Ornaments, ie, Christmas Tree, ie, 2,3, and 4 lit up 24 seven, ie, drugs. IE, We don't need more druggers. That is all, as you were.

Should you return to Tanki? Well, you see, that's a loaded question. If you're a girl, and post images of yourself in the Photo Of The Day, and you're HOT, my vote is yes. If you're really good at Shaft, my vote is yes. If your reasonably and intelligent and make funny posts, yes. If you can play without ornaments, my vote is yes. Otherwise, I couldn't tell you.

Sabs.

There are things in this life that are harder to explain than others. I am torn nearly at a spiritual level with this comment. On the one hand, I agree completely, Shafts can, and do, successfully capture flags, albeit it is a lot of work. If your team is working that angle and has to rely on everyone to cap a flag, then by all means. Now, that said, careful with teams in Monte Carlo. Often times, if you havea decent team, there are faster and more nimble players that can go in forthe lost flag, and you'll just get in their way. This is a soft skill, you have to assess the teams performance up to thattime and decide if they are on the ball enough. If they are, then you are doing a greater service COVERING the flag and making sure it remains safe and sound till another player can get it. Do not simply decide to ruun after the flag in MC just because it's there, there are many reasons to NOT do it, and if your team is strong, then keep providing the capability your best at. In fact, if you DO havea strong team, over watch is a God send to teammates trying to pick up a lost flag, especially down below, where shafts rule the map. Those long and wide open spaces are hell to traverse if the opposition has an even half way decents shaft. Add a Rail in pursuit to that mix and it's down right gruesome. Now, as Dfoofnik said, if there is a clear choice and the team is not stacked with units and players that show a talent for it, YES, go get that flag, and again, especially down below. As a Shaft you should be able to recognize all the best angles to be attacked from and be lookng for someone to line up a shot. Stop, aim, pop them, move on, you're the only unit in the game that can achieve targeting against enemies that high above you, so do it. The other thing you can do is get it and tell team mates where to meet you. You get beat up a little and then pass the flag to another players back in spawning area, Rails CAN help out there and you can take cover and get Izzied up, heal, or whatever it is you're going to do.

Well, it's your money, and it's not like your stealing it (I hope), do it.

While I do not endorse youngsters going behind their parents backs, technically, I suppose yes. (If this is the worst thing I encourage a minor to do, buy cyrstals for Tanki in secret, I'm still going to heaven, I think)

Check out the other payment section and scroll through the list, there are a ton of them.

Well, the otherday I was musing at the cost of actually purchasing with real money something. I had bought a CVS card sometime back for another account, used about 20 bucks off it, and then the very next day those options were removed. I was NOT happy as you can imagine. Fast forward months later, and while musing, I decide to click the PREMIUM button. Peruse the page, simple enough, select payment otion, off you go, no big deal. Low and behold, I se the other payment option and decide to see what they are accepting nowadays in the other. To my hearts joy, minds surprise, and a tear in my eye, GIFT CARDS from all our favorite rinky dink corner stores are BACK! Yes, Tanki WENT BACK ON SOMETHING. Dunno how long this has been back, but it is, and obviously with loittle fan fare, but while this is good unto itself, it proves that Tanki IS LEARNING to listen to the players. Now, given, this is about them collecting real money right? So I understand the reticense of many here to maybe se e this as big a win as I might paint this, but suffice to say, it is a step back in the RIGHT direction. They are learning that new, different, not the old, is not always the best. Sometimes new is justthat new, not better, not greater, just not there before, or different, and sometimes different sucks. So again, dunno when this happened, but congrats Tanki team and players look, pay attention, they ARE doing something about it, they are striking a balance and reconsidering their decisions. (That or they had a fight with the vendor that was clearing those payment transactions and it's resolved now, but I'll make pretend that could NEVER has been the case and just go with this.)

