I know this isn't the intended feeling to get from a topic like this, but I feel like it might be a letdown or insult to not have your article chosen to be part of the Newspaper. Perhaps the quota is very low or the standards are very high, as those would make it more of a privilege to be chosen as opposed to an insult for not. Also, if a lot of articles are chosen, it seems like the AW section might go down in quality if the best are chosen and the rest left behind. Clarification please: Is this a major change to the AWS? Or is this just an addition to the already existing structure? Either way, a potentially nice initiative. Hope it goes well.

But the google form itself is no longer accepting responses. Just because the main topic shows that it is open doesn't mean that you can still submit an answer.

I got two things out of this formatting disaster: 1. "Marc mentioned that he took the contest from a old newspaper section also just to let you know" This is incorrect, as seen by what Marc said about it below: It seems to me that he was going to publish it as a Newspaper contest, but changed his mind and used it as TTC puzzle instead. He used it here only, not both. If you can find the Newspaper issue that has the duplicate puzzle, by all means, prove me wrong. 2. "a unofficial contest then really there is no such thing as banns , seeing no one is breaking the OFFICIAL TANKI Rules..." I would disagree with this as well. There is no in-game punishment because it is an unofficial contest. Official tanki violations end in official tanki in-game bans. However, since this is only inside TTC, the ban seems appropriate. Additionally, this quote from the FAQ post on the first page supports the ability to ban within TTC: Marc said that they have been doing it for a while, so it seems fair to ban them in a way that has been disclosed from the beginning.

Very informing and well written. Would love to get almost any of these paints, but the last 10 containers I have opened had supplies. I think I saw someone with Matrix the other day, looks very good. Congrats on making to Legend rank, as well.

I think it was the last one promoted to admin, and Flexoo is the only admin in the options. I made the same mistake.

Actually stands for Amateur Writing Club, referring to the Amateur Writing section of the forum. LOL

200 kills for each vote? Or once you make 200 kills with the paint you can vote every time? Either way, probably too much for me. Everyone who buys the winning paint gets the rewards? Or only people who get 200 kills and vote? Or some other limitation? This is more complicated than Axis & Allies...

Lol if you can't remember why you should be getting compensated, it must not be a big enough deal for you to actually get it.

I wrote a few things on my main account, but that was probably 3 years ago back when we spammed the Off-Topic Discussion section with these kinds of things. I also used to be friends from my main with a few reporters, so it could be similar to them, but they quit about that same time as well, I think.

I remember days when I parkoured in Normal Mode (prior to Space Mode). It was a lot of fun. My vote now goes to Space Mode. It's easier to do things with fewer people, and since I don't have any friends I don't know many other parkourists, Space Mode is more common for me.

