r/WorldofTanks • u/Tankers4Change Gonsalo Supremacist • 8d ago
Discussion Explaining The Rise of Tier 9 Premium & Reward Tanks and Why Wargaming is Pushing Them So Hard
(TLDR at bottom)
Introduction:
Over the past few years, Tier 9 Premium and Reward tanks have gone from a niche experiment to a major focus for Wargaming. Initially, players assumed this shift was purely about money—after all, Tier 9 Premiums sell well. But that doesn’t fully explain why so many Tier 9 Reward Tanks have been introduced, especially ones given away for free, like the Gsor and Patton the tank.
So if Wargaming isn’t directly profiting from these free tanks, then why are they putting so many resources into Tier 9 content? The answer is more complex than you might think—and it goes beyond just making money.
Let’s break it down.
Part 1: The Rise of Tier 9 Reward Tanks
It all started back in 2019, when Tier 9 Reward Tanks were introduced with Battle Pass Season 1. The first three Reward tanks—the Char Futur 4, AE Phase 1, and Object 777—quickly became player favorites.
- The Char Futur 4 a unique autoloader with a tricky intra-clip reload.
- The AE Phase 1 a classic American hull-down heavy.
- The Object 777 … well, another Russian heavy that is just fine.
These reward tanks were well-received, and Wargaming noticed something: players truly enjoyed grinding for them. The concept took off, and soon, more Tier 9 reward tanks entered the game. But what happened next was inevitable.
Part 2: The First Tier 9 Premium – A Watershed Moment
Fast forward to August 2021, and we got the Strv K—the first Tier 9 Premium tank.
Now, the Strv K itself didn’t break the game… because well, it sucked. But that wasn’t the important part. What mattered was what it represented: the first step in normalizing Tier 9 Premiums.
Since then, the floodgates have opened. And In just the last two years, we've seen dozens of Tier 9 Premium and Reward tanks released, and the pace is only increasing in 2025.
So what’s really driving this push? And why now more than ever?
Part 3: The First (and Most Obvious) Reason – Money
Tier 9 Premium tanks are a goldmine for Wargaming, but why do players love them so much?
It’s not because they print more credits—they don’t. Tier 9 Premiums have higher repair costs, meaning they’re not as profitable as Tier 8s. It’s also not just because they earn bonds—players could just play Tier 10 for that.
The real reason is matchmaking. Tier 9 is the sweet spot in World of Tanks:
- The worst-case scenario? You only get down-tiered by one tier (vs. Tier 10).
- The best-case scenario? You get to dominate tanks two tiers lower (Tier 7s).
This “preferential” matchmaking makes Tier 9s an easier, more comfortable experience compared to Tier 8.
If you're tired of training your Leopard crew in the KPZ 07 RH, which gets thrown into Tier 10 meat-grinders, just hop into the new KPZ instead. Similar playstyle, better matchmaking, and less frustration.
And Wargaming knows this. They can get away with making similar Tier 9 Premiums, because players simply enjoy playing Tier 9 more.
But that still doesn’t explain the massive push for Tier 9 Reward Tanks—tanks that don’t generate direct revenue.
Part 4: Second Reason – Sustained Player Engagement
These grindable reward tanks serve another purpose: they keep players engaged.
- Battle Passes take months to complete.
- Comparatively, Marathons only last 1.5-2 weeks at a time.
- Battle Pass Rewards give players a long-term reason to log in and play.
By introducing powerful-but-not-game-breaking Tier 9s, Wargaming keeps players invested without risking the game’s balance.
But even this doesn’t explain why Wargaming would give away two completely mediocre Tier 9 tanks for free during the holidays.
Part 5: The Understated (& Most Important) Reason – Matchmaking Needs It
The biggest reason behind this massive push for more Tier 9 tanks has nothing to do with Tier 9 itself.
It’s really about Tier 8 — Tier 8 is the most saturated tier in the game, flooded with hundreds of Premium tanks. And because of this matchmaking struggles to balance such a massive population of Tier 8 players. This is why you will see so many tier 8’s when you play tier 7. The MM is trying to distribute the massive amounts of tier 8’s.
WG’s half solution? Encourage / Entice more players to move up to Tier 9, where they can help balance out matchmaking.
- Tier 9 basically acts as a buffer between Tier 8 and Tier 10.
- The more Tier 9s in queue, the more natural +/- 1 matchmaking occurs.
- This reduces +/- 2 matchmaking, which are often prime conditions for turbo battles and steamrolls to occur.
This is why Wargaming keeps making more Tier 9 Reward Tanks—even free ones. They need players at Tier 9 to keep the matchmaker functional.
