Thursday, July 21, 2016

War Thunder: Investigating Russian Bias

I've been playing War Thunder for a long time, and while I haven't played nearly as much of it as I have of Space Engineers, I want to do some research on the topic of Russian Bias. For those who haven't heard, Gaijin, the developer of War Thunder, is a Russian company. Thus, some players claim that the game is biased to favor Russian planes and tanks.

I think this will be split into three parts.

Part 1: Motivations for bias (This one)
Part 2: Checking the numbers (I won't look at all of the planes... Just a few.)
Part 3: Other less obvious opportunities for bias (Stalinium? Nerfed .50 cals?)

I will be going country by country with what Russia's general feelings towards them could be. All of this comes from my observations, and being an American, my views of potential Russian grudges will definitely be inaccurate in one way or another. Let's begin:

The United States of America:
  Overall Feelings: Kapitalist Scum!
  World War I: Stayed out of the war for a while. Finally joined on the side of the Allies (Which included among others Britain, France, and Russia)
  World War II: Allied only because of a common enemy: Nazi Germany.
  Other interesting facts: America was Russia's main enemy during the Cold War, in which the Korean and Vietnam Wars occurred between America and it's allies, and Russia and it's allies. The United States also won the Space Race, "putting a man on the moon and returning him safely before the decade is out."
  Predictions: Negative bias will probably be low through the early to mid tiers, worsening through mid to late tiers.
Bias graph


Britain:
  Overall Feelings: Most likely mixed
  World War I: Allies with Russia
  World War II: Allied only because of a common enemy: Nazi Germany.
  Other interesting facts: While Britain was allied with America during the Cold War, they didn't play as big a role. Thus, most of the Cold War dislike will be aimed at the U.S.A.
  Predictions: Low negative bias overall. Perhaps a little more in the late tiers.
Bias graph


Germany:
  Overall Feelings: Likely resentment.
  World War I: Enemy of Russia. War declared on Russia August 1st, 1914.
  World War II: Briefly allied with Russia, agreeing to split Poland between them. The Nazis then attacked Russia during the Battle of Britain. This two-front war is one of the things that caused Germany to lose.
  Other interesting facts: After WWII and during the Cold War, Germany was split between the Capitalist West and the Communist East (Russia). The Berlin Wall was built by the Russians to keep their citizens from fleeing West and telling about Communism's true nature. After the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Germany was united again, and a Capitalist government was put into place (By America).
  Predictions: High levels of negative bias early on, only reducing a little in mid to late tiers.
Graph of who knows what


Japan:
  Overall Feelings: Neutral to moderate dislike.
  World War I: Allies with Russia.
  World War II: Border conflicts with Russia prior to and early in the war.
  Other interesting facts: After WWII, America set up a Capitalist government in Japan, and Japan was used as a base of operations during the Korean War. The ideological differences (Capitalism vs. Communism), along with Japans support of America during the Korean War doesn't suggest that they are on the best of terms with Gaijin.
  Predictions: Less negative bias in the beginning, slowly growing through the mid to late tiers, but not as much as the U.S.A.
Bias graph

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