The release of a new game mode is a big deal. Assault mode was released last year, but before that, the last release of a new game mode was way back in 2012 (CP), long before many of us joined. Almost all of my career has been with 4 game modes, but now Tanki has another new one: Rugby. This guide will give my thoughts on the new mode, from the concept, to gameplay, to potential tactics. My experiences, specifically in terms of actual playtime, will be based on two rank tiers, from this account and my other account (). Additionally, Rugby mode is still only days old, so all of my information has been derived in a very short amount of time, so this truly is a first glance. All information may or may not be accurate, as I am judging the book by its cover. On that note, let’s begin! Overview of the Mode For those who may not fully understand Rugby mode yet, I will give a brief description of the mode. As per almost every other mode, there are two teams: red and blue. There is a red point and a blue point. After that, it differs from other modes. There is a ball that drops from the sky, similar to supply drops. There are several places that the ball can drop to, and they are labeled on the ground. The goal is for your team to catch the ball and deliver it to the point of the opposite color (blue team delivers to red base, and vise versa). After that, the ball drops again. When you kill the person with the ball, the ball drops, similar to a flag in CTF. However, instead of being able to drop the ball (like F key in CTF), you can throw it. When you push F (or whatever key you have assigned to dropping a flag), the ball is thrown in the direction that your turret is facing. Other players can then catch it. The round ends either after 15 minutes or when one team scores 10 goals. My Thoughts on the Original Concept When I heard about Rugby mode, I’ll admit, I was skeptical. Seeing that I hate sports prefer shooting/combat over playing sports, I thought that Rugby mode would defeat the purpose of a tank shooter game. I was hoping for a more tank-related name, and graphics of the ball and goal to be more related to Tanki. Now, post release, I stand by my original thoughts. I like the graphics of the ball and points; I think they fit Tanki well enough. I still don’t really like the name or the comparison to sports, but I have no better name ideas, so I will keep my mouth shut. My Experience in Gameplay A game mode is not just about whether it seems good on paper, but whether you can get exp fast you find it fun and exciting to play. Through my years of experience and unending wisdom, I will share some pros and cons of playing the new game mode. Pros: Killing people The eternal goal of the game. A nice thing about this mode is that only half of the people on the map are trying to kill you, and if you don’t have the ball, and the guy next to you does, and you tell everyone that he is tastier than you, you won’t be the first target. Additionally, when the ball drops, lots of people try to get it, and that’s more people for you to kill, which helps the eternal fight for a good K/D makes things fun. It’s different from other modes There’s not much that makes it similar to other game modes. The only real similarity is that the guy who has the valuable object is kill priority #1. Other than that, it’s totally different. No other game mode has people ruthlessly trying to murder each other in order to collect a falling sky object. No other mode has the ability the pass the valuable object by throwing it. And no other mode is named after a sport where people try to beat each other up for fun. These things bring new tactics and dynamics to the game. Cons: It requires you to catch falling objects from the sky For those of us who can’t catch gold boxes (definitely not me), this is like a slap to the face. There are only two ways to acquire the ball: catch it from the sky, which has now been ruled out, or get lucky and be next to the guy who just died with it. “But wait!” you interject. “Can’t teammates pass it to you?” To which I respond: When you find a teammate who isn’t a selfish jerk and is willing to pass you the ball in order to benefit the team instead of himself, let me know, because I would like to play with someone like that for once. I will also add at this time, that since I am not as much of a team jerk as many other people, and I find it wrong to push teammates out of the way in order to catch falling sky objects, in my extensive experience with Rugby mode (about an hour thus far), I have never obtained the ball. It requires teamwork for true success As previously stated, teammates don’t like giving up the precious cargo, even if it benefits the team. Some people don’t realize that the winning team gets the majority of the crystal payout. They find their experience bar to be more important. These are the people that I don’t like playing with, and this flaw is very evident in Rugby mode. People not passing ball = people dying with ball = enemy possession of ball = no crystals. Tactics for the Future With the use of my time machine, I have uncovered several tactics which may become useful in the future (and of course, if they are not, I will tell you that I put them in to trick you). As always, not all of these apply to all people. 1. Use a splash damage turret. People tend to flock towards the ball as it drops, and with a splash damage turret such as Thunder or Magnum (which is super OP and annoying), you can conveniently kill several of them at once and get more exp allow teammates to get the ball. 2. Use a heavy hull Heavy hulls can serve two purposes. First, they can defend your point. Defending your base means less scores against you, which is a good thing. Also, since Titan and Mammoth have a higher power statistic, they can push enemies away from the point (Plug for future overdrive of Mammoth, which could be very useful here), and catch the ball as it drops. From there, it can be passed to someone else to score. 3. Use a light hull To state the obvious, light hulls are fast, and fast hulls are good for capturing things, such as flags and balls. In a theoretical game where people pass the ball, you can wait for a heavy hull to catch the ball and pass it to you for a quick goal. Of course, practically speaking, people don’t pass the ball, so a medium hull that can push people and then still score yourself may be more useful. 4. PASS THE BALL!!! It seems to me that a team that passes the ball will be more likely to win. Even if it’s only when you are about to die, throwing the ball somewhere will keep it out of enemy hands for a bit longer than if you just die and drop it. Pass the ball, and someone who isn’t doomed to die can keep moving it forward. I think there is great potential for clan wars and tournaments in this format. These are the only real times where people play as a team, and playing like that, passing and being strategic, could be genuinely fun to play and watch. It’s a shame that things like this don’t happen in random battles, but since I don’t have any friends or skill am not active enough in the game, I won’t be able to join a clan and participate in such fun. Summary Rugby is a new game mode, so people are still figuring it out. Learn with them, or be left behind. There is potential for this game mode to become as popular as CTF or CP, but there are also some flaws with it. It's up to you to decide your own opinion. This concludes my in-a-little-depth guide of the new Rugby mode. Perhaps you liked or enjoyed what I have written, or maybe you disagree with my every word and are in the process of hunting me down. Maybe everything I have said is common knowledge; I don't know. Feel free to share comments as well as additional pros, cons, or tactics. ~@TheTankBuster2

Shop sale - useless MU sale - not bad Goldbox increase - ok, but I don't catch them anyways New paints look cool, but decrease the chance of getting paints that I actually want i.e. Flow, Spectre, Moonwalker Synesthesia Unlikely that I will get any of the paints anyways, last time I opened containers, I got Armor, Nitro, and Mines, the last of which I don't use, and the first two I have 4k+ . The only two paints I've gotten are Hive and Holiday Lights, both of which look like trash in my opinion. Looking forward to Rugby Mode, though.

