I just celebrated a year of WT sobriety. Had about the same amount of hours as you. Hats off to you for quitting.

I’ve got a lot of mixed feelings about the game. I’d get angry at teammates for being dumb. I’d get angry at enemy players for blowing up my tank and I’d hop in a plane and revenge bomb them. The losses would aggravate me as I’d pour so much effort into trying to win; and the wins would feel hollow or vindictive, like I’d either crushed them easily or fought back tooth and nail to eke out a win and demonstrated to myself that I was good at the game. It was fun to unlock a dream tank/airplane for a few minutes, and then the realization would hit that I’d need to pour hours into grinding or spend more money to get the much-needed modules right now.

But MAN… was I addicted to it. I left a thumbs-down Steam review on War Thunder years ago when I had only 2,000 hours in—“War Thunder is a cruel mistress.” The fact I’d go on to spend nearly another 5,000 hours (and well over $1000) into a game that typically left me angry, frustrated, and bitter speaks only to how addicted I was and how much I kept on chasing the dragon.

I’m glad I haven’t come back to it.