kayitsiz is right. I know I keep saying it, but it not there yet. I'm working on a Shaft tutorial/Guide and didthe numbers like he did. True of the matter is, Smoky vs Shaft, on a round per round bais, same level turret and hull (hornet), Smoky wins hands down everytime, IF THEY HIT. Shaft starts the battle and is winning after two shots, but then the ROF kicks in and Smoky is pounding the Shaft. Now, if you have any brains what so ever, as a Shaft, you learn how to move and "sword" fight as I put it in close quarters. Believe it or not, Wasps suffer the most from me in Arcade shot fights. They are nible, and usually Rails, but if you can close the gap enough to be able to move but and forth out side the angle of the barrel of a rail, you can really get some folks scratching their heads as to "What the F*** just happened, I just got owned by a shaft at close range in arcade mode?" I had a PERFECT example last night, and I was trying to record fights for the first time ever too, but the software codec didn't load right, so no video, but it was a GREAT duel, and I won, picture perfect example of how to do it. Shaft are not push overs in Arcade battles, you just have to know how to fight with them.

Staff, devs, players, I have put my money where my mouth is. Premiumed up today, one month, we'll see just how OP I am now. I really wish the paint job was not "big pimpin" though.

The "positive" attitude does nothing to speak to the reality of it. I've adapted, but stop lying to yourself, yes, Shaft is a shadow of its former self.

Notice I said soft skills. The deployment went off without too much trouble too. The value of this moving forward is another thing entirely, but for once they did not NEUTER the players in the process of changing things, and is the win. Face it, they'll do things we don't like, and if you had bothered to read my other posts, like to Cap Canuck, you'll see the lay of the land in terms of opinions on the change moving forward is a different landscape entirely. Now, that said, even Cap admited the marginal 10% increase to max out stats was a small increase, call it inflation, WHATEVER. The real issue here is that MU's are bundled and this ruins a player ability to customize quickly to stats that fit their play style. Tanki is watching I'm sure, this goes to the grain of gameplay, and THAT IS important, and it's one of the few varibles players cn control about their equipment that is unique to them. Of all the changes implemented in Tanki, I think this will be one that will eventually rolled back, it is simply too alluring for players that want specialized equipment. Just keep harping on it, and I think you'll see staff, FOR ONCE, consider rolling a change back. NOW, careful what yo uwish for, I KNOW I'M RIGHT when I say they did this because of the turret discounting they implemented not long ago. This forces players to spend more on MU's all around, rather than focus on getting strong discounts in a few areas, ranking to that level, and then buying the new turret at big discount and not persue other upgrades they are less interested in. If they roll this back, expect to see the discounts either get reduced or removed all together. I'm guesing the 10% increase also covers the cost of giving away the baseline next level turret/hull upon maxing out a turret's/hull's MUs too.

For the record, I kind figured there was a mistake on my part, to be certain. That said, your serious tone made laugh, because I hope one took that seriously. Funny how they listed that though.

Well said, it takes somenerves some times to play with Shaft.

The decent person in me says "no, no, let us not all to hubris and pride for our big guns", the real me is like "DUDE, DO IT! CRUSH THEM, and tell me how satifying it was."

