You guys moved clans, and I didn't realize it.

Not at all. I thought that it would be a good means by which to get the community involved with the paper in a new and interesting way. My apologies if you find this offensive.

A Comprehensive Listing of Effective Camping Techniques A Definition: Camping - The act of staying in one area on a map in order to gain an advantage over an enemy or group of enemies. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Forget the tent and marshmallows. Whenever the term camper is slung about these days, it's generally in reference to the above definition and it's a topic that seems to breed a lot of in-game dissent. Is that firmly-entrenched, "camping" Railgun hiding in a cowardly manner, or making use of a respectable, intelligent strategy to earn kills? Is that Shafter a worthwhile asset or is it just taking up valuable game space? And what about the Titan/Twins sitting immobile on the flag, brick on the spacebar, with a distinct inability to locate the arrow keys? Opinions on the subject vary greatly between tankers; wherever you might fall on the viewpoint spectrum, it is undeniable that camping in all its forms is a highly effective stratagem as a proficient camper can easily achieve a D/L ratio of 3.00+ and place at or near the top of the scoreboard in many games. For me, this is more than enough to take a second look, however, for the sake of argument, let's say that you, dear reader, are of the cynical, disbelieving type. If that were the case, you might be thinking... Highly effective??? Since when is camping "highly effective"?!? Campers are losers, and useless ones at that. They can't pull any weight in a team battle and are highly incompetent in DM. This article sux. :angry: Well now, my highly-suspicious friend. I can say from personal experience that camping is quite the lucrative strategy, though one has to go about it in an intelligent manner. So, without further ado... ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Reading The Terrain: CTF Location is everything. For a camper, knowing (and utilizing) key, tactically sensitive areas is the difference between failure and success. The "safe spots" and "hot zones" in a map can be learned by observing how enemies generally react to certain terrain features and props. That said, these key areas are certainly not static. A zone or terrain feature in a map that is of critical importance in CTF may be completely useless in DM because the game mode and, by extension, the driving motivations of all players involved, has changed. CTF campers are an odd breed because they are not interested in going for the enemy flag. Instead, a Shaft, Vulcan, or Rail should be looking to cripple, separate, and generally strike fear into the hearts of all enemies from a safe distance. Bla, bla, bla. We already know this. Yeesh, if you don't have something intelligent to impart, it's better to say nothin' at all. Ah, but here comes the fun part. The rather clichéd camping position shown below is a tried-and-true Serpuhov favorite. An example of divide and conquer at it's finest, this particular hangout is effective because of the view. The location allows a direct look into the center of the enemy base which leads me to my first VIP (Very Important Point.) VIP #1: In team battles, an "offensive" camper must have good visibility into the enemy base. A direct view of the enemy flag is preferable but not always possible. A good compromise is to look for a quiet spot, well within the bounds of your own territory, that gives you access to as much square footage of the enemy base as possible. A good knowledge of the enemy respawn points can be helpful as nothing demoralizes the enemy more than death immediately after they've respawned. Get a feel for the most-used routes within the enemy base, defender locations, and above all, don't forget about danger from counterpart enemy snipers. A Railgunner taking potshots at your position is a very real menace, and should be dealt with accordingly. Conveniently circled for your viewing ease, this camper (me!!) can effectively lock down a large portion of the enemy base. VIP #2: Your flag attracts enemies. And this is where the lines between "defender" and "defensive camper" begin to blur. The flag attracts enemy tankers like flies to honey! A camper can take of advantage of this steady stream of attackers, reap in the kills, and never have to leave the safety of the base. You should focus your attention on completely shutting down one key attacking thoroughfare or choke point. This can be hugely advantageous to your team, as the other defenders can more heavily concentrate their efforts in other key areas. Terrain-wise, you should look for tight passageways and/or high traffic routes to your flag. This image from Espanlande is a perfect example of camping defensively, as one camper can knock out all enemies that attempt to use this route, all the while keeping an eye on and functioning as a back-up flag defender. VIP #3: It is possible to camp with a short-ranged weapon. Ummmm... doesn't a short-range weapon rather defeat the purpose of camping??? Whatchya gonna do, sit around praying that enemy comes close enough to be fired upon? In a nutshell, yes. :P A short-range weapon coupled with the bulk of Titan or Mammoth can make for fine camping on the flag. Oncoming light hulls will lose their chief advantages -speed and momentum- once they smash into an immobile Mammoth. Excessive movement on the camper's part is unnecessary because as I stated before, your flag attracts enemies, and a steady stream of kills is practically guaranteed. Reading The Terrain: DM Deathmatch camping looks almost nothing like camping in a CTF. It is a peculiar sort of beast because enemies are looking for kills, not flags, thus they will be specifically targeting you. In order to be effective, a camper needs to get out of the general melee and stay safely under the radar...which can be accomplished by a knowledge of prime camping locations and understanding how tankers