My own thoughts about War Commander - By:Vanquisher

I remember the day I first stumbled upon war commander. I had opened my facebook account a few days ago, and had been adding friends, looking at games, seeing what's going on, the normal things you do when you open a facebook account. I was looking at the games, more specifically the war games, and I found a game called War Commander. Needless to say, it sparked my interest. I hopped on the game and quickly progressed in level. My beginners bubble popped and I hit another level 6 or so. This was pre-map, so I just scrolled down a list. Deploying units was different. You selected the number of units you wanted to deploy, and a large white circle appeared. You could deploy anywhere in the base, as long as it was within the large white circle. When it became red, you were too close to a turret (mortar or machine gun). I remember I bubbled that base with a rhino, and some heavy gunners and rifleman. It was fun!

I found myself being pulled back daily to this game. I would smash a base or two, come back and find my base smashed. It was a constant cycle of smashing. I was a solo player until I hit level 20, when I joined a clan. We'll call it clan A. Clan A had about 10 members in it when I joined. I knew not one of these people in real life, yet the social aspect of being in a clan was fascinating. We would defend each other, and have fun with each other. I evolved along with this clan. We had 20, then 30, then 40 members. We didn't run the sector we were in, but it was always a smash fest. I eventually left this clan with two other guys I met in it. We went off to another sector and came into contact with D and G. They were 2 founder of clan B. I joined this clan, which was at about 10 members as well. The social aspect lured me in again.

We were a nomadic clan, jumping and smashing, leaving, and repeating. We picked up members along the way. Sometimes we would settle in a sector for 2 weeks, but eventually we left. Then a member found us a sector that ran abundant with rogue depos, a sector that the clan remains to this day, only leaving to war with our allies. Admittedly, it was nice to have a sector for our own, and invaders to battle. The clan continued to grow, and today we are over the century mark. Our sector is ours, and we won't leave it. But it wasn't always that way. There was motivation to PvP, but not anymore. We find ourselves only warring when another clan invades our sector.

This game is falling to pieces. I used to look forward to logging on after a long day, and chatting with my clan members. I quit the game for the period, because I simply did not find any enjoyment in it. There were better things to do in life. I shut down the computer, and spent time with my family. I worked on my house. I went to baseball games. The possibilities were endless. But yet, I was attracted back to the game that I learned to hate. Why would I return to a game I didn't even like to play? Because of the friendships I made in the game, the friendships I missed so horribly. I had real-life friends that were great as well, but I enjoyed the company of those that I only knew online.

You known what is fun? Smashing bases. Interacting with other people. Not farming rogues. Not computer vs player. Kixeye doesn't seem to understand that. I take no fun out of playing an offensive event where I have to grind for days to get an extra 25 range to an unit I already spent 15,000 of my xp on. In events chat is dead. I hardly even interact with my clan mates. All my attention is focused on a player vs computer matchup. And that is not fun.

Don't get me wrong, updates to this game are wonderful. If the game didn't evolve there wouldn't be a point in playing it. The world map of course made the game amazing. Live battles was a great idea on paper, but the application of it was horrible. Bugs are still around from its release. Dynamic turrets was a nice addition. Players could customize their base to their liking. But the Plasma turret was introduced in conjunction with dynamic turrets, and the plasma turret contributed to the killing of PvP. A high-damage turret that can one hit units with the highest health. A turret that is outranged by no ground unit. What bonehead thought this would be a good addition to the game? Strategic bunkers was an OK update, but mortar teams killed it. In watchtowers they could outrange our longest ranged unit. Our purple crack has been around 6 months this Tuesday. Thorium was another good idea on paper, but the application was bad. Level 10 units needed it, then level 11, and level 4 platforms, and barricades, and event units starting at level 6, and unit customizations. The list is long.

Improved barricades were just meh. If had spare thorium I might consider it. Then we got 160 barricades. Meh again. Special ops was great, but the drop rate is too low. I recently got around to finishing the Sickle base mission. I hit 35 sickles in the past two weeks, and received 5 rare special ops. I'm not expecting a rare spec op every other attack, but I was hitting the highest level base I could and only got a rare once every 7 bases I killed. Some uncommon special ops are good, but most I just discard right away. The Vanguard is useless. The Missile silo is another toy for spammers. Customize able units take too much resources and time for it to be good. Hotkeys were good, but it would have been nice to get a few more. Like Chris said, the recon satellite had potential but kixeye wrecked that. Infamy isn't something I will care about.

I mentioned my clan earlier. We are losing members at an alarming rate, and I bet this is not only our clan experiencing this problem. Why? Simply, because there are better games to play, better things to do, things I could have fun with. I only keep playing because I have invested so much time into this game. Notice I did not say money. I have never spent a dime on this game. I am not bragging, merely saying that. I should feel proud, I should be able to brag. I accomplished something without paying that other accomplished paying real money to do. But this is a disadvantage to me. I won't coin that platoon of hellfires that dies because a group of mutant mortar teams pops out of an accidentally destroyed academy. I won't coin the hellstorms that die because 3 rifleman and the boatload of heavy gunners that come from power plants can shoot down every missile insanely quickly. I just won't. I still play this game because I am not willing to lose the friendships I made in this game. I am not going to give up on a game that have spent so many hours that I could have been doing something else with on. I play because I hope this game will be something like what it used to be, and that hope has betrayed me.

Still, Kixeye can make me stay by introducing some useful updates. An alliance system would make me overjoyed. I could communicate with my alliance members more easily than before. This wouldn't help solo players, but so much of the playing population is in an alliance that it would be worth it. Bringing down the walls would make me happy too. Every sector available for war would inspire more PvP action than ever. I want an event that I can enjoy doing. Just cutting repair times in half for events would be enough to make so many players happy. Not rushing events to coax coins out of us would make me happy. Take your time designing a well thought out event, even if it means waiting a week or two longer to release it. That 5000 air space will make many player happy if it released. A little bit more storage would make many more players happy. More emphasis on player vs player would make many players happy.

I don't pretend to know everything kixeye is doing right, or everything kixeye is doing wrong. I don't pretend to know the answers to the problems in the game today. I don't pretend to know what content should be put in this game. And I don't pretend to be able to speak for the entire player base. But I do pretend to do something. I pretend to enjoy having fun playing this game.