[Special Review] Looking Back: Iron Days 2017

[Crip 4,735]

 

Greetings fellow Tankers! The 2017 Iron Days Celebrations have finally come to a close after a full four days of fun, festivities, Gold Boxes and of course the variety of Garage and Shop sales. Let's also not forget to mention the plagiarised Special Contest by , offering chances at crystal rewards. In today's article, we will have a closer look at what Tanki provided us with, as well as stepping back in time to view the Iron Days over the past years.

 

Without further ado, let us begin.

 

 

~ Introduction

 

The announcement in the 125th Vlog that there was to be extravagant celebrations for the Iron Days originally came largely as a surprise to many players. This was due to the fact that there had been, among other things, a 25% garage sale and increased Gold Box values on Valentine's Day, only a few days before the Vlog was released. A lot of players, who had been rejoicing after purchasing a new garage item during Valentine's, felt their pleasure turn just slightly stale.

 

When the official details were released last Wednesday, the news of the four days of festivities exceeded everyone's expectations.

 

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~ Celebrations and Events Breakdown

 

Now, let's have a look at each section of the festivities in detail, beginning with the special decorations before eventually concluding with the main event, Garage Sales

 

~ Themed Decorations

 

At the server restart on the 23rd, several colourful (and themed) alterations were made to many features in Tanki. The regular Flag was altered and redesigned with exquisite detailing. Supply drop parachutes and billboards also acquired makeovers, with all signs sporting the colourful "Iron Days" main image.

 

 

The festive parachutes were far removed from the simple white colour that they had previously been resigned to using. Instead, they boasted an enviable starred green pattern for the entirety of the celebrations.

 

 

Gold Box design.

 

 

As usual, Gold Boxes and their drop zones weren't left untouched, and both were given colourful textures. Surprisingly, the actual red zone design didn't appear to fit in with the rest of the Iron Days decorations, offering a slight clash against the green and white of the Parachutes and Gold Box.

 

 

There were also the exclusive in-game gifts, which were available for purchase in the garage for all four days. The three special gifts added were "Combat Socks" - warm and extremely overpriced camouflaged, "Binoculars" - perfect for scouting for girls decent battles and then the "Crimson Beret" -  a symbol of skill in battle. Below are pictures of each gift.

 

 

 

 

Finally, the Holiday paint was re-textured specifically for the occasion, flaunting an eye-catching pattern of interwoven metal strands. This was available for permanent purchase through the garage, under the name of "Steel Mico-fibres". In addition, there was also a special Holiday bundle on sale, containing the exclusive Premium Paint "Sunset Camouflage". Both paints are shown in the title image.

 

~ Additional Festive Features

 

As well as all the decorations described above, there were some special features added to the game. For the four days only, Gold Boxes' drop rate was doubled, meaning players would have a greater chance of catching the special patterned box. There were also special Daily Missions, offering large (and very profitable) rewards for accomplishing feats while wearing the Holiday Paint.

 

 

~ Livestream with Cedric and Semyon

 

In addition to the other festivities, there was a special event which took the place of the Vlog for the Iron Days week. This was an exclusive livestream with the EN Community Manager @Cedric Debono and the lead Developer, . During the stream Cedric posed players' questions that had been posted on a dedicated topic and Semyon did a very good job of answering as many as possible in the allotted time.

 

During this stream we were allowed to see live prototype testing for the new "Artillery" turret in-game on a Highways CTF. To watch the discussion, follow this link.

 

~ Garage and Shop Sales

 

 

The first sale of the celebrations - a 30% reduction on all paints.

 

23rd - 24th

 

We kicked off at the server restart on the 23rd with discounts on all kinds of items. These included a generous 30% reduction on Supplies, Paints and Modules. Supplies and Paints remained on sale for the remainder of the celebrations although Modules were only discounted for 24 hours. With prices slashed, many product kits' prices fell alarmingly and kits such as "Healer" were found to be very cheap comparatively. Many players seized the opportunity and purchased the kits they had regretfully had to ignore at Valentine's the week before. All Gifts were on sale for the entirety of the week, with a 30% discount on each.

 

In addition, there were some serious sales in the Shop, with reductions ranging from 20-40%. Buyers, who had previously been berating buying over their Valentine's purchases, found this sale to be the ample opportunity to restock their capital.

 

24th - 25th

 

As well as the continuation of the Paint and Supply sales, the 24th heralded the addition of a 40% discount on all Hulls (though sadly not including XTs; the reason for the lack of discounts on XT items was explained by in the live stream).

 

There was also another small Shop sale, with a reduction on the purchase of crystals by 20%.

 

25th - 26th

 

On this day there was a very popular sale on Alterations, and the 30% discount prompted tankers (especially Firebird users) into spending more crystals on these gameplay - changing garage additions.

