You're definitely not the only one. I was amazed to see you had a neg rep for making this post; apparently people don't like the truth.
Here's the deal: Accuracy is off. I'm fully aware that stats have been renormed from their old 133% crew values to the current 100% crew values excluding all equipment and consumables. Yet even acknowledging this, I think you have to ignore reality to think that guns are doing the same thing they did in 7.1.1. I'm especially noticing greater difficulty hitting unobstructed, stationary targets beyond 300m with a fully-aimed reticle. In 7.1.1, if I was using ANY Tier 8+ gun other than a derp, this would be a guaranteed hit. Not necessarily a damaging hit, but a hit nonetheless. Now, it's a total crapshoot whether you even hit the target at all, and it gets worse the further over 300m you go. Yesterday, for instance, I missed 6 shots in a row with the 128mm Ferdinand gun on Redshire (116% crew, giving an effective accuracy around 0.35), all against stationary targets with a fully-aimed reticle at medium range. That would have absolutely never happened in any other patch but this one. I have thousands of battles under my belt with an overall hit ratio over 70%, so I have experience to know what I'm saying here.
Something definitely happened to accuracy in 7.2. I've been shocked that more people haven't acknowledged it on the forums, and those who do get lectured about the stat renorming. It's a real shame!
Without being exhaustive, the tanks I've noticed the biggest accuracy drops with are the E75, Ferdinand, Jagdtiger, Object 704, ISU-152, T95, IS-4, Lowe. The drops have not been huge, but what once were guaranteed hits are no longer guaranteed. To reiterate, it's the medium/long-range shots against unobstructed, stationary targets that are inexplicably missing. All my tanks have 100% crews, along with ventilation, so the gunners are all 116%.
Close-range accuracy appears unchanged. This has encouraged me to get closer and knife-fight more than usual, which isn't a bad idea. Still, even at close range, I've noticed that there is quite a bit more deviation within the aiming circle than usual. For example, I recall fully aiming my Lowe's gun at a stationary M103's lower glacis recently from about 75m and bouncing every shot off the upper glacis, even though the upper glacis was nowhere near the center of my aiming circle.
And don't get me started on the BL-10! The BL-10 was always a bit of a risk with inexplicable misses, bounces and 0 damage criticals. Now, however, you're lucky to get 1 out of 3 connecting shots from a fully aimed circle at more than 250m. I know you're not supposed to complain about a gun with 286 avg pen and 750 avg damage, but my experience since 7.2 is clear: If I shoot something with a fully-aimed circle, chances are better than 50% that I bounce or get a 0 damage critical, even on targets like a Tiger I. It's quite disheartening. I surely hope this had just been bad luck, but when something happens consistently for more than 25 games, I begin to wonder whether a systemic change has been made.
Thanks for your consideration in reading this reply!
