Weekend Spree - 16-18 August 2024

[Ensign Cthulhu]

Fun Fact; autocomplete gave me Weekend Spree - 16-18 June 2023. I just had to change the month and the year.

 

So, I streamed and I did my daily grind quota... and then some. I played a lot more Pobeda than my daily quota suggested. A LOT. I'm really starting to get the hang of the skip bombers and rocket fighters with this thing, and it's making a HUGE difference to my damage totals. 

I also did a lot of PTS experimentation with the ships one up the line from the currently-incomplete list. As a result, my actively-being-worked-on list has grown significantly. I don't want it to grow too much more, if only because I'd have trouble paying for all the ships I'm unlocking (some harsh choices will have to be made as is), and because I need to leave some playing time aside in case my active list isn't particularly suitable for the missions du jour in the Dockyard.

The fact that the rules have changed for the snowflake dusting this Anniversary, such that ANY ship can be used as many times as you like to knock flakes off of the entire fleet, means that this year is probably no longer going to be divided into Grind Season and Flake Season for me, especially if they carry the same mechanism through to Christmas snowflakes. Grind season continues unabated.

[HamptonRoads]

spent some time on the PTS.  Wrote a long essay on the feedback form on why/how t9+ operations need to fixed.

Had a RL scare earlier this week.  My father fell and needed some medical assistance.  He's alright now, but the family is looking in to getting him some sort of assistant to help him and make sure that if he falls again, someone will be there to look after him. 

[Mono_De_Mantequilla]

Had some good battles that I lost.  Had some bad battles that I won.  And ended the weekend off with a draw.

[thornzero]

Finished the DY on Friday night for the week. Accumulated something over 8ook cexp [including before the week-end.] Raised my third captain to 21. Moved a couple captains around and retrained them. Did pretty good in Naval Battles for my clan. Seemed productive and fun but some randoms losing streaks nonetheless...

[Admiral_Karasu]

I mostly did some Naval Battles, with varying success, and farmed some XP and missions otherwise.

[Tread_Head57]

I’ve neglected grinding several TT lines for years, so decided to remedy that starting last week. My boys (10 & 8 ) picked their “own lines” to set up and grind while I took two. Amazing how fast you can go from 80mil + silver to 2m.

[Utt_Bugglier]

1 hour ago, Tread_Head57 said:

I’ve neglected grinding several TT lines for years, so decided to remedy that starting last week. My boys (10 & 8 ) picked their “own lines” to set up and grind while I took two. Amazing how fast you can go from 80mil + silver to 2m.

Ahh, I remember the days when 40 million was “enough” to have on hand (To buy and outfit any T10 should the need arise).

Then it became 60 million (in case any two T10s needed buying to meet the meta).

Then it became 100 million (what if I buy two T9s that are turds, and I need to FXP right to the T10s?).

It’s good you have your boys interested; my son was 14 when I got into WoWs eight years ago; he tried it, but it never pulled him away from his first-person shooters.

[Admiral_Karasu]

41 minutes ago, Utt_Bugglier said:

Ahh, I remember the days when 40 million was “enough” to have on hand (To buy and outfit any T10 should the need arise).

Then it became 60 million (in case any two T10s needed buying to meet the meta).

Then it became 100 million (what if I buy two T9s that are turds, and I need to FXP right to the T10s?).

It’s good you have your boys interested; my son was 14 when I got into WoWs eight years ago; he tried it, but it never pulled him away from his first-person shooters.

I've found out that aging is the most effective way of pulling you away from FPS games. Unless, maybe if we were talking about a pool game.

[Ensign Cthulhu]

9 hours ago, HamptonRoads said:

Wrote a long essay on the feedback form on why/how t9+ operations need to fixed.

I'm not convinced they need any fixing insofar as balance is concerned; what you see go live will be very different from PTS.

 

1 hour ago, Utt_Bugglier said:

Ahh, I remember the days when 40 million was “enough”

Those were the days were you weren't both encouraged and enabled to hang on to every ship at Tier 5 or higher for the anniversary and Christmas rewards.

