Four Years Ago This Very Month We Celebrate WG Crowning Achievement, One that Will Live Forever

[tm63au]

Yes Its been four years now to this very month where WG celebrated that triumphant moment in history one which they continue the tradition to this very day.

For those that were around the community then it was a wondrous event that started in Dec 2019 and its magnificent finish Jan 2020 for us all, for those new to this game your time will come to be a party to WG moments of glory for the future.

But for now lets us all join together and remember that special time four years ago celebrate what makes WG sooooooooooooooooooooooo unbelievable.

 

For me this magnificent event has had a profound effect on me, I have never forgotten how WG fostered that wonderful feeling upon us all at the end of the event.

To me it just feels like yesterday 

 

   

Thank you WG for the great efforts since your first triumph all those years ago 

 

Edited January 22 by tm63au

[Asym]

That one event caused all sorts of ill will....  Thanks for remembering that History, has a nasty tendency of repeating itself....  I never did finish that event and it was one of the rare times I simply "failed the test"....

[UnderTheRadarAgain]

That first PR event was one I completed with minimal effort. At first I was aghast at the directive missions like everyone else. Then while watching the video of the previous days 3 am official stream (time zone on mid week days is a pain in the arse), the wargaming talking head explained the easiest way to complete it. Buy the booster packs early then only have to complete 3 directive levels (out of 6?). I stopped grinding the day after xmas. The ship dropped in my port with 5 days to go on the event. Did cost me a few thousand doubloons, so it wasn't free. But seriously only the clinically insane could complete the grind for free. The hate wargaming received was deserved, because they did state a number of times that you can get it for free, and the Lesta CEO did make those insensitive comments.

[Ensign Cthulhu]

3 hours ago, UnderTheRadarAgain said:

The hate wargaming received was deserved, because they did state a number of times that you can get it for free,

Thing is, they weren't lying. Some people did get it for free. 

The thing that pissed me off royally about the first PR dockyard is that the structure of it was so beautiful, and then they ruined it by making the magnitude of the individual tasks insane when it could and should have been the greatest thing that WG ever did. All of the tasks (damage in this, XP in that, Base XP in something else) were retreads of things that had been asked for in previous directives, and if they'd kept them at those previous levels it would have been difficult but still do-able for most. 

To their credit: 

1) They never did it that way again (particularly in regard to the progressive time controls, which let the ship be seen to be built continuously but made it hell for the players).

2) They fixed directives so that they could be stretched across multiple patches. I reckon if OG PR had been spread across three patches instead of crammed into five weeks, it wouldn't have gained the infamy it did.

3) They gave us a second shot at the ship under current dockyard rules and made sure that those who'd got it the first time had compensation for it. 

 

The one thing they could have done was tip us off in advance as to exactly how insanely difficult it was going to be to get her without coughing up dubs. I still think they should bring those directives back as a permanent campaign, except maybe with a T10 steel camo/econ bonus package and a high tier premium ship container as the final prize (and various other goodies scattered along the way). 

[Utt_Bugglier]

I thought you were going to rip off FDR (the man, not the ship), and say “…that will live in infamy.”

[Wolfswetpaws]

The original Puerto Rico Dockyard Event had so much potential to be wonderful.

The shipbuilding animation was something the Art Department knocked out-of-the-figurative-park.

The "grind" did not meet the majority of player's expectations and received a lot of "feedback".

The event became "memorable", for a variety of reasons and not all of those reasons were good.

Subsequent Dockyard Events did learn from that experience, I feel.  And I have several Dockyard Ships in my Port (though, not all of them).

Remembering history is useful. 
Dwelling on it too much is unnecessary, I feel. 
Best to use history's lessons, and hope for the best, along the path to enlightenment, eh?  🙂 
 

[Ensign Cthulhu]

58 minutes ago, Wolfswetpaws said:

Dwelling on it too much is unnecessary, I feel. 

