9k mark coming up - where to go?

Hi there.
I just checked. 8.965 battles so far, and im improving. Nowhere near to be out of the "yellow zone" so far, but im improving. Tonight i will break the 9k barrier.

I have been puzzling with an idea. A Vlog og Blog (still to be decided), about going on my journey.

The journey is "from average joe to good" - and beyond, if possible (i tend to think its a far-streched target).

After all that is what we are all here for in this clan - to learn and improve.

It's not because im a stat-whore but i have a firm belief in both my professional as well as my private life, that Key Performance Indicators are a way to identify, track and adjust performance. (yes, I am a manager in my professional life, and on top of that married to a business controller - excel rules!).

When setting up goals and milestones, the end-state is always a good mindset to go into.
Where do you want to be?
What performance would you like to give?
What level of play do you think is yours? etc.

Im quite basic atm. - im just going to go for changing my performance ratings in xvm from yellow to green and later on maybe have a shot at some blue stats.

Secondly goals and milestones are not interesting without a horizon within to succeed (or fail).
"I want to be CEO" is not a good goal or milestone, "I want be CEO within 5 yrs in a medium sized company within telco" sure as hell is. From there it is possible to break down the target into chunks of progress to actualle achieve something that brings you closer to your goal.
Here is mine: Before i break the 11k mark - so within the next 2k games - i will change both my wn7 and my efficiency to above 1200. Thereby going "into the green".

But what are the levers? What are the points i need to focus on to improve on from here?
My winrate? doubt it...
My avg. exp? could be...
My avg. damage done? very well...
Survival rate? So i can just hide and run to a higher level of play - nah...
Situational awareness? how to...
Tons of platooning with STRONK players to boost me? Jingles-style ;-)

What i would like you guys to do, is give me some tips on what to focus on now - my stats from wotlabs today might give an indication.

I have started to upload some of my games to wotreplays on
http://wotreplays.com/uploader/Brainfarter/id/274448

Feel free to view and comment if you find anything worthwhile.

Thanks for your time reading - hope you can give me some indication on where to go from here

/B

To get your WN rating up just cause damage and lots of it! I set myself a target of causing at least 1500 up to tier 7 and 2000 minimum above that.

When I was about to hit the 10k battles mark I discovered my stats 48% w/r and 1000 efficiency and since then it's been a lot of fun keeping the bloody things on the up!

Rancid, your reply gives me heart.

Brainfarter, im with you on this, as are most likely most in SGTA, else why would we be here!

After spitting my dummy a month or two ago and nearly giving up on it, i spent 3 days going through 2 or 3 random replays a day.  I die far too soon, so i cant do the damage and i cant help the battles end result.  Im trying really hard to stop being so aggresive now and my 60 day win rate has gone from 50% to 53% and i have full confidence it will be 55% next month... My WN7 is similar to yours on the 60 day view too, which for me is a big improvement, but thats not climbing as fast as id like, but im not being as aggressive, so I think I need to find more of a middle ground allowing me to keep or improve win rates whilst improving damage output and staying aiive.
One other importnat difference in my gaming is, ive given up grinding.. or should i say only playing tanks that need upgrading, I was doing this far too much and this led me to play every type of tank in an evening, im trying to stop that too and just keep clinking BATTLE with the same tank and get to know it properly and understand its play style too.  More fun, less frustrating  also.

Out of interest, i started a new account after tank fast as i was given a code to start a new one.  Ive done 1k battles with it, and not spent a penny other than a T34 and a RAM II.  Im pretty much blue on all of the stats, so dropping my 'history' from the equation, ive taken heart.  

hope my ramblings help.

Rancidpunk wrote:To get your WN rating up just cause damage and lots of it! I set myself a target of causing at least 1500 up to tier 7 and 2000 minimum above that.

When I was about to hit the 10k battles mark I discovered my stats 48% w/r and 1000 efficiency and since then it's been a lot of fun keeping the bloody things on the up!

So it's never too late to improve your stats then? I thought that with my 9K games and a 48% win rate, it would be very hard to change my stats.

Oh, and a few other things ive given up on...

I hardly ever take my scouts out now, same with arty, they are not as powerful as they once where and teams are even more likely to ignore your efforts than when arty was previlant.
I dont go to hold that flank that everybody has ignored.. this to me still is frustrating as i know it needs to be done. Im talking solo randoms here, which make up 90% of my gaming, so in solo randoms, lemming train FTW. Now i try and keep the train rolling enough to destroy the enemy that have taken the lemming trains flank but watch that minimap like a hawk and when you see the enemy on the other flank or you just get the feeling they are there... head back, taking some lemmings with you. . In a 3 man SGTA platoon however, we WILL hold that unsupported flank!

grumpyste2000 wrote:
So it's never too late to improve your stats then? I thought that with my 9K games and a 48% win rate, it would be very hard to change my stats.

