Just a few tips on Isida in regards to team battles: 1) I know a lot of people use Isida as simply an attack turret, and don't like to heal teammates. That's cool, but remember -- people see "Isida" and they think "healer", so don't be surprised if you're being followed around by low-health teammates. 2) If you are playing the role of a healer, make sure your healing takes priority over everything -- even your own K/D ratio. Often times your K/D ratio will take a dip if you play healer for a while, but you'll be rewarded with more victories (teams with medics usually beat teams without), consequentially more crystals, and even more EXP. 3) If you see two tanks fighting each other, don't attack the enemy. Instead, heal your teammate and let him get the kill. Healing can dampen or even negate the enemy's attack, but if you choose to attack, you risk losing your teammate. Remember that your primary role as a medic is support, not offense.

Honestly I think I know how bad it gets. I play a lot of battles with Brigadiers and Major Generals, and... well let's just say Tanki does a really good job of marketing drugs to those ranks.

I have a picture for today. Kind of a sad picture... it is to me, anyway. All of these screenshots were taken from one single night of playing, and I think you'll see a problem with all of them. I really don't feel like saying anything now, make your own judgments...

The loading screens. Like... seriously, why do they waste our time? I tried for an hour to get into a game, and I couldn't get past the loading screens. It's not like they were even loading anything, I was just stuck sitting and watching this boring-ass animation. Why, Tanki? Why do you waste our time so freaking much? I swear, Sonic '06 loads faster than this game.

Just my opinion, please don't burn your computer down because of me. 1. Drug addicts, especially when they use the Double Armor/Repair Kit combo (also known as the DARK combo). If you can't play the game without using your little store-bought supplies as a crutch, you should make a new account and learn some freaking skill. 2. Drugged Isidas... mainly because they're OP. I used to play as a drugged Isida, so I know. They're super annoying to deal with. 3. Shaft campers. They just sit around and spawn-kill. They don't help the team, they don't hurt our team very much, they just mash buttons to get a high K/D ratio. I'd respect them a little bit more if they used Railgun, because at least that gun takes some skill to use. 4. Flipping upside down/sideways. I use Firebird/Wasp, and I'm a horrible driver, so it happens often. A lot of times it's my fault, but sometimes there's some Railgun who gets a lucky shot and flips me over. It's not really infuriating as much as it is frustrating. 5. People who pick up supplies when they don't need to. I was sitting under a falling double-armor once, and this WO2 with an almost-empty health bar pushes me aside and picks it up. A split second later, he gets shot by a rail and dies, wasting the supply that I needed. -.- 6. Vulcan M1+. I get that Vulcan is supposed to mess up your aim, but when using a Wasp, Vulcan completely destroys your ability to drive. Sadly I don't think this is gonna be fixed any time soon, because a lot of Vulcan fanboys are extremely whiny... 7. The fact that XP/BP battles don't support micro-upgrades. When I want an XP/BP battle, I can't play in it because my Railgun has like 2 upgrades. Thus I'm forced to join a no-format battle and deal with the swarms of tankers who are all "Hurr durr game format didn't say XP/BP so I can use my Isida M3 on you hurr durr".

I wouldn't be so upset with the update if it had some moderation. As it is, you can't receive a ban for breaking any rules in a Private Message, even if you report them on the forum. Look, I know mods should respect our privacy, but in private messages, I'd still like to have them watching over me. And of course, Tanki devs don't listen to the players, because... y'know, why should they? It's not like the players have anything to say at all about the update that drastically changed the chat for everyone...

Well I can't say I didn't enjoy it... news on sales is always good. Had a few issues with this one in particular though... First off, is it just me, or did the V-LOG get shorter? I'm pretty sure it did... Secondly, just a little note to Alex Lynch. We all know you try and do a good job, but please... pllleeaaassee try to sound just a bit more happy. I know I'm kinda being rude, ratting on your voice and all, but if you are going to be doing the V-LOGs from now on, try and make an effort to sound sorta happy, 'cuz right now you kinda sound like you're from the Costumer Service department, a.k.a. frustrated and angry. (Alternatively you could get Semyon back, but...) But that's just a nitpick. Thirdly... *sigh* yet another "Pro's Advice" promoting the usage of drugs? It's hard enough fighting with Firebird since it's been nerfed a ton recently, but now every time I sneak up behind someone to gently warm their buttocks, I'm met with a Double Armor and Repair Kit combo. Even if I do the "obvious thing" and drug back, by then my energy pool has been drained. Was it really necessary to make the game harder for everyone who uses Firebird? Jeez... Also, just a quick question -- do you pay Pros for their advice? You should, they probably make you a lot of profit... just sayin'... :ph34r: Anyway, those are my qualms with the V-LOG. See you next Friday.

Kind of an odd question here. I've saved up (almost) enough crystals to get either Isida or Hornet M2 this upcoming sale, but I don't know which to buy. When I play with the higher ranks, I generally go Isida (since nobody will turn down an Isida), but I feel borderline ineffective with my shoddy M1, so getting M2 would be nice. But I don't have an M2 hull, and Hornet would be pretty useful in my XP/BP battles. What do y'all think?

