This is constructive criticism of the current method used to balance the game.
Based on various threads/posts on the topic, it is clear that WG uses a global winrate average (WR) to balance tanks within the game. This is a bad idea because:
1. Global population gameplay does not reflect gameplay in a competitive environment. (Noise)
2. Global winrate does not accurately reflect tank lethality (bloom,reload,alpha,etc) which most adjustments seem focused around.
3. Global winrate does not take into account packages/configurations of player tanks.
The first point is straight forward - if the game is to be taken seriously as an e-sport, it should be fair and balanced at its highest level. By using the global winrate, you are including noise, such as yolo tankers, AFKers, teammate killers, stock tanks, and complete beginners in the data. In recent competitions (e.g ESL on PS4), we saw (competent) teams rely heavily on IS-3s and it’s variants, with very few situational substitutions (Lowe, AMX, T32). If the game was truly balanced, this wouldn’t be the case. You would see more diverse team configurations, centered around different strategies/tactics/synergies.
Let’s use the following game as an example to illustrate the other two points:
In this game, my team won by capping early. What are the balance implications of this game? From a global winrate perspective, the Waffle E100 would actually be buffed, as a team with two waffles is clearly inferior to a team with only one. M48 Patton would receive a huge buff, since clearly having two on the losing team contributed to the loss. The Indien Panzer would receive a nerf, since clearly having one on your team improves you winrate. What gets lost here is the lethality of the tank - in the right hands, a Waffle is utterly devastating to an entire flank. Also lost is the loadouts/skills/equipment of the tanks involved.
Here’s what I propose to fix balancing - use MoE II and MoE III data only to balance your tanks.
1. Taking only the top 15% of players into account eliminates most sources of noise, and reflects actual gameplay of competitive minded players.
2. MoEs accurately reflect tank lethality (both direct and indirect/spotting) relative to others in its tier/class.
3. Top 15% of players generally use effective tank loadouts/configurations.
If the general population does not believe competitively balanced tanks to be fair, that is something that can be addressed through better tutorials and community engagement (both officially/unofficial). Also - some players in the general population are simply not interested in improving their tanking skills.