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New insights into tankophobia

Following my confessional post yesterday about my fear of losing battles in World of Tanks I spent some time playing the game to try and get a better handle on what is going on.


I hadn't played for a while so I quite enjoyed the session. I even made a conscious effort to play more creatively and stop being constrained by second hand strategies. So far so good but my dislike of losing battles remains and now I have a better insight into the reason for it:

It all boils down to the daily double experience bonus that you get for the first winning battle of the day on every tank. A handy icon on the tank portrait reminds you which tanks have not yet claimed this experience windfall for the day.

While the double XP bonus is a boon it also becomes a daily chore. I log on and see the tanks in my stable all demanding to be played until they achieve a win.Without consciously realising it I had slipped into a pattern of keeping playing until every tank had gotten its bonus. Only then would I allow myself to stop. I currently have six tanks in my stable so given the 50:50 chance of a victory that means I "have to" play 12 matches on average to get the bonus on every one. Some days I will be lucky and win my first six battles. Some days I will have to play 20 or more battles. 


Note how the existence of a daily reward has turned what should be a fun activity into a daily chore. Notice in particular how I have come to hate losing games because every loss means I have to play at least one more round until I get the win and finish my job for the day. 

PS: I am pretty sure the 12 matches on average to get 6 wins figure is right but I am currently having a mental statistics block and I am not sure how to prove it.
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Comments

Jayedub said…
I know I said I was thinking of giving WoT a try, so today I will download and get it installed. At some point I will fire it up and see what it's like cause it sounds interesting and different.
3:21 pm
mbp said…
I highly recommend it Jaye - Don't be put off by how weak the starter tanks appear at first. They are quite handy once you upgrade them a bit which you can do after a couple of battles.
3:55 pm
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