I have to agree pretty much with the original post. The game has truly stagnated and most of the core players are leaving or have left. It really shows the lack of imagination on the part of Pony Tail Boy and the Devs that they are not doing anything truly original to save the game, but are lifting every money grubbing idea from other games to keep the paychecks coming in. Like I mentioned in other posts, what made Tanki so much fun was it's simplicity and dynamic game play. Pony Tail Boy and the rest of the Dev's have destroyed that by making things so complicated that it has taken all the fun from the game and then called it innovative. Oh, I'm sure the game will hold out for a few more paychecks for them, but with the last of the old core players leaving, all that will be left is a mediocre shell of it's former self, played for a short time by players passing through looking for a fun tank game and being disappointed. Those people won't hang around long and Tanki will eventually fade away. It will go out with a whimper with Pony Tail Boy and the Dev's wondering why it went bust and pointing their fingers at anything and everything but themselves as to the reason it died. I wholeheartedly agree, it's time to move on, and I have. Hopefully someone else will pick up the original idea of Tanki and start it anew. That's the only way any tank game like Tanki will return it to it's original glory.

What has happened is that Pony Tail Boy and the Devs completely ignored the community and ignore what made the game originally successful. They forgot the K.I.S.S. principle. People loved the simplified combat system (and I emphasize simplified combat system) combined with rich content ( ie. a diverse number of maps combined with dynamic game play which rewarded skill and intellegence ). Pony Tail Boy and the Devs have over-complicated things to the point that they've taken the fun out of the game. Also they embarked on a greedy search for money by adding unnecessary gimmicks to the game. Lastly they have adhered to the mistaken belief that things that are complicated are innovative. They have, instead, killed the goose that laid the golden eggs.

Can't help myself it seems. Current Report - Tanki having a hard time breaking 30,000 during peak times. Hanging around the 25,000 mark now. Players abandoning the game in droves. I guess that's and even greater success eh?

You win Maf. We know nothing, we are ignorant. You're right Pony Tail Boy and the Dev's didn't listen to the majority and they left. However instead of giving them a pat on the back for keeping the game alive, I think it is a testament to how great a game Tanki was that it has lasted this long. I'm tired of the arguments too. I played for 7 years and I'm done. Have fun polishing the brass. This will be my last post. All my friends have left and they left not out of boredom but because of what Pony Tail Boy and the Dev's have done to the game. I guess I was more of an optimist than them. But even I have my limits. By all means look at 30k players during peak as a win and success. I hate seeing people think they have failed.

And as we can all see the decisions that Pony Tail Boy and the Dev's have come up with since 2012 have really improved the game. Going from well over 100,000 players during peak times down to having a hard time getting to mid 30,000's just goes to show just how successful their business decisions have been. As you said concerning Pony Tail Boy's great and wise changes to the game -"Every single argument for and against them has already been said multiple times". Yep, and they didn't listen. So the game has shrunk down to what it is today, a mere shadow of what it once was. Here's something to think about, the reason that Gangham_Style's thinking is in the minority is that most of the players that think like him have given their opinion of the game by leaving. Which is the reason Tanki has gone from over 100,000 players during peak times to barely 35,000. So you just keep polishing the brass on the sinking ship Maf and keep cutting and pasting your standard answers.

I can appreciate the flavourist allegory because I love cooking. My problem is how most of the moderators always take the viewpoint that Tanki Devs can do no wrong and that it is just complaining players who are the problem. You guys contend that if only players would embrace the changes then all would be well in Tanki land. That attitude is quite evident in how you opened your comment. Sorry but I do care, I loved playing the game. I've watched the game that I used to love playing over the years be ground down into a pale shadow of what it once was with one bad update after another by Pony Tail Boy and his Dev minions. So once again I'm sorry if I pipe in from time to time to point out that fact and to scold the people who enable them. The main problem is attitude. It's the attitude that the players know nothing and only the all wise Pony Tail Boy and Devs are wise enough to make the game great again. I think the evidence shows that thinking is wrong. Even the release of the mobile version hasn't significantly raised the number of active players and after an initial boost, once again Tanki is starting its downward slide again. Oh by the way, I'm glad the Client works for you, but if you would pay attention to some of the negative comments about the client you would come to realize that for many it is kind of buggy and has been so since it came out.

