So is it worth paying real money for gold to buy bigger tanks or better equipment? Seems like when you upgrade to a new tank, it matchmakes you into battles vs similar tanks, so you never really seem to have much of an advantage, if any. Obviously the game won't put your main battle tank up against all the loltraktors, but you know what I'm getting at. Is there any advantage at all to purchasing tanks with gold? And if so is it actually worth it?

I'd personally would never spend real money on consumables or shells, because it feels like it would be throwing money away.

Just curious what you guys thought.

I believe it is worth it.

I've used gold to speed up research, buy more funds, etc. I also have purchased longer optics, faster loading and camo netting for each tank to help survive as I se larger calible shells where researched

I find once I have reached Tiger and IS ( as in now), the tank battles whilst more difficult become more tactical and thought prevoking ( as long as you dont get idiots). I sold my Panther as I feel even after the last update that it underperorms against russian and american tanks

I also feel that you are helping fund further developments and World of Battleships which I am looking forward to more than WOT

Before you spend real money on the game, think about where you want to go with it and what kind of investment you are willing to make.

For me (and going by what I just said), that meant "planning," out beforehand which Nationality and Tree I wanted to focus on primarily. I've amended that a bit by furthering research on a different nationality and branches, but that was more my boredom with that part of the tech tree at that time more than anything else. Like Tank ADD or something.

I was willing to "buy," into the game the same amount of money it would cost for a retail version. That would equate into, what, $30-$50 dollars? Also, I'm willing to get a month's worth of Premium Account from time to time = a little bit more money (>$20 monthly, if I recall). The reason for this is that I find this to be a fun game, and I'm willing to help push it along with what I can, when I can.

As for Premium tanks, I like them because I feel like I can just hop in them and go; there is no research, there is no grind to the next module, etc. Also, I feel like I can goof off in those tanks moreso than the ones I'm serious about and suffer less when they get blown all to hell. Same goes for elited tanks from the regular research/grinding routes. Now, the Premium tanks vary, so if you decide to get one, try and look up its strengths and weaknesses via the WoT forums [note: those forums hurt my head so proceed with caution].

My suggestion: get a month's worth of Premium Account at least. The XP increase during play can make the slog up to the next tank that much shorter, plus, the way they have their Account times set up, a month's worth is generally the best buy of the lot. I've done it and its been good for me, but as always, YMMV and all of that.

I'd only buy consumables if I was involved with the Clan Wars where you can (and correct me if I'm wrong) get gold transferred to you through your Clan for just such a reason. Other than that, and the odd experimentation every now and then, I'd leave consumables alone.

Thanks for the replies. I bought $15 worth of gold, and so far bought a Matilda, some extra garage slots, and exchanged some for silver to buy some more tanks to try out. Considering spending some more as well. Looking at it like Danger, I've probably already got a retail game's worth of play out of WOT for free. Might as well reward them for that time and spend a similar amount of money.

Next up on the shopping list might be a heavy tank and stuff like the camo netting and optics. Maybe a premium account too.

If the Ultimate Game Card offer is still in place, you can get a $20 card and in return, get a Lend-Lease Stuart for "free," (you did buy it through the card, I guess) which automatically goes in your garage and bumps up your garage space by 1 spot if all your slots are full at that point.

Sell the Stuart and you get credits and one more open parking spot for something else later on!

A word of warning: you will spend more on this game than on a retail game.

I do not use gold for premium account or shells or anything of the sort. I buy my tanks with credits earned the hard way, but tanks that I know are good (ie, from forum recommendations) I equip with a 100% crew right from the start. That is 200 gold per crew member, so obviously a bigger tank will cost more to crew properly. Another gold expenditure is converting accumuated XP from Elite tanks to free XP to use on whatever I'm researching at the moment. Sure, slogging through one tank to get to the next is cheaper, but it takes ages.

If you can, shell out for the Lowe or KV-5 tanks, very good credit earners (never have to spend gold to get credits again!) and are quite fun tanks by themselves as well. The Lowe is expensive for a reason - it kicks butt.

If playing in a clan war, I will shell out for gold ammo, if nothing but to even out the playing field a little -- you can be sure the other guy is firing gold shells! Otherwise, I stick to the regular ammo.

