Update: Added HTown to the Texas Tanki Player Roster, welcome. Added song to the playlist, and it's got a paraphrase from a famous video game. Anyone think they can guess where that's from?

HTown in the house, gladly.

When I post something and make an obtuse profane reference that is still censored and yet it still gets deleted.

Update: Added song to playlist

I'd write a big thing on this, but I guess a comment for now is good enough. Druggers and shafts. I think if we were allowed to actually see all the game stats for all the players and somehow be able to see IN GAME stats of second by second status and actions of each player, the anti shaft camp would be easily identified by health vs drug use. Druggers know about smart cool downs, so they're not likely to drug up until the last moment, and SHAFTS are what they HATE MOST, because there is no "get shot and reflexively hit number one, two, and three". They get shot and they are dead, game over, go respawn in the bowels of your base, punk. For buyers, this must be INFURIATING, all these drugs and they can't even put them into play because the moment they come out of their hole and try to cross the map, they are at risk of getting "one shotted" before they can advance very far. Now, a point for the Shafts that haven't been around too long. Watch for flag runners, mentally note what they look like, and notice that if they are in your base, you can be pretty certain they are drugged all to hell in a wasp. Now, step two, start looking for them in the distance, they'll be zooming around in the background, bumping team mates, rallying them to the next flag run (Okay, so it's not easy to get eyes on base, but if you can, that's what you see, two or three units clumped together that will take off at the same time and start heading for the flag). DO NOT make the mistake of shooting the first unit in the column, they are the shock wave, they open a path for the runner, tend to be a heavier hull than the runner. No, look for THE RUNNER. Step three, well, that's easy, when you see a column coming, ALWAYS pick off the runner ASAP. The farther away they are, the better. Why? Because they haven't lit up their precious little fix of drugs yet, and are as fragile and puny as a pansy in an ice storm. Type A personality wasps will soon start going mad as you consistently shut them down. Soon they'll drug from the start, don't be discouraged, thump them anyways and the base defenders will have to deal with a runner that might live through the flag capture, but will highly unlikely live through the interceptors that give chase, the smart cool down keeping them from saving their no skill, no dignity, no pride wimp rears. They burned time AND DRUGS, and nothing for their efforts, and who does everyone has to thank for that? Yep, YOU, because you can shut them down completely from the start, or you can force them into drug mode and start the smart cool down period counter in ways that leave them with their pants down on the way back home. Again, runners are not stupid, camping like this will yield generally at best 3 kills of this nature and then they are gonna look for a different path and they are very likely going to try to hunt your maddening butt down. So, that said, yep, camp, but only as long as it yields fruit, after that, move, find a new vantage point that is exposed to their latest path of ingress and do it to it. You'll be loved, well, by your team mates, and only for that game, not any games later, because they'll hate you the next time they are playing and on the opposite team. Oh well, that's the name of the game. This is your brain: One shot, one kill. This is your brain on drugs: GAAAWWWDDDDDDDD I HATE SHAFTS! Later ya'll. (PS: That's a great one to listen when playing too.)

Thanks to everyone for the kind words. I really do wish people could see the potential in playing the shaft to it's fullest. I'll keep doing things like this, it would appear others, such as kayitsiz, are also inspired to take some time and give some thought to all this. Again, it's a game, enjoy it, but definitely play it to win.

