A word about the new MM.

I'd rather have to watch an ad while matchmaker was searching then continue what seems to be an increasing p2w direction. And maybe remove the ads with Prime.

Today I realized the cause of a major pain point that has frustrated so many here and elsewhere.

This is not some incredibly grand insight, but an epiphany that is mostly obvious, which I came to, that many others may have also realized, but some may have overlooked as I have, notwithstanding the fact that it was staring me directly in the face. The problem with the matchmaker is the misalignment of powers between different players' weapons and robots. I've argued here and elsewhere that there needs to be consistent restrictions on leveling-up weapons and bots, loading hangers, and assigning teammates and opponents for the matchmaker and the game to work in the most optimal way. What goes wrong is the fact that there are too many options. In addition to this, Pixonic has randomly chosen to add unbalancing features such as homing missiles, splash damage, and shields which add a lot of spice to the game but ultimately serve to disrupt the reliance on player skill and strategy in favor of a host of conditions which are outside of the player's control. There are those who would argue against this, and I respect your positions, but this is just my take. The current matchmaker seeks to handicap more skilled players by pitting them against less skilled players with more powerful bots. But this is a logical flaw. Within the universe of the game, it is virtually impossible to be competitive in this way. I believe most people in any competition wouldn't mind getting their rear-end handed to them by opponents with better skill and training. This would theoretically make the player more skilled by honing their abilities against better competition. However, if the player is forced to oppose players who may be of greater or lesser skill, but are superior in size, not only does this not allow the player to compete, but it fails to give them the opportunity to develop the skills necessary to be competitive. Some may argue that this has been done in Pix's bid to extract RWM from its user base, while others may argue it is a slight kink on a roadway to improve the overall competition in the long run.

Be that as it may, the outcome at the moment has disrupted the War Robots community to such an extent that many have rightfully come to the conclusion that the game has in some respects abandoned and lost the fundamental purpose of any and every competition--namely to build skill by learning from one's opponent, and from one's self, through introspection--and therefore it has become largely a waste of time. While I do believe that there is some promise in the future of the game, there are several critical issues in the game's operational rule set and logic that must be addressed if War Robots is to succeed as an enjoyable gaming experience, and they revolve around the fact that much of the diversity in user abilities in the game were developed with counterbalances in order to level the playing field.  For example long and mid-distance weapons can draw damage with no danger from short range weapons, but they were intended to do so at a slowed pace, until Pixonic started making newer, more powerful weapons, which offset the game's balance. They attempted to reconcile this disruption to balance by making additional changes like shields, and those types of introductions, and the accompanying buffs and nerfs have been the focus of a great share of player grievances. But the real problem lies in the fact that the game lacks equal opportunity because of the unrestricted setup offerings. Don't get me wrong. I love the fact that I have all these robots and weapons that I can choose to upgrade at my own discretion. There's something liberating about that level of control.

But in reality, that cool little feature does nothing for me or any of my teammates and opponents, other than to disrupt the balance of the game. Because the fact that my knife fighters are victims to mid and long-rangers in the open, needs to be balanced by the fact that their ability to damage me must be slowed down, and my ability to damage them from close range must be sped up. The minute you allow players to self-selectively upgrade and still face off, then the game loses its premier tenet. So what we have now is long range weapons, splash weapons, and homing weapons that can deal more damage than their short range competitors, some with quick reload times. Well that defeats the purpose of having different ranges and functions of weapons. If you allow a team of six players with five-robot hangers to go against a team with four- and three-robot hangers, that defeats the purpose of playing. Nobody signed up for that. If you allow players to depart the game at will with no repercussions or counter balance it does the same. What you have here is pain, pain, pain, annoyance, annoyance, annoyance, because none of this has anything to do with the reason someone would want to play a game in the first place. Some players like it, because they have no sense of balanced sportsmanship, but most are here voicing their complaints.

Aphids are cool. I like using mine. But they imbalance the game when they are leveled to 10-12 against players with level 6-8 weapons. If hydras, spirals or aphids can be shot and hit without aiming and fired from complete cover without their victim even being able to see the aggressor, then they should have relatively low damage and relatively long reload times, and they should never be allowed against weaker robots. In fact no weapon should. There should have just been a smaller range of power levels and hardline restrictions. There is no way to balance the matchmaker with the current system. All these cool weapons and powers sound good on paper--stealth mode, shields, homing missiles, splash damage, high foot speed, high health level. But in my opinion, they screw the game when they aren't balanced between the costs and benefits of their use, and when there are a bazillion options for leveling every weapon, robot, and hanger. There are those who would disagree, but someone will always prefer something just because it exists already. If there were flying robots that completely dominated the game and everyone complained, a gang of users and abusive clans would say "I like it...I think it adds to the game...Pixonic has every right to make money...If you don't like it quit!" But as I said before, some people don't get it. It's not Pixonic's game to do whatever they want with it. It's Pixonic's reputation to do whatever they want with it. The games always have and always will belong to the players. There have always been players without games. What they do, is they find a game to play. Have you ever seen a game without players. It's called Game Over.

You cant claim the majority on this, don't even try...I think your attitude is much like an anti-capitalistic ?female dog?. One of many who instead of following through with their idle threats to leave this game instead obsessively trash the maker of this game. If you became bored or unimpressed by a restaurant you eat at would you go there every day to yell or criticize the staff? Or better yet, belt out to the customers all your grievances? They would send you arsees sailing out the door.