It seems to me that this topic was created in order to learn more about the puzzle and collectively solve it. Someone speaks the answer, and everyone gets pissed because he/they "spoiled it." If you want to figure it out yourself, don't visit pages like this... Besides, there's no reward anyways. Not much to really spoil.

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Even the people who do have Synesthesia don't show it on their profile, from what I've seen. Can I ask anyways? Serious question though: Is the reward worth spending my time to work towards it? Can anyone share the garage description of Synesthesia? Or is it the same as the site? I feel like there's an extra clue there.

“Sir, groundbreaking begins in a few minutes,” the young private was always nervous when he approached the Commander. The boss had been known to take care of people who gave him news that he didn’t want to hear. “I’ll be out in a minute,” the Commander responded. The private nodded and walked out of the dark office. ********** The lights shone in the Commander’s face as he walked onto the stage. He looked out and saw all the cheering people. His army was organized neatly and tightly in their squadrons, all carrying shovels and pickaxes. These were his people. This was his day. He silenced the crowd. “Gentlemen! Today marks the beginning of something special. Something never seen before by anyone. We will bring a new style of entertainment to this world. Our new games will rival those of the Roman gladiators!” A loud cheering erupted at the last statement, but the Commander went on.” Today is the first step to creating the masterpiece. Today we leave our stamp in the history books! Today marks the beginning of the construction of the Deathtrack Games!” The cheering was deafening now. The Commander couldn’t have gone on even if he had more to say. Squadron leaders gathered their men, and they all went to work, beginning construction of the new arena. Six months later The bell rang, and Alan sat down. One more class and he could go home. Of course, it was his least favorite subject: math. And after this class, he would just have to go home, do homework, go to bed, and do it all over again tomorrow. It was only Tuesday, after all. School was not Alan’s favorite thing. He found the things that he had to learn in High School were cruel and unnecessary for his future. However, today was a bit different. A new sporting arena was opening on Friday. Everyone knew about it, and tickets to see the first event were going fast. Alan was planning to stop by their ticket stand after school today and buy himself a ticket. Or maybe two, one for his brother. No, not James. Maybe for his friend, or that girl he wanted to ask out, he hadn’t decided yet. But first, he had to make it through algebra. ********** After a torturous hour, Alan walked out of school. All his friends drove to school, and Alan had his license, but he walked to and from school because he lived close enough. Besides, Alan wasn’t going home quite yet. Alan reached the ticket stand in record time. He approached the stand. The ticket vendor looked about fifty years old. He had gray, almost white hair, and seemed quite short in height. “Two tickets, please,” Alan said to the man. The man seemed to ignore what Alan said, and just stared at him. Alan repeated himself, and the man came to life. “How old are you, son?” he asked, still staring at Alan. His voice was hoarse. “Seventeen,” Alan said. “Seventeen?” the man repeated. He must be hard of hearing. “Yes, sir,” said Alan. “Seventeen,” the man said. “I remember when I was seventeen.” Alan signed. This man did not have much focus. “Life was different back then, you know. None of this new fangled technology that you have. I didn’t have…” “Sir, I hate to interrupt, “Alan started, “but I’m in a bit of a…” “Shut up!” the man exclaimed. Alan no longer doubted his lack of sanity. “You should show some respect for you elders. I never got the opportunity to go to a spectacle like the one that you’re buying tickets for.” And I’m never going to either if you don’t get me those tickets, Alan thought. “Two tickets, you said?” the man asked, finally on his rocker again. “Yes, sir,” Alan said, hoping to finally get his hands on them. “Two. Buying for somebody else, you are. Must be a girl. Guys always throw out more money when there’s a girl on the line!” "Can I just get my tickets?” Alan said, frustrated. This guy was a nutcase. “Yes, yes. I’ll get them right away.” Finally. “Oh,” he said. “I can’t seem to find the key to the cash register. If you come in and help me find it, I’ll give you a little discount.” Alan nodded, and walked around the side, opened the door, and stepped inside. He didn’t see any harm in going in. This man was too old and too weird to do him any harm. The stand was bigger than he expected. Alan approached the man. “Oh, here it is,” he said. He turned around, swinging a wooden baseball bat, which met Alan in the face. Alan blacked out almost instantly, hanging on only long enough to hear the man pick up a radio and say, in a completely different voice, “I’ve got another one for you, Commander.” ********** Consciousness came briefly to Alan. A monstrous headache greeting him. All his limbs were stiff and aching. It was too dark to see anything. He was hungry and thirsty. As he slipped back under, he saw a small prick of light in another room. ********** “Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming,” the voice was coming from some loudspeaker. Alan was still coming to. “The games will begin shortly.” Alan was in some sort of a cockpit. He pushed on the window, but it didn’t move. He was stuck inside. He looked out the window. Bright lights shone back in. He was on some sort of road, maybe in a car? Around him were other cars; they looked like race cars. They all looked the same, so he must be in one as well. He couldn’t see into the other cars. All around him were stands, full of cheering people. Was this the new sporting arena? It could be Friday already; Alan lost track of time when he was unconscious. The new arena was a race track? That’s cool, but why was Alan one of the racers? The loudspeaker was cackling back to life. Maybe it would give him some answers. “Again, I welcome all of you to our games. We call it Deathtrack. You’ll understand why shortly. I will briefly explain what is going to happen, and then we will get started.” Deathtrack? Just the name scared Alan. The loudspeaker continued: “The rules