react to the props and terrain features in a map. The primary rule of DM camping: do not, do not, do not, camp in an area with only one point of access. Backing yourself into a corner is the surest way to die. The first drugging Viking/Firebird to pass through will cut through your deployed mines like a hot knife through butter and leave you vulnerable, wounded, or dead. Instead, look for estranged areas with two points of access and few spawn points. Your words are meaningless gibberish. What the heck are 'estranged areas'? -,- Estranged Area: A sniping position that is somewhat separated from the hottest combat, usually by means of a large prop or change in terrain elevation. Clear on that? Okay, good. It is extremely important to camp in an area that has two, and only two points of access. Any more and it is simply too easy for your enemies to overwhelm your position. Any less and... well, that was already covered. When camping, you should always try to read the flow of battle and knock out or severely weaken any incoming threats before they reach your position. If this is not possible, and the enemy does close in on your zone, use the opposite point of access as an exit route, to get yourself away from danger. You can now wait for the aggressor to leave, attempt to destroy them, or move on to another spot in the map. It is extremely easy to see this terrain feature in the above picture, which is a good "textbook example". However, two points of access can come in a variety of forms, you just have to know what you're looking for. Getting a Visual The mark of a good camper is the ability to proactively read a situation and respond quickly to any incoming threats. To do this, you need a good visual of the map. Your camera angle should be moving, even if your tank isn't. This allows you to see to make kills, and also move in accordance with threats... freshly respawned tanks, heavy tanks, double armor etc anything that isn't a one shot kill, really. When in a tight passage, or simply want to see over the top of an obstacle, zoom all the way out with Q, so that you have a high, but tight view of the surrounding area and can move appropriately without blindly guessing at the location of the enemy. However, when no enemies are directly threatening your position, your camera view should look more like that in the picture below, for ease of making shots. By flipping between these two angles, you will be better able to camp. And that settles it, folks. We have a flamin' jenius on our hands!!111!!11!. (Sigh) What a terrific example of how to state the completely obvious. It's the basics that count. Learn to do the little stuff well and you'll be better prepared for more dangerous scenarios. But, moving on... Utilizing Mines Mines are a camper's best friend. They can be used to deter, divert, protect, defend, and are just all-around good for blowing stuff up. You don't say. ^ Optimum mine placement varies from situation to situation and is in large part determined by what role you need that mine to perform. If your goal is to make a barrier that stops enemies in their tracks, then deploy several mines in a very obvious choke point location. They don't need to kill enemies, so much as function as an visually intimidating barrier that you can safely hide behind to make the kill. In fact, it's almost rather irritating when an enemy does run over your explosives because then you have to go through the bother of replacing them. If, however, you favor a more devious utilization of mines, drop an explosive slightly behind your sniping position. When an enemy pushes towards you for a kill, drive backwards over the mine. While most adversaries have learned to check for mines at the front of a sniper hangout, almost none think to look for them further back. Besides, your tank will cover the mine as you roll over it, rendering it virtually invisible to any oncoming attacker. This mine placement is especially effective if you have the presence of mind to shoot while driving backwards, as the effect of both mine and weapons-fire is enough to destroy even a rampaging, shielded Viking. The third and final "type" of mining is to place the explosive a good distance from your position, almost out of sight. Well that's stupid. What use are mines if they aren't in your general location? The train of thought is that, as a camper, your enemies are eventually going to figure where you are. And they will be coming for you. A camper can wait passively for those enemies to arrive... or they could be proactive and mine key attacking routes to the sniping position. No one will be looking for a mine in such a "random" spot so this mining technique can be of real use to a camper. The trick is to know when -and where- to use it. Deploy your mines with care but also remember that, as a camper, you won't be destroyed as often and so have more leeway with how many and where you place them. A good rule of thumb is to have one in back of your position and one at the front. If you have the time and resources you can also place one somewhere in the middle of your camping position that serves as a last line of defense. Make sure you understand the intended function of your mines, and try to put them "in traffic" where they will be useful. Ending Blather There is more skill involved with camping than most tankers realize. It takes timing, precision, and the ability to make good split-second decisions. Developing a knack for staying under the radar is an art that cannot be taught but must be learned if you wish to be a successful, along with the capability of identifying enemies that will become threats vs. tanks who are just passing by without any real intent of dislodging you. It is also extremely beneficial to keep a clear "map" in your head of your favorite hangouts in a map. When you do accrue a loss, make a beeline for the nearest from wherever you respawn. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ And that's it. Stay safely out of sight, accrue fabulous D/L ratios, and happy camping!