Some people in this game remind me of that scene in the Star Trek Deep Space 9 pilot where the Prophets in the Wormhole take Sisko back to the moment in time when he had to leave his dying wife where she was trapped on his burning ship and then tell him "You exist here".

In the case of WOWS, quite a few people tend to "exist" simultaneously in all the most contentious moments in the game's history, and nothing WG can do will ever get them out of it because "existing here" (wherever that is) is what they seem to prefer.

[Wolfswetpaws]

2 minutes ago, Ensign Cthulhu said:

1 hour ago, Wolfswetpaws said:

Dwelling on it too much is unnecessary, I feel. 

Some people in this game remind me of that scene in the Star Trek Deep Space 9 pilot where the Prophets in the Wormhole take Sisko back to the moment in time when he had to leave his dying wife where she was trapped on his burning ship and then tell him "You exist here".

In the case of WOWS, quite a few people tend to "exist" simultaneously in all the most contentious moments in the game's history, and nothing WG can do will ever get them out of it because "existing here" (wherever that is) is what they seem to prefer.

It takes time for people to process some phenomena, eh?  🙂 

[Daniel_Allan_Clark]

40 minutes ago, Ensign Cthulhu said:

Some people in this game remind me of that scene in the Star Trek Deep Space 9 pilot where the Prophets in the Wormhole take Sisko back to the moment in time when he had to leave his dying wife where she was trapped on his burning ship and then tell him "You exist here".

In the case of WOWS, quite a few people tend to "exist" simultaneously in all the most contentious moments in the game's history, and nothing WG can do will ever get them out of it because "existing here" (wherever that is) is what they seem to prefer.

What has really changed since that traumatic moment?

At least with Dockyards, WG learned from Puerto Rico and hasn't been quite so duplicitous about it...now we have it clearly known that finishing them requires doubloon spending.

That's a win.

With some of the other past traumas...WG hasn't yet learned and so the trauma is still ongoing.

[Admiral_Karasu]

Our story begins with a view of a picturesque dockyard, where the work is soon to get underway to build the latest addition to the ever expanding armada of World of Warships, the Tier X cruiser Puerto Rico. It is entirely possible to get this ship for free!

Enter WG ninjas...

ehem... It is entirely possible to get this ship for free!*

The Puerto Rico, a ship that is free, if you can afford it.

* WG rapidly ninja edited the original article posted, for those who missed that piquant detail...

[Jakob Knight]

I don't celebrate this, and a major factor in my drive to finish that dockyard was so I could sail the ship and by doing so, remind players what WG did.  Since they put the ship up in a different dockyard event that was run much more competently, the ship itself is no longer a symbol of that dark Christmas, but I am glad Little White Mouse's review of it has been preserved so players can see for themselves what it was about (and as an aside, I hope Miss Mouse is well and finding things to enjoy these days).

 

 

[Pugilistic]

I did the PR dockyard with minimal boosters. I was alone at the beach for just over a week, and there were several days that the weather was very blustery - flags standing out straight at times with only the fly end trembling - so I used most of a few of those days to do the last grind I have ever done in WoWS. I have never liked PvE, but I did what seemed like interminable sessions of it for some of those missions, and have never played it again except briefly to try out new mechanics. I rewarded myself with a couple drinks and good food at Fibber McGee's or Oyster Rock (their website has a nice interactive tour of their dockside location at Calabash NC under the "Tour" tab), and finished the thing early in time for a couple days of nice weather. Sitting in front of the windows watching the wind and rain on the canal and rest of the island made it much more pleasant. So now when I rarely play PR - and I truly sucked with it for a long time-  I remember seared ahi, shepherd's pie, superb oysters and Old Fashioneds more than the grind that preceded the evenings out seeing local friends. 