 

Overall there was a lull in the spending frenzy, as many tankers were keeping the contents of their wallets for the final day of the sales. There was a small 10% sale on crystals in the Shop, encouraging players to stock up for the following day.

 

26th - 27th

 

Definitely the most popular day of the sales, which included a 40% sale on all Turrets (except XTs of course), a 50% sale on Microupgrades and a 70% Speed-Up sale. A lot of the players that were spoken to said that this was the point where they spent a lot of crystals. Definitely the highlight of the week for many tankers.

 

 

~ Iron Days History

 

Celebrating Iron Days, which is in fact a Russian Holiday know as "The Defender of the Fatherland Day", has been a regular occurrence in Tanki Online for many years. The actual Russian Holiday has an interesting history in itself, and  has been acknowledged for almost a century, dating back to 1918 when the Soviet Army was created, a date symbolizing unity in the defense of the nation of Russia.

 

It was eventually renamed after the demise of the U.S.S.R and given the title it has today. Modern-day observers celebrate people who are serving (or who have served) in the Armed Forces in the defense of the Homeland but recently it has expanded to celebrate all men as a whole, a counterpart to "Woman's Day" on the 8th of March.

 

It is often celebrated by special parades and processions, hence the idea behind the "Iron Days Tanki Parades" in 2016.

 

Tanki Iron Days Celebrations

 

2011 + 2012

Iron Days in Tanki was first celebrated as a Holiday Paint back in 2011. All Tankers were issued with a special paint, which had a a starred pattern over a green background. There was nothing in the way of sales or special celebrations, simply just a festive paint. The same was true for the 2012 event. All players were given a unique Holiday paint with a similar pattern to Aramid.

 

2013 + 2014

The 2013 Iron Days was the first of this kind to be celebrated with some form of Garage Sales. From the 22nd of February to the 24th, there was a 25% sale on all Hulls. There were also themed billboards, and of course the special Holiday Paint.

The 2014 Iron Days Celebrations took a similar route, only this time there was a 25% sale on all Turrets. The exclusive Holiday Paint actually looked quite similar to Gladiator when equipped onto a tank.

 

2015

 

"Here it is! The manliest, toughest sale of the year" in the words of the former CM, @semyonkirov. 2015 marked a new era for Iron Days sales, as they began to expand into much more than the original simple event. There were 25% sales on everything in the garage as well as 2x Battle Funds, new billboards, custom flags shaped into triangles and parachutes. Then there was the Holiday Paint, decorated in a Military Camouflage texture.

 

Here is a picture of the Parachute texture.

 

 

2016

The Iron Days 2016 Celebrations were very similar to the previous year's, although for 2016 the sales individually spread across the four days, rather than all extending for the entirety. The drop parachutes were identical to the 2017 version show above, as were the flags. There were also 3 limited-time gifts available for purchase (Dog Tags, Toy Tank and Gold Watch). In addition, there was an Iron Days Parade contest, requiring tankers to organize a team of 10 and record a parade. The top 10 teams each received 300 000 crystals. Check out the winning entries here!

 

 

~ Opinion Corner: Players

 

After all that, let's hear some feedback on the sales from several well-known Forumers.

 

 

Question 1: Did you feel that the Iron Days Celebrations lived up to your expectations?

 

Question 2: How did they compare to previous events?

 

Question 3: How could they have been improved?

 

 

@Oufa

 

Answer 1: To be honest I didn't expect that they would make Micro Upgrades sales because they already have done too many microupgrade sales recently. Therefore, it was better than I expected.

 

Answer 2: This is an amazing event actually considering how close it was to Valentine's , and it had very nice sales.

 

Answer 3: It was so nice like it was, there was no real way it could be improved without going over the top :D

 

 

@lukey0

 

Answer 1: The Iron Days celebrations were great! They surpassed my expectations. The sales, decorations, two times falling golds, special missions and of course discounts were all wonderful additions. Overall the event was great. :)

 

Answer 2: The Iron Days event was better than the Valentines Day celebrations. Not only because it had better discount but it lasted more than one day. The celebrations weren't as good as  the New Year one but that is understandable as New Year is more important and celebrated by more people. But the event was nice nevertheless.

 

Answer 3: The event was very good. The only thing that could probably been added was a day with Double Battle Funds, buts thats probably asking a bit much seems they normally only occur on bigger events like Tanki's birthday.