You're so full of it. LOL.... Let me go get my hip waders to wade through this pile of towing the Tanki line. LOL, "the world of vanilla is rich and complex"....ROFL..... Now I've heard everything to try and explain away the BAD decisions and laziness of Pony Tail Boy and the Devs. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: Oh yeah, just like everything else, the Client has become total crap too. I won't allow it on my computer any more. Caused too many crashes.

My imaginary Development meeting between Pony tail Boy and the rest of the Devs.... Pony Tail Boy : "The number of players keeps falling and Match Making sucks, so let's try to compensate and hide the fact by reducing the time of each match instead of fixing the problems that are driving players away. Then we'll lie and make it seem we're doing it to benefit the players" ..... Rest of the Devs : "LOL" ..... Pony Tail Boy : "Also let's change massacre map. You know, get rid of the craters and throw a few buildings around. That'll make the players happy, well maybe. But who cares, at least we can maybe make them believe we're actually doing something. Hmmm, we do, however, still have that little problem where you might fall through the map . Oh well, we'll just wait to fix that later..... maybe" ..... Rest of the Devs : "LOL" The only good change was reducing the time between equipment switches. Which was almost completely negated by the reduction in match time. Yep, another home run by Pony Tail Boy and the Devs.

I just about killed myself laughing as I watched this v-log. Pony Tail Boy and the Devs just don't learn. All through it, all you heard is that they weren't surprised by the negative feedback on the changes that they made. So it means that they knew that what they were doing would not be liked by the community. Now let me think....Hmmmmmm..... So to them knowingly doing unpopular things is going to retain existing players and attract new ones....Hmmmmm..... Putting out a crappy mobile version of the game will retain existing players and attract new ones.......Hmmmmmm.......Ignoring the community is going to retain existing players and attract new ones. Yep, sounds like a winning business strategy to me.

I only play very occasionally now. Basically only after updates to see if Pony Tail Boy and the Devs have made any smart decisions for a change. So far the answer is basically NOT. And from the vlogs the future doesn't look any better.

Seems that you just made a very good argument for one reason why many players have left and are continuing to leave. One huge problem is the proliferation of hackers and cheats which Pony Tail Boy and the Devs choose to ignore.

Hmmmmmmmm, Over the last few weeks I've been watching the number of players playing and have noticed after the much vaunted update to overdrives and the roll out of Mobile TO, the numbers haven't really changed. In fact it seems that they're starting to drop again. How can that be under the leadership of Pony Tail Boy?

My recollection may not be totally accurate. I may have blended 2015 and 2016 together and by the time you joined in Oct 2016 it may have dropped below that point.

The interesting thing about your point is when you go to Pony Tail Boy's post those problems he listed there are still here if not worse. The only one that has gotten somewhat better is that there seem to be (in my opinion) less mults. I attribute that to match making. So once again an admission of failure by Hazel. Back in 2016 you still had around 60000 playing during peak times. Now it's between 25000 to 30000 on average. After all the "improvements" to the game since then, (many of which were unwelcomed by most), I think it shows conclusively what happens when you ignore your player base.

I agree with you on this point. The problem is that the Devs don't listen and in the interviews that Pony Tail Boy has done he has made it plain the he feels that we are clueless and only he has the right vision for the game. So as of now there is no balance. And that is where the problem lies. When we as players point out that certain so called improvements to the game would actually harm the game they don't listen. Even after a change is introduced and it is widely proven by the community to be a bad update they still don't listen. When we point out needed improvements they ignore us and put out another gimmick. That is the main reason you have seen such a decline in the number of players over the years and a lack of attracting new players. They have no respect for the community and have a take it or leave it attitude, and when you have that kind of mind set it's hard to retain players or attract new ones.