Edited January 23 by Pugilistic

[Arcus_Aesopi]

Was it the "National" camo we got for the OG grind?  I think so, but don't recall... now I want to get her out and just sail around a bit 🙂

She was a beast in Clan Battles, as I recall...  I think she was essentially a 2nd BB back when you could have only one...  Ohio + Puerto Rico was OP for a bit.

Nothing since has been as grindy as that was...

What was the other boat in the grind?  I think we got another...

Edited January 23 by Arcus_Aesopi
the other boat?

[Sailor_Moon]

18 hours ago, tm63au said:

Yes Its been four years now to this very month where WG celebrated that triumphant moment in history one which they continue the tradition to this very day.

For those that were around the community then it was a wondrous event that started in Dec 2019 and its magnificent finish Jan 2020 for us all, for those new to this game your time will come to be a party to WG moments of glory for the future.

But for now lets us all join together and remember that special time four years ago celebrate what makes WG sooooooooooooooooooooooo unbelievable.

 

For me this magnificent event has had a profound effect on me, I have never forgotten how WG fostered that wonderful feeling upon us all at the end of the event.

To me it just feels like yesterday 

 

   

Thank you WG for the great efforts since your first triumph all those years ago 

 

Whenever I think "geez, this grind is really tough!" I'm gonna remember the PARTIAL grind I did for Puerto Rico....and go back to grinding because nothing is even close to as ridiculous as that was. 🤪

[Sailor_Moon]

18 hours ago, Asym said:

I never did finish that event and it was one of the rare times I simply "failed the test"....

to be fair, it was basically the equivalent of Star Trek's No Win Scenario. So you didn't really fail if you failed to complete it, especially if you were grinding the whole kitten kapoodle!!! Yeesh, that was its own personal heII.

Edited January 23 by Sailor_Moon

[Arcus_Aesopi]

Just read LWM's review of the original... thanks for mentioning it @Jakob Knight

Reminds me of why I still viscerally hate Gorizia...  I'd forgotten that...

ouch.

[Jakob Knight]

6 hours ago, Arcus_Aesopi said:

Was it the "National" camo we got for the OG grind?  I think so, but don't recall... now I want to get her out and just sail around a bit 🙂

 

 

Yes.  The "Ceremonial" camo was the one included in the 2022 Dockyard.

 

5 hours ago, Arcus_Aesopi said:

Just read LWM's review of the original... thanks for mentioning it @Jakob Knight

Reminds me of why I still viscerally hate Gorizia...  I'd forgotten that...

ouch.

 

Gorizia shouldn't be hated, as it is a quite playable ship and was not where the problem with the event lay.  I am glad we have LWM's review so we can keep the event situation from 2020 for review in posterity, as we all tend to forget or mis-remember things as time goes on.  

[Ensign Cthulhu]

9 hours ago, Arcus_Aesopi said:

What was the other boat in the grind?  I think we got another...

Gorizia. I bought her outright then played the event until I won her dubs back and spent them on stuff I wanted.

[USMC2145]

Now they have added the crappy battle pass that has become worse as time has gone on.....

[WES_HoundDog]

If you didn't grind enough to get it, consider yourselves lucky.   Ship sucks.

[PrairiePlayer]

I have the PR - ended up paying too much for it in the end just to finish, (my problem, not WG's).  I rarely play it, but keep it in port as a reminder not to do stupid things.

[iDuckman]

People that got PR suffered all sorts of ridiculous ridicule after the event, to the point that they stopped playing her.

I wouldn't mind one myself.

 

[UnderTheRadarAgain]

1 hour ago, iDuckman said:

People that got PR suffered all sorts of ridiculous ridicule after the event, to the point that they stopped playing her.

I wouldn't mind one myself.

 

Sure did. I remember one co-op game I took my PR out with 2 of my clan buddies in a division - all 3 of us driving our shiny new PR's. Some loser immediately started throwing shade about mummies credit card etc. Now I am the youngest member of that division at 54 years age, so naturally told him where to go, the oldest guy just let loose with the foulest sailor language ever typed onto a computer screen. Good times. Good times.