 

 

@Phoenix.Raised

 

Answer 1: Indeed they did. We all know that the main subjects to discuss in the community before and during every holiday are discounts, so I'll start from there. To be honest, I did not expect such nice discounts, I expected a discount of 25% on all garage items, as it was for last year's Iron Days celebrations. Though I did not have a lot of things to buy, I know that these discounts are really handy to most tankers. As for themed gifts and Gold boxes, I think that last year gifts were a little better designed, and Gold boxes are dropping more frequently than usual as far as I can see. Though, as far Gold boxes can be fun during the holidays, sometimes they are really destroying fun. Yes, mults. Usually lower ranks entering the battles with Wasps, jumping on you during the battle with the purpose of sabotaging, because they think it's fun. But, alas, mult plague is another story.

 

But hey, it's not all about discounts, gifts and Gold boxes! During these Iron Days celebrations, we were able to watch livestream with our community manager and lead game designer. Not a small thing, right?

 

Answer 2: I have already mentioned last year's Iron Days celebrations. But compared to other celebrations, Iron Days celebrations in Tanki are not so great as the New Year's and Tanki Birthday celebrations. What is to be expected anyway, Defender of the Fatherland Day is not well known holiday to players outside Russia.

 

Answer 3: To be honest, I haven't been thinking about it, not really. But since you asked, maybe some special community event. Or some contest on social networks, like making a drawing. Something like that.

 

 

@Jwimmer

 

Answer 1: Yep. Iron days is always a nice little bonus event, so really anything is appreciated. Having x2 gold drops, some sales, and a very nice holiday paint is all great. I, personally, didn't buy anything, but clan members took full advantage of the sales.

 

Answer 2: This is my third Iron Days, and it was just as normal. I remember last year's Iron days had a great paint, and may have actually been when I bought my favorite turret- Smoky M3. I didn't look too closely at the sales this year, but they were all pretty good. All in all, it was about average.

 

Answer 3: Higher value gold boxes would have been nice. A x2 drop rate is barely ever noticeable. I only really noticed it today, when there was a double gold in a Bridges XP/BP game. It was a solid event, so I really have no complaints. It was just too bad that I didn't have enough crystals to buy anything, but that was because I bought Wasp 2 weeks ago.

 

 

@Cortana

 

Answer 1: No, the Iron Days celebrations certainly disappointed me. But that's mainly because they came just 1 week after the Valentines' Day celebrations, and offered pretty much the same stuff (discounts, special bundle, decorations etc.).

 

Answer 2: They were actually quite good, if compared to other events, where the celebrations lasted just a day, or had lower discounts.

 

Answer 3: The devs could have certainly been more creative. They could have made a special map, a contest (etc). These are just some of the examples.

 

 

 

~ Conclusion

 

After all that, it's time to wrap up this article on the Celebrations for Iron Days 2017! I personally found the celebrations very fulfilling and enjoyable, though I would have liked Increased Gold Box Values. Merging Valentine's and Iron Days might be an option on the future, so we can focus on one large sale rather than having the festivities split between two. But nevertheless, it was a great event and unexpectedly very generous.

 

I want to thank all the players who responded to my questions. I hope you found this piece interesting or not!

 

 

So what do you think? Were the Iron Days Celebrations completely satisfying? Or was Valentine's Day too close for comfort? Feel free to post your thoughts below. Thanks for reading!

 

It's been a pleasure.

✯ @Savage ✯

Edited February 28, 2017 by Savage

[Crip 4,735]

New article which reviews the Iron Days Celebrations and also displays some interesting player feedback!

[Hex 11,520]

Nice review!

 

 

 

New article which reviews the Iron Days Celebrations and also displays some interesting player feedback!

 

 

[stanzhang 3,291]

There was definitively too much sales this month :D

[lukey0 27,543]

Nice review! :)

 

The small history part you added was a nice touch. Those paints brought back heaps for memories. :LOL: 2014's paint looks the best. The greens worked very well together. 

[Bleach 491]

:o  I would give you a "thumbs up" emoji, but there isn't one..

[DESTROYER_GTX_R 77]

I'm pretty glad Iron days ended, that holiday paint looked ugly on fire and vik m3

Edited March 1, 2017 by DESTROYER_GTX_R

[TS7StudioHD 854]

Like :)

[DESTROYER_GTX_R 77]

I also spent all my crystals 1 day before being notified about Iron day sales! Lol

[maria-mary 23]

:)

[AWMX 394]

nob <3

Edited March 1, 2017 by AWMX

[Tofu 6,773]

Subscribed

[Crip 4,735]

Subscribed

You didn't like, so no Gold Box rains for you.

[Tofu 6,773]

You didn't like, so no Gold Box rains for you.

I did now :C

[X_Death.By.Me_X 1,503]

Retweeted

Hell of a long tweet

[eSport 486]

Make better sales in iron days++

[Viking4s 10,791]

Please make a pancake day sales ! :ph34r:

Edited March 4, 2017 by Viking4s