I've been playing this game pretty consistently since 2024, and have seen the player base rise and fall in population and change over time, so I believe I'm qualified to offer a few pieces of advice to decide on whether or not you buy this game.
First of all, there is the gameplay, which comes in several forms of combat, logistics, and building. Most of my playtime has gone into combat- infantry specifically, and honestly, it often leaves much to be desired. The overhead viewing style takes a long time to master when fighting with small arms, for how low the skill ceiling is. Most other forms of combat, such as operating vehicles, crewing naval vessels, or manning artillery guns, take an amount of coordination and teamwork that is hard to find, especially as a new player. And although both sides do have good components of their arsenals, there is a heavy weapon imbalance, and you'll probably find yourself frequently wishing you had a weapon or vehicle the other side did.
As for logistics, building and many frontline battles too, progression is a slog. Any meaningful progression can take real hours of your day- like 8 or more, consistently- due to the insane amount of time it takes to farm, process, and transport materials. I'm not as interested in logistics, but if you do commit to it you'll definitely feel how long and hard it is. Many, maybe even most, wars end because one side's logistics players burnout from the sheer amount of time and effort it takes to keep battles going. As the map grows and new features are added, the active players are spread thinner across the fronts, making it easy for large or experienced regiments to put large amounts of pressure on weak points, undoing hours of work before you've redeployed to defend.
More important than gameplay though, in my opinion, is the playerbase's culture. I notice daily the condescending tone veteran players seem to have towards newer ones, for playing less efficiently or making mistakes, which probably makes a lot of people quit. There is frequently toxicity within factions, as well as between them. Wars and even smaller conflicts within feel like they're more about making the other side lose than seeing your own side win. It's exhausting to be a part of sometimes.
Nevertheless, I do love this game and it would greatly benefit from more players. I have been a part of the same regiment (CAF) for almost my entire playtime, and have made great friends and memories. That being said, it definitely isn't for the faint of heart, or for people that may only have an hour or two to play games a day and don't feel like repairing bunkers under artillery fire or carting materials to refineries that whole time. But if you do have the time and passion to dedicate to this game, you'll eventually and intermittently enjoy experiences unlike that which you could find in any other game, from making massive comebacks weeks into a war, or seeing a base you built hold up under the pressure of large regiments with seemingly infinite supplies. Or perhaps sneaking behind enemy lines to destroy valuable equipment that took many people weeks of time to farm, or even still creating so many supplies that players across the front praise and remember you. Maybe also the thrill of cutting down hordes of enemy infantry with a machinegun, rushing to take a trench with dozens of your comrades, or going on a killing streak with your tank crew.
The game's definitely in a very rough spot right now, but its concept is very promising, and maybe it'll make a comeback. If you derive nothing else from this, I would say that if you want to get good value out of this game, you need to be willing to put a lot of time into it.