Aye, I'm taking advanced bio and the sheer complexity of the human body is staggering. Something as simple as twitching your little finger requires so many exact processes to happen at exactly the right moment that, to my mind, it it ludicrous to think that we "evolved" by random chance. Evolution can be equated to winning the lottery ten thousand times in a row... aka, highly improbable.

Yup. I know exactly how that goes. (And the dishes and laundry are enough to make anyone go insane) Still, wouldn't want it any other way. :)

I do indeed.

Your the oldest of twelve, aye. Daaang. That's awesome, Cheaper by the Dozen style. (oldest of eight here, and also 16.) :lol:

The Harry Potter books are quite good. Well worth the time spent reading.

Happy New Year!!

Leading a clan isn't easy. At the outset you have to gather enough friends to start the darn thing, which, of itself, is not a simple task. If you can manage that, you still have to create an attractive clan page, manage any conflicting personalities within your player base, conduct weekly (or bi-weekly) training, set up wars, get all your players to show up for said wars at the correct time, handle further recruitment, make sure banter on your clan page doesn't get out of control, and still somehow maintain an active presence in-game. Intimidated yet? Today I have conducted interviews with three different clan leaders and asked them to speak a bit about the tricky business of leading a clan. So. Allow me to welcome @The_Little_Cousin from clan "Revengers" [R], from clan "Superia" [sP] and @M4ShermanUSA from clan "Madness" [MAD]. @Night-Sisters: Hello! To start off, please introduce yourself and tell a bit about your clan. @The_Little_Cousin: .Hello, I am The_Little_Cousin, leader of Clan "Revengers" [R], I've been leader of the clan for about 1 year now. : My name is Ben and I am 16 years old. I started playing Tanki Online two years ago. I find it a very interesting game and I quickly fell in love it it. One of the reasons why I fell in love with Tanki is my friends. I met lots of great friends in this game and lately (1 year ago) I heard about clans and I came on idea of making my own one together with my friends. That is how Superia was created. We started training and new players started joining the clan so we improved quickly. And we came where we are today and I am proud of all that I have achieved together with my clan @M4ShermanUSA: Hi there, I'm M4ShermanUSA. I am the leader of clan "Madness" [MAD]. I've been leading the clan since January of 2015 and we're a close knit group of Tanki players who like to have fun together. @Night-Sisters: How did you become the leader? @The_Little_Cousin: I created a clan with some friends when I was Major which was called "Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division" [s.H.I.E.L.D], inspired from a Marvel TV Show. Well, it wasn't working because members were inactive and there was no means of contacting them. So after having a long discussion with Jeron Assassin, the ex-leader of clan "Assassin Brotherhood", we decided to merge our clans to form "Shield Assassin" which brought new members to the clan. After some months, I found a random clan on the eSports forum and had a clan war with them. Afterwards, the leader came to me and asked if we could merge as he was no longer interested in leading and it was difficult for him to maintain order in the clan. I approved his decision and the newly formed clan was entitled "Revengers" [R] : I came on idea of creating clan and I also have experience of leading teams from other games, so I decided to take a lead over the clan. Of course, my friends helped me as much as they can so we managed to run clan successfully @M4ShermanUSA: I joined clan All in or Nothing in November or December of 2014 and didn't like the leadership so I and five other members left to form Madness. Originally Poklakni was the leader, but after about a month he decided that the role was too much work and passed it to me. @Night-Sisters: In your opinion, what is the most difficult aspect of being "in charge"? @The_Little_Cousin: Maintaining discipline among members and to make hard decisions such as kicking a member in the case of misbehavior. You must be really calm to be a leader. : The most difficult part of being "in charge" is being responsible for decisions you have made. Sometimes it is really hard to make the right decision for everyone. But if you listen and talk to the players and ask them for their opinion, it will make you a way easier to accept right decision @M4ShermanUSA: Managing the clan members personalities and the conflicts that can arise between them as well as members of other clans and random players. @Night-Sisters: And what have you learned from this experience? @The_Little_Cousin: How to keep calm in a fight between members...and being a clan leader I wanted to do my own clan design. So I've learned how to use Photoshop and various other software as well as website to keep a good organization in the clan. : With my clan I experienced a few problems from which I learned to always listen to people in your clan. They told me their opinions and we started solving our problems together. I found listening and helping each other in a clan is really important @M4ShermanUSA: You don't have to be the best player in the clan, you have to know how to lead...also, everyone is different in personality as well as playing style and skill level. As the leader you need to know how to manage those differences withing the group. @Night-Sisters: For you, what is the best thing about leading a clan? @The_Little_Cousin: It's to have my members together as a family...as close friends who take care of each other. : The best part of leading a clan is to see how much people improved while they were in the clan and happiness after we have fought an excellent