The night before this game finally goes off line, I'm going to RB reset my entire port and see just how many millions of credits I have locked up in lower tier ships.

[Wolfswetpaws]

Ordered a new engine for my motorcycle.
Given the number of parts likely to have been affected by the "valve burn" and subsequent engine seizure, I ran some cost & availability & labor calculations.
1.  The cost of a complete "top end" was within a couple of hundred dollars of a new engine.  (Labor of a local motorcycle shop would increase this cost.)
2.  Some of the parts I was looking to replace were "out of stock".
3.  My calculations did not include a crankshaft.  Including a crankshaft would meet or exceed the cost of a new engine.
4.  New engine cost = $960 U.S. dollars.  But, the shipping was free.  🙂 
5.  I also ordered a "jet kit" for the carburetor and some minor parts (such as connecting bolts & nuts and a gasket for the exhaust pipe)
6.  My plan is to disassemble, install, and then reassemble.  Re-jetting the carburetor will be somewhere in the middle of that process.

Played World of Warships on both the live server and the Public Test Server.
This includes some time as a member of @Ensign Cthulhu's division during one of his Twitch stream sessions.  🙂 

While watching @Zeldasauce's Twitch stream a few nights ago, I won a raffle and the Mainz as a prize. 
I'm still waiting for the Mainz to arrive in my Port. 
I could not contact Zeldasauce directly via a Twitch private message, because of her privacy settings. 
I'm fine with such understandable & reasonable healthy boundaries.
So, I created a "ticket" with World of Warships, instead.
According to the response from creating a "ticket" with World of Warships, it may take up to a week for the Mainz to arrive.  🤔
https://www.twitch.tv/zeldasauce

Also watched some of @Lord_Zath's Twitch streams.

Read a few chapters of "Bookships & Bonedust" by Travis Baldtree.  https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250886101/bookshopsbonedust
This is supposedly a prequel to his other book, "Legends and Lattes" (which I finished reading, last year).  https://us.macmillan.com/series/legendslattes

Played some Star Trek Online and am toying around with trying some "Delta Alliance" equipment, available from the Reputation System, on an Aelahl Warbird Battlecruiser [T6-X2], named the I.K.S. Demerara Maikai Cocktail, that one of my characters is currently using.
I'm currently in the process of accumulating the "reputation marks" and the resouces necessary for the desired equipment.
Participating in "Task Force Operations" is helpful.  But, it's not the only "iron in the fire" that I'm dabbling with.
https://sto.fandom.com/wiki/Reputation_System#Available_reputations

This morning, I'm going to bring two of our ferrets, Loki and Freya, to the Veteranarian for blood-glucose tests (as a part of their ongoing care).

I posted in various forum topics and frequently used-up my daily allotment of emoji reactions.

Quote

Hope everyone had a good weekend.  🙂 

Edited August 19, 2024 by Wolfswetpaws

[Justin_Simpleton]

6 minutes ago, Wolfswetpaws said:

Ordered a new engine for my motorcycle.

I feel sad for you.  Motorcycle riding is supposed to be fun.

[Utt_Bugglier]

53 minutes ago, Ensign Cthulhu said:

Those were the days were you weren't both encouraged and enabled to hang on to every ship at Tier 5 or higher for the anniversary and Christmas rewards.

No, the rewards system has never influenced my keep/sell criteria. Plus, T5 & T6 are cheap.

Until they created the system where you can clear multiple flakes using one ship. And I was able to attain the 300-ship mark by buying some fifteen T1s, twos, and threes. For less than three million total.

And I got those for spending less time grinding rewards, not for more potential rewards. I NEVER grind all that I could get. I leave almost all T5&6 rewards on the table, every time.

And this anniversary event will be among the worst. Virtually the entire month of September, I’ll be working 12-hour days with six- and seven-day work weeks.

 

[ArIskandir]

Collected the 3 days of PT from the Regatta thing this weekend so (for My standard) it was a somewhat intense WoWS weekend.  

One thing about Ranked is sometimes You end sharing matches with the same people on your sessions... 

