I apologies for calling people crybabies ... but seriously ... I do not understand why some people are upset about the format of what WG is offering here.
They (WG) will 'give' you a tier 8 prem tank for free .... IF .... you play their game .... A LOT ... Seems reasonable to me.
Back in the day when I first started out with this game, there was this marathon mission for a heavy premium tank called FV201 (A45) going on. I don't recall the premise of the mission in detail, but I think it was something along the lines of you getting the tank as a rental and then within a set amount of days earn 200K XP and get 200 kills while driving the tank. Now I ignored that mission because I was a LIGHT tank driver and I was busy grinding out LIGHT tanks ... This was before I realized that successfully driving light tanks requires a decent skill cap (part of the reason my overall stats will never be good) and I was unaware of the credit earning potential of premium tanks.
The next time I noticed a marathon mission it was for the premium medium T-44-100 tank where you had to get 150K XP and 150 kills (or something like that) for each nation currently in the game. This time I was determined to get that tier 8 prem tank, so I made a plan with milestones for what I needed to accomplish each day in order to complete the mission 2 days early. I looked at which of my tanks statistically were best for getting kills or XP within each nation (not necessarily the same tank for both) and then I only played those tanks until I had completed the goal for that nation and then I moved onto the next nation. Rinse repeat.
I got the T-44-100 3 days before the mission came to and end.
After that I participated in the marathon for the T34 B, IS-6 B and the Schwarzpanzer 58 where you had to complete 15 out of 20 missions (new mission for each tank each day) where the missions got more and more difficult each day. Again I made a plan for which missions I should attempt ... basically completing all the easy missions for each tank and then pick 1 or 2 of the more difficult missions per day in the latter days.
18 days into the marathon I had a new T34B, IS-6 B and Schwarzpanzer 58 in my garage.
Then there was the 2 Xmas holiday missions were you had to decorate a tree one year and same the next with the add-on of the collections book you needed to fill out in order to get special 'gift wrap looking' camo. I was unable to complete any of those all the way because I was unlucky when crafting new ornaments and I was unwilling to spend real $money$ buying packages of random ornaments in order to get to the goal .... BUT .... I did earn a bunch of free stuff and special crew members (swedish ladies) and discounts on tanks on yet purchased .... and I was 'okay' with that .... I was gonna take this thing as far as it would go but not spend any money on it .... and I did.
Also recently there was that there Intel thing where it was purely quantity .... be the player with top 10 placement in most games possible within the next 14 days and win a sweet Alienware Laptop.
I knew, having a job and a family, that I didn't stand a chance in that contest .... nor did I stand a chance being within the 250 runner-ups that 'only' got an I7 processor. But I did benefit in other ways ... I got the little pew-pew prem light tank and the other free stuff as the mission progressed. I was okay with that.
Now we have the Progetto M35 mod 46 marathon. Another (desirable?) tier 8 prem tank. I have decided that this marathon looks achievable. Again, I have made a plan for what I need to do each day to reach the goal 2 days early. I'm going for the XP missions as I am not good enough at tier X to reliably meet the goals set in the Tier X missions ... AND because I am on a non-premium account, so playing at tier 6-8 will allow me to grind some credits while playing which I cannot at tier 10 (tier 9 seems credit neutral atm for me). Unless something unforeseen happens I will meet my milestones per day and get the Progetto M35 mod 46 two days before the mission is over.
What I do like about the Progetto M35 mod 46 marathon (and some of the other previous marathons) is all the goodies you get each time you reach a new level ... I mean look at e.g level 4: Stabs, Rammer and GLD .... that's like a 1M credits right there ... plus a prem day (spoken like a true non-account holder). At level 6 + 8 + 9 you get 10(ten) 50% 2hrs credit boosters .... now I don't know about you but if I drive a tier 8 prem with one of those things turned on I make on average 400-500K credits per hour ... so right there you got (1+1+1) x 10 x 2 x 400000 = 24,000,000 credits.
So what I am trying to say is: Pick your battles. Don't gripe about the ones you cannot win and focus on the ones you can win. If you cannot reach the final objective in one of the marathon missions then pick you own objective. If the mission has levels and/or discount levels like the Progetto M35 mod 46 does, then pick a level you want to get to and aim for that.
WG is a business and they must make money one way or another or WoT wouldn't be around for long. So yes, they intentionally make these marathons and other event content ALMOST reachable for most but not quite and then offer you a buy-the-rest option for real $$$. That is how they make money .... well that and the fact that there are people willing to buy premium account and premium tanks straight up. So why are some of you upset? Are you also upset like that when you pay for gas? or for your cell phone bill? ....
Take the game for what it is .....
You can get to the goal FOR FREE if you are willing to play A LOT (good for WG)
-OR-
you can get to the goal REALLY FAST if you are willing to pay real $$$ (also good for WG)
-OR-
you can go watch the grass grow, I hear it's pretty this time of the year (not sure if that is good or bad for WG)
EDIT (April 23'rd) ..... just completed the mission last night .... yay ..... one more free tier 8 prem in the garage.
- Cheers

Edited by GunnerWanted, Yesterday, 01:39 PM.