(FYI: not proofed, I'll read it over later and edit if need be, please don't PM me to tell me it has mistakes) So, enough of listening to the loud mouth bone heads that don't like us. Let's talk about skills, since that seems to be a point of contention. Arcade combat with a shaft. I DO BELIEVE that too many shafts feel completely helpless in arcade mode. Let's break this down. Example: M0 Smokey vs M0 Shaft. (for the sake of this conversation we'll forgo the critical damage possibility in arcade mode) Smokey Max Damage: 220,000 / Reload Time (msec): 2 000,0000 Shaft Max Damage: 278,235 / Reload Time (msec): 3 382,3529 Lets do the numbers for 5 arcade shots: In roughly 10 seconds (10.14): The Smokey can squeeze off 5 shots at Max 220,000 points of damage per shot, result (assuming max damage on all hits): 1,100,000 The Shaft can get off 3 rounds in the same period of time at Max 278,235 points of damage per shot, result (assuming max damage on all hits): 834,705 Okay, so the Smokey is dishing out more damage, but you are certainly not a wimp by any stretch. In fact, you are only ~265,000 shy of the Smokey after ten seconds of slugging it it out. Now, a few things to remember. One, shafts tend to hang in the rear, and opponents tend to get shot in transit, so they are NOT at full health about half the time upon arrival to a point where they can engage you (I am ignoring drugs for this conversation, I loath them. Yes, they are a very real aspect and might alter the reality of this example greatly, but for now, we'll assume all players have skills, dignity, and some pride). This is important, because you have been sitting back, outside of the fray, and very chipper and healthy, until said moment, more than likely. YOU deal more damage from the onset then the enemy does, they only begin to take the upper hand with time as they can fire faster, but every time you hit them, you are dealing substantial amounts of damage regardless. This is why IT IS important to learn how to maneuver and "dog fight" with rails, ricos, and smokeys. Freezes and firebirds, those are generally death sentences, and unless you can close the medium range, the thunder will simply fire at angles at your cover and not even try to engage you directly, though if they do, then this applies here too. The flank, it's simple, and it's used against US religiously, and yet I see many shafts that cannot grasp this notion in arcade mode. In close quarters I have actually found my shaft to be at an advantage to other turrets that fire too fast and do not correct for aim enough. The idea is to flank AND circle your opponent. Since you have nearly 4 seconds between shots, you need to learn to drive in circles and adjust the turret independently. Keep that barrel tip on top of the target, no matter what, and keep moving. Circling opponents is a VERY effective tactic and it forces them to move and readjust aim as well, and they might be better than you at it because they do it more often, but it's still work, and they miss enough that I do come out on top plenty of times. The truth is of course, we're not the kings of close quarters, but we need not be push overs, we can still win in many occasions, it just takes patience, practice, and an understanding that you will put odds in your favor, but no guarantees of survival. We as shafts often, far too often, cannot compute the notion of off setting our immense capability to deal death from a distance and safely and the reality of maybe engaging up close and losing. Many just let themselves get killed and await a fresh respawn so they can scope into action and do their thing. Show damn pride and at least TRY to make a go at fighting. You have no idea how many Smokeys and Ricos I have sent running after ENGAGING them and hitting with the first shot. They were already beat up, they figured I'd cave, I square off, land the shot, and they know the next one is death, if they don't drug up, all that travel time to the flag was in vain, they ACTUALLY RUN AWAY, in hopes a team mate will come and find me that's in better shape to beat me up. Bottom line, SHAFTS hurt, even in arcade. We are FAR FROM helpless in a one on one (multiple attackers and yeah, go ahead and squeeze off a round, do a team mate a favor and soften them up, but you're hamburger helper in that case, though stranger things have happened than shafts surviving multiple aggressors, but that was really cavalry to the rescue as that last rail round never left the barrel, they liked their shafts keeping the distance free and clear of dirty smelly enemies). Take the time to learn how to move and turret at the same time and really get into the habit of squaring off with up close enemies, like I said, you'll be surprised how many one hit kills in arcade you can make. They are counting on you turning tale and running, or just letting death come. Give them hell, make them work for that kill, the clock is ticking, any time wasted dealing with you means less time capturing flags, control points, or killing more team mates. In the end, it's about winning (okay, for shafts, maybe not so much, we feel like we win when we rack up huge kill counts and low death counts, but we need to lift up the team, so yeah), so make the enemies loath you and and fear you and remind them you are not cannon fodder up close and the beat up ones will maybe even start avoiding you in your own base. I need to write a paper on shaft one day or something.