battle. Teamwork is what bring us together and make us much stronger as a team. In good and bad times, you always have someone in clan who stand near you, listen to you and is ready to help you. Definitely, having fun and enjoying to play the game we love is one of my favourite parts of leading a clan. @M4ShermanUSA: I actually enjoy it. It's a lot of work and you spend more time on the forum planning and organizing with other clan leaders than playing, but I find it rewarding... and the players of Madness seem to appreciate it. @Night-Sisters: What kind of skills and character traits are you most looking for in new recruits? @The_Little_Cousin: Here's the Requirement & Agreement to join Clan "Revengers" [R] Minimum Rank "General" XP/BP & Light Format equipment M3 Skype Account, microphone & speaker But even if a recruit has all those requirement he/she may get kicked from the clan on the first day that he/she joins the clan. We want polite people who are not offensive and can maintain good communication and friendship with my actual members. : I am looking for smart, kind and brave players. I search for players who are unpredictable and tricky on the battlefield. Players who are able to give a really good fight and take care for some seriously epic actions on battlefield. @M4ShermanUSA: Good XP/BP skills because we are primarily an XP/BP clan. However, we have recently decided to open that up to any combo, so a strong garage helps, but it isn't mandatory. Mainly we look for good, friendly, fair players that can get along well in a team situation and interact well with current members. This is a game after all. @Night-Sisters: How important are co-leaders to the function of your clan? What makes a good co-leader? @The_Little_Cousin: The clan co-leader helps the leader organize clan events as well as to replace the leader in its daily task during their absence. Clan co-leader is responsible to keep members updated about clan events. Only one leader can't take care of clan, so team work is the key to success A good co-leader is someone who inspires the members and maintains good communication with the clan...a person who's really friendly and can take good action in any case, even in the absence of the leader. : Co-leaders are a very important part of my clan. Co-leaders are my right hand. Wnenever in trouble, they always stand on my right side and help me run clan anf trainings. They are players who I can always ask for any kind of help and with who I can share and discuss about every important decision about clan. In my opinion, a good co-leader is someone who supports you, is responsible and ready to help, is ready to listen to the clan and train clan when leader is away. He is someone who really care about clan as much as the leader and share his own opinion and suggestions with leader. Good co-leader is trust worthy and responsible player. @M4ShermanUSA: Extremely. A co-leader needs leadership ability, thoughtfulness and to provide input...the ability to think of the clan first, and they need to be calm, cool, and collected at all times. @Night-Sisters: And last but not least, what advice would you give to those who are currently attempting to start their own clan? @The_Little_Cousin: Clan leading is not for everyone, it requires lots of time and skills to organize and maintain a team together. I would recommend that a newbie clan leader join a Newcomers clan and learn about the functionality and many facts of eSports before attempting to create their own clan. : I suggest them to gather a team of players and train regularly. Share your experiences, make own tactics, put them in practise and play with other players. Play with each other, find out what your players likes playing and let them play what they love playing. Stick together as a team and help each other and you will achieve success. Good luck! @M4ShermanUSA: Image is everything. Your image being what others see and think of you and your clan. Perception is reality. Not what you are, but what people perceive of you. If you're not making mistakes, you're not trying. The ones making mistakes are trying. And those who are trying and failing are the people who are growing.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Up till now, the Reporters have always determined the contests. Today, I'm turning the tables. This is your chance to try out contest design. The task is to come up with a workable contest idea and then design a page for it, complete with an introduction, rules, and "prizes." Entries will be judged on the originality of the contest idea and the effectiveness of the presentation. The very best will be featured in an upcoming issue of the paper. The Rules -The contest must be doable within the bounds of the Tanki Forum. (E.G. a singing competition would be very difficult to accomplish.) -Plagiarism of past Newspaper contests is strictly prohibited and will result in immediate disqualification. -The reservation of posts is prohibited. -One entry per individual. -All entries must be placed within spoilers.*. Prizes 1st: 35,000 crystals, and if it's deemed good enough, will be featured in an upcoming issue of the paper. 2nd: 25,000 crystals,and if it's deemed good enough, will be featured in an upcoming issue of the paper. 3rd: 15,000 crystals Tips: Though you cannot reuse past contests conducted for the newspaper, you can look to them for formatting help. A link to the newspaper archive can be found here. Make sure that the rules and premise of your contest are clearly stated. Less is more. Your contest page will be more attractive if it's spacious and not jam-packed full of an annoying font choice. It is your responsibility to confirm that your contest is unique. Be sure to do a thorough keyword search of the archives before you start writing. **The deadline for this contest is midnight, January 20th, UTC time. Good luck!

