Quoting: Tethys84I've heard nothing but bad things about this game. That the monetization is predatory, and that it's totally a P2W game. I see this and World of Warships get mentioned together a lot as games to avoid.

Must have been a WoT player...

I have been playing WT for 11 years now (exclusively on Linux) and can assure you that it is anything but P2W*. Investing real money reduces the grind considerably. That's pretty much all there is. As far as monetization goes: I do have a premium account which you get twice a year for a 50% discount, which comes then down to about 30 Euros per year. That's it. Every now and then I might buy a premium vehicle (again when there is a sale).
If you don't want to invest any money stick to tiers I to IV and just have a good time. At these stages the grind is easy to endure.

[*]As for P2W: Sales season can be horrible. Your team can be full of noobs in their shiny premium vehicles which they somehow believe are "better" (which they rarely are), only to get slaughtered by experienced players already accustomed to the peculiarities of high tier battles.