A Little Help From Your Friends

Fellow Pilots,
News: Pixonic tested a major item balance over the weekend.  We don't know the results yet, but it's safe to say that things will be different in the next update (4.3).  You may want to knock the dust off that Lancelot sitting on the shelf!

I am in full agreement with a recent Reddit post wherein the moderator describes clan membership as the major source of the fun he has playing War Robots.  Going a bit further, clan building is one of the most satisfying experiences one can have in our game.  Playing with teammates who are more like old friends is ... walking into a pub to a cheer from buddies who've already bought the first round and ordered a pizza!

When we decided to separate the U from Aurora Nova, we had a conversation with Dr. Dope about our goals, and the first was to surround champion league players with as many peers as possible.  The second goal was to provide a "safe space" for our players who were not yet in the highest leagues.  This would allow them to compete with other pilots at their level.  So, we created War Robots University II [U-2].

One finding was the amazing number of silver, gold, and diamond league pilots looking for clans.  We opened the doors on a Friday night, and by Sunday afternoon we were full.  This isn't because the U is famous (though we are, of course, famous!) - we named the clan F2P! at first.  Maybe that touched a nerve ... but regardless of what you call your group, there are MANY like-minded pilots out there.  As my wife says of (b)romance, "there's a lid for every pot."

At the U, we are looking for pilots who play the game and communicate.  If they don't do both, there's really not a lot of reason to be in the clan.  But communicators are hard to find!  For one, not every pilot is an English speaker.  It's common, but not universal.

Another find: your motto and flag both matter.  Pilots check you out, and using your 140 (or so) characters wisely is important.  The clan flag was free to change but now costs 1000Au, so get it right the first time.  Only pilots flying the same colors as your clan will "see" you in searches.  As far as I can tell from the analytics on this blog, there are as many players in Canada's nether parts as the rest of the world combined.  But if you fly the flag of a smaller country, you will more likely wind up ranked high on a small list.  Pick your poison.

The BIG fun, of course, doesn't come from getting a bunch of previously anonymous dudes into your clan, but from playing together.  This is what happens at first:


And this ...


And again ...


And more!  It can be discouraging for new clan members to hit the "squad penalty" for the first time.  The theory, which has probably been confirmed somewhere I'm too lazy to find on the interwebs, is that squads of three or more play against opponents that match the rating of the highest-ranking squad member.  If you run with three Gold leaguers and one Expert, prepare to have your ass handed to you by Experts and Masters.  Even one Champion in your squad seems to draw full groups of maxed-out whales to smash your face.

The losing U-2 squads, above, were having games like this - with three and a half minutes elapsed, we'd have four beacons and a big lead.

A minute later, having been destroyed a couple times, the tide would turn ...

The Spectres and Kumihos would wipe us out and take control of the beacons for the win.

When I remarked that we were doing great, our new pilots were very surprised.  When you lose a lot, it doesn't feel great - until you understand that there are cheaters in just about every battle.  How do you know?  On this one, note the trophies right below the Diamond league rating of 2664.  The number "4436" indicates the number of points (total) that this member of the "Gang Of Good Guys" has finished seasons rated above 5000 - Champion League.  But here, of course, (s)he's wiping out the Galahads and Griffins that populate Gold and Diamond leagues. Also, the figure of 30 robots destroyed in a single battle means that Lada Kalina arranges entire teams to lay down and be killed en masse so (s)he can quickly reap massive silver rewards.


Another example of cheating signs - 30 destroyed and 5.5M damage in a single silver farming game.  Also, the long win streak (odds of winning 43 even matches in a row are one in 8,796,093,022,208 - some 100 times worse than winning the lottery).  The levels of equipment are the direct result of the cheating, as it takes billions in silver and years of upgrade time - or gold - to get a hangar like this.  To put the levels in perspective, a level 12 weapon does almost double the damage of a level 6 weapon.  Even if the level 6 hangar I've been playing had Scourges and Shocktrains mounted on Spectres (it doesn't), having these levels is like having EIGHT of my Orkans and EIGHT of my Tarans.  Four Spectres and a Pursuer, all with maxed-out weapons, is a Champion league hangar in the hands of any eight-year old kid on the planet.

We don't need to do another dissertation on the prevalence of cheating in War Robots (it's absolutely pervasive) and we don't need a debate on exactly which practices are unethical (you know it when you see it).  My basic message is simple - get in a clan despite all the ridiculousness.  Download Discord, crack open a frosty beverage, and let the whaling begin!  Before you know it, you will be harpooning a few of them ...


Have a great week, we shall see you around the campus and on the high seas ...
Your humble servant,
Dr. Yat


Faculty Notes

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Until the introduction of the Greek bots, Pixonic provided component items to War Robots University's professors/pilots for review.  The content of War Robots U is created and edited by its authors exclusively.  For an explanation of the relationship between Pixonic and the U, read this post!

The U is not just a blog ... we are also iOS clans #48669, #141459, and #139479.  We are always looking for champion-league pilots, and welcome skilled communicators from around the world.