You know I've heard this very same argument before to avoid the issue. To blame someone else and hopefully sweep the problem under the rug. So Ok, I'll lump the owners right in there too. Now let's carry the argument forward. What that means is that the owners of Golf Clash respect their community and the owners of Tanki don't. As for respecting Pony Tail Boy, he hasn't earned any. He has shown nothing but contempt for the Tanki community and in his own words he has made it plain that he holds us with nothing but disdain. So I wasn't asking for personal respect but respect for the whole community. Which Pony Tail Boy and the Devs don't show. Lastly a Tank game is pretty straight forward too and should be real hard to screw up but Pony Tail Boy and the Dev's have managed it.

I love online gaming and Tanki was one of my favorites. Unfortunately over the years the Dev's have refused to listen to the community and we have seen a constant decline in the number of players. Over and over again the players warned that certain changes would be harmful for the game but Pony Tail Boy and the Dev's refused to listen. It is refreshing to see that this isn't always the case with other Developers. Notice this quote that was just posted in another very popular and successful game that I play (Golf Clash). They were set to have a big roll out of a much vaunted change to the game but the community voiced a negative opinion to it and this was Golf Clash's Devs reaction : The reaction It’s 24 hours since we announced the feature, and to our dismay, the reaction has been overwhelmingly negative. We know change is hard in online games, and we know sometimes it takes time to get used to new systems, but we didn’t see this response coming. We didn’t plan it, didn’t expect it, and were certainly surprised by it, but we have empathy with the feedback and can understand why so many players feel the way they do. We still firmly believe that the changes we have designed and proposed are the right thing to do for the best mix of strategy, progress and competitive play for Golf Clash. But on the other hand, we respect you, the players so much that we would never blindly release updates to the game that you are so united in your opposition to, even if it’s something we have worked hard on for months. One of Playdemic’s motto’s is ‘Put the player experience above all other considerations’, and this motto feels very appropriate at this time. For this reason, we have therefore decided to not release our update at this time, including both the ‘max curl’ and ‘club bag perk’ solutions. We are instead going to be re-evaluating this feature in the new year to find a solution that works for all our players whilst still helping to achieve our goal of improving the competitiveness of Golf Clash. How refreshing it is to play a game where the Dev's respect their community enough to hold back an update that they have worked hard on and spent tons of time on. And I highlight that they RESPECTED THEIR PLAYERS. That's why they did it. Too bad Pony Tail Boy and the Dev's didn't have the same attitude. Maybe Tanki would still be a great game instead of a wannabe one now. While it is true that they may decide to release this update later. They are , however, listening too and are concerned about how their players and customers feel. As they said, they are not going to blindly release it even though they feel it would be good for the game because of that RESPECT. Pony Tail Boy and the Dev's could learn something from this HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL group of Devs.

This will be my last observation and post. I'm done. Pony Tail Boy and the Dev's have finished me off. They've steadily ruined the game and I'm done. I came back 8 months ago and and played daily for that time. I was beginning to really enjoy the game again even spending money on it again. But with all the recent changes it has become obvious to me that they're still not interested in producing a quality game. With all the goofy gimmicks being added to the game, the nerfing of weapons and hulls just so they can sell you back those changes through even more gimmicks and not fixing even the most glaring problems it is clear that all it has become is another money grab. With the constant software crashes, the underestimating of wait times by huge amounts, rampant hacking, and goofy gimmicks the game is becoming totally frustrating again. So I'm gone, and gone for good this time. The one good thing is that this time all desire to play the game is now gone.

Observations for this week - Finally the release is coming for the mobile version. This is not a good thing. If what I played over the last 2 weeks is close to the product that's going to be released, then what we are going to get is a product that I consider is only qualified for early, and I mean early, beta release. Once again, probably due to a few recent average successes, Pony Tail Boy and the Devs think they know best and are releasing something that is not finished or fully thought out. The movement controls are atrocious and make the game nearly unplayable except in camping mode (see my post above for explanation). Come on, I know this company doesn't have the budget of a big game company, but at least take some pride in your product. I play a lot of mobile games because I travel a lot and this mobile game is doomed to failure. The only good thing it is good for is to manage your account while away from the keyboard. Like I said in my previous post, it didn't have to be this way. The only thing that needs fixing to make this app go from a dud to a success is to fix the movement controls. But once again Pony Tail Boy and the Devs are not going to listen to the people who play the game ( ie. the beta testers) and will forge ahead with an inferior product that in the end will drive even more players away from the game. Like I've said in other posts, the days of making bad releases is gone. There are too few players left. Every release now has to be top notch aimed at attracting new players and retaining old and new players alike. All this release will do is show how inept the Devs of this game are. Recently the Dev's took a step forward in how they have been managing the game by releasing some decent updates. With this mobile game they're about to take 3 steps back.

