily destabilized, especially with the negative below:
Along with other unforeseen consequences, IMO there are far too many risks that outweigh the benefits.
On a side note, I would prefer to see a soft or pseudo-SBMM mechanism implemented in the game that prevents professional players and sealclubbers from farming newbies in low-tier battles. I believe low players with low hours should be allowed to play each other before they meet the criteria. Then, with sufficient hours and experience, they will be introduced into advanced battles with 100-level players. Of course, it doesn’t solve the potential smurf issue, but I think that idea needs to be explored more.