I was actually on Kungur last night with Isida. So, yeah. :D

Well, I can't say for a lot of people, but many of the tankers I know actually don't make a lot of money and can't buy drugs. Therefore, we honestly can't sell out to the devs for advantages like so many druggers do. We play the game to alleviate stress, have fun, etc., but when we get dominated by pay-to-win players, it's less fun and more frustrating.

Dang, I remember those days too! Druggers didn't have to worry about things like cooldowns or what not, they'd just smash the top number keys and turn into Godmode_ON! But nowadays, druggers are more sophisticated. Drugging is less of a wild rampage and more of a play style. It's still overpowered as hell, don't get me wrong, but they have to be tricky about it. Which, in turn, makes them more deadly, and more overpowered. I don't think smart cooldowns got rid of druggers. Addicts just adapted and found new ways to be addicts...

Probably a guy looking for attention. Though I guess if there are sexually-desperate guys out there... there can be equally sexually-desperate girls out there... right? Hmm... *shrugs*

THANK YOU. This article needed to be done, and I really hope this will clear up some of the ignorance that tankers have spread over the years. Now, I'll admit; I used to play with Isida/Wasp a TON on my first account. I still play as Isida sometimes, just because I like it or our team needs it, but it's not my favorite style of gameplay. I personally enjoy XP/BP or a simple flamethrower to the face. Sadly, there is another stereotype that you kind of mentioned, but glossed over. Myth: Girls Can't Aim Reality: This completely misinformed stereotype probably sprung up due to a lot of girls using Isida, Firebird, or Twins. Yeah, I've noticed -- a lot of girls like these guns. But just because these are "button mashers" that "don't require skill" doesn't mean that all girls suck at lining up shots. Now, I'm definitely not the best example to use at this point since, up until a few weeks ago (when I got into XP/BP), this was true about me. And yes, I've noticed quite a few girls don't pull 360-noscopes out of their butts like some of those gods among men we call Esports players. But just like any other Firebird/Isida/Twins user, just because we use those guns doesn't mean we turned our noses up at Railgun or Shaft because they were "too hard". A lot of times, most girls (including me) like getting all-up-in-your-(dirty)-face style of gameplay that comes with those turrets. But not all girls use short-range guns. Oh no. I've seen enough girls dominating the battlefields with Shafts to fill a Jeepney. (Here's a Jeepney, if you don't know what that is): And don't even get me started on Railguns. If anything, I'd be more scared of a female Rail, since she's got the nerve to use such a "masculine" turret in battle. In any case, the stereotype is dumb. It may seem true because there aren't many female Esportsmen (Esportswomen?), but I'd be as wary of a male Railgun as I would of a female one. Anyway, ramble over. Enjoy the sauce. ;)

Player AlphaNinjaGirl has been banned for a week. Reason: Insults, profanity (Forum).

Oh really? So, if you're posting a "private message" on a corporation-owned server in Russia, and it gets read by someone other than the recipient, that's a breach of privacy? What exactly are you sending them -- your name, home address, and Social Security Number? Mods should be able to see PM's. I don't care if it's a "breach of privacy"; if you give everyone the ability to talk to others without being banned for wrongdoing, you're just hurting them. What about the guy who's PMing the insecure little girl saying she should kill herself? What about the guy who's being teamed up on in PM's for being gay? What about the guy who's swearing at everybody in PM's and can't get banned because mods can't see it? This update is stupid, but based on Tanki's most recent actions, we should have expected no less from them.

You can't hate on something for being popular, otherwise Railgun would be the "most OP turret evar!" Yeah, a lot of people use Firebird, but it wasn't the "update that changed it" that made them use it. Firebird used to be even more powerful, with the stock M1 having a 12.1 burn time. Now it's 5.7. Also, you do realize that, as a sniper, you're a Firebird's primary target, right? Firebird and Freeze are completely different weapons. While they seem to be similar, the play styles they require are very different. I can't stand people who compare the two as though they were the same thing. Heck, you've never even USED Firebird or Freeze. Try 'em out before trying to give sound advice on them, m'kay? ;) Shaft was overpowered. It was a 1-shot kill at almost any range, but without the laser you wouldn't know what hit you, or even where the sniper was. I don't care what you say -- getting killed by something that you can't see isn't fun, but getting killed over and over by the same thing really kills any fun you may have been having. And you really shouldn't call people "stupid" because their opinions don't match yours. I suggest taking that back. Railgun actually used to be more powerful, and received a nerf. This was because of the auto-aim update, where you'd automatically target the turret of an enemy tank instead of the hull. The nerf caused some controversy, but it was ultimately accepted. If you want to go back before the nerf, be my guest, but you'll end up being flipped a lot more. Again, you can't hate on something just for being popular. Railgun is like a lightsaber -- it's hard to learn how to use, but it's deadly when you do learn. Also, you're jumping to the conclusion that Railgun's "overpoweredness" was based solely on how many players use it, when in reality, Tanki has been shown to do the opposite. Tanki likes to make an underused turret overpowered to force players to buy it, thereby increasing their profit from crystal purchases. Really? You want more health? If this were to take effect, only the high-damage turrets would be any good. Turrets like Vulcan, Smoky, Isida, Twins, and Ricochet would be worthless because it'd take so many shots to kill a target. This kind of short-sightedness causes a lot of imbalance, and I really don't think you understand the situation here as well as you think you do.