Sorry Maf, They should release the OD's as modules , if they are insistent on releasing them, and not tie them to specific hulls. It's only going to add to the frustration. People don't like being tied to specific hulls. Especially if they are forced to use a hull that they hate or have to purchase a hull that they hate in order to get the overdrive they want. Haven't you come to realize yet that people want the freedom to build their own set ups and not be forced into pre-configuired setups? The old protection scheme was hated for that very reason, but now has become one of the better parts of the game because they finally gave us that choice to build our own protection setups. This game will lose even more players if they do this release. Especially with probably the most popular overdrive being tied to the least used and least liked hull.

As a Beta tester all I have to say is if they release the mobile app as it is, it will fail. Get ready to lick your chops boys and girls to rack up kills. The driving controls are crap and will leave the poor saps that will be on the mobile app sitting ducks - (please read my posts in the forum about this for a deeper explanation). If they would fix this one item, then the mobile version would have a chance and those playing it would be on more equal terms with those playing the PC version. However knowing Pony Tail Boy and the Dev's they are going to take the easy way out and release it as is. It's too bad really, because the other parts of the app aren't that bad and don't need much tweaking. I will say this in closing. If it is released basically as it is in the final beta test, I won't be playing it at all. I'll stick to the PC version. Because as it stands now, with the driving controls the way they are, it is almost completely unplayable unless you are a camper.

I've been playing the mobile version for 2 weeks now and this is my observation. Most of the complaints about it are valid. That being said, it has potential. However, the main thing holding the mobile game back and could potentially kill the mobile version is the directional controls. They are, quite frankly, totally crappy and make the game almost unplayable. The sad thing is that it could be so much better and simpler from a players viewpoint. The quickest fix to making the mobile version funner and easier to play is to completely redo the driving interface. This is a must if the Devs want this game to be successful. Sadly the Devs have tried to emulate the keyboard arrows with basically a 4 position control pad. Up is forward, down is back, and of course left and right. this orientation stays the same regardless of tank orientation. Which causes great confusion while playing. Especially in crowded environments. This setup rarely works in a basically simulated 3d environment. The best controller set up is one where the controller direction of travel is based on the orientation of the tank on screen. Whichever direction the tank is facing is the forward direction on the controller. For example if the tank is facing the top of the screen then up is forward. If the tank is facing the left side of the screen then left is forward. Whichever point on a compass it faces is the forward direction on the controller. To try and make it even more understandable, try to imagine the tank completely encircled by a ring and you control a light that moves around the ring. Wherever that light is on the ring that is the direction that the tank will go. Of course 180 degrees from the forward direction is reverse. This will make for a more intuitive directional interface that is easier to learn and causes less confusion when driving and shooting or maneuvering in a crowded environment. Some have suggested a full auto aim mode because of the crappy driver interface. I have to disagree with the full auto aim suggestion. It removes any skill from the game. I do think, however, that the auto aim box currently used needs to be enlarged on the mobile version to compensate for the smaller screen. This will make mobile users more equal with their PC user brethren. Also it will help when firing while moving and help overcome some of the deficiencies in the directional controls compared to the PC version. Lastly they need to get rid of the circular selector for supplies and enlarge the supply buttons at the bottom of the screen. This would greatly simplify the use of supplies and other functions.