Ive got 12.5K battles in, and mine are improving.... slowly but gethering pace.  Im not giving up yet! I was on 48.5% last month

AndyScouser wrote:Oh, and a few other things ive given up on...

I hardly ever take my scouts out now, same with arty, they are not as powerful as they once where and teams are even more likely to ignore your efforts than when arty was previlant.
I dont go to hold that flank that everybody has ignored.. this to me still is frustrating as i know it needs to be done.  Im talking solo randoms here, which make up 90% of my gaming, so in solo randoms, lemming train FTW. Now i try and keep the train rolling enough to destroy the enemy that have taken the lemming trains flank but watch that minimap like a hawk and when you see the enemy on the other flank or you just get the feeling they are there... head back, taking some lemmings with you.  .  In a 3 man SGTA platoon however, we WILL hold that unsupported flank!

Now that's where I differ, I love nothing more than to hold a flank on my own, especially since Kawa taught me how to be more effective at angling and sidescraping
In my Tiger 2 holding a bridge against four heavies of higher tiers is my masochistic delight! Plus I get my minimum damage in, if I survive I'm a hero and if I lose then wtf did they expect against that lot
Oh, and since I sold my mediums and lights my efficiency has rocketed so playing to your strengths is important and I no longer find myself feeling slightly ridiculous trying to hold a flank alone because I've forgotten it's an E50 I'm in and not the E75!

Rancid. How did you decide that the heavy line was your thing?

I love playing meds, but looks like i perform at the least equally if not better in my heavies - and maybe the TD-style works even better for me?

How to choose a line?

When they moved the IS4 up to tier ten I lost my favourite tank, tried most of the others and realised I preferred the well armoured heavy assault tanks and it really showed in the stats of each tank, I was up to unicum in the E100, IS7, KV3 and a couple of others before the gold ammo was available for credits but I was only average in the mediums and lights. I still find the same now even though my E100 can be killed much easier

Here is one of my first steps.
I realized i was playing far too many different tanks, instead of the ones i actually did well in. I was constantly trying to find "the next great tank" instead of identifying the ones in my garage in which i perform to a level i like.
With 30 tanks in garage, i was simply not focused.

Here is the focus:
1-2 tanks which i like per type. Then only one of that type to grind.

So my setup is:
LT:
Grind: T71
Fun: None - im simply not good enough in this part yet, no matter how much i like them.

MT:
Grind: T-34-2 (fully researched, just needs to get elited)
Fun: VK3601 / T-34-1

HT:
Grind: E-75 (fully researched, just needs to get elited)
Fun: KV1S / T34 (im thinking about swapping the T34 with my elited IS-3 to optimize that crew)

SPG:
Bwaaahahahahaha! Never gonna happen as long as i want to optimize my performance. (Have a GW Panther somewhere)

I hope that focusing on fewer tanks will help me perform just a notch better.
Lets see in a few days, so far with this focus my WN7 and Efficiency has been well above 1400, bringing me beyond my green target.

Just focus on 2 main things. Average damage and situational awareness. Everything else you mentioned will follow with it.

It's hard to choose a tank type as your favourite. All of them play differently even within the same line eg. Hellcat and T28 Prot. All of them do have similarities still. And while I enjoy all tank types (except arty) I always liked heavy tanks. But my 3 highest efficiency tanks are all TD's. But I would argue I'm more useful in my E-75 than Object 704.

I don't like focusing on mastering one specific tank. Yes, it is a good way buffing your ratings, but they will be skewed and when you start to play a new tank they will soon disappear. If look at my most played tanks you will see premium tanks, TC tanks and then some of my favourite tanks. After them it starts to be tanks I've grinded and them mover on to the next. I like to play as many tanks as possible, but still grind only 3-6 lines at the same time and focusing on 1-2 lines the most.

If you really want to learn play some tank well. Platoon with instructors/experienced members and ask them for tips in a training room. No better way of boosting your ratings .

Im holding you up on that, Vallu  

Besides, I totally forgot my beloved TD's:
Grind: T30 (only need to research T110E4)
Fun: Hellcat and JgPanther

Next step will be to attend as many classes as my time schedule allows - even with stuff where i think "I know that".
Theres always a couple of things showing up in class i didnt know or havent adjusted for.
Examples:
Hulldown class: The result of turning off grass in snipermode - how much it improves your hulldown-technique.
Heavy/Medium class: Weakspot triangle on T34 and T29 (just above gun mantlet)

The T71 is on ice at the moment, since it frustrates the hell out of me with my low scout-skills. (why was the ELC AMX so much easier to play?). Basically im not even very interested in the scout role, so maybe im narrowing down on my things.
Mediums in many different roles, and Heavies with the agility to react "as meds" - but i loooove the Hellcat and the JgPanther as well...