Friday night I had some fun mouse & cat chases against a Jervis player (I was Tashkent '44), both times I got him lured into My team mates who got him sunk.  

Saturday I ran Anshan and shared matches with the same bunch of Cruisers, it was fun to have to face against the same guy who last Match You supported.  

Sunday switched to GK, the Silver League pool appears to be much smaller as it was always the same names. Got detonated with 70%+ HP... That ruined My mood for the night. 

I'm also grinding L'Adventurier in OPS, only 40k to go. I'm still unsure about this line, at least this ship is NOT a torpboat. I'm using her as a flexible gunboat. 

Beyond the Game, I took My daughter this weekend to watch Alien: Romulus. Her cousin (who came along) left shocked so missions complete I guess 😁

Edited August 19, 2024 by ArIskandir

[Aethervox]

Not a huge amount of playing these days as the random MM is getting really, really SICK (read: outright WG MM CHEATS, practically all the time).

Still, had 'solo' NBs for both servers; EU 74 stars (4 for me) for 5th in group (whatever 'that' means 😒) & in NA 8 stars (all mine) for 22nd (lol, last?) 

Edited August 19, 2024 by Aethervox

[Aethervox]

12 hours ago, HamptonRoads said:

spent some time on the PTS.  Wrote a long essay on the feedback form on why/how t9+ operations need to fixed.

 

So, I assume something needs to be 'fixed' on the PTS as regards T9+ Ops.

2 hours ago, Ensign Cthulhu said:

I'm not convinced they need any fixing insofar as balance is concerned; what you see go live will be very different from PTS.

 

ROFL. So, 'balance' is not an issue for T9+ Ops on the PTS & what we will see for T9+ Ops will be 'very different'. In what way? Isn't 'balance' what is necessary? Isn't 'balance' the most important aspect for this game? This appears to be another case of  Wedgie  💩 inevitably 'fixing' something that isn't broken (exactly what Wedgie 💩 does for $).

[Wolfswetpaws]

2 hours ago, Justin_Simpleton said:

I feel sad for you.  Motorcycle riding is supposed to be fun.

Thanks.  The riding has been fun.
The mechanical breakdown has not been fun.

[Wolfswetpaws]

20 minutes ago, Aethervox said:

12 hours ago, HamptonRoads said:

spent some time on the PTS.  Wrote a long essay on the feedback form on why/how t9+ operations need to fixed.

 

So, I assume something needs to be 'fixed' on the PTS as regards T9+ Ops.

3 hours ago, Ensign Cthulhu said:

I'm not convinced they need any fixing insofar as balance is concerned; what you see go live will be very different from PTS.

 

ROFL. So, 'balance' is not an issue for T9+ Ops on the PTS & what we will see for T9+ Ops will be 'very different'. In what way? Isn't 'balance' what is necessary? Isn't 'balance' the most important aspect for this game? This appears to be another case of  Wedgie  💩 inevitably 'fixing' something that isn't broken (exactly what Wedgie 💩 does for $).

I played some Scenario Operations on the PTS with a few of my Tier-9 BB's.

First of all, I'm glad that they're extending the range of tiers that can participate in Scenario Operations.  
Moving along...

My impression was that these are initial testing configurations (of the Scenario 'Bots, and their hull-points, ship builds, and A.I. capabilities).
Depending upon the quality of my team-mates, the Scenario could be similar to a Co-op match, or could provide enough of a challenge that 4 team-mates were sunk.
I'm guessing that WG/WOWs is getting samples of data and will adjust the 'Bots accordingly in the future. 
Granted, that's a guess.  But, I feel it is a reasonable guess.
I anticipate that the future live-server release of high-tier Scenario Operations will provide at least as much challenge as the Tier-6 through Tier-8 scenarios currently provide.
Again, to be fair, that's just speculation on my part.

Moving along...

43 minutes ago, Aethervox said:

Not a huge amount of playing these days as the random MM is getting really, really SICK (read: outright WG MM CHEATS, practically all the time).

Still, had 'solo' NBS for both servers; EU 74 stars (4 for me) for 5th in group (whatever 'that' means 😒) & in NA 8 stars (all mine) for 22nd (lol, last?) 

