If only the joke became a reality

If there is one thing I can give WarGaming credit for, they are very good at hoaxes, especially for April Fools. The first one that I (and my son) fell for was their video of the impossible German Super Heavy Landkreuzer P. 1000 Ratte.

The way the video was presented, with all the talk of this monster being implemented into the game and all of the hype that was generated, convinced many around the real world believed it truly was coming.

Despite all the hours of effort put into this rouse, it will never come to pass, much to the heartbreak of countless players (yes, it would be game breaking to put this tank in, however, a Boss Mode, like the White Tiger event that was exclusive to the RU server....meh, forget about it).

Then, they did it again.

I know I can't be the only one who has grown tired of playing in a virtual World War Two environment. Countless games, including Battlefield, Call of Duty, Medal of Honor and many more titles, had more people fighting in them then the real war itself (no statistics on this, but I can't be that far off, am I?).

For me, World of Tanks was something different then some of the previously mentioned titles. First, it was simple, no spawning in as a person, then locating a vehicle to use, taking control and finally battling it out. Just login, pick your vehicle and off you go. Don't like the current vehicle choices? No problem! Play and grind out something new or payout some real world money and purchase a premium version to have some fun with.

More recent titles from the War genre have been quite successful, starting from Battlefield 2 and up, Call of Duty: Modern Combat series and the reboot of Medal of Honor. Their sales reflect the change in mind and tastes with some of the global playerbase from playing with history to making a modern version of their own.

Had I seen this content, the Developer Diaries: Modern Vehicles video posted above and webpage http://worldoftanks.com/en/news/pc-browser/19/announcedfeatureddeploymenttier11/ when it first came out, last year, I would have fallen for another elaborate hoax, again. Also, I would have been even more unhappy to find out it too, would never come to pass. The amount of effort to fool the playerbase across the servers, just for kicks, was and will be again, a monumental waste.

However, if they had followed through with this direction of development, I can't help but wonder how many players, who walked away since then, either might have stayed or returned. As it stands for me, I have very little drive to play WOT, for quite a few reasons, but mainly the whole-tired-of-fighting-in-virtual-WWII.

In a strange way, I feel sorry for WarGaming concerning this hoax. All that money that they could have been made, on top of the countless millions they already have rolling in, if they had taken this material and continued with the concept they were pitching.

Perhaps, they could have even launched a World of Tanks 2.0 Modern Vehicles, but it would seem another company has that part covered.