Hello readers. With December release, we reached a roundish 70th issue and we are happy you are here with us to enjoy it! This way we would like to inform you that we decided to postpone the New Year issue to January 15th, 2018. Since late December and early January is a time of celebrations, we think it's proper to give reporters a break so that they can spend some quality time with their family and friends. On January 15th, we will release smaller issue, and from February we will get back to the old tracks. Till then, have a blast! ~Reporter team

Captured 4 so far and got pretty neat prizes - 10k, 2x 100 of each supply and Barber paint. I've been lucky.

Contest is now closed. Good luck everyone!

This newspaper quiz turned out to be really challenging with only two players scoring 10 out of 10. Nevertheless, we found couple of other entries that got high marks and so here is the complete list of winners. Winners List In the first place, winning 30,000 crystals is @GENERAL_H_A_M_Z_A_9 In the second place, winning 20,000 crystals is @saurabhmann In the third place, winning 15,000 crystals is @MellifluousMortality in the fourth place, winning 10,000 crystals is @BOSS.NESS 10k Consolation prizes: @N0iSE @TSY_the_crazy @Magenta Special prize: 10 Gold Box Rain - Correct Answers Standings Congratulations to all the winners. Your crystal prizes will be delivered at the start of next week. Be patient and enjoy them to the fullest!

Looking for a writing contest that will provide challenge to your story-telling and plot-twisting prowess? Don't look any further because we are bringing back the classic! Writers, Continue The Story is back! This almost annual competition will once again give you a chance to create a story compiled from the best chapters written each month. Your job for this month is fairly simple – write the opening chapter for the story. Theme is not given. You have a free hand to write whatever you like. To make things organized, we have a couple of rules. Please read them first! 1. Each chapter should have its own title. 2. Word limit is 800 words. Slightly less or more is acceptable (+/- 100 words). 3. Note that this contest is called Continue The Story for a reason. Your plot must be interesting and have potential to be developed in further chapters. 4. Plagiarism is prohibited. We also won't accept entries from past installments. Come with something original, you will have enough time. 5. All entries should be posted in this topic. Only participants with low rank that doesn't allow them to post in forum are allowed to send their entries via Forum PM. If you are stumbling in the dark, and you're unsure what to do or how to start, I advise you to check out the previous winners below; [issue 30] The Grand Offensive - Completed! - Newspaper Archive - Tanki Online Forum [issue 39] Inner Truths - Newspaper Archive - Tanki Online Forum [issue 55] Bloodshed - Completed Prizes 1st place: 40 000 2nd place: 30 000 3rd place: 20 000 4th place: 15 000 Consolation prizes for other worthy entries: 10 000 Deadline: 5th January, 2018. Get your writing utensils ready! We are looking forward to the new story coming from your pen. Best of luck to all participants!