. Campers, kill-stealing, and a distinct lack of flags. These are the defining characteristics of Deathmatch. Some tankers love DM; others abhor it with an unsurpassed vengeance. Whatever your opinion on the subject, it is undeniable that this battle mode is certainly not for the faint of heart. With drugging Mammoths "running" rampant and MUed Flames toasting everyone in sight, it requires nerves of steel and an enviable array of skills to survive with anything that even remotely resembles a decent D/L ratio... But enough of that. As you have all probably realized by now, I like my introductions short, sweet, and to the point. Thus, without further ado, let's get this good ol' party started! Deathmatch: why play it? From a purely fiscal perspective, playing Deathmatch battles just doesn't make much sense, as CTF and CP both tend towards consistently higher funds. The following diagrams were taken from four separate Sandbox matches. Each was a fifteen minute, 8 player battle with drops, supplies, and MUes on. In fact, the only common variable that changed between games was the mode; the difference in fund size was surprisingly extreme. DM: TDM: CTF: CP: Also, without flags or control points to capture, the amount of experience accrued is generally far less in Deathmatch than CTF or CP. So, since there seems to be no decipherable financial benefit, it's legitimate to wonder...why should you bother with DM at all? Well, for one thing, it's a fun, interesting, and engaging game mode, and perhaps there is some element of fascination in playing You vs. The World, with only your wit and skills to depend upon. However, I believe that there are other, more tangible benefits that come from playing, including but not limited to: -a deeper knowledge of maps. -fine-tuned awareness of the general surroundings. -better over-all driving. -better handling of 2+ enemies at once. Battle Customization Whenever a player hits that "Create" button they have a chance to customize their battle so that it perfectly reflects their style of play. Toggling the max number of players, drops, supplies, and MUes to suit your strengths and preferences can give you a home-court advantage, and the benefit derived happens to be especially noticeable in a Deathmatch. The following is a play-by-play breakdown of how to set all the variable battle elements in your favor. First up in the customization window is Map choice and Theme. Some maps make for better Deathmatches than others. The most popular is, obviously, Polygon, but Kungur, Island, Sandbox, and Desert all seem to be relatively common as well. I am personally fond of the dynamic gameplay that Station, Rift, and Zone bring to the table, but I usually cannot find these maps as DM on the servers, and end up creating them myself. Play what you like, but don't forget to experiment. You'll soon discover the maps that you like as DMs...and those that you don't. The most basic variance in Theme is the Winter/Summer option. As far as I can tell, having a preference for one or the other does not at all effect gameplay, and is a purely cosmetic detail. The difference between Night and Day mode, though, is a bit more extreme. The poor visibility of Night mode throws a whole new element of challenge into the game, and most players are unequipped to handle it. If you like and play well in the semi-darkness then you have an immediate and very large advantage over those not like-minded. With enemies spawning all around you, the max allowable number of players in a map makes a huge difference in gameplay. It depends in part upon your weapon of choice, but I am of the opinion that leaving the player count at the max is simply too much. The battle feels overfull and the raging fights tend to spill into the very edges of the map, leaving little room -or time- for maneuvering. However, A full map can be to a players advantage, especially if their combo of choice is a heavy hull and short-ranged gun. Those who favor a lighter hull might want to experiment with cutting the max player count by thirty or forty percent. The battles will still be intense, just a bit less clogged-up. I move now into customization that requires a Pro Pass.Now, I do understand that this is not something every tanker has, and that at the lower ranks it is far too costly to purchase with any regularity. Still, with the Pro Pass you can more deeply modify your battles, and is, to my mind, a worthwhile purchase. Upgrades: If you have MUes on your weapon, then use them, by all means. If you don't Micro-Upgrade, then by failing to uncheck that MU button, you place yourself at a needless disadvantage. Weapons change: This particular feature allows players to adapt their combo on the go in order to best overcome the greatest perceived threat. If you are of the mindset that your combo is a one-size-fits-all kind of deal, then you should disable this feature. On the other hand, if your style of play includes finding the perfect weapon to suit the current battle then you should, of