In general, ties go to both. Why is top three not awarded for ties? I had high score on the winning team until literally the last second, when the other team scored a flag and tied it. I got first-place crystals, but did not increment my mission. (If it hadn't ended 2 to 2, I'd have assumed it was the seventh flag.) Why? It makes a mission that is too hard even harder, even more frustrating.

Weren't you playing before The Great Leveling? Don't you remember how this game used to be? Have you worked hard at things only have them taken away when the Devs change something drastically? The game used to be mostly fun with some frustrations associated with team imbalance. Now, it is mostly frustration with little that is fun.

Given 4.8M experience (Legend16), you are hard to argue with. That is, I respect your perspective. You speak from experience. Still, you play with Smoky. That sets you apart. People occasionally complain Smoky is OP, but the response is always heavy laughter. Anyone with experience in this game knows Smoky is a difficult turret to master. I suspect (I assume), like me, you can't stand camping. Still assuming, but I doubt you prefer to brush and bump like I do. My general tendency is to rush enemies and crush them with my Twins. I was using Vulcan a lot before the last round of changes, which totally thwarted the tactics I'd developed and they style I employed. I can still fight effectively with Thunder and Titan. I stay back more, but I still tend to rush in where angels fear. As Ricosck, I play Rico-Dictator exclusively. First place happens often enough. With Ricosck, more than any other turret, Isida is the most problem. Perhaps it is because I like to play so close in, and Isida seems to always win. (And Freeze.) For skilled players, it seems to me the best turrets are Rail, Thunder, Smoky, Ricochet, in that order. (Striker and Magnum may be better currently, but they are too rare still to determine.) I consider Isida totally noob. Anyone can fight with it with even the most rudimentary skills. People say such things about plasma, but pay attention. Players that can't turn their turrets and don't understand the strengths and weaknesses of Twins or Ricochet cannot be very effective. Sure, they get their kills. They probably usually get Stars, but they are never a big factor in the battle, never someone who makes you drop to the garage and change protection modules. Isida is. (Freeze not so much, because that slow-down is just too effective for a skilled Freeze player.) Golfinray, I'll appreciate reading your response to my assertions.

Care to describe your efforts? What all did you do? How did it go? I look forward to what a Legend37 has to say about it. Do you have Premium? I assume you bought the Pass for the extra stuff. Yes?

I hate Isida because Isida stink. Isida is the word meaning the putrid stench of cowardice. About 1 in 4 Isida are effective team players that know how to actually help and not get in the way and screwing up defense or assaults or flag runs. Most Isida seem to not care about healing teammates. It is what I see, what I have seen in nearly four years with this game, with six accounts from 2LT to Legend, with 288,469 kills and 4,328,637 experience (total for all six accounts), I think I've seen a little. I never see anything you mention. I think people make stuff up. (You can look up my Profiles.) BTW, I'm usually referring to multilevel Legends. Players that have used Isida enough to know how to capitalize on its strengths and minimize exposure to its weaknesses. Isida is a team support weapon. So is Magnum. Therefore, neither should be allowed in DM.

Dude, you are crazy. Isida can take out two tanks in five seconds. Nothing else can do that. Well, I suppose Freeze and Firebird can, but that is a point I've made often. The short range weapons are totally OP. I've played Twins too many hours to listen to anyone pretend it is OP. Twins is a brawler. Keep a little distance, and you can beat it any time. Not so for Isida. It just kills you. Of course, if you want to play my game and ram me and brawl, yeah, I'll beat you two out of three. Unless you are using Isida or Freeze. I didn't say DM is a format mode, but it is just like the format modes. It would be easy to not allow Isida in DM. DM probably shouldn't allow Magnum either. If there is more than one Hammer in a battle, I put on my 40+ protection. Hammer ceases to be any concern. My 40+ Isida (and Freeze) protection don't really make much difference.

Why do the Devs love Isida so much? Isida was so OP it was stupid. Then they fixed it, and the whiners whined and whined until the stinking things were beefed to excessive OP again. For evidence the Isida is totally OP, check them in DM, especially in the Holiday Map. When there is one there, it is first. Period. Isida are always first unless players cooperate against them. Isida should NOT be allowed in DM. Why is the "Healer" also the most powerful attack turret in the game? I can't help but think a couple of the key Devs, the decision makers, use Isida, and they won't stand for it to be nerfed. Again, Isida should not be equipable in DM. DM is a format battle just like XP. No Isida in XP. Heck, nothing but Rail in XP. Don't let players with Isida equipped enter DM. How hard is that?