Could you explain, in detail, what you mean to say when you claim that the match-maker "cheats"?
Please feel free to start a new forum discussion topic, if you cannot provide an answer with a few sentences of words.  🙂 

In my experience match-making has been behaving normally (as far as match-maker "how it works" videos have explained, at least).

 
 

[Gnirf]

Have now completed the stock grind for the two German DD lines. Goal is to be able to buy T9 the first days of anniversary update. Likewise ready with the stock grind of P Ruprecht at T9 my 5th regrind and final one. Soon I have a number of T10 RB points to recieve. T8 French DD should hopefully be at the beginning of T9 when next update hits as T10 for the Commonwealth cruiser.  Played PTS and finished the token missions. Played a variety of operations. maybe 5-6. 1 loss in Raptor Rescue (CV sunk), rest 4-5 star wins. Played KXIVJ, Clausewitz and Hindenburg. I found that Clausewitz did not felt like a substantial better ship than Hindenburg. It ofc helps that my Lütjens is firmly placed on Hinden.

[Ensign Cthulhu]

2 hours ago, Aethervox said:

Not a huge amount of playing these days as the random MM is getting really, really SICK (read: outright WG MM CHEATS, practically all the time).

Still, had 'solo' NBS for both servers; EU 74 stars (4 for me) for 5th in group (whatever 'that' means 😒) & in NA 8 stars (all mine) for 22nd (lol, last?) 

Please stop using my "What did you do on the weekend?" posts as a cover for your unsubstantiated rants against matchmaking. "MM was not kind to me this weekend" is fine; it's a statement of fact. Making accusations of this sort is not. Make your own post for that.

Edited August 19, 2024 by Ensign Cthulhu

[Frostbow]

5 minutes ago, Ensign Cthulhu said:

Please stop using my "What did you do on the weekend?" posts as a cover for your unsubstantiated rants against matchmaking. "MM was not kind to me this weekend" is fine; it's a statement of fact. Making accusations of this sort is not. Make your own post for that.

He played World of Warships on a weekend and the matchmaking was sick. It was so sick that it was 'cheating'. And that was his weekend. LOL

[Ensign Cthulhu]

1 hour ago, Gnirf said:

I found that Clausewitz did not felt like a substantial better ship than Hindenburg.

Clausewitz feels like the one supership which is at best only an incremental advantage over the T10. Yorck guns (210mm vs 203mm) and more torpedoes, but no real special tricks. In light of Hindenburg's solid reputation over the years and her much lower operating costs, Clausewitz would probably be the last supership I would buy if God came down from Heaven and told me I had to have at least one. 

And yes, having Lutjens makes all the difference. Him in Hindenburg and ANYONE ELSE in Clausewitz would IMHO make Hindenburg the better ship. The biggest problem for German ship players is that there is only one Lutjens and so many places to put him!

[Ensign Cthulhu]

9 minutes ago, Frostbow said:

And that was his weekend. LOL

That seems to be his weekend every weekend, and also all of his weekdays! 

[Frostbow]

2 hours ago, Aethervox said:

Not a huge amount of playing these days as the random MM is getting really, really SICK (read: outright WG MM CHEATS, practically all the time).

Good players come and go. We've seen that happen in many ways, for many different reasons, including accounts with high WRs and a decent amount of Tier Xs (with Unique Upgrades!) sold online, most probably to new players looking to play at the highest tiers without the grinding necessary to become skilled. On a daily basis, what we have in our teams are most likely the 'casual' crowd, those players with thousands of battles but still play like it is literally just their first week in the game. 

I don't think the matchmaking is cheating anyone; it is just the nature of the beast. After all, there is only one pool of players from where the matchmaker creates opposing teams.

[Snargfargle]

Haven't been doing much lately but staying indoors during these mid-summer 105-degree days. Can't wait for fall.

[Admiral_Karasu]

Oh, forgot to mention. The weekend was somewhat kind to me, got a free Bismarck on ASIA (Unsinkable Sam's container drop).