Review [Issue 16] [History] In The Beginning, Tanki... - Part 4

[hogree 4,179]

 

Remember Update 123? Yeah. Rebalance? Hmm, yeah. Graphics Update? Just about... Shaft Release.. urrrr right at the back of my memory.. well, I'm sure none of you would have been around right at the beginning, right when the first changes were occuring in the game we play today. In this series of articles, I'm going to looking back over the game's history, and how it got to the situation it is at today.

 

This issue's article will be going through the first part of 2011.

 

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Previous articles in this series:

Read Part 1 Here (Beginning - December 2009)

Read Part 2 Here (January 2010 - June 2010)

Read Part 3 Here (July 2010 - December 2010)

 

_____________________________________

 

It was now 2011. The New Year party had just finished, though the 25% discount had run on into January. Though it was still Christmas season, developers weren't taking a rest yet. Definitely not.

 

New Year's Day. Chill out right? Well, tankmen were able to celebrate the new year in style, as not only was there the midnight party, but a couple of new maps hit planet Tanki too. Valley, arguably the least-played map ever was added to the game (I mean come on guys, who, apart from Tanki addicts, can remember what Valley even looks like, let alone remember playing it?), as well as Courage, which could probably be a good fighter for second place, especially since the map rank limits recently set put Courage as a map only playable for ranks General+. (Saying that, as I was writing this bit, I just popped onto the server, and saw a Courage. Oh well.)

 

Though the first day of January signaled a release of a couple of maps, it was a relatively quiet month in regards to game news. However, a few things were updated such as the return of the “Search System” in the Hall of Fame, the return of the “Bonuses” button when creating a No Supplies Battle (allowing freedom in creating a NS battle as regards to allowing drops or not), an update on Battle Creation form, and problems were solved regarding email, private battles and referral links. On top of that, the end of the month signaled the release of the epic “Update 1.50”. To be honest, nothing really happened, apart from basic solving of lags. But it was still a good landmark for the devs to make.

 

The month quickly passed as the cold of the winter kept people indoors playing Tanki, and the player base grew. So much so that the Hall of Fame began to store too much information, and the developers needed to change the searching system on the Hall of Fame on the 1^st of February to help keep it running up to necessary speeds.

 

The temperature was warming up (well, at least, in the West), and so too was the Tanki updates, as February arrived. A couple of days after the Hall of Fame changes, a big update hit the blocks for Tanki. Among this update were the typical reduce-lag-speed-up-Tanki updates, but also, a few relatively interesting things were added to the game. One of the more prominent updates of the day was the release of the “Buy” button. The “Buy” button at the top of your gaming screens before this didn't exist. I remember the days when there was just a tiny Shopping Cart, next to your crystal allowance for you to click when you wanted to buy. However, the developers realised that wasn't so visible, so they decided to add a clear “Buy” Button in replacement.

 

As well as this came large updates to the rank-up process. Ranking up now would bring up a huge message on your screen, signaling your new rank. Before this, there had just been a yellow flash on your points bar, and no message on your screen. I remember the first time I ranked up after this update (at Master Sergeant), and the massive words that filled my screen! Later, the words were shrinked to stop hindering game play so much. I'm sure we all also know the experience of leaving a battle after ranking up and having a pile of weapons, tanks and hulls we can now unlock chucked at us in a list on the lobby. This list of “new stuff” was added on this day so that players could see what they had just unlocked.

 

The days stretched past in the Tanki departments, as players started to get back to “Summer” mode again, as the Christmas decorations, flags and supplies were changed back to the original summer look. On the 11^th of February, another few updates hit Tanki.

 

Most prominent among these was the release of a new Daily Bonus gift for players. You probably can guess. The infamous Double Crystal Card. Though the release led me to get my first and only purchase of crystals in my entire Tanki career, it was greeted by mixed reactions by everyone, and still is. However, there's no doubt that its a very useful gift for buyers.

 

Along with this was the release of a new holiday paint for the upcoming holiday Valentine's Day. My brother, skitee, co-incidentally was infatuated with this paint. You can probably guess the colour. Pink. Lags, once again, were reduced (you can tell the Tanki Tech support weren't holding back with their lag reduction at this point) and a few in-game glitches solved.

 

Two days later, there was an introduction to the game that was something quite unique in the entire history of Tanki. Introduced into the game was a weapon like no other, a weapon of epic proportions. The greatest weapon ever, introduced into the battlefield. Some will know it, some won't. But we all know it as the one and only Smoky XT.