What I do remember is twitch streamers raging at players with PR and their twitch audience piling on in the comments section. The fabricated hate towards players with the ship is why PR even today is hardly played at all. I think I saw just one for the entire 2023. It's not a bad ship, but there are also far better alternatives at T10.

Edited January 23 by UnderTheRadarAgain

[Taylor3006]

At the end of the event, around 400 players worldwide had the PR in port. IIRC, they were saying there were a million accounts and only 400 had the ship.

What a resounding success.................................. 

I think that Weegee, Mr Conway summed up best what most of us thought of the event. When asked if he was going to try and complete it, he said no because he had a job.  Before that, I gave Wargaming the benefit of the doubt. Afterwards I assume the things they do are done with malice. They have historically shown nothing but contempt for their customer's time and money. 

[Frostbow]

The moment I saw the actual, live server Directives for the Puerto Rico 2019 Dockyard, I made the firm decision to not even think of trying to finish it via Doubloons. It was simply a money grab event.

I remember the NA forum was particularly active with discussions. I just stayed on the sidelines, knowing there literally was no chance I, with the busy Christmas Season, could finish it. And when LWM's review of the Puerto Rico 2019 Dockyard came out, I was totally aghast when I read how Wargaming made a dumpster fire:
 

• Community Contributors were encouraged to make content based on the preview of Dockyard feature on the test server.  No problems here except that the missions and doubloon costs all had placeholder values.  No effort was made on Wargaming's part to provide content creators with the actual values when making their admittedly glowing reviews for what appeared to be a cool feature.
• Initial Patch Notes and Event Descriptions trivialized and/or obfuscated the complexity and time investment needed to complete Directives.  Seriously, the language made it sound like just about anyone could unlock Puerto Rico for free.
• The math needed to figure out how long it would take to unlock Puerto Rico was unnecessarily complicated.  The mechanics of this build are deliberately obtuse, making calculating how much time and money a player needs to spend on World of Warships over a busy holiday season a nightmare.
• Players were encouraged to spend money early and often for fear of missing out.  The sales tactics here are downright predatory.  The "points per minute" mechanic means that every moment you spend contemplating whether or not to buy a premium booster is a moment you COULD have been earning points towards unlocking Puerto Rico.   Don't think!  Just spend!  Buy more than you need, in fact, just in case!
• The campaign was setup to prey upon players that won't finish their builds on time.  Again, the fear of missing out and the sunken cost fallacy are being used here to encourage players to open their wallets at the tail end of the construction if they're "so close!" to finishing but can't make it for whatever reason.  This is, again, downright predatory.
• The follow-up video about the Dockyard used the Test-Server placeholder values.  So, the internet is blowing up as players come to realize that they've been actively bamboozled and then Wargaming comes out with a video about the Dockyard on YouTube advertising the event.  The video uses the old placeholder values for doubloon costs and mission requirements which makes everything look oh-so easy!  Just wait until people who saw that video get suckered into the real costs!

And this was just the onset.  This doesn't even touch upon the poorly received apologies, the convoluted explanations of mechanics, or the disgusting, derisive commentary that this event was aimed at exploiting the vulnerable (the sick or unemployed).  This doesn't touch base on the refund shenanigans (you got rewards for spending doubloons -- we're taking the money back from the rewards you unlocked, sorry).  This doesn't touch base on how unlocking Puerto Rico for free is simply an extension of "crunch culture" from game development being thrust upon players.  There are literally pages upon pages upon pages of commentary on all of this throughout social media.  There are literal hours worth of videos and streams of people talking about this.

 

On 1/24/2024 at 10:00 PM, Taylor3006 said:

I think that Weegee, Mr Conway summed up best what most of us thought of the event. When asked if he was going to try and complete it, he said no because he had a job.

LOL! I wonder what Conway is doing now. He seems to have disappeared from the official streams.