course, leave Weapons change on. Bonus Boxes: Do you like and play well around supply drops? They add an extra level of interest and difficulty without the full "unfairness" of drugging. Supplies: If you have drugs and are willing to use them, then go ahead. If not...this is one box best unchecked. Smart Supplies: Be warned. Turn Smart Supplies off and you'll soon get a feel for what drugging used to be like. Players can and do punch 2,3,4 simultaneously, and they'll drug from the second they spawn to the moment they die. It can lead to some stupendously fun, ridiculously wasteful matches, so you'd best start one of these battles prepared with copious amounts of supplies to burn through. C'mon, XP/BP ain't only for Sandbox. If you enjoy playing with railgun against railgun, XP DM can put an interesting spin on things. To tie it all together, the following diagram depicts my "perfect" battle. The settings are tailored to my unique likes and preferences. The Hitlist In the right hands, any mash-up of turret and hull can be deadly in the extreme. However, there are a few combinations that are unusually dangerous in DM. The following is a 'hitlist' of the most feared and widely used combos on the scene. 1. Firebird/Viking Deathmatchwise, (yup, pro new word there) The Viking/Firebird combo is tough to beat. Viking is low, heavily armored and decently fast. Put a Firebird on top of that, and you can survive long enough to toast just about anyone. 2. Twins/Titan Surprisingly fast. Viciously effective. If you encounter this combination on the battlefield... you should run. The incessant firing rate of Twins is difficult to combat under any circumstances, but coupled with the sheer power of Titan, you become a veritable fortress on wheels. 3. Hammer/Viking Add Prodigi and what do you get? Every Railgunner's worst nightmare. There's just something about the way Hammer functions that makes it extremly difficult to play against. Be it the recoil, range, or firing rate, Hammer is a jack-of-all-trades weapon that does well under any circumstances. Placed atop Viking, Hammer does very well in DM and can definitely hold it's own. 4. Railgun/Hornet Yeah, yeah, I know. The XP combo is hugely cliched and overused. Still, in the hands of a good player, Rail can be used with devastating effect. Though Hornet is light in terms of armor, the speed and trolling capabilities more than make up for it. Tactical Overview A large part of thinking tactically is being aware of and anticipating the movements of others on a macro, whole-battle level, rather than just at a play-by-play basis. In order to anticipate a tanker's actions, you need to understand his or her underlying goal. In a CTF, the flag is the most important motivating factor, because gameplay is centered around it. A tanker is either defending, running with, attempting to capture, or returning the flag. This means that as long as you understand the how a player is moving in correlation with the flag, you can predict their movements. For example, no matter what kind of roundabout route a blue attacker takes in Serpuhov, the element of predictability is still there because eventually that player must arrive at the flag. You know the motivation, thus you can anticipate the movement. It is even easier to see this principle in action in a CP game, as all players are constantly moving towards the control point/s. In Deathmatch, one does not have the luxury of a flag or control point to dictate enemy movement. The objective is to destroy other tanks, so the fighting rages throughout the entire map as players scramble scramble here and there, always charging towards the next kill. It begs the question: how then does one make tactical sense of this chaos? The answer lies, in part, with the spawn points. They "shape" the tactically advantageous portions of the map and determine the ebb and flow of battle. Since the goal is to destroy as many enemies as possible, it stands to reason that players will go where the kills are. In the case of a twelve player Polygon, the circled area below seems to be where most of the action takes place. The middle of the map contains fourteen of the thirty-six spawn points, or aboouut 40%. It is my experience that tankers spawning at the edge of this central battle tend to get swept into it, away from the edges. This phenomena is especially noticeable with weapons of limited range mounted atop large hulls, as they function best in close quarters fighting. The layout of spawn points along with the inward momentum creates natural "safe" zones in a map: tucked away areas that do not frequently experience travel. These are especially useful to the ranged weapons. How you use this information is very much dependent upon the weapon and hull you sport. A Mammo/Twins is best suited for central domination, and a Hornet/Rail can do quite well zipping around the edges, sniping and generally shying away from the thickest combat. Play well, develop tactics to fit your style, and dominate the Deathmatch scene.