For Ricosck, today, it took nine matches to complete my three missions. I missed Stars on one of them. Two matches were somewhat satisfying because they were hard but not hopeless, but all nine matches were imbalanced. Only one turned after the first minute or so. One out of nine wasn't determined by the end of the first minute. That one started out with us being spawnkilled, then something changed. We got the uperhand and turned it around. I can only suppose the more effective players of the other team left for whatever reason, like needing a couple more kills, or another box or two. Regardless, out of nine matches, none were good. Matchmaking is really broke. Since it cannot be fixed, it needs to be abandoned. Had a day off, and the family is doing pre-Christmas stuff, so I had the time. Most days, I do not have time for more than a few matches.

My missions today include three separate modes. It will require at least ten matches. That is an unwarranted assumption that a player has over two hours to complete the daily missions. Is there a way to ensure that missions will not involve more than two modes? Progress on more than one at once is encouraging. Fighting three successive lopsided Assualt battles, then knowing at least three more remain for both of the remaining mission, well, that is discouraging. Stars threshold: I can't say it often enough. The "activity" threshold for Stars has to go. It is abusive. Frankly, in the technical sense, it is fradulant. It punishes honest, active players who either got unlucky or simply aren't up to standard for playing skills. It even punishes self-sacrificing players who actually help their team by dying effectively, slowing down an advancing flag enough to give the rest of the team time for the kill. Stars threshold is disgusting. It is not an inducement for active play. It is a punishment for honest players.

That is a lie. Losing sucks. It can be extremely frustrating when game after game you do well and you lose anyway. Tank games aren't the point. World of Tanks is a tedious, boring loser. Tanki used to be fun. I could work on my skills, my techniques, and what I liked, and I got better at it. Now, about the time I get good at something, Tanki will change it or take it away entirely.

Yes, Viking, we can ignore advancement and just take what comes. I really don't think this game can be played for free any more. It used to be, but now there are just too many variable. One must spend some cash here or there to keep from getting too frustrated. We play to have fun. Winning is much more fun than losing. Of course, winning a spawnkill-fest isn't much fun either. Even winning when one spends half the match time respawning and trying to find someone to fight doesn't amount to much fun either.

We set a battle group for Team battles. (Me, older, and younger son, so three, which is max for a group.) Younger son is lower ranked, so I play on one of my low-rank accounts. Older son has a low rank account and a high rank account. We just do a countdown to click the battle button for DM. We seem to always get in the same DM that way. (We usually don't try to "team" in DM, but we do avoid each other.)

I reluctantly agree. While I'm down on Stars as a reward system, and I loath the Stars minimum threshold, I do think the Challenge is an overall good idea. It will reward the diligent with extra, and will approrpiately reward the more casual player. It rewards the free player, and handsomely rewards the players willing to part with a 5USD. The Stars threshold is a sad insult to the players, especially those who are below average, either in skill or in interest. It is Tanki rudely snubbing players. Insult to injury at its most deplorable.

I started in early 2014 at the request of my sons. I did quit from summer 2017 to summer 2018 (almost one year). I mostly play Ricosck (Field Marshall) now. I used to think I would gradually build a full M4 garage for OKDad70, but that was before The Great Leveling when they made the equipment much more uniform and much less unique, especially in the handling characteristics. It really hasn't been much fun since. The problem is how each change tends to mess up something I'd gotten good at, or it messes with balance and general playability. New stuff brings in the cash because players want the new stuff now, not after they've earned enough over months. So, they focus on new stuff. It is their livelihood. I get that. They don't get that we get frustrated. They keep getting in the cash, so they keep doing what they are doing. I'm playing again because younger son is. Frustration level is higher than fun level, but it is fun to join battles with my sons. (Eldest doesn't get to play much now.) As to lower level accounts, I have OKDad70 and Ricosck, and four more specialized accounts at lower ranks. I have a hard time playing those because the tanks are so slow compared to the M4s, which are too slow as it is.

I'm starting to notice the main thing that bothers and frustrates me is how much time I spend doing nothing in battles. Spawn, drive, find a target, probably get a kill, but likely die too. Repeat, repeat, repeat! One's success in battle depends mostly on luck, luck of spawning in a favorable position and having targets or a fortuitous route to a flag or ball. The hulls are too weak and too slow. All the hulls should have more hp, except Wasp. All the hulls should be faster, except Mammoth, it should be slower. With a hull that could take more than one hit, and could actually get to the action, the game would at least be less frustrating.