I've been playing the mobile version for 2 weeks now and this is my observation. Most of the complaints are valid. However, the main thing holding the mobile game back is the directional controls. They are, quite frankly, totally crappy and make the game almost unplayable. The sad thing is that it could be so much better and simpler from a players viewpoint. The quickest fix to making the mobile version funner and easier to play is to completely redo the driving interface. This is a must if the Devs want this game to be successful. Sadly the Devs have tried to emulate the keyboard arrows with basically a 4 position control pad. Up is forward, down is back, and of course left and right. this orientation stays the same regardless of tank orientation. Which causes great confusion while playing. Especially in crowded environments. This setup rarely works in a basically simulated 3d environment. The best controller set up is one where the controller direction of travel is based on the orientation of the tank on screen. Whichever direction the tank is facing is the forward direction on the controller. For example if the tank is facing the top of the screen then up is forward. If the tank is facing the left side of the screen then left is forward. Whichever point on a compass it faces is the forward direction on the controller. To try and make it even more understandable, try to imagine the tank completely encircled by a ring and you control a light that moves around the ring. Wherever that light is on the ring that is the direction that the tank will go. Of course 180 degrees from the forward direction is reverse. This will make for a more intuitive directional interface that is easier to learn and causes less confusion when driving and shooting or maneuvering in a crowded environment. Some have suggested a full auto aim mode because of the crappy driver interface. I have to disagree with the full auto aim suggestion. It removes any skill from the game. I do think, however, that the auto aim box currently used needs to be enlarged on the mobile version to compensate for the smaller screen. This will make mobile users more equal with their PC user brethren. Also it will help when firing while moving and help overcome some of the deficiencies in the directional controls compared to the PC version. Lastly they need to get rid of the circular selector for supplies and enlarge the supply buttons at the bottom of the screen. This would greatly simplify the use of supplies and other functions.

I've been playing the mobile version for 2 weeks now and this is my observation. Most of the complaints are valid. The main thing holding the mobile game back is the directional controls however.. The sad thing is that it could be so much better and simpler from a players viewpoint. The quickest fix to making the mobile version funner and easier to play is to completely redo the driving interface. Sadly the Devs have tried to emulate the keyboard arrows with basically a 4 position control pad. Up is forward, down is back, and of course left and right. this orientation stays the same regardless of tank orientation. Which causes great confusion while playing. Especially in crowded environments. This setup rarely works in a basically simulated 3d environment. The best controller set up is one where the direction of travel is based on the orientation of the tank on screen. Whichever direction the tank is facing is the forward direction on the controller. For example if the tank is facing the top of the screen then up is forward. If the tank is facing the left side of the screen then left is forward. Whichever point on a compass it faces is the forward direction on the controller. To try and make it even more understandable, try to imagine the tank completely encircled by a ring and you control a light that moves around the ring. Wherever that light is on the ring that is the direction that the tank will go. Of course 180 degrees from the forward direction is reverse. This will make for a more intuitive directional interface that is easier to learn and causes less confusion when driving and shooting at the same time or maneuvering in a crowded environment. I have to disagree with the full auto aim suggestion, but I do think that the auto aim box currently used needs to be enlarged on the mobile version to compensate for the smaller screen. Lastly they need to get rid of the circular selector for supplies and enlarge the supply buttons at the bottom of the screen. This would greatly simplify the use of supplies and other functions.

If the time of matches is going to be reduced, then the cool down time for swapping out equipment and protections needs to be reduced too. With Match-making you never know what to best equip with till you see what map you are sent too. Especially when you keep playing and are moved to a new map. For example, perhaps you were started out on a long range map like Massacre, a long range map, so you used a Shaft set up with mostly long range protections. Then after finishing that you hit the keep playing button and Match-making put you in the Sand Box map, which is totally unsuited for your Shaft setup. So you switch to a short range weapon with short range protections, now you are locked in. Suppose you pick the weapon everyone is running protection for or protections for a weapon that hardly anyone is using? You are nothing but a moving target for 3 minutes, which is absolutely no fun. It's even worse if Match-making drops you into a game with say 5 or 6 minutes left on the clock. You may be stuck with a totally wrong setup for that new map with no time to make a comeback. I'll tell you this, I'm bailing out in that situation. I'm willing to fight and even loose tough battles, but when I have no hope I'm not going to be someone elses punching bag. So to reiterate, with a reduced time limit for matches, you are locked into a setup for a larger percentage of the game, which is usually the case because the matchmaking system is randomizing which maps it sends you to. In order to offset the lower time limit for matches, and to have better more balanced games, the cool down for changing equipment and protections should be reduced to 2 minutes.