Update: Added song to the playlist

So when I chase down flag runners with my shaft and ACTUALLY get the flag back MYSELF in my shaft I'm still a bad guy? Athena is a MMA fighter by chance? Just saying. All this brawl mentality and no strategy means just that, brawling. I'd be hard pressed to enjoy this game if all I did was run around and shot up close and see who outlasts the blasts. On another note, no longer about anti shafts, but rather something I believe whole heartedly. Shafts revel in their D/L, regardless if it's meaningless in terms of score and rank. Many pride themselves on the numerator and denominator of that fraction. We live for that 6, 8, or even 12 to 1 ratio. My first thing when the score comes up at the end of the game is to check that, not score, rank, crystals, I want to know how my D/L was. Shafts are proud of their place in this column. Just something I have noticed in myself, and a number of posts I have read here and there. The priority and what's important changes immensely between shafts and other players. Loackie made mention of Col and above being a true challenge to play with shaft, and one day I guess I'll manage to get into that class (not enough time to play for any reasonable time frame in the near future, but anyways) I can't wait to see what awaits me. Wasps flying around at light speed, Thunders that kill in a single shot, Ricos that spin you around with two hits to the corner? Dunno, but I can only imagine that shafts must have it REALLY rough in there. You'll find me there though. popping caps one day, in a shaft, and that's all there is to it.

Update: Added one song to the playlist. AND, thought about maybe scheduling some informal team play sometime maybe next month, on a weekend, just an hour or two, perhaps in the evening (Texas time . . . ha). Anyone up for it, let me know. We can select dates and times and see if we can get a game going, all in the name of playing for Texas. I'll send out PMs to everyone listed in the Texas player list soon.

Loackie, Let me point out that this simply does not work. There are no single points of ingress and egress on any map, and if a shaft dominated a point of entry (which is nearly impossible, they create a train, the first is a sacrificial lamb and then they come and kill you in your shaft while charging), there are many other paths to follow in to a base. Any shaft that sits around in a corner pointing in the same direction all the time, unless the entire team is running the same old tired play over and over (and losing mind you, that never works either), they will barely rack up any kills in a thirty minute game. I'm starting to think that THERE IS A DISCONNECT with certain players and shafts. I cannot imagine sitting around in the same spot the entire game and barely ever getting shots off. If the spot is yielding results for my time perhaps, but we all know that never lasts, the shaft has to move to support the team, with maybe the exception of base defense on certain maps, then they can camp forever in a far flung location and simply shoot offenders try to take the flag, but again, they will be hunted soon. Even when the Serpuhov barrier on the blue team was not erected, I used that location religiously to have eyes on into the enemy base, and as a bonus, used to scope in when I saw the enemy flag was captured in hopes of snagging someone giving chase to our flag runner in case they came down that path. After three kills that way, they regularly started sending a rico to clear me out of there. Three kills for a predictable aim point, that's all I got. After that I had to shaft the hunters themselves, thus denying me the opportunity to defend my team, I finally would give up on the position and move. I agree whole heartedly, if you're gonna sit in the exact same spot and just wait for something to come by, then yeah, might as well quit, but for the sake of the player, not the opposition. That must be boring AS HELL. That said, a good ambush is a great way to stop a flag push when the game is tied and the other team rallies. Keeps them disoriented and weak. You can't lay in ambush the entire game though where nothing comes by to be ambushed, that's lame and of no service to the team usually. I'm all for winning, though lately I seem to take a lot of first places on losing teams. Lots of kills, but teams mates can't snag the flag. It's not my job to do it either. Sometimes I'll go out on a limb, but for the most part, I stick to what the shaft is good at. In conclusion, to be clear, your are saying that Athena would be in agreement that the issue so many have with shaft is that they remain stationary in the same location of an entire game? (Not a trick question, just saying, is this what all this constant fighting and bickering is about?)

Athena, Tell us all here, why is it SO WISE and SO MUCH BETTER to run around like the other tanks? What is this anti-stationary attitude about and why does it seem to bother you SO MUCH? YES, we are all VERY aware about how cool some people think it is others have memorized maps and can drive backwards. Amazing, and of course we all know that combat relies heavily upon this skill and landscape should be a predictable element to be used in your thought process for a combat based game of course, because it's natural to know where every little thing is when fighting, I have no gripes against the units that this play is designed for, but really, you are really not going to tell me the game is worse for the wear. Sniper, move little, lay in wait, one shot, one kill. One shot, one kill. One, shot, one, kill. That's it, that's all there is to it, suck the wind out of the opponents sails and stop a potential drugger with health packs from making it from point A to B. That's it, that's our job, we relish it. What is your major malfunction with this?