here are simple. Every lap, at least one car will be destroyed, either in a crash, or, if there is no crash, the last place car will explode. The race will continue until only one car is left. Let me reassure you, the drivers are not in the cars, they are safely in another location. “Now, on the big screen, you will see a complete map of our track. Let me walk you through it.” A screen came to life in Alan’s car, and a blueprint map of the track appeared. The loudspeaker went on. “The cars are currently in the wide spot, our staging area. They will then get a rolling start, and cross the start/finish line. From there, it’s down a hill, then an immediate right turn. A long stretch, followed by a series of right turns, then it’s over the brittle bridge. We call it that because it may, or may not, fall apart at some point during the race, just for a little extra fun. Then it’s a series of left turns, and onto the speed stretch. The cars will be going their fastest here, making it the most dangerous part. Then it’s a right turn, and they are back where they started. Remember, the racers are controlling the cars remotely from their quarters, located near the start/finish line.” Alan, inside his car, was furious. If only one driver was going to survive, that meant that the other fourteen would be killed, and they just lied about these people’s lives. Alan was so mad that he wanted to drive his car into one of the bridges and wreck their track, but he didn’t have control of the car yet. “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the first race at Deathtrack,” the loudspeaker finished. All the cars started at the same time. The crowd was cheering. The cars began to roll forward. Alan still wasn’t given control. He figured that he would get it after crossing the start line. Sure enough, when Alan crossed the line, he stepped on the gas, and his car started moving faster, the other cars quickly speeding up as well. Alan was among the first to make the first turn and go down the hill. However, as Alan made the turn at the bottom of the hill, another car, going too fast, clipped the back of Alan’s car, sending him spinning. Miraculously, Alan’s car stayed on the track. The other car hit the wall head on, exploding on impact. Alan straightened his car, the others long gone. Alan quickly sped up in hopes of catching back up in the next two laps. Alan went as fast as he dared. He wouldn’t be killed at the end of this lap, since a car had already been destroyed. By the time he finished the lap, he was starting to see the back of the pack. He continued to race towards them. Nearing the end of the lap, Alan finally passed the next car. When it crossed the finish line, it blew up behind him. Another car down, and Alan was still driving. ********** Lap after lap went by. Alan continued to fight at the back of the pack, hanging on from elimination by passing the last place car soon before crossing the finish line. Several crashes helped give Alan more time to catch the next car. One car smashed into the wall at the bottom of the hill after the finish line. Two other cars crashed into each other on the speed stretch. Alan pushed the thought of crash out of his mind. He had only one goal: win the race. ********** Twelve racers were dead. Three remained in contention. Alan was in third place, starting to close on second. The first place racer was climbing the brittle bridge when Alan finished the six righthand turns. However, as the second place racer went over the bridge, it broke. The leader had just gone under it when the ground went out from under the racer on the bridge, who crashed into the bridge support on the other side. Alan, still approaching the bridge, saw only one option. He pushed the gas pedal to the floor and jumped over the bridge. The landing shook his bones, but he kept moving. He dodged the rubble as he went under where the bridge used to be, his sights aimed on victory. Alan chased down the leader. They were mere seconds apart as they crossed the finish line for the second to last time. Alan knew that this was his last lap. He would either win and survive, or die within reaching distance from victory. They approached the former brittle bridge side by side. Alan felt the adrenaline flowing through his veins. Alan pushed the gas pedal through the floor as they jumped across together, Alan taking the lead in the air. They entered the speed stretch with Alan holding a marginal lead. He felt a bump on the side of his car, and the leader was able to pull ahead. Alan caught up again, this time to secure a win. He nudged the front of his car into the right-rear quarter panel of the leader’s car, sending him spinning sideways off the track. The car hit a wall, putting it out of commission. With no other opponents, Alan had won the race. But Alan didn’t feel like a winner. Alan slowed his car down, stopping on top of the finish line. He thought of the other racers. Fourteen people that he had passed in order to let them die, the last of which he actively caused. Alan was angry at himself for indirectly killing these people, but he was more angry at the people who organized such an event. These were young people with real lives, and someone had decided that them dying for entertainment was worth that life. Alan pushed at the cockpit glass. It didn’t move. Rage surged into him, and he kicked the glass. It cracked. He kicked it again and again until it shattered. Alan stood up, and the crowd fell silent. It came to them that people had been in these wrecks of cars, and they had cheered their deaths. Alan turned towards the large building inside the arena. He knew what was coming, and he was willing to accept it. He stood defiantly on top of his car. The gunshot echoed through the bowels of the track, the bullet piercing Alan’s chest at 1000 m/s. As the sun began to set on the track, Alan fell off the car, content in the knowledge that this was the last race that the Deathtrack would ever see. ********** Day turned into night. The track erupted in chaos after Alan’s death. The crowd was filled with angry at the unnecessary killings that had taken place. The Commander, furious because of the failure of his life’s work, ordered his troops to subdue the mob. Deathtrack has become a never ending battlefield between the creators and the first audience. It has lasted so long that the people have begun to forget the reason for the war. But the legacy lives on, and the battle will continue for another age. ~@TheTankBuster2

