Hall of Fame, December 22-28th

Thanks to another drop of free crates, between December 22nd and 28th, on EU server, 20 or more battles played 5875 players. 1208 (26%) more than during previous week.
On RU server happened another influx of opportunists, 15173 players with 20+ battles, 7410 (95%) more.

Again - it seems like a current ceiling of possibly playing players, where half of that play only to get free stuff. Since there are few crates to grab (althoug for ridiculous amount of play), next week may be a relatively small drop, but 2nd week of 2021 should bring usual drop to well established low player numbers.

Twin Mustang E - another premium scam

Since long itme, P-82B Twin Mustang model was present in the game, and few times as P-82B it was available for purchase.
Average heavy fighter, with 14 .50" machine guns - quantity has a quality all its own. Maybe, most MG armed planes is utter crap, only very few manage, like P-80A.
Now, riding on Christmas hype, WG provided bundles into shop, consisting P-82E model.
And there is one tiny little glitch - it's F-82E, not B variant (and first - F like Fighter, not P like Pursuit), but man, it's whatever-82 Twin Mustang after all.
Difference can be noticed either after purchase, or before, by checking stats - P-82B vs F-82E. Of course - not so easy, as as for now, it's impossible to put E version to plane comparison. And isn't present in tech tree. What a coincidence.

The main difference is that Echo version has 6 MGs (comparing to Bravo' 14). Piss poor, for real money. As a bonus - half of rockets (5 instead of 10 for Bravo), lower top speed (715 vs 720 km/h) despite more powerful engines, higher optimal airspeed (which means worse in dogfights, when energy is bled out and speed decreases), 0.8s better in turning than Bravo (like 12.3 vs 13.1 do much difference vs single engine fighter), and a bit better climb rate (that's probably because engines, yeah).

Another low blow from WG, meant only to cash grab from unaware players, who weren't aware enough, that they are buying castrated version of different plane. Money well spent.

Hall of Fame, December 15-21st

Wow, that deescalated quickly.
On EU server, 20 or more battles in week between 15th and 21st December, plated 4667 players. That was 11% and 603 players less than a week before - that simply means cut down life support.
No RU server change was even more shocking: 7763 players, comparing to 11980 during the previous week, which meant 4271 player less - drop by 35%.

Hard to get better proof, that World of Warplanes in on the downward spiral - without any endgame, WG de facto paid for palying since the beginning, with higher or lower level, but it was constantly present.
Introduction of tokens and possibility of buying premium time for them was another step, then there were "free" (free as obtainable without money, but with a solid time investment) premium planes just like that, and much more numerous events with bigger prices than in World of Tanks. Version 2.0 didn't change much, maybe except amplifying player outflow.
And now until the series of events that started September-October, having the peak at the end of November, there were less than 4k monthlu players with 20+ battles on EU server. Event with free gold and easy game mode brought 1/3rd players more, and when it ended, numbers go back to usual levels.
December eveny may keep player number above 4k, but it seems as event ends, new year will bring back 3.5k players.
Until the bitter end, or an endgame miracle. Guess what I bet.

Focke-Wulf line

Not surprising, Persha managed to screw up Focke-Wulf line as well as earlier Spitfire and later Hawker ones.
Focke-Wulfs were multirole fighters as other fighters during IIWW - Mustangs could carry rockets, even Spitfires carried bombs with later models, exactly as Fw 190s.
Well, A-0 and A-1 versions had no dedicated air to ground armament, so should be classified as light fighters following He 112 at tier V. As a compensation of mediocre flight abilities, they could at the beginning receive original armament of 6 machine guns, with researchable 20mm cannons for wings. Also increase engine protection with armored iol cooler should be reflected in stats.
Fighter line should continue with planes already available - A-5 at tier VI and Fw 190 D leading to Ta 152 as it is now, but both 190s should be classified as pure fighters, with better maneuverability and energy retention. As a distincive trait, there a possibility of arming them with WGr 21 as an option would be welcome.

Multirole line should start at tier VI with Fw 190 A-3 with RZ 65 or 500kg bombs under the fuselage.
At tier VII Fw 190 A-8 is already deployed as a premium plane, so dedicated ground attack version Fw 190 F should fit. Persha had no issues with classifying Shnellbombers Do 335 as heavy fighter or fast bomber/heavy fighter Me P.1102 as a ground attack aircraft, so classyfying GAA as multirole fighter shouldn't be a problem.
At tier VIII, along with S-F (more F than S) Blohm und Vosses, there could be placed planned Ta 152 B version with short wings.

This way, an iconic plane of IIWW would get proper representation, instead of being a result of prejudice and aversion based on myths from one side of IIWW.

Hall of Fame - December, 8-14th

During the week betwee December 8th - 14th, on EU server 20 or more battles on played 5270 players. Trend continues, despite event with free gold and crates (which drops got really shitty and not worth the effort), there were 246 players less than during previous week - 4% less.
Similar, on RU server, there were 11980 such players, 343 and 3% less - still more opportunists than on EU.

Event ended, so WG launched another grindy life support which will last till end of the year.
Free stuff is always welcomed, especially it looks that I'll get enough tokens to finally get a Vampire.

Hall of Fame - week 1-7 12

During the week betwee December 1st and 7th, on EU server 20 or more battles on played 5516 players. It was 322 and another 6% less than a week before.
On RU server there were 12323 players, 727 and 6% less.

It looks like another boring phase of event with free gold and not much more (as drops from crates stareted to be mediocre and not really worth grind for 1st crate, not mentioning scoring 4 chevrons for 2nd), that utilized ordinary, failed random mode, contined to burn players enthusiasm, and only harvest of free gold left.
EU' 5.5k players is close to average number on EU palyers (5501), so for a price of 1k gold, players exodus had been halted. RU server keeps up somehow better, but it seems that RU players are more opportunistic and are less prejudiced to the World of Warplanes than EU players, so free stuff finds more amateurs.

Hall of fame - week 24-30 11

During the week betwee November 24th and 30th, on EU server 20 or more battles played 5383 players. It's 392 and 6% less than a week before.
On RU server there were 13050 players, 610 and 4% less.

No surprise, as 2nd stage of the event was considerably worse than 1st, and it looks like players started giving up on free crates.