WoT Magazine Issue 3

Hey fellas!

I wrote a small piece (well... you know me) about playstyles in this issue of the WoT E-Mag. I thought it may be some useful theory for anyone who's interested, it's on page 25! :)You get to see my describing RoninRage in my TCs!

Link is: http://joom.ag/5AtX

By the way, the mag style and fashion sections is not what I condoned... in fact I quite dislike it...

P.S: Also the editor made a bollox and accidentally cut out a small portion of the article, but it's not that important so it's fine.

I enjoyed your analysis of playstyles and their effect on the game. But please finish off the paragraph they missed. 'A highly skilled aggressive player tends....'

When I began searching for tactics the first I found were on active scouting and this is the role I currently enjoy most in the game. Even though I was (am) awful at it rarely surviving past the first couple of passes. I just didn't have the skills to carry it off and eventually realised in order to earn any credits and xp I needed to quit that role and so switched to a more defensive role so I began to hang back moving forward slowly behind the 1st line and only with support, using cover to hide my position while sniping. This forced switch of playstyle has, I think, given me the basis as a flexible mixed player (although still not a good player) but I am slowly improving in both my offensive and defensive play. So as a newbie with it all to learn I'm pleased to read that I have been doing something right.

shinyhelmet wrote:I enjoyed your analysis of playstyles and their effect on the game. But please finish off the paragraph they missed. 'A highly skilled aggressive player tends....'

When I began searching for tactics the first I found were on active scouting and this is the role I currently enjoy most in the game. Even though I was (am) awful at it rarely surviving past the first couple of passes. I just didn't have the skills to carry it off and eventually realised in order to earn any credits and xp I needed to quit that role and so switched to a more defensive role so I began to hang back moving forward slowly behind the 1st line and only with support, using cover to hide my position while sniping. This forced switch of playstyle has, I think, given me the basis as a flexible mixed player (although still not a good player) but I am slowly improving in both my offensive and defensive play. So as a newbie with it all to learn I'm pleased to read that I have been doing something right.

Hey shiny, I contacted them but the E-Mags editors isn't very serious about his own mag, raised the alarm ages ago but no fix. I'm more of a perfectionist in these regards, and I don't like this no fix

Changing playstyles isn't a simple decision people make and then it instantly happens. Switching from aggressive to defensive player in my theoretical basis requires a profound change in tactics, awareness and perhaps most important, a change in the outlook of situations in battle.

I think if what you've said is true and accurate, then I will agree you have the basis for being what I described as a mixed player, but I doubt you are at the stage of actually calling yourself a mixed player. I think a mixed player is synonymous with having an equal spread of scouting, damage dealing and kills. Mixed players usually end up in the top 5 in the after battle scoreboard for their team in terms of both experience and damage, and they achieve this result consistently. Therefore, only the 'creme de la creme' is what I considered to be mixed players.

If this is not you currently, don't worry. The problem can be isolated. In my opinion, it may be a psychological outlook of your playstyle. I have a good way of isolating the problem, just answer the questions below:

What generally do you usually do when you do not see any enemies on your mini-map (and have no idea where any of them are)?

1) I move to the front lines to see if I can spot any enemies.
2) I move to the front lines to see if I can find a good piece of cover.
3) I move to the nearest location in which I am familiar with.
4) I move to the nearest bush.
5) I stay in a defensive position which best suits the situation at the time.

What do you usually do when the enemy has set up a very robust defensive line, and none of your allied tanks can get through?

1) I drive up and try to engage them at a particular point on the defensive line which I choose.
2) I wander very close to the front line and attempt to shoot at the enemies from a relatively close distance.
3) I stay where I am and look around for targets which I can shoot.
4) I try to stay away from the frontlines and snipe at a longer distance to the enemy.
5) I prefer to wander around to look for an opening that eventually gets created in the enemy lines and try to exploit that opening.
6) I try to find cover near the front line and wait for an enemy which can be targetted without much harm to me in return.

What would you say is your 'default' playstyle (basically the playstyle you adopt when you are not sure what to do in a situation).

1) Aggressive
2) Mixed
3) Defensive

Assuming you give truthful answers, I'll know what type you are if you answer the above questions. Think carefully about your answers, play a few rounds in-game before you answer if you have to.

Hey Ding

It wasn't supposed to come across as if I thought I was "all that". I consider myself (at best) of below average skill in the game. I was just pointing out that I know I don't (even nearly) have the skill required to play the way I would like to play and so am forced to play a more defensive game and in the process I am learning another way to play the game and so now in some battles I will try and fight aggressively and others more defensive depending on the situation I will switch from one style to the other. At the moment I am not particularly good at either, I am just hoping this will be good training in order to become that more rounded mixed player.
I would love to be rushing the flanks spotting the enemy then have a snap at their heels before racing off to the corners to hunt arty. The problem is when I try and play this way 9 times out of 10 I last about 2 minutes tops and die without having much impact. But you are probably correct because once I have the skills to fight and be successful this way I might just drop the defensive play because I don't have the patience for it. I have great trouble hanging back near the base behind a bush/rock for more than 2 minutes without getting restless and usually end up suicide scouting right into the middle of the advancing enemy.

So for the first question if there are no enemy spotted for a while I get twitchy and will scout rather than wait on them flanking us.

The robust defensive line. Now that one is more tricky I would say the stage I am currently at I would initially try and snipe at some distance then approach the front line and try and passively spot them while all the time I would really just like to just be looking for a way to infiltrate the line and have a pop at them from behind so that is 4 or 6 then 5 depending on what I think of my survival chances.

I would say I play predominately aggressive. If I am playing without concentrating hard on showing caution and I see an opportunity to rush or flank and I just gotta go :@

I make great cannon fodder!

EDIT

I didnt read the last question correctly, I missed the bit about being unsure about what to do in a situation.

I have only played tier 3 for a couple of weeks and a lot of the maps and tanks I am facing are still very new to me so at the moment I am faced with this situation regularly. This is when I usually choose to adopt a more defensive style, falling back closer to our base, try and find some high ground preferably with decent cover and clear field of fire to try and give cover to arty and the base.

I've got a long way to go and I'm not expecting to ever be part of the cream in WoT but I will be sure to practice mixing up my playstyles along the way.