 

To sum up Smoky XT in one word, it would be this – Over-powered. The weapon was brought out, with an alert that it would only be around for one week, however, and that there would be no refund for crystals spent on it. It had the damage of an M3 Thunder and the reload of a Smoky however, and its power was unbeatable. But the price tag of 3950 crystals (39,500 in today's currency – and remember that that many crystals in the old days were very special, especially considering the unlock rank of Smoky XT was at the minute rank of WO2.) steered people away from it. Only the few rich buyers decided to cash out on it.

 

However, the developers noticed the problem, and two days later, upped the already over-powered damage from 16-36 damage per shot, to 26-46! Now people seriously considered getting the weapon. For a week, Smoky XT's everywhere dominated the higher-ranking battlefield in particular. To catch some game play of Smoky XT, watch a video here showing the power of this weapon.

 

As a Smoky XT craze was passing through Tanki, the developers were changing payment systems slightly, and preparing for two main updates that were in their plans, and they had told the players were coming soon – the new weapon, Shaft, and Tanki 2.0. On the 17^th of February, they also changed registration systems in the game and also on the forum, as now players under the rank of Gefreiter could no longer post on the forum.

 

The 23^rd of February celebrated a special holiday in Russia, the “Defender of the Fatherland” Day. In honour of the day, a 23% discount landed on Tanki (due to the date), bringing joy to most of the players, and annoyance to the noobs who wanted a 25% discount, and weren't happy with 23%. A new Holiday Paint also joined the game. There was also a new incentive for people to buy for the first time, as there would be a 100 crystal bonus for the first-time buyer. That may sound like very little, but for a noob rank who could pay only a minute amount for their first purchase and receive almost triple the amount they paid for, it was a very welcome update. This too, was an incentive, for me to buy crystals, so after this update, I immediately purchased some crystals, my only buy in my three years of playing Tanki.

 

February passed by, after a busy month, and Tanki entered March as its player base grew. On the 4^th of March, the Tanki developers realised that their player base was getting so large that they needed extra servers, so four new servers were launched.

 

The same day held another couple of updates as the Nitro effect on frozen tanks was enhanced so that people under the effect of Freeze would be able to feel a speed boost, even before their freeze ran out. Also came the new Holiday Paint for the International Women's Day, which was coming up on the 9^th March. Specially for the day, every tankman was given a Double Crystal Card. It was quite a novelty back then to get a DCC, as it was a rare Daily Bonus, so, believe it or not, there was a happy reception to the free DCC given out to everyone.

 

Apart from that, March was a month of little activity as for game news. However, the build-up to Tanki 2.0 was reaching boiling point. Pictures had been released of the new look, and the people who would come with the tanks, and the likes of this. Also, the Google sketchup map-making was on a thriving at that time on the forum, as people began to create map ideas for 2.0 plans.

 

On the 16^th of March, Tanki celebrated their 2^nd million player. Again, the lucky player was given a free T-Shirt and mug to celebrate the landmark they had made. Little would they know that only 30 months later, they would have reached nearly 35 million players!

 

Towards the end of the month, minor updates to the registration form, and small changes to the map Courage were noted down by PNAU, but April quickly approached.

 

The first things of notice occurred midway through April. Two main events occurred on April 11^th. The one that is most significant and most prominent in Tanki News was definitely the release of a map like no other. Madness had been mad enough, but this was on a level of mad, which didn't even compare. Space Madness.

 

Now, you guys might think, “Well, maybe its just a bit like Moon Silence, except its Madness.” You couldn't be more wrong. Space Madness. The game play was completely absurd. But fun! The zero gravity feel to it left many players kicking their keyboards in annoyance, but it was exciting in its own way too. And it made for some awesome kills. One of the best Tanki kills I have ever seen in my whole Tanki history recorded can be watched here – one of my best friends in real life videoed the moment. ;) However, this map was not around for that long, only a few months before it was taken down. Anyway, it wasn't for serious battlers, just for a bit of fun.

 

Along with this, was perhaps a more monumental moment in Tanki's English history. The clan “Dare Devils” was created on April 11^th 2011, that very day, by Molina, a pre Shadow Strikers members who had a vision that splitting up could lead to the first proper clan wars in the history of Tanki. Before this, it had only be Shadow Strikers as the sole clan. It was successful. DD flourished (probably because I joined right near the beginning :P) and clans begun to slowly grow in the Community.

