Returning Player After a Few Years Break

[Phattwoohie]

I haven't played in a few years, so tried to find the forums to see what was new and the current situation of the game, only to see the old forums closed. Very sad to lose all those years of information and posts, but glad to find these new forums. That being said, I have not actually logged into my old account yet, so was wondering if there is any type of recruitment bonus currently? If so, the first person to send me a referral code, I'll use it when I log in and start playing again. I was very active back in the day, but real life called and I didn't have time to play anymore. I'm retired now and looking forward to jumping back in. 

Last but not least, what is the current state of the game? When I left, people were hating on subs pretty hard and the FDR carrier. I'm sure there are a lot of new ships since back then, just curious if everyone is happy with the current choices and if there are any newer ships people are hating on? My ship of choice was the Shimakaze back then and I was very good at it. I enjoyed playing the Republique occasionally and never really saw that many who enjoyed playing her, but I found it to be quite effective. I'd stay back and snipe early game and then move in closer late game, where she had a decent fire rate and would do really well in the late game aspect. It will be fun to find out what people prefer now and to see how the game has changed. 

I'll see y'all out there soon!

[I_cant_Swim_]

@Phattwoohie Welcome to DevStrike! Glad you found your way to us!

[Admiral_Karasu]

@Phattwoohie Welcome aboard!

 

As for the 'mess' you remember things being in, I think it's still the maid's day off as far as things go. There's been a degree of adaptation along with minor adjustments, I think, in terms of how the game is played. I think the overall situation with subs/CV's is slightly better now than what it used to be, though, but there are other issues with game play that still persist.

[Justin_Simpleton]

Welcome back to the game!  There has been a plethora of ships added with unique features that will keep you busy learning about them one way or another.  The FDR is not the terror anymore, in fact, I rarely see it in game.  The newer carriers have smoke.  DDs have torpedo bombers, cruisers and battleships have flight decks and subs are still fun for some and disgusting for others.  The Wiki site has seen a lot of improvement over the years.

I'm curious how you found this forum.

[Lady Anesjka]

46 minutes ago, Phattwoohie said:

I haven't played in a few years, so tried to find the forums to see what was new and the current situation of the game, only to see the old forums closed. Very sad to lose all those years of information and posts, but glad to find these new forums. That being said, I have not actually logged into my old account yet, so was wondering if there is any type of recruitment bonus currently? If so, the first person to send me a referral code, I'll use it when I log in and start playing again. I was very active back in the day, but real life called and I didn't have time to play anymore. I'm retired now and looking forward to jumping back in. 

Last but not least, what is the current state of the game? When I left, people were hating on subs pretty hard and the FDR carrier. I'm sure there are a lot of new ships since back then, just curious if everyone is happy with the current choices and if there are any newer ships people are hating on? My ship of choice was the Shimakaze back then and I was very good at it. I enjoyed playing the Republique occasionally and never really saw that many who enjoyed playing her, but I found it to be quite effective. I'd stay back and snipe early game and then move in closer late game, where she had a decent fire rate and would do really well in the late game aspect. It will be fun to find out what people prefer now and to see how the game has changed. 

I'll see y'all out there soon!

It has not got better, only worse. Leave while you still have you sanity.

[Admiral_Karasu]

9 minutes ago, Lady Anesjka said:

It has not got better, only worse. Leave while you still have you sanity.

Yes, it's worse that it was, I agree, from an subjective point of view, but it's also a matter of your point of you and what you use as your point of reference.

[Frostbow]

1 hour ago, Phattwoohie said:

I haven't played in a few years, so tried to find the forums to see what was new and the current situation of the game, only to see the old forums closed. Very sad to lose all those years of information and posts, but glad to find these new forums. 

Welcome back. 

Yes, it was sad to see the old forums got nuked. There were a lot of inputs, discussions, topics, etc. that are still relevant to this day, and I am not sure if everyone has the patience to comb through the archived versions of it. Anyways, Devstrike is here and hopefully this one will stick far longer than the old forum. And due in no small part to the efforts of players, the reviews of LWM have been ported here. 

1 hour ago, Phattwoohie said:

When I left, people were hating on subs pretty hard and the FDR carrier. I'm sure there are a lot of new ships since back then, just curious if everyone is happy with the current choices and if there are any newer ships people are hating on?

There will always be a ship that people will hate. It is a constant feature in this community. Even Co-op mains hate the presence of submarines in the kiddie mode because it will make it "hard to get XP", as if the mode itself is not already dumbed down enough.

A lot have already proclaimed that they are quitting the game due to submarines; me, I don't play subs, and I'd rather learn and adapt than quit or moan or cry or whine about subs.

[SkullCowboy]

1 hour ago, Phattwoohie said:

I was very active back in the day, but real life called and I didn't have time to play anymore. I'm retired now and looking forward to jumping back in.
 

Welcome back! So it appears you enjoyed the game and didn't leave because of changes or silly new mechanics. You shouldn't have a problem sliding back in and I hope that, for your newly found free time, you will enjoy it still. Also glad you found this place. Good group of folks here. Again, welcome back!

Edited December 28, 2024 by SkullCowboy

[Verblonde]

3 hours ago, Phattwoohie said:

Last but not least, what is the current state of the game? When I left, people were hating on subs pretty hard and the FDR carrier. I'm sure there are a lot of new ships since back then, just curious if everyone is happy with the current choices and if there are any newer ships people are hating on?