In summary, I only spend gold for 1) additional garage slots, 2) 100% crew on certain tanks, 3) converting elite XP to free XP, and 4) the occasional gold ammo.

Having said that, I've so far spent £60 or so on this game. I've never considered that money ill spent; I've enjoyed this game very much.

Consider yourself warned. This is tank crack for a reason.

Sorry Ice, I have to disagree on many points.

Personally, I would not spend money on any premium tanks except perhaps the Lowe. All premium tanks are inferior to (fully upgraded) non-premium tanks of the same level. The Lowe is one of the better premiums as far as competitiveness, but it's still basically the weakest Tier 8 heavy. The Lowe, however, is a GREAT credits earner, which is why so many people (including me) have one. Not sure I'd pay 12500 gold for it today, however.

Premium account is definitely worth it if you have any desire to play in the higher tiers (beyond maybe Tier 6-7). It increases your credit and XP earnings by 50%. I particularly don't see why you'd avoid premium then spend gold converting xp. It costs 2500 gold for a month of premium - the same amount of gold will only convert 62500 xp for you. Sounds like a lot, but that's not even enough to take you from Tier 7 to 8, and playing at the higher Tiers you earn much more than that. Also, if you don't have premium you'll have money problems once you get into the higher tiers (even with premium you can lose money easily when you lose in a tier 8 tank, only gets worse as you go higher).

Also, I wouldn't spend gold on crew members. Below tier 5, it isn't really worth spending anything on them. Above tier 5, use the middle option that gets you new crew members at 75%. Bumping them from 75 to 100% doesn't take that long, certainly not long enough to justify spending 800-1000+ gold. Also if you get any up to about 80%+, hang onto them! Just retrain them when you move to a new tank, and with the 20k credits option they'll keep 90% of their proficiency level as long as you stay within the same category of vehicle.

Valid points, Speedo. True, the premium tanks are inferior to their same-tier equivalent (fully upgraded) but for those without such tanks (or still on their way up the tiers), a premium heavy tank can be a fun experience. With the Lowe, it takes quite some skill to play it properly --- it is definitely not a front-line tank but it can still contribute a fair share towards damage.

As for premium, I do not buy it because I play only a few hours a day, if at all. This month has been very busy at work for me and I do not see the point of buying premium only to play 20% of the time. However, when I am on holidays or on special weekends, I do spend for a premium account and rack in the XP. I guess the point I am making is that I see the value of a premium account but I am not willing to pay for it considering the amount of time I spend on WoT on an "average" week.

Plus, premium or not, you still have to pay gold to convert XP to free XP; you'll just earn XP quicker with a premium account. Not sure if that's how it works for US servers but that's the deal on EU servers.

I think the highest-tier tank I got is a Tier 8 TD (Ferdinand) and a Tier 7 arty (GW Panther) so I'm not losing credits much yet I do know this is a problem for Tier 9 and 10 tanks.

Regarding gold crew, I play sniper roles either via TD or via a Lowe behind the front-line tanks or thru arty. A 75% crew vs a 100% crew can really make a difference in terms of hits and damage, especially on arty. I guess when you're "in his face" a lot and do lots of close-range fights, a less-skilled crew is okay.

Also, I do not "retrain" crews... as I keep my old elite tanks ---- mainly for farming daily-double XP. Or playing clan battles. Or helping my son in a 2-player platoon. Going from a battle with Tigers and VK45s to a battle with Marders and Pz IIIs is a very big change of pace so when I'm tired of the high-tier battles, I can go into a smaller skirmish and wipe the floor with my Marder

I'm surprised you don't have issues with the Ferdy. My Panther 2 (Tier 8 since last patch) costs about 15k to fully repair, not counting ammo/consumable costs, and in a bad loss I'll only get about 10-12k credits even with premium. Of course I don't lose money overall if you average wins and losses, but if it was the only tank I played I wouldn't be gaining that much credit-wise.

Lol, that line is not entirely accurate. Yes, I would probably would lose credits if I played only those two tanks, but like I said I have a few other tanks in my garage so I may win some credits then lose a bit... but the point is, with the way I'm playing (variety of tanks, but NO premium account), I don't lose much credits. So, if I do lose some credits from playing the Ferdie or the GW, I don't mind it as much since I know I'll still earn "more" once you average it out.