 

The next updates were on April 21^st, as Massacre's player availability grew from only 3 players per team to 5 players per team, creating a more exciting gamep lay arena for the players. Many players started to play Massacre, as the flags in the centre of the map and having the enemy flag in your side made for quick captures and exciting game play. Also, a couple of glitches were sorted out, such as taking a flag beneath you from a level above (i.e. taking a flag on the ground from on top of it on a bridge.)

 

May hit the scenes, and the excitement rose for the release of 2.0 on June 4^th and similarly for the upcoming release of the new weapon, Shaft. On the 9^th of May, however, another famous holiday lit up Tanki – the yearly Victory Day celebration was to be celebrated with a special new temporal drop box. The 50 crystal box was added to the game, which would drop each about every 200-300 fund. This was at the time of the 700 Gold Box, so it was great for players who didn't play such long battles to be able to get the chance to hunt down a box in smaller battles. Along with this came a neat-looking Holiday Paint to celebrate.

 

Tanki progressed through May and the 16^th of May held a big update to game rules, as moderators began to press on their dictatorship on Tanki. As the summer approached, another clan that has lasted through the years appeared on the scene. On the 20th of May, The Ironclads was created as an unofficial clan, by chriswu, and it lives on to this day, like Dare Devils. I joined from day 1 of IC, and still am in it to this very day. That's probably the reason why its still alive, to be honest :P This was during the influx of "Unofficial clans" on the forum, as people who were lower ranks and wanted a clan started to create clans and grow. Only a couple of the unofficial clans actually managed to thrive for a while - The Ironclads and C00kies Cr3w.

 

All the same, Tanki in-game updates were getting serious too. Three days later, on the 23rd, a few large updates hit Tanki. Most prominent among these were the additions of two new maps. Atra II (Who even plays that), and Rift, both made by Flanagun, the Russian administrator, were added to the battlefield. Rift, in particular, in its first few days was extremely popular.

 

Keyboard controls also had an update on this day, as the function of using “Q & E” as controls for camera view was added to the game for the first time. This was an extremely useful update, as many players had struggled to use Pg Up and Pg Down on their keyboards as a control for camera view.

 

The following day, Tanki gained a fantastic award in gaining “Best Technology Award” for their AE3D8 engine, which they were using to create 2.0, at the Russian KRI 2011 Awards. A video showing the graphics they were planning for 2.0 can be watched here. The irony came when the news hit three days later... but I'm not going to spoil it for you. Read on.

 

Now, for a proper update as you players might call it. A garage release was on its way, and players celebrated! 26^th May, a couple of days later, was the set date, and it arrived right as planned. Three of the most renowned paints from before the rebalance, and still after the rebalance, entered the battlefield. They were each to give massive protections on the main three weapons of the day at the latter end of the ranks – Thunder, Freeze and Ricochet. Their names? Emerald, Inferno and Zeus.

 

These paints gave a new sense of rivalry in the upper-rank battlefield - as the best paints in the game, there was suddenly a more intense battlefield, and the brilliant looks on them, particularly Emerald in my opinion, made for new paint goals in the future.

 

The happiness of the news that they had three new paints only managed to last with many of the players for one day, as horrific news reached players' ears on the following day. The news on 2.0 had been quite little the previous month, so players were getting unsure about the release, but it was announced that the inevitable had happened.

 

Tanki 2.0 had been postponed.

 

The players disappointment was evident, as the delay stretched on for the 2.0 they had seen videos about, and looked forward to so much. However, to brighten up the players' spirits, Tanki released pictures of the coming weapon, Shaft, at the end of May - the weapon which was set to come out in June. Players' excitements grew as they waited to see the new game play it would bring.

 

Another celebration came on June 4th, as it was Tanki's second birthday! The developers celebrated by throwing out double daily bonuses for three days, and even doubling the gold box value for the celebrations. It was a happy time for the players.

 

Now, contests had always been few and far between for players on the English side of Tanki. There had been an interesting sort of competition during 2010 in the English side of Tanki, trying to get players to spread the news of Tanki over Forums, and the like. Players were given 300 crystals (3000 in today's currency) for each different forum they posted a topic about Tanki in, for up to a maximum of 10 forums each player. More information about this interesting contest can be found here. However, that had not been really any contest for the English players yet in 2011. The English players were envious of the Russians, who had epic contests such as Tanki "trailer" contests, and even the competition going on at that present time in the Russian side - the famous "Miss Tanki Online 2011". However, English people were to get contests soon, but not as yet... the first contest was in July 2011 for the English players, so there was still a bit more of a wait left...