Cool, so I live in UTC-5, which is 4am, way too early for me = 0 shot at winning anything good. 20 of each supply? Almost useless.

Rico M2 is good, even without the alteration. I have Rico M2 (without alteration), and I like it. The alt does add the splash damage, I would think with a smaller radius than, say, thunder. Keep in mind that it also gets rid of the ricochet effect, but since few people actually use it to ricochet, it might not be such a loss. Definitely Viking, in my opinion. Viking has more health and is faster. It also has a smaller profile, making it slightly harder to hit, and it looks cooler. Dictator is better for golds, but that is so rare that it shouldn't be a factor imo.

Thanks, buying Twins. Pardon my stupidity, but which alt for twins?

Ranked up to Colonel yesterday.

Already buying Titan M2 and Smoky M2 on sale (other account), however, I think I will have enough crystals to buy 2 of the following: - Twins M2 (leaning against because I have other short/mid range M2 turrets) - Wasp M2 (also leaning against, thinking about MUing it instead for better parkour) - 1 or 2 modules: Ursa T-B (smoky, rail, rico), Ursa T-E (smoky, twin, rail), Kodiak T-C (twin, rail, thunder), or any other good suggestions - Alteration: not sure if any are good, but potentially High Cap Drum for Hammer (M2) or Precision Targetting for Smoky (M2) Any help?

Shame there's no good parkour clubs anymore. Would love to join one with my main, but they all either seem very disorganized or require skype, which I don't plan on getting (not saying they shouldn't have it, it makes sense to, but certainly limits my options). Reminds me why I made one a long time ago, but it's too much work leading one now when all I want is some fun parkour on the side.

Everyone thinks for themselves nowadays. No tactics. No teamwork. Forget the flag when I can kill enemies who aren't doing anything to get some easy extra XP. Ruins the dynamic of team battles. Can't do team battles because they are all blowouts because of useless teammates. Can't do DMs because they are complete drug wars. I don't do DM missions anymore; I change them every day until I get one that isn't in for a DM.

Looking to buy 3, maybe 4, of the following on my main account (almost Colonel) during the (hopefully good) New Year sales: - Smoky M2 - Firebird M2 - Shaft M2 - Wasp M2 - Titan M2 - Maybe an M2 Module: Thinking Ursa T-E, also potentially Kodiak T-A, Kodiak T-C, Ursa T-A, or something anti-Magnum Already have M2: Hornet, Hunter, Rail, Thunder, Hammer, Rico, Isida, and Freeze, don't have any modules, but several legacies Playing style: Forward/attack, also lately taken an interest as sniper Normally would be interested in saving for an M3 kit, but am not going to reach Lieut. Gen. before I quit. Any recommendations?