You don't understand the economics of this and you sure as heck don't understand what makes the world work. "Pix are only out for profit!" ...Do you even understand that dollars are willingly given in reward for giving a great product or service..? Pix is even nice enough to allow you to work your way up with no dollars down - bad guys eh? ..."Money grab" you say...Do you not try to demand all that you are owed ? I would love to see the amount of people who are currently playing this game with not one cent spent in common respect to the developers...Bet it would shock many.

Yes, there certainly needs to be the recognition that if you are playing for free, then you need to manage your expectations.

That being said, I have, from time to time, given my hard earned cash to Pix since I started playing in the fall. I took both the newbie deals (gold and Gep)... the bot particularly as I was seeing them on day 1 outperform anything else on the newbie battlefield. But now they've turned around and made that investment fairly useless. I'm not sure that's "common respect" being shown by the developers to their paying clients. Similarly, is anyone going to refund me the 2500 gold for the Rogatha that is obsolete now the MM doesn't really care about bot weight?

I really enjoy this game and I'm certainly not going to give up. It just sometimes seems like Pix makes decisions where they haven't even considered the consequences (whether intended or unintended). I find that frustrating.

I try to steer away from bashing Pix for the game, but @kingkull 's point is very valid. When we were noobs in fall 2016, we would see Geps as the ultimate beasts on the field in levels 1-10. Then, 3 days into the game, Pixs offers you a discounted Gep for $4.99. That's clearly not an accident. It's good business, really.

Now, I am just waiting for Pix to offer me the discounted $4.99 Trident Fury deal...

Pix bashing is enlightened opinion?...Hmmm..If too many people are free playing and bashing this game it goes under. Let that sink in and enlighten you.

termsfeed.com/blog/examples-no-return-no-refund-policies/
If you live in the EU, the laws governing online purchases and refunds there are much more in favor of consumers. Even with that, online purchases are notoriously difficult to get proper refunds for. The bigger companies are usually much better about it than most, but any online company, especially in the mobile app and mobile game virtual economies, usually do their best to put up obsticals for refunding in-game purchases, unless they are forced to do the right thing by law, or their corporate culture is progressive and they actually act like they appreciate their consumer base. The eternal debate of morals versus ethics yet again.

I'm not trying to belittle some of the disappointment and frustration we all feel from our past purchases. I think a shift of perspective is needed here. What we purchased for real money was either in-game premium currency, a time-limited "Premium" mode, or a one-time deal for equipment. We never purchased access rights to the app itself, it is still "free to play". Take a look at most online movie purchases. You aren't really buying the movie, not like we used to buy DVDs. What you are buying is a time-limited right to access specific online content, what most of us call 'streaming'. Buyer beware, what you think you are buying, and what 'they' are selling you might not be the same thing.

I have 3 Gepards on my Android account that are mothballed, all were earned by gold-farming under the old MM. I have one Gepard on my iOS account that I spent RM on in a one-time equipment deal, also mothballed. I feel I got my money's worth. I ran those Gepards for a long time and enjoyed great success with them. But things change. Now they are outmoded, but I refuse regret, because I did get my intended use out of them. I'm not going to ask for any refunds. I consider all 'entertainment' purchases to be one-shot and not worth the effort to get refunded. Occasionally I do regret a purchase (Titanfall ) but I get over it and move on to the next source of entertainment.

I liked it when you said I lived in a cave...I like your spunk. ..But I quoted the wrong dude. Sorry I went off on you...

Did they have Napalm back then?...I like Napalm too. And I am fighting with a she?...I like shes too.

Geezus... I have heard women call it small, but FFS... 'she'  Please tell me you fat fingered the 's'...

BTW speaking of small...  a keen eye for the small reference.  It doesn't surprise me given your name... Interesting.

Loren

No, I made an honest assumption about your gender. "Loren" feels like a more feminine name to me, that is all. No offense intended and I will get your gender pronouns correct from now on.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loren
Loren is a personal name for both males and females[...]

en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Loren
1) A male given name derived from Lorenz or Lorenzo, the respectively German and Italian/Spanish cognates of Laurence.
2) A female given name, a rare spelling variant of Lauren.

I thought your name was as definition #2. Sorry about that.

@tinthefiend> My bad, I'm contributing to the derailing as well. Free entertainment...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_fire
"The composition of Greek fire is unknown. It remains a matter of speculation and debate, with various proposals including combinations of pine resin, naphtha, quicklime, calcium phosphide, sulfur, or niter."

Something needs to be changed on it. I am continuously put into battles with people that just aren't doing anything and the battle lasts 3-5 minutes! I'm usually the top person on my team and if the initial post on this topic is right, I'm progressing and going against higher tier players. My stats have plummeted where my average kills have gone from 5 to under 3, damage is still ok, win percentage used to be in the upper 70's low 80's and now sits at about 40%!
The game is getting so annoying it's not even fun to play anymore! I'm doing everything I can to try and get a couple kills to get my stats back up. I've been looking for a comparable game to play other than this.
I've even made a website for my clan(dm-6.com yeah cheap plug! lol) to have events on our own to keep it fun, but even that has gone stale and the clan members hardly ever play anymore because of this system ruining the game!

I still believe. My faith is shaken, no doubt, but I have the patience to struggle on, adapt, and overcome.