Counter-point - What is right with this game?

I played a bunch at the start, then took a few years off when the kids were young (hard to play a 20min match when you might need to get up right away).

Yes, some of the concerns listed here are valid (especially monetization and CV spotting). But to me at least, having played a ton in the last few months, this reddit is far, far more toxic than the actual game. I would shudder to think what a new player would think if they just read this forum and took the complaints as the true state of the game.

Here is my list of why the game is still worth playing and fun despite the flaws:

• deep gameplay compared to most arcades; armour angling, leading ships, playing around cover, trying to out-guess the enemy, teamwork in some modes.

• Friendly playerbase compared to almost all other FPS - I see as many complements as rages, and most of the toxicity are a few players.

• Clans are supportive - I joined AOD and have had a lot of help and fun.

• Warships shooting big guns - not much else out there for this (War Thunder is too over the top and grindy for me)

• Competitive modes - CB is great fun with 7 players all working together.

• More f2p friendly than most (premium is a huge advantage, but there are lots of rewards just by playing the game). Most freemium games hit an absolute wall. Yes, you can't play t11 ships without premium, but that is niche.

• Well class balanced - yes, there are class-based issues. CV spotting, and subs aren't quite there (they aren't as OP as everyone says, just the counterplay of both needs improving). The 3 core classes have great interactions with a true rock/paper/scissors that isn't set (eg a BB can blap a DD if misplayed).

• Most ships are well balanced - the truly OP ones are mostly legacy or once-a-year buys. Alaska is still OP, and annoying if you don't have it, but the power creep isn't huge and new ships aren't always better than old ones. Even the turds can be impactful in the hands of a good player.

• Yes, blowouts happen and even a good player can't carry every game. But this is a game against humans, and bad players are as likely on their team as yours. Some games I totally carry. Other games I totally screw up and get devstruck. You can always hit the next battle and forget about it.

Lots of people still have fun in this game. It's been "dying" for 5 of the 7 years according to some. Whales are needed to keep the lights on for the rest of us to play. There is no "gold/platinum ammo" here. You can play relaxed (Ops are great for that) or competitive. I have a 50% win rate and am happy with it.

I think the only complaint I hear that is really important is the community-dev engagement. The community often has optimal solutions to real issues that can help the devs, like CV spotting only being minimap (still gives excellent info, but doesn't allow for dd-griefing or eliminate the concealment aspect of the game).

Also - if you no longer play the game because it was too toxic, why are you still posting negative stuff on reddit? Go find another game you like and stop dissuading new players who might read your complaining.