1) They did not sell out. In fact, they weren't paid anything at all except expenses. They came along for, mainly, three reasons. a) It was an opportunity for them to reach a wider audience, and speak to more people than ordinarily read their books. b) They got to meet each other, a rare event. They spent most of the time comparing notes, and bettering their own knowledge is good for the tank community as a whole. c) They thought it might be... (gasp)... Fun! And it was, they all enjoyed themselves immensely. This was the philosophy when that meeting was set up, and also the "Inside the Hatch" videos. You will notice that almost nothing in either series of videos references the game. The subjects are purely the real tanks. The idea is to be informative and accurate firstly and foremostly. They are videos of interest to people who do not play the game, and may never wish to play the game. They engender more 'tank interest', and better yet, of a quality higher than you'll get on The Military Channel (Or wherever). And for WoT's purposes, they increase brand awareness. It's a win-win for WoT and tank enthusiasts both. Even if they did 'sell out' (as I said, they didn't, but let's say they did), what's the problem? They didn't advocate anything other than real-world history of the quality they are known for. You are letting your cynicism get the better of yourself.