Still a bit ropey in some areas; adding submarines was a mistake that hasn't been fixed yet, although shotgunning has been effectively removed, which makes the things marginally less egregious. Griefer types seem to like submarines though (and telling us that we're complaining about nothing), so the class isn't going anywhere.

CVs still get a lot of vitriol directed at them generally, but they're much as they ever were (at least since the rework), and - IMO - less disruptive to the game than submarines. Basically, they're a menace if you dig sneaky ships, but that was always the case.

The main other thing - for the moment - is probably superships (had they happened the last you played?). They've made life more difficult for T9s, as you can now get +2 MM, but they're designed to be horrifying credit sinks so not many folk seem to play them extensively.

Besides that, the number of things with 'gimmicks' has increased a lot, but the impact of those is generally not too bad (although a well-played hybrid can unbalance the vision game, which annoys some folk).

Finally, it's worth noting that avoiding Randoms can drastically mitigate the impact of the most offensive elements mentioned; this is what I've done since submarines were forced on us, and the game remains eminently fun for me as a result.

[Wolfswetpaws]

3 hours ago, Phattwoohie said:

I haven't played in a few years, so tried to find the forums to see what was new and the current situation of the game, only to see the old forums closed. Very sad to lose all those years of information and posts, but glad to find these new forums. That being said, I have not actually logged into my old account yet, so was wondering if there is any type of recruitment bonus currently? If so, the first person to send me a referral code, I'll use it when I log in and start playing again. I was very active back in the day, but real life called and I didn't have time to play anymore. I'm retired now and looking forward to jumping back in. 

Last but not least, what is the current state of the game? When I left, people were hating on subs pretty hard and the FDR carrier. I'm sure there are a lot of new ships since back then, just curious if everyone is happy with the current choices and if there are any newer ships people are hating on? My ship of choice was the Shimakaze back then and I was very good at it. I enjoyed playing the Republique occasionally and never really saw that many who enjoyed playing her, but I found it to be quite effective. I'd stay back and snipe early game and then move in closer late game, where she had a decent fire rate and would do really well in the late game aspect. It will be fun to find out what people prefer now and to see how the game has changed. 

I'll see y'all out there soon!

Welcome to DevStrike and back to playing the game.  🙂 

Shimakaze is still a "gud 'bote".
Republique has been power-crept a little bit, but is otherwise okay.  Consider the Alsace or the Bourgogne as alternatives?

The "hate on subs" has persisted, but the number of people openly expressing their hate in-game and on the forum has dwindled somewhat.
I figure that newer players don't mind submarines.
Bottom line?  We have more Submarines now than a few years ago, and more players of them.

The CV "F.D.R." is occasionally seen.  She can still do okay, but has suffered a bit of power-creep, in my opinion.
Granted, I don't have her in my Port.  I'm merely going by my own in-game observaions and experiences.

For additional in-game rewards, consider signing-on to Twitch and viewing people who stream their games of World of Warships.  
https://www.twitch.tv/  
There are some hoops to jump through, to link a Twitch account with your World of Warships account.
https://worldofwarships.com/en/content/twitch-connect/  
But, there are some entertaining people making Twitch streams and viewing them offers some decent S.W.A.G.

Hybrid-ships, such as the Ise, the Tone, the Halford, and the Chikuma-II have proliferated a bit.

Hope to see you on the virtual seas.  🙂 

[thornzero]

I don't think a recruitment code will work for your old account but you should get some freebies and premium time as soon as you login.

I try to take the old timer's opinions [game veterans] with a grain of salt because I like things about the game mostly and try real hard. 

For instance I love randoms and some guys hate it with a passion. I run into subs and cv's but sometimes there is none. 

Recently, I have engaged in some clan battles and that is the most fun for me right now especially since I am in a real fun clan now.

So you'll see some of what you missed and you will miss some of what you see but I think the game is in decent shape and is real good fun for the most part.

[Verblonde]

18 minutes ago, thornzero said:

I don't think a recruitment code will work for your old account

I believe this is incorrect: WG reward people who can persuade inactive accounts to return. It's worth getting a code if you haven't used your account for several months or more...

Edit: here's the relevant link: https://friends.worldofwarships.com/en/about

Edited December 28, 2024 by Verblonde

[tangofan]

1 hour ago, Verblonde said:

I believe this is incorrect: WG reward people who can persuade inactive accounts to return. It's worth getting a code if you haven't used your account for several months or more...

Edit: here's the relevant link: https://friends.worldofwarships.com/en/about

You don't even need to persuade anyone to send you a link. All the invite links for NA are formed like this: https://warships.us/<playername> , where <playername> is the name of the player who invites you. E.g. my invite link is  https://warships.us/tangofan So, feel free to use mine or substitute my player name with any of your friends' player names.

But you have to use them before your first battle after your absence, otherwise you won't get the return goodies. Among others those used to include a T5 Premium container.

[Daniel_Allan_Clark]

Ops has expanded to allow tiers 6-11 into them...which really opens up options to play a lot of ships in Operations.

[tangofan]

5 minutes ago, Daniel_Allan_Clark said:

Ops has expanded to allow tiers 6-11 into them...which really opens up options to play a lot of ships in Operations.

^^^ This. As a primarily PvE player, I thoroughly enjoy taking ships like Schlieffen or Salem into Operations. And they're also great for leveling Tech Tree lines, since the BXP per game is higher, so you need fewer games and thus fewer XP booster flags.

At the moment Asymmetric Battles are of course the king of the PvE hill, but once those disappear again, it will be once again Ops time.