+ IMO this is one of the major problems with the new MU system. It's all or nothing now, with no in-between.

Thanks! +, not many people think to look for them.

:) :) :) :) :)

+++++++++++++

Yeah... it's going to be strange, aye.

Hello Tankers! To round off and as an accompaniment article to The Pathological MUer, I conducted an interview with Wiki Administrator @Issho_Fujitora on the subject of Micro Upgrades, focusing in particular on the latest, somewhat controversial MU update. (Which, for your reading benefit, can be found here.) It was definitely an interesting and thought-provoking talk, so enough of this introductory blather. Without further ado, allow me to welcome...Issho_Fujitora. @Issho_Fujitora: Hello! @Night-Sisters: Hey there. Jumping right into the thick of things, what is your opinion of Micro Upgrading in general? @Issho_Fujitora: In my opinion, Micro-upgrades have been a great addition to the Game features' list. Previously, users had only "standard" items to play with so, at a certain point of their career (top-rank, Generalissimo), they found themselves playing in battles against pretty much the same equipment they owned: M3 Hornet + M3 Isida, M3 Mammoth + M3 Freeze, etc.. Basically, battles were kind of boring since, at first glance, you could immediately identify and define how strong your enemy was and simply try to avoid the fight, if possible. The implementation of MUs brought diversity, something that was missing in the game. It made the game more challenging, different in every battle you would play and also give you that feeling of "uncertainty" when fighting against other users: now, you can't immediately define how strong your enemy is, you have to analyze his/her gameplay and evaluate his/her strength carefully. So, for example, facing a M3 Hornet + M3 Isida is not so easy as it was before MUs were implemented: you have to think twice about when and how to attack that combination since it could be a "Fully Micro-upgraded (M4 or M3+)" one, but you cannot know that before facing it directly by actually PLAYING the fight Each enemy you may fight in future will be different from the previous one, even just for one upgraded parameter, but still different; rushing into a fight thoughtlessly is not a good strategy anymore, you need to outsmart your enemies since they may even own upgraded equipment, but using a good strategy against them could still place you on the winning side of a fight. @Night-Sisters: Do you like the latest update? @Issho_Fujitora: Yes, I do.Even thought that some users call me "biased" due to me being an Admin and working for TO, I'm still firmly convinced that this update was great and necessary. Even if I was a user and not a Helper, I would have stated the same. @Night-Sisters: And why do you think it was so necessary? @Issho_Fujitora: I think that it was necessary due to the fact that the game is played in three different ways by its users: - casual gameplay (few times a week / month and a general focus on the game) - regular gameplay (many times a week / almost every day and a pretty deep focus on the game and its community) - hardcore gameplay (every day, many hours a day and with a deep focus on the game, its community and events such as eSports) So, if we analyze those categories, it is clear that each of them has its own needings (generally speaking): casual gamers and regular players could possibly find the previous system more complex than the current one due to their "low" amount of time spent in the game, they did not pay attention to all the existing variables and possibilities existing at that time. hardcore games found the previous system better than the current one due to the high level of customization and planning involved in it. The current system is found in the middle of all the above needings: it is easy and immediate to use, but still pretty customizable and detailed: random and regular users can upgrade the items they want with few clicks while hardcore users can evaluate and decide how many upgrades they should do to reach the best performance they are searching for a certain item. @Night-Sisters: Do you think this update has improved the upgrading process? @Issho_Fujitora: Yes, I do, but with some reservations that will be explained further below. The previous system was more complex and not completely user friendly. When working on a world-wide product such as Tanki Online, the main aim for its Developers is to release something that users may use immediately, in a direct way, but that would still be fundamental to the product. The previous system, at first glance, was too complex: firstly, users had to understand which parameter they should have updated to improve their item and, sometimes, it would take them some time (a clear example is the understanding of "Power" parameter for hulls, something that I had to explain thousands of times); secondly, users had to evaluate and decide how many upgrades they should have done to obtain what they needed and doing so was a pretty challenging task due to all the variables and possibilities existing back then. (Some items like Shaft, for example, have 6 different parameters and each of them deeply influence Shaft gameplay). The current system is easier, direct and user-friendly: users have to decide if they should or should not upgrade an item and then evaluate how many upgrades they should do to obtain what they need, nothing else. The "reservations" I have are related to the fact that the previous system, despite being more complex, let the users customize their items in a deeper and more accurate way, something that the current system does not allow since all parameters are upgraded at the same time. @Night-Sisters: Has the cost of MUing changed with this update? How about the overall time required? @Issho_Fujitora: After carefully analyzing the current system and comparing it to the previous one, my reply is a straight "NO". The cost of MUing did not change with this update, even if it seems so. Even if the price did not change, the time needed to MU an item did change: upgrading an item now requires more time than before. In exclusive for this article, I took some time to prepare