"This pounding in my head is atrocious!" "Damn, what have I been doing last night?" I know it started with few shots at the bar with the fellas from the department. Couple of beers, whiskey and then some killer booze smuggled by that Simoom's friend from Perm. Rest is mystery, mere blurred puzzle pieces that do not fit into each other. "Gosh, I must be so out of shape to go down this easily." "I better get my butt to the shower befo...., " the ringing phone cut me off. I threw my eyes at the clock. 6:54. Too early for any family chitchats. It must be from the work. Something urgent, they wouldn't call otherwise. "Hey boss!" "Ballista?" Loud yawn dropped out of my mouth. "Aye boss. You don't sound too well today. I heard you had a rough night with..." "I am more than happy I woke up in my own bed. Cut to the chase, Ballista!" I asked sullenly. "Right! We have a dead woman. One penetration wound. Corner of the Highway and Station Street." "Okay. Gimme twenty minutes, I'll be there!" Definitely not the best time for murder. I was in poor state, my all time low, but I had no time for complaining. I got a quick shower, put some clothes on and dashed out to the vehicle. When I arrived at the crime scene, Sgt. Ballista and Dr. Gustav were already examining the victim's body. "Morning Ballista! What do we have here?" "Victim has one penetration wound that caused the death. No eye-witnesses so far. She was found by that older gentleman talking to the officer. He was walking his dog when he spotted her body." "Thanks, Ballista. Doc! Morning. Do you have anything for us?" "Morning Jack. You look awful. Tough night, huh?", subtle smirk became visible on Ballista's face. "Sigh. Not you too, doc! Can we please focus on the victim?" "Of course. The victim was killed by one shot that penetrated her heart. Death was immediate. No bullets found. Just a burn-mark on the wall next to her. I would say murderer used Railgun, I am almost sure it was a big caliber M3 or M4. I'll tell you more after the autopsy." "Railgun's as common as dirt, that will unlikely lead us to that criminal. Ballista, do we know her identity?" "Aye, and you won't believe who it is. It's no one other than Mrs. Isida!" "What?!! Are you sure?" "Absolutely positive! Her papers say so." "That's..," I stopped short, "..unbelievable!" I hardly recognized her lifeless swollen face. I knew this woman from hearsay. Her reputation preceded her. She was the low-key superstar in the City of Dusseldorf. A graduate medic that saved plenty of lives during the war days. Many men owed their lives to this petite gentle woman, and I heard she knew how to take advantage of it. "I guess the life in spotlight is not all beer and skittles, boss?" "So it seems!" I retorted back. "Ballista, have you spotted this metallic fragment on the ground and the tracks heading away from the crime scene?" "Aye. I already collected the evidence. The fragment might as well be from murderer's vehicle. The span width of tracks hints it comes from light hull. Wasp, maybe?" "No. It's definitely from Hornet." I've seen such tracks million times. Years of practice taught me how to differentiate them by a single look. But Ballista was still a fledgling. The fact he was able to recognize the light hull class was quite admirable. "Talk to the man that found her, maybe he saw something that may help us. I'll pay visit to her husband." "Will do!" * * * "Who would want to get rid of Mrs. Isida?" I mumbled to myself while driving. Most of the locals admired and cherished her as a war heroine. But a woman of her status was also a target of various half-truths and gossips that swirled in the public. Allegedly, her celebrity lifestyle was accompanied by countless romantic escapades. I arrived at her house. It was an old Baroque one, considerably desolated by the ravages of war. I knocked on the door. No response. I knocked again, this time with more force. "I am coming. I am coming... Jeez!" "Mister Shaft-sch-wick?" "It's Schaftschweck! Who are you?" "Sorry, I am Detective Jack Hammer. I need to talk to you! May I come in?" "Uhm.. sure! Did something happen? Let me guess. My wife, did she hit and run again?" "No, unfortunately, it's something more serious." I broke off and took a deep breath, "She was murdered." "Wha..." I could tell this information caught him off guard. He was stunned and confused when he clumsily seated himself on the couch, breathing heavily while he was grasping his head in shaking hands. "I am sorry for your loss. I hate to do this right now, but I got to ask you few questions." "I..I understand. Sorry, I have to get something to drink. Wh-Where did you find her? Do you know who murdered her?" "Not yet. She was found on the Highway Street's corner. Since you're asking, I presume you do not know where your wife was last night?" "Well, she didn't bother telling me anymore, but I would say it was another raid on a club. I bet you know the rumors, detective. We were fighting because of this for couple of months. I tried to reason with her many times, but she had mind of her own. I knew this ..this damn lifestyle of hers will cause nothing but trouble." "When did you see her last time?" "Yesterday evening. It was around nine, when she left the house." "Did she have any enemies or perhaps some old grievances?" "More than one could count, detective Hammer, but I don't know of anyone who would go after her neck. Wait! .... No, no, that couldn't be..." "Mr. Shaftschweck, if you have a suspicion, tell me. It can help us find the culprit." "Perhaps, Mrs. Freezicki. They've been forced to stomach each other in the hospital where they worked. I wouldn't dare to say she's done such horrible thing, but she definitely honed nothing but anger, hate and envy for my wife. She was her one true nemesis." "Thank you Mr. Shaftschweck. That's everything for now. Here's my card. If you will remember anything of importance, give me a call, at any time." My next steps led to the hospital on the other side of the city. It was one of the few things that worked almost uninterruptedly even during the war days. A seat of the Red Cross and the work place of Mrs. Isida and her counterpart, Mrs. Freezicki. I was hopeful I will reach her today. If what Shaftschweck said is true, she might be the number one suspect. I stopped at the hospital reception and asked the passionless lady with long face that worked there. "Good morning miss. I am detective Hammer. May I know if Mrs. Freezicki is ...?" "Are you looking for me?" gentle voice interrupted my question. It was none other than the person I was looking for. I turned around to notice a very attractive woman of style with perfect figure and deep nut-brown eyes. "Ah, yes. Detective Hammer. Mrs. Freezicki, may I talk to you in private?" "Sure. Please follow me. I will find us some place for a private talk. Here. It's a bit crowded, but I think it will do. So detective, what do you need from me?" "Mrs. Freezicki, do you know Mrs. Isida?" "Naturally, she was my colleague some time ago. Why you ask?" "We found her murdered." "That's horrifying. But what does that have to do with me?" "We learned you two weren't exactly the closest of friends. May I know where have you been tonight?" "Who told you that? Shaftschweck?" "It's not important, miss..." "Of course it was that henpecked man!" "Miss, can you please answer my question?" "I was home, as usually." "Is there anyone who can bear witness." "Detective, if I knew I will need someone to confirm where I was during the night, I would get someone. And while we are at it, I'll tell you this. No, I didn't kill her. Did I like her? Certainly not. Miss Goody Two-shoes had it coming from the start. I am definitely not surprised someone did that to her. Is there anything more you would like to know?" "No, not really. Although, I have to ask you to stay in the city for the next couple of days." I could tell this conversation stroke a sour note. Her angry look indicated as much. I was about to leave and sever the awkward stare-down between us when the phone suddenly rang in my pocket. "Hammer. Get here immediately! WE NEED TO TALK!" To be continued...