So upcoming plan for the next couple of weeks:
1: Keep focus on the tanks I want to excel in (and maybe narrow them down to hone my skills further)
2: Attend classes - any classes
3: Platoon the shit out of every instructor and member who wants to

/B

Ok im not following my plan entirely. The platooning has been low, since i have a lot of chores before our puppy arrive in 2 weeks from now.
>>insert photo of over-cute puppy here when i find out how to<<

But HOLY S.. this is going well.
Focusing on fewer tanks and on damage-dealing/staying alive is having an enourmous effect on my plays.

For the past 24hrs. my efficiency were in blue, my wn7 went into unicum purplez!
Even better, the 30 day period covering since this mission started is with 54% wr / 1231 eff / 1524 wn7!
The efficiency is on-target green, the wn7 has surpassed the green into the blue zone!

Stability is next thing, along with following two issues:
Hitrate. Afaik the around 60% hitrate i hold is way too low. To perform even better i might need to hit more (or be a superior rammer, which is quite situational). The snapshots i take was mentioned in some feedback on one of my replays. - Im looking into that.
Survivability Still is quite hard for me. Easy to boost but not when you want to rise in the other numbers.

/B

Just a quick update.
The downswing in winrates have not hit me, at least not when i look in a wider than one-day perspective.
The comfortzone of tiers are steadily climbing from 6-7 to include tiers 8-9 on a more regular basis. Not that I am abandoning my tier 6's just supplementing them with the higher tiers.

I have found strong friends in the TD's and begin to enjoy playing the heavies more than before. Maybe all along i thought the Meds where for me, but instead its something else?
Well, since my most played tank, the VK3601 is being changed into a HT, there might be something about it...?
More to come when i make up my mind.

Oh an target-wise:
I just noticed in XVM stats that my values for battles and winrate has risen into the green, where my rating still is in the yellow.
According to my 60day WN7 this should change if i keep the pace until the 11k battles.

/B

Status with appr. 500 matches to go:
I am not pleased. The past week has been hell. (Although still green when matched against my overall).

Somehow i have managed to keep the winrates etc. at a reasonable level, but i cannot get the grip on my survival rate. I just seem to run out there in silly silly situations, and get killed - even with a good game i always seem to push just a little bit too hard at the end.

I was there on green all-over about 1½ week ago, but feel that i have somehow lost "the edge" and cant find the way back to it....

Will try to focus more on tooning with über players for the last bit of my 11k matches, and that way try and find the tricks of the trade. No boosting, just observing what to do differently. Maybe not holding down W could make a difference? ;-)

/B

Firstly let me commend you on refocusing your effort. Very well thought out and proves your managerial personality.

I actually disagree with Vallu on this one (I hold different opinions to most, it also depends on what he cosiders important in teh definition of situational awareness - which can cover everything from victory to target prioritization...which is quite a lot of themes), I believe the key to attaining a healthy stat-board is go aim for the higher experience and victory. Higher average damage does not guarantee victory, although it does quite a lot to give you the illusion you are contributing to the victory, when in actual fact you aren't doing much.

I've seen all too many times really high damage seekers go off and kill around 7 enemy low tier tanks, while the enemy higher tiers tear through friendly high tiers and then focus their might on the damage seeker. Usually that same person goes off in a rage calling everybody a noob for failing, when in fact they themselves did very little in REAL TERMS of contributing to victory.

Brainfarter wrote:Here is one of my first steps.
I realized i was playing far too many different tanks, instead of the ones i actually did well in. I was constantly trying to find "the next great tank" instead of identifying the ones in my garage in which i perform to a level i like.
With 30 tanks in garage, i was simply not focused.

Because the playstyle for different tank classes vary, I suggest you focus your evenings on one tank class per evening. Thsi way for each evening, you will focus on one particular playstyle and thereforth. The reasoning is kind of like studying, if you spend 10 mins studying maths, 10 mins studying history and 10 mins studying science each day for a period of 34 days, your results will not be as good as studying 30 mins maths the first day, 30 mins history the second day and 30 mins of science the third day. Sometimes you learn something halfway and then you give up.. leaving it for the next day, but when you come back the next day you had forgotten what you've learned the previous day so you have to start over again. I believe that is unproductive and will lead to poorer results. Hence my suggestion, focus on one playstyle (which by deduction means one tank class per day) and you shall improve much faster than spreading your experiences every day.