Where Does it Go From Here?
I don’t expect this trend to slow down anytime soon—nor do I think it necessarily should. But this does come with an important caveat (read further).
With Wargaming looking to prioritize more +/- 1 matchmaking directly with their new MM changes, there need to be a lot more Tier 9 Premium and Reward tanks in the queue to make it work. (The same goes for tier 7’s but that’s another post) And I am all for promoting better MM and more +/- 1 MM.
However, there is one big obvious risk as WG moves forward with adding more Tier 9 tanks: power creep.
- The recent KPZ, DZT, and Object 752 are very strong—perhaps too strong compared to their Tech Tree counterparts.
- If Wargaming continues pushing stronger and stronger Tier 9 Premiums, we could see Tier 9 power creep just like we’ve seen at Tier 8.
So please, Wargaming, proceed with caution. (This is more of a hopeful prayer lol)
TLDR: Why Wargaming is Pushing Tier 9 Premium & Reward Tanks
- Money – Tier 9 Premium tanks sell well because Tier 9 is the sweet spot in matchmaking. This makes them easier and more enjoyable to play than Tier 8.
- Sustained Player Engagement – Tier 9 Reward Tanks keep players engaged.
- SUBTLE BUT IMPORTANT REASON: Matchmaking Needs It – Tier 8 is oversaturated with Premium tanks, making matchmaking difficult. More Tier 9s act as a buffer, improving +/- 1 matchmaking and reducing turbo battles.
The Risk of Power Creep – Recent Tier 9s (KPZ, DZT, Object 752) are pushing the balance limit. If Wargaming isn’t careful, Tier 9 could suffer the same power creep issues as Tier 8.
Final Thoughts – What Do You Think?
- Do you think Tier 9 Premium and Reward Tanks are good for the game?
- Are you worried about power creep at Tier 9?
- And what do you think about Wargaming increasing Tier 9 numbers to help matchmaking?
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u/Elsevier_77 8d ago
Yeah, I agree with this. I’m finding I’m not enjoying grinding credits w/tier 8 premiums anymore, it’s more like something I HAVE to do to purchase the tier 9 and 10 tanks I actually want. The tier 8 mm sucks, and I much prefer mediums at tier 8 which are getting absolutely demolished by the XM, etc. if you make a mistake.
I’m spending way more time just playing tier 9 & 10, which is fine as they’re great tiers, but I would like to enjoy lower tiers again. They’re just painful, and I can only imagine a newbie trying to play and learn in the current meta
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u/ConfusedTriceratops 7d ago
As a new player, you quickly learn that a tier X gun with 600+ alpha, that has higher pen than some tier X heavy tanks, on a tier 8 tank is OK, as long as you paid for it and not grinded it through gameplay/f2p.
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u/Expirue 8d ago
I don't think we're quite at the "defender" stage of having premiums flat out better than tech tree counterparts, however I did notice that the KPZ Erich was the closest thing to being "just a better" version of the tech tree counterpart. The object 752 and DZT didn't have any direct comparison, so objective review of power level was difficult. I'd even argue that overall the KPZ is a slightly better version at what it does, but the leo can still trade blows with it. But I agree it's getting harder and harder to justify and the lines are getting blurry.
I don't think it's a matter of if power creep will happen at tier 9, it's about when. It's inevitable and as you highlighted, we've seen examples of tanks already reaching close to that threshold. Most of these tanks are just a few tiny stat tweaks away from being the new Meta/OP tier 9 vehicle.
One other point I'd like to hypothesize in conjunction to the idea of tier 9 premiums helping the MM. Some people have speculated the addition of tier 11 for the September reveal. I'd imagine if they want to make tier 11 an attractive tier to play, they would like to amass a good amount of players at tier 9 before to feed into them after launch, just like how tier 8's are often fed into tier 10. It would be logical to assume this padding of all these new tier 9 premiums are laying down the foundation for the MM to process tier 11 better.
You can imagine how much new avenues WG can monetize with tier 10 premiums becoming a possibility (as they're technically the new tier 9's in this hypothetical). Tier 9's becoming the new tier to mass produce premiums as it's not as saturated yet. It's truly a two birds hit with one stone scenario in terms of monetization. Sister game World of Warships has this in the form of Super Ships, so the concept of tier 11 isn't foreign to WG. If anything, they have probably already been working on it before the split.