Well, after some wrestling with Google Translate, I offer you an example of M4 Shaft MU - Note: The Last MU apparently, 50 that is, is a loving, joyous, and warm call for celebration from the nice people at Tanki as it appears to be cost free, so fly little bird, fly. Step Dam Dam Imp Rchrg Rot Pen Upgrade Time Speed Lvl Scp Arcade Force Rate Speed Power Cost Cost 00 221.8 52.1-60.1 259 3.32 088.5 47.1 10 5 2 01 222.9 52.4-60.5 260 3.32 088.9 47.3 660 330 99 02 224.1 52.6-60.8 262 3.31 089.3 47.6 1320 660 198 03 225.3 52.9-61.1 263 3.30 089.7 47.8 1970 985 296 04 226.4 53.2-61.4 265 3.30 090.1 48.1 2630 1315 395 05 227.6 53.5-61.7 266 3.29 090.5 48.4 3280 1640 492 06 228.8 53.8-62.0 267 3.28 090.9 48.6 3940 1970 591 07 229.9 54.0-62.4 269 3.28 091.3 48.9 4590 2295 689 08 231.1 54.3-62.7 270 3.27 091.7 49.1 5250 2625 788 09 232.2 54.6-63.0 272 3.27 092.1 49.4 5900 2950 885 10 233.4 54.9-63.3 273 3.26 092.5 49.6 6550 3275 983 11 234.6 55.1-63.6 274 3.25 093.0 49.9 7210 3605 1082 12 235.7 55.4-64.0 276 3.25 093.4 50.2 7860 3930 1179 13 236.9 55.7-64.3 277 3.24 093.8 50.4 8520 4260 1278 14 238.1 56.0-64.6 279 3.23 094.2 50.7 9170 4585 1376 15 239.2 56.3-64.9 280 3.23 094.6 50.9 9830 4915 1475 16 240.4 56.5-65.2 282 3.22 095.0 51.2 10480 5240 1572 17 241.6 56.8-65.5 283 3.21 095.4 51.5 11140 5570 1671 18 242.7 57.1-65.9 284 3.21 095.8 51.7 11790 5895 1769 19 243.9 57.4-66.2 286 3.20 096.2 52.0 12450 6225 1868 20 245.1 57.7-66.5 287 3.19 096.6 52.2 13100 6550 1965 21 246.2 57.9-66.8 289 3.19 097.0 52.5 13750 6875 2063 22 247.4 58.2-67.1 290 3.18 097.4 52.8 14410 7205 2162 23 248.6 58.5-67.4 292 3.17 097.9 53.0 15060 7530 2259 24 249.7 58.8-67.8 293 3.17 098.3 53.3 15720 7860 2358 25 250.9 59.0-68.1 294 3.16 098.7 53.5 16370 8185 2456 26 252.0 59.3-68.4 296 3.16 099.1 53.8 17030 8515 2555 27 253.2 59.6-68.7 297 3.15 099.5 54.0 17680 8840 2652 28 254.4 59.9-69.0 299 3.14 099.9 54.3 18340 9170 2751 29 255.5 60.2-69.3 300 3.14 100.3 54.6 18990 9495 2849 30 256.7 60.4-69.7 302 3.13 100.7 54.8 19640 9820 2946 31 257.9 60.7-70.0 303 3.12 101.1 55.1 20300 10150 3045 32 259.0 61.0-70.3 304 3.12 101.5 55.3 20950 10475 3143 33 260.2 61.3-70.6 306 3.11 101.9 55.6 21610 10805 3242 34 261.4 61.5-70.9 307 3.10 102.3 55.9 22260 11130 3339 35 262.5 61.8-71.2 309 3.10 102.7 56.1 22920 11460 3438 36 263.7 62.1-71.6 310 3.09 103.2 56.4 23570 11785 3536 37 264.9 62.4-71.9 311 3.08 103.6 56.6 24230 12115 3635 38 266.0 62.7-72.2 313 3.08 104.0 56.9 24880 12440 3732 39 267.2 62.9-72.5 314 3.07 104.4 57.2 25540 12770 3831 40 268.4 63.2-72.8 316 3.06 104.8 57.4 26190 13095 3929 41 269.5 63.5-73.1 317 3.06 105.2 57.7 26840 13420 4026 42 270.7 63.8-73.5 319 3.05 105.6 57.9 27500 13750 4125 43 271.8 64.1-73.8 320 3.05 106.0 58.2 28150 14075 4223 44 273.0 64.3-74.1 321 3.04 106.4 58.4 28810 14405 4322 45 274.2 64.6-74.4 323 3.03 106.8 58.7 29460 14730 4419 46 275.3 64.9-74.7 324 3.03 107.2 59.0 30120 15060 4518 47 276.5 65.2-75.0 326 3.02 107.6 59.2 30770 15385 4616 48 277.7 65.4-75.4 327 3.01 108.0 59.5 31430 15715 4715 49 278.8 65.7-75.7 329 3.01 108.5 59.7 32080 16040 4812 50 280.0 66.0-76.0 330 3.00 108.9 60.0 - - - Total: +58.2 +(13.9-15.9) +71 -0.32 +20.4 +12.9 802250 401125 120350 Now, Using the OLD M3 upgrade chart, max stats (ignoring time in all this, just cost) - Dam Dam Imp Rchrg Rot Pen TOTAL Scp Arcade Force Rate Speed Power Cost 280 839 80 241 80 241 160 480 120 360 80 241 722161 So okay, players get the Shaft in terms of Crystal . . . (Har har har, I know), by the tune of 80,089 crystals. Yeah, this is going to be a huge hang up for non buyers I suppose, and 80G for buyers is still probably hefty.