So much dislike this update.

It might be a bit complicated, but I really do miss the old chat. :(

If we really wanted privacy, we could've easily headed to one of the other servers that don't have players on them to talk. This isn't an "update", Tanki is taking stuff away from us, not giving us new stuff.

I'm kinda torn on this update. It does keep chat cleaner and nicer, but... To be brutally honest, I really miss spying on people's conversations. Yeah, I know, it's "wrong", but it's hilarious at the same time to watch some sexually-desperate guy get turned down for the n-th time, or for some dude behind a computer screen desperately trying to convince everyone he's a girl, or for some squeaker challenging a Lissimo to a 1v1. Chat's kinda boring now... But, like I said, it's a lot cleaner and nicer. There are fewer spammers, fewer people asking to date me, fewer people being annoying, that sort of thing. I just... *sigh* I'mma ramble here. I always saw the chat as some sort of dangerous wasteland. Once you step into the chat, you have no idea what's gonna happen. Something amazing can happen -- heck, I found a dedicated boyfriend once -- or something awful can happen -- get swarmed by cursing 12-year-olds. It was like the verbal Tanki Online, where you go to laugh it up, be engaged, or just do it if you're bored. Now the chat is all...

The "rebalance" that made Firebird M1's burn time drop from 12.1 seconds to 5.7 seconds. I spent a ton of crystals on upgrades to keep it at 10 seconds, but it still annoys me as to how short they cut it. The Premium Account update sucked, because lower-ranked buying players are now clearly overpowered with the crapload of crystals they get and the Premium Paint. I've seen players as low as Corporals buying Premium to get an edge over their peers. Smart cooldowns update. Not because I want more druggers, but because it did practically nothing to stop the vast amounts of druggers we still see today. I guess I hate the people who say that "smart cooldowns was the perfect answer to druggers", since, be honest, it didn't change a damn thing.

The problem is that I play on a Chromebook. I can't just up and get a new keyboard, it'll take some time for me to save up for a new laptop altogether.

I don't, sorry. Firebird and Freeze are completely different turrets, and should be used differently. As a Firebird and (previously) Freeze user, I've noticed that you have to completely change your playing style when you swap turrets. They aren't the same. Firebird (from what I take it) is great for knocking out tanks like Hornet, Wasp, and Hunter, since due to its burn time you only have to damage them for about a second before they die. It's great for hit-and-run attacks, and if you die while toasting a target, there's a good chance you'll get a revenge kill from the afterburn. Not to mention that it has the potential to be the highest damage-dealing weapon if you line up your targets correctly. Taking out groups of enemies in CP mode is a breeze, since you can damage all of them at the same time, and even after death, you can get revenge kills really quickly. Freeze, on the other hand, is better-suited for larger tanks. If you're a skilled driver, you can easily circle around a Dictator, Mammoth, or Titan and get the kill. It may be harder due to the lessened damage, but you're rewarded with more XP for killing a bigger tank. However, since it does take longer to kill them, you're not gonna want to hit-and-run. It's much better to wait until you've isolated a big tank (say if one guy is protecting the flag while his team is away) and take him out. It's also great for stopping flag-carriers -- even if you die, the guy's gonna be a damaged sitting duck for about seven seconds. Now, I use Firebird because I'm more of a hit-and-run person (hence the name "AlphaNinjaGirl", but I've seen some pretty beastly Freezes that can easily take down almost any target thanks to their awesome driving skills (those targets being me, most of the time... I don't suck!). Your success or failure will revolve around how you use the turret, and which tanks you target. However, the reason for the imbalance is that there are a lot more Firebird-compatible targets out there. Almost everyone uses either Wasp, Hornet, or Viking, and I've seen very few Titans and Mammoths out there, so of course more people would use Firebird over Freeze. But there's nothing wrong with the weapons themselves, it's just the people who don't know how to use them. Anyway, I've rambled for long enough on this.

This might just be me spitballing here, but I think Vulcan's impact force could do with a few ticks. Now the reason that I'm not super sure this is a good idea is because I'm a lower-ranked officer playing with higher ranks -- colonels, majors, brigadiers, etc., -- so any complaint I make will come off as "a noob complaining about losing", when I'm actually not. The point is, I actually have a legitimate concern about this. The problem is that, after M1, Vulcan's constant impact force goes from throwing off your aim to completely game-breaking. If I'm under fire, I literally cannot turn in one direction because of the impact force. I either get run into a wall, or turn into an out-of-control mess because of the impact force. If you're using anything smaller than Viking, it completely destroys your control. You may as well just give up and sit still since you're gonna be run into a wall anyway. To balance the decrease in impact force, Vulcan M2 and M3 should receive slight damage increases. From what I hear from the higher ranks, they're pretty weak in that regard.

Sooo, I guess it's just my keyboard then. -_- Alright, I'll see what I can do to fix it. Thanks y'all.