Rina_Pon at 7000 games. The onset of ennui?

[Rina_Pon]

3000 games you get good, 5000 games you get better, 7000 games you get bored.

There must always be an arc, though it peaks at different points for different players I guess. I still play, and enjoy playing, but there is a tang of dissatisfaction now, as in "maybe you should be doing something else with your time" that makes me apprehensive about firing up the game these days. As Yuro put it, when he stopped making videos (but before he started again because people paid him to): at the end of the day it's a just game about ships shooting each other.

Last report, at 5000 games, I claimed I was done with the grind, and I've actually been fairly true to that. I put a few more ships into the carousel, but not many: took the French BBs up to Richelieu, got Yugumo and Bismark, and am currently running the RN cruisers from Emerald to Fiji just because. Bought Altanta/DoY/Blyskawica in the summer lootbox, of those I've only ended up playing Blyskawica. Finished Cleveland but haven't bothered with Seattle, finished Baltimore but haven't bothered with Buffalo - though I did put it in port. Don't think I'll ever take my N.Cal to Iowa. Outside of Gneisenau and Nagato, BB play just doesn't interest me much.

I only play Random and Ranked. PvE just bores me to tears, and CB is too much responsibility with the specific time requirements etc. I seem to have settled on playing a few ships I like, some new, some which never get old. Mostly, those are DDs. I'm enjoying Yugumo a lot, but all the IJN  torp DDs from Hatsuharu to Yugumo are good to take out once in a while. The USN line too, Sims, Benson, and Fletcher. Jervis and Blyskawica. Oh, most definitely Blyskawica.

On the cruiser front, I've never really gelled with the US lines, and, worse, the better I get at them the worse I seem to become with the IJN boats. I'm getting more comfortable with Yorck these days, but not enough to really want Hipper. Never cared for Algerie. Instead I've been mostly sharpening my Aobe, Atago, and Zao games. Zao, especially, is a very frustrating ship. Sure, it's easy enough to get 80-100k dmg, but you really have to see the game flow at a very high level to be able to see clearly what you need to doing to win. Looking forward to getting the legendary mod, just 5 more games to go now. Atago remains for me the most reliable ride and my favorite ship overall. I feel safer in that ship than in any other, and laugh at T10 MM. It's just familiarity really. I know exactly what I can and can't get away with.

And Clemson. I still play Clemson even though I know I shouldn't. Those little "Big Race", "Ring", and "Solomon" maps never gets stale.

My global WR has fallen recently. Part of that was the 0.8.0 CVpocalypse, part of it is me playing more T8-10 games, but part of it is surely me not playing as much, or following the development as much, as other players. Facing the new ships, especially, is something of a chore. No real clue what the battle-relevant details of the different ships are anymore, not motivated enough to figure them out. Having so many T9 and T10 premium and reward ships now is irritating because you can't look up the stats in game like the tech tree ones.

Speaking of the reeework, I must say that WG handled it well at the end of the day. It's taken half a year, and Hosho is still a bit busted, but from my point of view its basically all water under the bridge now. Now, please do something about Sinop. Kremlin and Smolensk too.

Missions and objectives? I take a very pick-and-choose approach, ignoring most of the events. I challenged myself to get Siroco. Can't say it was worth it, probably won't do that kind of thing again. Looking forward to the Italian cruisers, but only in a "those look nice" kind of way.

As for game modes, ranked is good. It's focused and challenging. The sprints are fun. Randoms can be good, at least at high tiers. There are days and times where you get enough players assembled who are good and can naturally play off and support each other without having to spell everything out. And then, there are Sunday afternoons where even at T10 everyone just basically trips over each other and no one can play effectively because no one can rely on anyone else. Really, some times it's just better to hit the shutdown button and give up.

But that's what makes the game great, ultimately. You win by playing as a team. And it's those moments, where everyone is in the right place and doing their jobs so you can do yours, that make it all worth it.