Again, this is the problem with non-shafters, the notion of overpowered. Shafts cannot, and NEVER did, run around the map inflicting massive doses of damage en-mass to all that cross their paths, THEY HAD TO STOP, SNIPE, and CHARGE. The notion that shafts were somehow these prowling demon spawn from hell are simply unfounded. The real issue here is that "go fast" "dynamic" game players HATE ambush and defeat. The notion that one or two tanks can stop a rush in it's tracks is infuriating to so many. THAT'S ARMORED COMBAT PEOPLE! Heavy weapon, heavy hitting. The idea of a well placed hit on a target that stops the momentum of the enemy team is so frustrating to many that they simply have come to hate the shaft. It's tiresome you guys, GROW UP. As I said elsewhere, It's game of armored, ARMORED, combat, sorry if you get shot and you little tanki can't drug up and keep going because a SINGLE HIT took you out. This IS THE REAL PROBLEM, drugs (sorry, they're not supplies, they're drugs, and you use it to compensate for lack of skill, prowess, acumen, or equipment). When you can shield up, take five hits, then hit heal, you don't die, thus you can press on in the battle and keep fighting towards the flag, as a team. When the team hits the base and the two key consistent runners are suddenly made vapor by shafts, now the "dynamic" is gone, you can't press the little button on your key board and "noobishly" restore ALL YOUR health. That's IS NOOB. Tired of all you little punks complaining about it, it's infuriating. Shafts work SO HARD for their kills and often even then, a shielded little wasp or hornet comes flying, snags the flag, I got eye on, full charge, nail him, move up to reposition for the next hit on what ever path they are constantly running circles in, full hit, nothing, they healed themselves with the flag in tow, give me break, Let's break down the reality of this situation. First, I'm right, EVEN IF YOU say you don't do that (no idea if you do or don't, but I am preempting the typical "Well, I don't know where YOU PLAY, BUT THE PEOPLE I PLAY WITH NEVER . . . . " yeah, uh huh), little tankers that drug up constantly, on the way into bases and on the way out. Shafts are the ONLY thing that stop "dynamic" attacks on bases anymore except Firebirds, and even they have to drug up lately. Second, Tanki Online LIKES this. Drugs (called supplies in the Garage), are purchased, people buy this stuff. This generates revenue for Tanki. So be it, people buy drugs, get "'roided" in game play, whatever. It's part of their plan to stay in business. I don't like drugs, think they suck, but hey, they gotta make money somehow, not gonna go there, they are in their right and since it's an otherwise free game, more power to them. Third, Shafts are powerful guns, nature of that beast. We shoot, you die, one shot, one kill, though, get over it. We shafts don't go around telling everyone don't drug, we can't kill you. We shafts don't go around saying stop healing yourself when your little tank is holding on by a thread because you lucked out and didn't die from our first shot. We shafts don't care about you, GET IT THROUGH YOUR heads, we are not like other players. CAMPING is our thing, shooting and killing with every shot is our thing, and if we happen to be good at other things too, then so be it, but shafts exist to stop you dead in your tracks and ruin your plans. How's that for dynamic? Now you're gonna have to adapt (we did, lasers and all). If you can have your drugs, we should be able to have our shafts, and laser free. Sorry if you don't like our opinions, but at least WE don't go whining to tech support about you guys when you drug up and start parkouring on top of buildings. Relax, SHUT THE HELL UP, and let us be. If we complain enough too, maybe they will take away the laser again, and imagine that, then you'll really have to think twice about running around on map willy nilly. (I have no illusions of this though, but who knows, maybe we CAN get something done by complaining if you guys can, the laser is SO STUPID, and YOU KNOW IT, everyone knows it). So long as a shaft can kill in one shot, EVERYONE who isn't a shaft will deem it OP, that's the pure and simple truth. Get over it folks and let shafts be. Learn to play the game with them in it, and stop going and whining to tech support about the big nasty gun that shot your little tank, bunch of, well, I'll refrain.