I believe that was Issho.

Your prize was delivered on the 4th November.

If you were to play just one map each day, it would take you two and half months to get through all the different arenas offered in the list. However, this truly impressive number does not correspond with the map variety present on the server. In fact, you can probably count the number of different maps on fingers of two, maybe three hands. Which maps are worth playing? Why are they not present in the battle list? And what can be done about it? Learn more as we dive in to the world of unexplored maps. ​ATRA Atra is another rather compact map that is composed of three levels. The first level is the bottom passageway that is occasionally used for ambushes, the middle level which is represented by the relatively open bases at the corners and the highest upper level which is usually occupied by the dominating team. This map was popular mostly on the lower ranks and you could almost always find some in the battle list. Due to the elevation differences, the map offered a really fast-paced gameplay that was usually concentrated around the rugged upper area. It was not my numero uno, but the gameplay it offered was really good and diverse despite the crowded place. BERLIN I have to admit that Berlin was hardly my favorite while it was still available as a map for normal battles and I only started to miss it lately when I no longer see it around. This map is so vast that riding through it felt like going through the desert of prop nothingness. Even with full map of players, you had to usually ride so much to get in contact with enemy which made the battles really frustrating to play. Since it was such a huge map that could accommodate a total of 36 players, many complained that it lagged so much it was not even worth joining a battle on it and so it never really reached its maximum potential. Despite that, Berlin was and still is a popular map for huge rank up parties and other possible montages due to its unique layout. The map looks like two city sections that are linked by the bridges and the valley underneath them. It contains a number of interesting props and passages that create a unique environment for the campers and staleness. If this map was to ever be put in the Matchmaking system, it would very likely had to go through some resizing changes. The size would have to be cut drastically to match the needs of 10v10 gameplay which would probably result in very different look. Perhaps, though, this is the change that can bring the map to the spotlight. CANYON I always had a thing going on with Canyon. It was one of my favorite maps from the get-go so I was immensely happy when it returned to the map list. Canyon is a very disproportional map with few very distinct features like the upper area of the red base, the valley in the middle and the extremely popular ramp from the blue base, a ramp so popular that designers had to add the ramp on the current version of the Year 2042 map just to appease the players when this map disappeared from the map list. To be frank, Canyon's apparent disproportion is the reason the map lacks balance. Those of you who had ever played on it will agree that it's a map that favors the red based team to a huge degree. If the map receives some tweaks that will counter the elevation disadvantage of the blue team, the map can once again become the players' favorite as it was back in its heydays. I would certainly be among the people who would like to play it and remember the days when the map had tunnel in the blue base and when the tankers fought each other for the best spot on the ramp before the Gold box drop. DUALITY I have to say that Duality is so super tiny that if it was ever subjected to a change for matchmaking needs, it would very likely end up unrecognizable. My experience on it is very limited as it never really peaked at the top and the number of battles I found and participated in this map was very limited. Still, my limited time on this map was spend happily and I have just good memories from it. It's a very compact map that can only hold a couple of players, thus being suitable mostly for duels and tandems. You can play in a risky offensive and straightforward way or stay back and control the movements of the opposing team from the defensive toehold. For the reasons I mentioned, I doubt this map will ever appear in matchmaking, but a semi-big version of it would be really cool, at least for me. MONTE CARLO Ah, the infamous Monte Carlo, the map that was originally made for racing. Monte Carlo is that kind of map that is equally loved as it is hated because of its rather difficult gameplay in the CTF mode. All of us who ever played on it will reminisce how annoying it was to steal and recover the flags. The only way to do so was to either make the "jump of death" or expose yourself