World Of Warships Faces Mutiny From Community Content Creators

Several of World of Warships' community volunteers have resigned from Wargaming's official program following the latest move in what one of them characterized as a "toxic one-way relationship." It started with the re-introduction of the USS Missouri, a famous warship both in and out of the game, a premium ship that was first offered from late 2016 to early 2018, purchasable with XP that can be accumulated by playing the game.

When Wargaming announced the Missouri's return a few weeks ago, it said that the ship would "become available for purchase in exchange for Doubloons," a.k.a. the game's real-money currency. However, when the update went live, it was stated that the ship would "appear in random bundles that can be obtained in exchange for Doubloons."

In other words, the initial wording led people to believe the Missouri could be bought simply in exchange for money -- standard for a premium ship in the game -- but instead learned that it could only be acquired via loot boxes that would require real-money purchases.

As MassivelyOP has noticed, this has sent the official content creator program "into a frenzy." Two highly prominent members of that program, Little White Mouse and The Mighty Jingles, started off the "mass exodus" last week, with Jingles saying that "the last three years, and the last year in particular, this has become a toxic one-way relationship that I'm glad to put behind me." He cited "increasingly aggressive monetisation and implementation of gambling mechanics" as reasons for his departure. Following their leads, nearly two dozen content creators have severed ties with Wargaming.

In a message on their official forums, a Wargaming representative offered standard condolences to those who left the program, saying that they "understand that there are several causes that have led us to this situation and that we have upset and disappointed many of our CCs and players." They intend to make the Missouri purchasable via alternative means in the future, while also monitoring its effect on the economy, which was significant to the point of being overpowered in its initial iteration but was toned down upon its return.

Nothing was mentioned regarding Jingles' characterization of his relationship with Wargaming as "toxic" or otherwise addressing what, if any, steps might be taken to replenish or appease whatever content creators remain. Personally, I don't think that anything can or even should be done. As I've said before, sometimes you just need to get away from a game, no matter how much you like or liked it, and this latest debacle was just the final push some people needed to get away.