 

June speedily passed, as the player base grew in the game and in the forum. However, right at the end of June, just before the midway point of Tanki, a massive update hit Tanki. Most notable among the updates was the huge release of the ultimate weapon. You all know it. Shaft.

 

Shafts release was exciting for many players, but to most it was a let-down. The power and ability of the weapon wasn't strong in comparison to the other M3 Weapons, and they were disappointed at the release they had looked forward to for so long. Tanki were to update the weapon later on in the year, but we'll find out about that in next issue's edition of "In the Beginning Tanki".

 

Buried under the news of Shaft release came small updates. For one, Daily Bonus was edited so it could be given out to all ranks, right from the very beginning. Also, Sandbox was added for high ranks as well as low ranks, as previously Sandbox had only been a map for newbies. This was a big update, considering the way that Sandbox is all so popular at the high ranks nowadays, rather than the low ranks. 

 

And we close off this issue's edition of In the Beginning Tanki there, just a couple of days after the release of Shaft, as the second part of 2011 begins. To finish this historic article, I find it necessary to find a good video to show you about Tanki in this period. Though me and my brother made a video for a video contest right at the end of 2010 (you can watch THAT here), the second-position video was a fantastic example of game play in this period. I probably should have posted it in last month's edition, as it was published at the end of 2010, but its still a great video that relates to this period of Tanki as well.

 

 

Note: I mentioned lots of Holiday Paints in this article. If you want to look at lots of the ancient holiday paints, feel free to check out this topic which shows many of the holiday paints in 2010 and 2011.

 

Please comment upon what you can remember from this period, if anything, and feedback will be always appreciated!

 

[ExtremeKiller26 443]

Nice, but there was a part where you said 3 new paints were release which gave high protection from 3 main weapons on battle field- Thunder, freeze and ricochet. Something like that, the paint that protects the most from ricochet is Clay not Zeus. :P Or it might be that protections were different at that time and changed later. 1st, nice article, love it.

[r_SwagBoy110 421]

Another terrific article hog. G'job.

[VectorSierra 199]

Smoky XT is horrifying back then....I'm glad that it's gone  :mellow: For now of course...Good job!

Edited October 4, 2013 by VectorSierra

[Lhamster 4,081]

Nice, but there was a part where you said 3 new paints were release which gave high protection from 3 main weapons on battle field- Thunder, freeze and ricochet. Something like that, the paint that protects the most from ricochet is Clay not Zeus. :P Or it might be that protections were different at that time and changed later. 1st, nice article, love it.

This part is pre rebalance. The prots were changed to the current ones at the rebalance.

Edited October 4, 2013 by Lhamster

[hogree 4,179]

Nice, but there was a part where you said 3 new paints were release which gave high protection from 3 main weapons on battle field- Thunder, freeze and ricochet. Something like that, the paint that protects the most from ricochet is Clay not Zeus. :P Or it might be that protections were different at that time and changed later.

Ever heard of something called "Rebalance"? <_<

 

Thanks for feedback guys, I think this was my best in the series so far.

[r_nobodygood0 2]

long article, the words blured together on the 36th pharagraph down

[RiseOfCucumber 651]

http://s1222.photobucket.com/user/Imran_Ae/library/?sort=3&page=2   Here I have alots of Old Tanki Picture :)

[hogree 4,179]

long article, the words blured together on the 36th pharagraph down

Is there a problem with it being long? This is something I really don't understand... do you guys prefer to read something short, rather tthan something long, if the quality remains throughout the whole artiicle?  :huh:

[VectorSierra 199]

Is there a problem with it being long? This is something I really don't understand... do you guys prefer to read something short, rather tthan something long, if the quality remains throughout the whole artiicle?  :huh:

I would rather just read an article no matter how long or short it is,give my opinions on it,tell them if there's an error in the article and just tell them to keep up the good work.

[Valletta 834]

Smoky XT is horrifying back then....I'm glad that it's gone  :mellow:

HERESY!! Thou shalt not dare to speak of the Smoky XT negatively.

 

---

Anyway, splendid article Hog, as always! :)

[ExtremeKiller26 443]

Ever heard of something called "Rebalance"? <_<

 

Thanks for feedback guys, I think this was my best in the series so far.

Well, I wasn't there back then, I didn't even read what all changed in the rebalance...

[donut70 97]

HERESY!! Thou shalt not dare to speak of the Smoky XT negatively.

now I want them to rerelease the smoky xt just to see what it's critical power and chance would be, and yeah SMOKY XT CAN NEVER BE DISHONORED.