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On this we can agree, moving forward, the task of upgrading will be daunting. Putting the fairness aside of what I discussed already, the actual impact of this in terms of playability is still to be seen. IT IS clear the variety and paths that can be chosen now will be reduced, and hulls will simply be roided up versions of there base-selves moving forward, everything will line up incrementally, so just quicker and tougher carbon copy of the previous version of that hull, so game play will become more regular and most players will look like all the other players in terms style, what will work best will be the same for all nearly. On the pay side, well, you are right, buyers WILL always have the advantage their, and I am happy that at least was afforded my compensation for my efforts in the past, what lies ahead in terms of new equipment will be daunting to say the least. I'm looking into it now, Im ight have some comparison in a little.

There aer two posts that I readthis way now. Was their a tweak to parameters in terms of max again too?

I think I can gander a reason for the dev team implementing this. Clever players like me were good at hitting the wiki, looking at what maxed up upgrades gave you what discounts on the next turrets, and we bought often times accordingly, though to the Tanki teams cedit, those discounts were well within the percentages of the monies (oh, so sorry BUYERS, crystals, for us LAME PEOPLE WHO EARNED THEIRS IN BATTLE)spent on said upgrades. I was inline for a huge discount on my next Shaft with upgrades I got. I'm thinking devs saw this as threat to people NOT upgrading the rest of the params because as you incrementally upgraded the better discounting ones, you were getting closer to ranking to a point where you could just buy the discounted turret, rather than keep upgrading the other parameters. That meant you wouldn't spend more on the ancillary upgrades that were of less importance to you. This way now, to get any one particular upgrade to where you want it, you need to throw quid at the rest. Again, this is not the greatest idea in terms of player satisfaction, but at least everyone has to deal with its, not just on class of player.

To your point, the TECHNICAL issues with this upgrade, not the economics, I must agree wholeheartedly this does mess with the game play paradigms. I have the same issue with the turret rotation, accustomed to a particular speed according to my game play, and some others have complained about the power to weight ratio issue now being a moot point as their changes move in parallel, effectively removing that differences that could define their hull uniquely to a certain game play style. I had a great deal of trouble playing last night as my equipment behaved rather oddly till I realized the full impact of the changes. That said, I loved one shotting baddies in my Shaft that before were too armored for that, but shooting alone is not the endgame to being successful in Tanki, and as you said, gameplay style is now reduced as you cannot customize to your method of play. All this said, at the VERY LEAST, it DOES provide parity, even if not desired, this doesn't take or give to anyone, buyer, non buyer, particular turret or hull, we all at least have to deal wit hthe same things, so it might not be the smartest upgrade ever released, but it is on many levels perhaps the fairest released. (I'm on your side though, I like the discrete control of upgrades)

What I highlighted above, I have been trying to say but not found the words for some time. Bless you. This is what Tanki SHOULD BE. The skills, the ability to play, the thinking, the planning, the learning your platform, these things are all what is important. Some "one up manship" game where BUYING A NEW HULL and DRUGGING it out is a game that is of no value, interest or fun or playability to anyone with half a brain that enjoys the nuances of fighting games.