It's been a long time since I've experienced what you describe, but it made me think opponents had an invisibility hack. It all fixed when I closed the client (Alt-F4) and started it again, which immediately re-entered me into the battle. Then things always worked normal. When I have to close the client and restart now, it is for the game just halting. It halts and either has a stationary screenshot, or it goes monotone. I still hear the battle going on, but nothing gives. I usually wait about a four-count. Sometimes it flashes through the couple seconds of the stall and starts working again. Usually it stays stalled. If the battle was almost over, I wait it out. If there is more than a minute remaining, I close the client, restart, and rejoin. Maybe that will help.

The Stars threshold is bad. It needs to go. The argument was to not reward inactive players just sitting in the battle to get a Star. That isn't what is happening. Active, honest players are being deprived. It is impossible to reach the threshold in some situations no matter how good the player is. If a player doesn't have at least six minutes, it is almost certain there will be no Star reward. Battles can get over faster than that. Often, players are stuffed into hopless battles with as little as 60 seconds remaining. It is bogus. Tanki is actively harming regular legitimate players with the Stars threshold.

I really cannot guess your circumstance, but some credit cards (usually debit cards) will not allow some types of charges. PayPal is said to be working again.

Good point, but I think $5 for the extra stuff is reasonable. I do appreciate Premium gives the double stars. That is rather valuable. (Except when you fail to reach the threshold, double zero is still none!)

I played a couple rounds with OKDad70 today, one with Viking-Twins, one with Titan-Thunder (both M4, no drones). Both were slaughters. The first, with the Twins was hard fought, but my team won 7-0 at about the 7-minute mark. The next was 7-0 at about the 4-minute mark. I got in at the beginning and only had time for 7 kills (no deaths). It was a spawnkill-fest as soon as my team was able to cross the map. What gives? That battle had no chance for the other team from the first seconds. They got zero stars. If I noticed correctly, one on our team received no stars. I assume he just couldn't get in the right place to score any kills during the slaughter. It is sad. MM is broke. BROKE! Fix it. (No, abandon it; make it entirely optional regarding rewards.) With only 7 kills, I must have had enough to get over the no-stars threshold. I didn't notice my score. Seven kills and no deaths with no Stars would have ticked me off a bit more than normal. I'm glad I didn't fall victim to such abuse. The Stars threshold is abuse.

I'll second that. I wonder if Legend15s and other very experienced players' complaints hold any more weight than others? (I know some post from secondary accounts.) Occasionally, I see some support for MM, but it is wishful, hopeful, not concrete. MM doesn't work. Tanki often fixes that which is not broken, yet they keep MM, which is clearly broken. The matchmaking system is a failure. It needs to be abandoned. I'd like to see rewards (missions, et al.) opened to all battles that are not private and are open to more than 12 players. I also appreciate the day of Premium. Good thinking, thoughtful gesture.

Any of the 2000 Stars (or near) players willing to post a little detail about how much they had to play and how they did it?

Lags, or ping problems, have increased a few days past. The problems are problematic now. I play when servers are low, usually under 7000. Stalls, lags, glitches, high ping, whatever you want to call it. Plus, it has stalled a couple times lately. I have to close the client (Alt-F4), and restart it. It re-entered the battle properly, but it hasn't done that in a long time until just the last few days.

What a waste of five minutes: I dropped into the game at the beginning, starting to roll about 07:49. Typical start. I managed to get to the point and fend off the first two flags, with some help. I appreciate good teammates. We thwarted the first two flags, but we were utterly spawnkilled after that for about four minutes until Red won. Four of us stuck it out. I'm not sure why. Most of the match was played 8 to 5, with players leaving as fast as MM could abusively install them. No crystals. No stars. No battle points. Notice that Ricosck is full M4. Even with Premium I received only 20 crystals. That is a trivial reward for five hard-fought minutes, and I was even denied stars, presumably because I was inactive. I couldn't get kills because Red sat in our base and spawnkilled us. It makes one despair. It makes one think it just isn't worth it. Why do I keep playing this game when it is so frustrating and no one cares? No one cares. Our Mods assure us the Devs care and are working on it, but 2X battle fund is for MM only. Everything is for MM only. MM abuses us. Why do they keep forcing it on us? I hate to leave battles early, but I'm trying to change. My (Ricosck's) average K/D is 2.22, which is much lower than it used to be. It goes down with every change Tanki make. MM is most significant. Is makes me sad that Tanki is trying to force players to be disloyal to their teams, encouraging us to quit battles because MM makes them so lopsided from the beginning. (Maybe the aim is to force us to buy crystals with money since we can't earn them in battles.)

It was only one container, so it looked a little different. No, I didn't think to screen-shot it. It sure seemed a bright red like the second one, but I probably just mistook it. It is discouraging. The colors should not be that close. Gold should look gold, not red. I do appreciate the clear description. Thanks.