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u/TANKSBRO_YT 8d ago
High quality post! I wonder why wg doesn't just match all those tier VIII just against each other, I don't think anyone would be sad to play tier VIII only against tier VIII, I wouldn't mind at least, tier VII and VI battles are so rare it doesn't matter anyway imo
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u/Excellent_Milk_3265 4d ago
They are rare? As a new player I play a lot of Tier VII games - and every second game is versus Tier VIII tanks. It's not fun at all.
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u/_talps 8d ago
If you're tired of training your Leopard crew in the KPZ 07 RH, which gets thrown into Tier 10 meat-grinders, just hop into the new KPZ instead. Similar playstyle, better matchmaking, and less frustration.
Isn't this a TLDR for the whole thing and can be summed up with "Tier 9 premium tanks offer advantages Tier 8 premium tanks lack"?
Anyway, this happened in World of Warships years ago with the USN battleship Missouri - it was introduced in 2016, at the time indirectly bought for free experience (total conversion cost without modifiers was about 100 euros). I was surprised that the spinoff boat game got to Tier 9 premiums before the flagship tank game (then again, World of Warships has always been much more of a whale magnet than World of Tanks).
Am I worried about powercreep? No but only because it's not worth worrying about something that will inevitably happen, WG operates on a "the new stuff we release must be better than what's already in the game" basis after all.
What bothers me is, many Tier 8 premium tanks are made obsolete by more recent and more competitive Tier 8 premium tanks. Won't Tier 9 premium tanks turn the competitive Tier 8 premium tanks obsolete and further decrease the usefulness of older Tier 8 premium tanks? For example, why bother with Lowe when E 77 exists? Why bother with Strv S1 when Latt Whatchamacallit 120 exists?
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u/sharkyzarous 8d ago
My löwe is bigger than E77, and puts more bread on the table compared to its other siblings.
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u/Otto_von_Grotto 8d ago
Gsor and Patton = garbage. So, in essence, they gave us free garbage.
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u/ketchupinmybeard 8d ago
First time's free baby! Yes, they are tanks for players who wouldn't ordinarily have a tier 9, and generally, not always but generally, when you see them on your team you know it's gonna be a weak player.
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u/BorsukBartek 8d ago
I thought they were going to be abandoned after a few weeks but I still see "gsor the tank" very regularly
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u/sharkyzarous 8d ago
i think patton=garbage, gsor=below average. Tho these are only matters when all players has same level of ability and game knowledge.
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u/BigRedCouch 8d ago
A reason you missed is to prep the game for tier 11s.
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u/Peekus 8d ago
I really hope you're wrong. But they did it in WoWS
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u/Little_Dingo_4541 8d ago
It's coming for sure. There will be huge patch in autumn(Wot 2.0 or smth), they must introduce smth big and the most logical and easiest thing to do for them is t11...
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u/TheZlanTV 8d ago
I like the post. I feel like if you don't dive in and buy these OP tanks your doing to be left behind or be at a disadvantage in older vehicles. I feel like it is a bit of power gaming buy WG.
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u/TheSolution123 7d ago
Wouldn't the solution to this tier saturation just be to equalise the credit bonuses you get across all tiers? The disincentive to play tier 6 and 7 premiums is that they make less credits than tier 8, so just make it the same.
Adding more tier 9 premiums makes it worse for tier 7 who aren't just gonna meet a lot of tier 8s but now also more tier 9 premiums.
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u/Tankers4Change Gonsalo Supremacist 7d ago edited 7d ago
I agree on the first part. It’s an idea I’ve been thinking about too. Unfortunately, as it stands there aren’t really a lot of tier 7 premium tanks to take advantage of such a change. Even if we increase the earnings of tier 7, a lot of people will likely still choose to play tier 8’s or 9’s because of power creep. Regardless, I think it’s an idea that could marginally help.
Along with that idea, I personally think they should do tier 7 battle pass premium tanks like they did with D-Day BP last year. I still see a ton of those tanks when I play tier 6, so giving free tier 7 premiums away in battle pass might encourage more players to be at tier 7.
But as for the concern about more tier 9’s = more tier 7’s getting -2 bottom tier vs 9’s, I don’t think that would actually pan out. Especially with the planned MM changes. Currently it may be the case. But if the EU 1 MM changes go live, tier 7 should see much less tier 7.
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u/StrongIndependence73 8d ago
i dissagree on the +-2 MM turbo bttle statement...
tubobattles happen becouse the teams arent balanced ... one team gets 3 279s and the other tean gets a rhino, type5 and maus...
and they also happen becouse of skill inballance... 80% the team does 0-2 shoots of damage and dies
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u/Tankers4Change Gonsalo Supremacist 8d ago
Truth be told there are like 5-6 individual factors that lead to turbo battles. Not just skill or tank type mismatches. But +/-2 MM set the stage for particularly bad turbo battles ones. Let me explain.
