"Captain's Log"

[Ensign Cthulhu]

For quite a few years now, I have kept a short record of every battle I fight on the live server (not in PTS). Each battle is recorded on one line, like so:

Thus, this would record a co-op battle in the T5 premium US destroyer Hill. The tier spread was 5-7, with one or more Tier 4 ships present due to a fail division. There was one CV present per side, at Tier 6 (hence written between the 7 and what would have been a 5 without the faildiv), and the friendly one was driven by a bot. If no carrier was present, neither CV nor CB is recorded. It also isn't recorded whenever I play a CV myself, since the name of the ship is the clue there, although if it were a random battle with carriers at Tiers 8 and 6, or two per side, I would record that.

Something I forgot to put in the diagram is that Superships are designated with an X, as I consider them to be a subset or sidegrade of Tier 10. Yes, I am well aware that certain game mechanics - e.g. the Survivability Expert skill and matchmaking against Tier 9 rather than 8 - behave as if they are Tier 11. But until such time as there is a formal Tier 11 ship XP grind (may that day be far in the distance), I will maintain the current designation. 

I would also write a number inside the curve of the C, to indicate how many green bots had been present (forgot to do that here).

After some thought, I made a deliberate decision not to record the presence vs absence of submarines, as I believe they are more appropriately lumped together with surface ships - while they do operate in three dimensions, the interaction with them and their weapon systems is effectively restricted to two. 

I also record the credits spent on ships, upgrades (e.g. B hull, upgrade slots), the first trip out (SDC for Shakedown cruise, always in co-op), and the contents of any boxes I open (my shorthand for that is a topic for another day).

 

Do you log your battles? If so, what information do you record and how do you lay it out?

Edited May 16 by Ensign Cthulhu

[Leo_Apollo11]

Hi all,

For years and years I use the WWStat (previously the MXStat)... everything is recorded...

https://wows.mv-smirnov.org/en/wwstat/

 

Leo "Apollo11"

[Wolfswetpaws]

48 minutes ago, Ensign Cthulhu said:

Do you log your battles? If so, what information do you record and how do you lay it out?

Most of the time, the answer is "no".

But, there are exceptions or milestones that get written into certain forum topics.
Specifically:
https://www.devstrike.net/topic/40-if-our-captains-could-talk-again/
https://www.devstrike.net/topic/133-warships-collectors-club/

I do keep two categories of records, on my computer, which sometimes overlap a bit.  But, they're text files, with entries made in written form.
First category = "Recent Promotions". 
Recent Promotions documents when a Commander either earns skill points in battle or when they're provided skill points via an expenditure of CXP.
Second category = "Recent Arrivals".
Recent Arrivals documents ships which arrive in my Port, their method of arrival and which Commanders accompanied the ship (if any).  Recent Arrivals also documents Commanders that arrive without a ship (and are imagined to arrive as passengers aboard a regularly scheduled cargo ship making a stop at my Port).

Also, as mentioned by @destawaits in the linked post, the previous forum was archived and is accessible.  (Slow, but accessible.)
(Which reminds me, I should send a donation to web.archive.org)
https://www.devstrike.net/topic/40-if-our-captains-could-talk-again/?do=findComment&comment=4332

My record-keeping began well after I started playing WOWs.  So the 'history' only goes so far into the past and there are gaps here & there.
That said, it does help me organize Commanders and their ship assignments and keep straight which are 1st./2nd./3rd. in order of arrival.
With hundreds of ships and even more Commanders in my Port (including some twins and triplets), perhaps I'd be using "Personnel File" or "Human Resources" software if I were doing this more professionally?  🙂 
 

Edited to add:  I also take screen-shots of ships and commanders and battle results, which are kept in the WOWs screenshot folder and sometimes copied to another sub-folder that I use for creative-writing work-flow purposes.
 

Edited May 16 by Wolfswetpaws

[Type_93]

50 minutes ago, Ensign Cthulhu said:

For quite a few years now, I have kept a short record of every battle I fight on the live server (not in PTS)

Every battle? Like every single one?  Holy crap man! You are the definition of dedication! I salute you sir!  I do good to remember to brush my teeth every morning!  

[Tpaktop2_1 NA]

There are only two thing I track. Division map spawning and DFAA ships if a CV is in matches with them, Co-Op or random. Both are talking some time before I can report my data.

[Frostbow]

I made one before in Excel, back when the pandemic-driven lockdowns were still around. At that time, I was still relatively new in the game, and was trying to come to grips with Random Battles. It was not a complicated spreadsheet, just a simple one that was enough for my needs.

At that time I was also learning advanced methods in Excel, so it came naturally to create a spreadsheet and format it in such a way that the data is presented cleanly with charts and color bars based on the stats that I deemed important or those that I focused on, such as: Map, Tier, Ship Name, Base XP, Max Base XP Green, Min Base Base XP Green, Max Base XP Red, Min Base XP Red, and my rank on the team scoreboard. 

I logged 9 or 10 PVP battles on that spreadsheet before I stopped completely. I questioned my motives—I questioned the entirety of the thing: Will this log make me a better player? What lessons will these numbers tell me?

I concluded that the log was simply not worth it. The simple act of taking notes after every match, I soon came to realize, was a futile exercise. Yes, the heat map and the other charts I made were starting to appear nice on the spreadsheet as the data came in, but actual tactical insights of each battle were absent. There really was no substitute for actual practice on the virtual battlefield, and the essential review of the replay file.

I purposely did not include Co-op battles because the mode is irreparably artificial that there really was no point of duplicating what the game already does.