Doin' fine. You from Texas?

Update: Added a song to the playlist.

You point out the idea I just stated to Hazel. But in YOUR CASE, this is what I take issue with. It's not Tanki Online saying this, it's loud mouth, vociferous, type A personality flag runners that want to quarter the way this game is shaped and formed. Again, the sport analogy. This is a combat based game, to all players of Tanki, we as shafts apologize if you got . . . . wait for it . . . . SHOT We are very sorry our guns kill little you in a single hit so you can't drug up on shields, nitro, and a repair kit, and capture the flag, you [censored for the sake of decency and the issue of keeping peace]. and there is little for you. Stop running around in planed CIRCLES to follow drug drops. Learn to fight, not run, [censored fo . . . . well, you know ]. And as for "#ShaftEqualsNoobGenerator", I consistently take 1 through 3rd place at least half the time in play, I almost never fall below 6th, always in the top third if I start in the start and end it. Please note, ALL SHAFT, ALL THE TIME, ALL NATURAL(none of those stupid drugs), So forgive me when I see that and all I can reply with is "PUNK AZZ BITZ every time someone comes around with their asinine "swagger jagger". "Got shot little tanki? Sorry Cher, hit the powder room and come back when your rump stops hurting," Sheesh, this is what pisses all the shafts off and then people look at us LIKE WE'RE the bad guys when we raise our tone of voice with you guys! Get shot, get used to it, it's a damn tank combat game, get over it,

Hazel, I understand completely of the demands in a commercial application with 10 of 11 turrets generate revenue and game play, and thus, they get their fair share of voice, but then, tell me, what is the percentage of non-shaft playing (ie, majority of play being any other turret) that complains about the shafts? An actually, the better put question, forget about turrets, HULLS. I would be curious to know if the majority of the complaints lodged are by players that play primarily Wasp and Hornet? Again, an honest question. Also, as shafts, can we inquire as the the percentage of players that complain about shafts vs the total number players? Not trying to create some macabre set up here to rail on you and the rest of the developers, I'm very straight forward about what I think is going on, and I genunely want to understand what the issues are with this gun. There is a limit to everything, even the minority gets a voice in civil society, and as of yet, I see no inquiries or "talks" TO SHAFTS about what's going on. It's clear to me, very clear, that shafts upset the balance of the "dynamic game play", and as such this speaks to an idea that is otherwise never explained to players when they first join and start playing tanki, that being that if you are not moving and shooting all the time, you are not playing as intended. I started playing and it was clear to me that the best strategy (and that word obviously also a problem, because dynamic in this instance of reality would assume a tactical approach constantly, rather than a grand plan) for my style of play was sit in ambush of enemies and support long range engagements. There was the shaft, well, excellent, I'll use it. The point is there is no disclaimer when you buy a shaft telling you NO CAMPING and NO GAINING POSITION over your enemies. This idea that tanki is a brawl all the time, "in your face" fighting, it's apparently a school of thought here, but not an official rule or way of playing. If developers wanted a lot of in your face combat, why was the shaft ever introduced then? How was shaft envisioned by developers to be used then in the otherwise faster moving game?

Again, It would appear people of some import and time playing are also paying attention to this, and again, thank you for saying something about it. In regards to shaft and skill, it is becoming outrageously difficult to play effectively, because even with skill, there is just so much you can do between reloads, and the advantages of even unskilled players vs shaft (and the drugging freely from drops they get) makes life almost unbearable as a shaft sometimes. Regardless, I I will not go down the road of lament and "woe is me", but this is about the map and simply affording SOME game play to shafts that is in line with that platform's strengths. Again, thank you.