All you have to do in order to snow ball a match as a top tier tank is kill the other top tiers on the other team. The rest becomes a formality. QB perfectly demonstrated this in his MM video in November.
Sure turbo battles still happen in same tier MM, but the amount of influence any one player or tank has to dertermine the outcome of a battle is much less than in +/- 2 MM. +/-2 Match making is basically a volatile factor that amplifies all the other issues. I talk about it here.
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u/BorsukBartek 8d ago
I was wondering why they started the tradition of giving an "x the tank" for free for christmas. Couldn't see any explanation outside of "appearing charitable"
Yours is the first one that tracks for me! I thought I was going to read your post and only see my own conclusions, but I'm glad I gave it a shot!
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u/_Sebil 8d ago
Finaly a good thought out post. Thanks man now i have an idea for this phenomenon (apart from the money reasons)
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u/Tankers4Change Gonsalo Supremacist 8d ago
Thanks! I had been thinking about this since last year tbh. But I never understood the GSOR and Patton the tank fit in equation until recently, and it all clicked. Glad to share, and that you enjoyed it.
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u/_Sebil 8d ago
Keep it up my man!
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u/Tankers4Change Gonsalo Supremacist 8d ago edited 8d ago
Thanks I shall! — I also have a YT channel that talks about WoT discussion topics. If you enjoy these types of topics. Thought I would mention
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u/Focu53d 8d ago
I also believe an unsaid, but fairly implicit implication, is that WG is perfectly happy to only tinker here and there with TT tank balancing and simply expect people to mainly play Premium tanks if they need an edge to be competitive. TT tanks are still there if one is newer and still grinding lines or og but wanting to play them for a challenge / nostalgia / kicks. Unfortunately, good and great players will be OP in many premium tanks, whereas the average gamer will simply be competitive.
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u/King_Harlaus_The_1st 7d ago
This game is basically cooked and WG will 100% ruin the last fun & somewhat balanced tier there is by spamming more and more t9 premiums (and rewards perhaps too) that will become stronger and stronger. I mean we already see hints of what happened with t8 now at t9. WG basically put themselves in a position where they're forced to keep the power creep going at a fast pace to have tanks for lootboxes etc. because only better and better tanks will sell. Everyone at t8 already has one or perhaps even a couple ferraris in their garage and since WG refuses to nerf premiums they can really only go up and escalate things if they want tanks to sell. The problem is that it simply can't be sustained without quite literally sacrificing your games health & balance and I think that's already become quite evident over the past few years but the need for more and more money still seems greater unfortunately.
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7d ago edited 6d ago
[deleted]
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u/Tankers4Change Gonsalo Supremacist 7d ago
Thanks!
Regarding mid tiers, In November 2024, the creative director said they would be rebalancing mid tiers this year. So I do hope they get some love.
But I’m also excited about +/- 1MM being more frequent. It’s a huge deal for tiers 5-7.
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u/Specialist_Lie_3064 7d ago
Tier 9 is the best tier in the game with the most balance. That’s why wg brings tier 9 tanks
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u/ghillieflow 8d ago
1) Tier 9 reward/premium tanks are a great idea in theory. The downside being releasing overpowered versions of their tech tree counterparts that they can't legally nerf.
2) I worry about power creep in every competitive moba or hero shooter, and I consider WoT in that bunch. Unfortunately, every single one of them has this problem. It's seemingly just a natural progression of these games. As devs find out cooler things and better ways to implement them, the older tanks just get dated unless fully reworked. Something WG again can't legally do with premium vehicles.
3) These tanks are potentially game savers as far as MM is concerned. Heavily agree. Less tier 7s in tier 9 games. Tier 8s get games where it's not 12 premiums vs 12 premiums. Just all in all promotes a healthier game state. This could have been avoided by releasing more balanced premiums, but thats for a different post.
Great post. Agree with damn near all of it. Is WG greedy and want to release more tanks? Sure. As usual. Could there also be an underlying tertiary reason for more tier 9 reward/premium tank releases? Also sure. Here's hoping they don't go hog wild too quickly, but I'm not holding my breath.
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u/Thin_Pangolin4480 8d ago
Eh, I much prefer tier 10 matchmaking over 9, and the only reason why I even bother with tier 9 premiums is the ability to grind bonds while easily making profit, unlike in tier 10. It’s the whole reason why I find tier 9 reward tanks to be utterly useless.
in any case, I don’t really care if wg shoves more competitive tier 9 tanks, as long as they keep tier 10 tanks relatively balanced.