a detailed list of comparisons between the previous system and the current one: below, you can find the list of turrets in the game right now and, in the spoilers under each of them, you can find specific information regarding Micro-upgrades with the two different systems. "Old system time" - total time needed to fully micro-upgrade a certain item (the previous system considered items' parameters singularly and users could upgrade specific parameters separately, so each parameter had its own MUing time - the "old system time" value is the sum of all those MUing times, related to their specific turrets) "Old system price (crystals)" - total amount of crystals needed to fully micro-upgrade a certain item (the previous system considered items' parameters singularly and users could upgrade specific parameters separately, so each parameter had its own MUing price - the "old system price (crystals)" value is the sum of all those MUing prices, related to their specific turrets) As you can clearly see, the cost of upgrading an item from its "standard" M3 version to its "elite" M4 (or M3+) version costs you the same amount of crystals it used to be before, except for a couple of them: do not believe to those users claiming that the current system is a rip-off and that it costs you more, the stats below were taken directly from the game by myself. @Night-Sisters: How much work did this update create for you, as a Wiki Administrator? @Issho_Fujitora: It took me around 6 hours of straight editing. It could have taken less, maybe 2 or 3 hours, but the task was difficult to be done in a single shot: I needed to completely re-work all the existing pages regarding Micro-upgrades. As I stated before during this interview, the previous system considered items' parameters singularly, so each item MUs' page held a list of item's modifications (M0, M1, M2 and M3) and each modification had its own parameters, split in specific tables. The new system unified all parameters: now, pages hold only a list of item's modifications (M0, M1, M2 and M3) and each modification has its own specific MUs' tables. As you can imagine, editing each page (turrets, hulls and paints) was not something that could be done in a single shot: I assure you that I had to drink a couple of cups of coffee and take some rest for my eyes, but I managed to update the last page exactly 21 hours after the update was in the game. I am really glad of how I managed to do this since I granted to all the users seeking for information about this revolutionary upgrade all what they needed to know, in the shortest time possible, which is what I usually care the most when working for TO @Night-Sisters: Can you speak a bit on the conversion of old MUs to reflect the new system? That was a pretty big deal...anyone with even a single fully-upgraded parameter suddenly owned the next full "M". @Issho_Fujitora: Basically, the previous system's parameters had different amount of steps while the current system standardized that amount to 50 steps for each item (apart for paints, were the amount of steps is not fixed for all of them - some have 20, some have 5, etc..). Converting from the previous system to the current one could have caused a loss on the users' side since parameters were unified and stats were completely changed and re-assigned in an improved mathematical distribution than the one being used before and this is why, if some users completely micro-upgraded one single parameter with the old system, they received a M4 (or M3+) item when the new system was implemented. In short, to prevent possible losses on the users' side, the Devs evaluated that it was better to assign to users the highest upgrade possible for an item all based on how far they upgraded that item with the old system: users' obtained the same upgraded item (so, if they upgraded Isida up to a certain point, with the new system they obtained Isida upgraded AT LEAST at the same level as it was before) and not less, or that would be equal to a loss for the users. @Night-Sisters: Was this a wise choice on Tanki's part? Do you think it created any imbalance in the game? @Issho_Fujitora: It almost was a forced choice on TO's part for the reasons I mentioned above, but it was not aimed at creating any game-imbalance: just as it went for all the other updates happened in the past, the time heals all possible imbalances and, were the "time" can't do anything, the Devs will immediately release some fixes or tweaks to the system to make it more balanced. The Devs carefully and closely monitor all the stats and aspects of this Game, so do not think that they may not be immediately aware of possible imbalances, they just need time to elaborate a fair solution to them, solutions that may not cause losses on users' sides and still prevent further and unexpected, consequent imbalances. Keeping a perfect balance in a MMO like Tanki Online is not easy: trying to fix "some parameters" to heal an imbalance may cause other imbalances over other aspects of the game, so each decision and update has to be deeply thought off before being released @Night-Sisters: And that's it. Thank you so much for your time! @Issho_Fujitora: Thank you for calling me in to answer such questions and for letting me explain this argument. :)

Results: time a upon Once Okay, I'll admit it. Judging this contest was far, far harder than I though it'd be. There were a number of highly unique and quality entries, making it extraordinarily difficult to pick only three winners. The judging process was tough, and I'd like to thank each and every one of you who put in the time, thought, and hard work to create an original submission. Now, for the winners of this contest. In 1st place, winning 35,000 crystals: In 2nd place, winning 25,000 crystals: And in 3rd place, winning 15,000 crystals: Honorable mention and 5000 crystals go each of to the following: Congratulations to the winners!

:lol: :lol: :lol: No. (And thank you, lol)

Contest closed. Results will be available in Issue 45

I play XP, BP, and DM Okay, let's talk about DM :lol: :lol: (Congrats on the rank :D)

Thank you, the next Issue of the Newspaper, and no.

Thank you pho. B)

LOLOLOLOOL