and take the super long lower passage and take the heavy enemy fire. The "jump of death" was probably the most distinguish feature of this map. To make it on the other side, you needed either a light hull or a micro-upgraded Viking on Speed Boost. Anything else would not make the jump even with the Speed Boost. Even with light hulls or Viking it was an incredible pain and annoyance to play here, but that's what made it such a fun map to play, especially if you were the one trolling the enemy. To prove my point just type; "Monte Carlo Tanki troll montage" on Youtube and you will know what I am speaking of. Monte Carlo is old but gold. SHORT BRIDGE This is yet another smaller map that now usually appears only in the eSports competitions. Actually some of the finest duels have been played here. I've seen this map spread around all the ranks, and thus I had a chance to play on it from the lowest of ranks to the highest. The dominant of the map is the short bridge, just like the name suggests, which allows you to access the enemy base probably the quickest from all the maps. This creates a really odd environment, because you have to carefully evaluate your choice of attack. Pick the short bridge and you might end up on a sight of multiple enemies. pick the lateral routes and you might lose a precious time in a battle where seconds can decide the outcome. Can this small gem of a map end up in matchmaking. Most likely not. I think there might be chance to somehow make it more 10v10 friendly, but the short bridge will probably be not-so-short anymore. The only glance of hope is that a Tanki will step away from their 10v10 policy in the matchmaking. SUBWAY Seriously, why this map still isn't present in the matchmaking list remains a mystery to me. Subway is just totally perfect to me. Right size, right number of players, absolutely perfect fit. It's also an interesting map with two levels of gameplay, the underground subway and the upper town field. When I think of Subway, a number of really good memories come to my mind. The mining of the flag area that was never substantial due to the fact there were so many entrances, the furious fights in the upper town area, the Gold box hunting, the famous Gold box spot on the subway tracks. It is a really well designed map with engaging gameplay that can be very easily reintroduced to the matchmaking and has unmeasured potential to bring the old nostalgia back. VALLEY Now, Valley has a perfect symmetry which is beneficial for the balanced battles, and it's not awfully boring, in my opinion, as some other maps that provide equal ground for both sides. The main area is centered around the valley, or a canyon, you may call it to make things little less confusing. But although the middle is the fastest way to reach the enemy base, it's actually the upper area and side ways that you need to dominate to win the battles. What makes Valley so special is the openness of the map. There are virtually no great camping spots that would check the incoming waves of enemies. That's especially good for really fast paced gameplay that is centralized around the main objectives of the battle rather than the staleness. Once again, it's a smaller map that does not fit the current matchmaking standards, but it may be a fair contender with few tweaks. So these are my favorites from the ancient past when I still played on these maps. The list could go on and on, maps like Wave, Hill, Deathtrack, Gravity and others are other favorites that I did not include. Do you agree with my personal choices or you have other maps you would like to see in the matchmaking? Why should they be added and what should be changed? Tell us about them and share your memories from the maps you once played.

^ Nope. You are not late. Contest is now closed!

If there will be no one who scores 10/10, or there won't be enough participants with perfect scores to fill all positions, then we will award those who scored 9/10, then 8/10, etc.

Yes.

The form is now accepting responses.

Hi. No, we do not transfer prizes from one account to another. The form will be closed today at 22:00 UTC.

Yes.

I'll see how many entries we received. I will try to post results on 5th-6th November.

:ph34r:

Issue is released on Friday, 3rd November, but payments are processed on Mondays. I'll ask what can be done, but I won't guarantee you anything.

^ Sorry, that won't be possible.

Guys, images aren't really important. This ain't art contest. If you really want to post some sort of image, just paste the link to it and simply mention it's there for the atmosphere or something. But again, nothing terrible will happen if you won't post any picture with entry. I am interested in writing, not how many pictures will you link.

I wish it was true :c

Out of sheer desperation of not being a millionaire, I resorted to a slight editing.