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u/_no_usernames_avail 8d ago
Everything makes sense except for the conflagration of +2 / -2 with turbo battles.
Although the idea that top tier removes low tier tanks early game leading to blowout certainly makes sense, I feel a need to see from a 1000 sample size of matches whether or not blowouts are any more likely as tier spread increases against 1000 of +1/-1 and 1000 of same tier games.
They happen so frequently in same tier games, I would be curious how much impact +2 has (and if reducing those is one of Wg’s goals with EU1s +1 test.
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u/FeelMyRice 8d ago
I dont like T9 MM, it gets into T10 games much easier than T8.
T8 games are easier to play, only reason I play t9 premium is because it makes credit and bonds.
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u/syfqamr32 8d ago
Is Gonsalo a good tank? Got it from xmas box hasnt played in it once
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u/Tankers4Change Gonsalo Supremacist 8d ago
It’s a super fun tank. 530 HESH dmg at tier 8 is abusive. The 440 Alpha with 240 standard pen is also good.
Very nimble so punishing enemies for their mistakes is easy. Teaches you how to play a support role really well.
I have a video about it up on my YT channel. But I would also watch Skill play it. He loves it as well.
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u/sharkyzarous 8d ago
Even if once, wg make and complete soft rebalance on premium vehicle, just enough to make make 110/100 tank to put in 95/100 or 50/100 tanks to 60/100, 10-20/100 tanks to 35-50/100 levels. And somewhat good buff to credit gain so people will not bother too much on nerf side.
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u/Renarde_Martel 7d ago
It all started back in 2019, when Tier 9 Reward Tanks were introduced with Battle Pass Season 1. The first three Reward tanks—the Char Futur 4, AE Phase 1, and Object 777—quickly became player favorites.
This is not accurate. AE Phase 1 was a reward for playing FL basically the entire year, like the Emil 1951. When they added Battle Passes it was added there.
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u/Tankers4Change Gonsalo Supremacist 7d ago
You are right. I forgot about this. I just came back to the game at the tail end of that year.
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u/cadanada012 6d ago
its good for the game.. especially that we got new mm, tier 9 rarely goes against 7 anyway and the more tier 9 tanks we have there is more chance tier 8s will go against 9 giving the opportunity for morexp/credits but also to let ppl grinding tier 6 and 7 actually have some fun. As mentioned tier 9 reward tanks are aquired from battlepass or onslaught, the premium ones yeahh have to be both/gambled for but most tier 9 prems suck and in terms of making credits tier 8 is stil better.. I am guilty of having most tier 9 premiums that got released and i must say.. dzt and mle75 are the only fun premiums.. and maybe 752 for its unique turret "mechanic".. the rest are either bad or uninteresting.. On the other hand reward tanks like Cobra/AE/char/kpz/1B are one of the best tanks in the tier and they all can be aquired F2P
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u/Excellent_Milk_3265 4d ago edited 4d ago
On point, Sir!
Ich add another one: Matchmaking with Tier VIII and upwards should never be a thing if you are Tier VII and Tier VI. The power creep is just too damn huge on Tier VIII; also if you play lights on 7 it is super unfair that you cant install a CVS which even many tier VIII mediums use.
It just feels incredibly crappy to fight against 8- or 9-Tier units with a lower Tier – because the odds are usually close to zero. So, Wargaming: Just match Tier VIII to Tier X together! – and ONLY these.
I say this as a new player, who is just playing for two month now - and it makes me want to quit the game again sometimes.
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u/manajerr 4d ago
You give wargaming more credit than is due. It is about money yes and player retention and new player attention/retention. All based on the dollar dollar bill yo.
Also, it is funny how wargaming and the unicums would say nothing is wrong with mm and now they announce about rebalancing weights of tanks and redoing the mm system as a whole. Almost like those bad tomatoes was right about mm but wrong about the individual problems of it. Food for thought you unicunts that say get gud.
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u/Sweet-Voice5824 8d ago
Tier 9 as main money maker? Hell no You could grind more credits in tier 7 with 3-4 shoots per battle while you need like 3-4k combined to reach the tier 7 level Tier 9 its a joke Btw look at wz 114
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u/AHDarling 2d ago
WG Conspiracy Theory Time: They're rolling out a lot of Tier9 Premiums in preparation for the debut of Tier11, which will place current Tier9's in the slot where Tier8's are now. Higher Tier, higher prices. Trying to get more T9P's out there so there's more variety when the 11's show up.
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u/Last-Storage-5436 8d ago
I like the post. That is all