It would appear that your name carries weight in the forums, so I'll defer a long anser, as most of mine are, and simply say that coming from you, enough said. I think the opinion of many is better supported when it is supported by the opinion that many support, and yours seems to get it quite a bit. I have read your thoughts on shafts elsewhere and you certainly keep fair perspective, if not conservative view, of shafts, so I appreciate you coming in and saying something. Thank you.

So that spot, it AND the Blue Team location I mentioned, they were real game changers. The flank with path on it was the wasps dream route, dash in, snag the flag dash back out, and run down a difficult path to chase others on. Considering the point of ingress and egress, with escorts, it's almost an assured flag grab and nearly always a capture if they make it down the ramp. Snipers were often the only thing standing between a highly orgainzed team and the flag capture down that path. Same for the Blue location. Blue team really has no good camp sites. That location at least allowed a sniper to cover the right side of the Red team base and really keep the defender "pile up" to a dull roar in there. I get what you're saying though, about the lack of cover there before I suppose. I do know that counter sniper is fairly common against that location though, so it's no paradise sitting up there, I can attest to that, and with the laser now it's actually a death sentence after 2 or 3 shots, but then I NEVER drug, and I will FREELY ADMIT that there were a few occasions where I was certain they were drugging over there because I landed 5 shots, full charge on them, and they never went up in flames, and since I try to NOT drug, I never doubled up power, that might have been the only thing that would killed them too. I actually didn't use the Red Team Island that much, only when my team was that bad OR they rush down the flank was the constant threat. I prefer the shelf ledge right where the barrier is now anyways. Like I said, I'd get popped a lot up there from across the map. The blue team position though I really used that a lot, I MEAN a lot, Blue team is on the decline of the map, so disadvantaged in this regard That one location helped even the sniping odds immensely. As for planning everything on those spots, of course not, but again, those were power positions of good use under the right circumstances, and Blue team actually had a equalizing location from which to snipe from (and even then, it wasn't spectacular vantage point or anything, the aperture for targets was fairly small from there into the base). I wonder also, why did they add the vegetation then if it was going to be a problem? Either way, thanks for your input of the history of that map, I was NOT aware of the genesis of the campsite. For the record, how long has it had vegetation there?

Hazel-Rah, Lets talk about the no play zone. How long has Serpuhov been around? How old is that map? As long as I have been playing it's been around I believe. It has been as it is until yesterday. My above above post in reference to Elizabeth clearly details the point about change, need for it, historical precedent, and CAREFULLY managing that. This map has been "learned", the where and what of what works on it, and what doesn't. Complete tactics and strategies have been formed over time. A simple week in the test server would have CLEARLY shown the areas that were in the "NOW" contentious areas. To say that these were being accessed WRONGLY is to say that developers had every expectation that tanks that fit perfectly down the narrow path way WOULD NOT use it? You and I both know that is nothing but an excuse. Developers left it there and open to see the novelty of it and to "see what happens". Now that twins and ricos can't dominate on that map and they have realized it, now they complain and now you find the novelty lacking? If this was truly of import to you, in testing you would have seen this and quite simply put the wall there from the start. Sometimes I think the developer of the shaft was fired from your team some time ago, a rift was formed between the developers. Those that liked the brawl and the ones that liked the thinking game, the more combat like game. The second group somehow lost out, and since then there has been nothing but push for ending the long range game in favor of the in your face battles that are the only option it seems now. That was just speculation of course, but the fact remains there are plenty of us that see this anti shaft attitude as simply that, an overt disregard for the those players for the benefit of light hulled "run around in circles" players. Look at star ladder, I mean really, wasps, hornets, and rails, that's it. The game has been consistently reduced to shoot and scoot and no one need fear dashing across the map and really suffering the consequences of doing so. You get blown up, oh well, respawn, and your opponent, well, one or two hits and they too are also cannon fodder. Was this NOT to be a game of ARMORED COMBAT, a brutal and harsh battle field that didn't always move at a hundred miles per hour and sometimes stood still like a chess game until the angle could be found and an attempt made at it? So tell me, if I get enough shaft players to spam tech support, complaining that the laser is getting them killed too often, by your account, players directly influence your decisions, and thus we could have the ENTIRE laser repealed? REALLY? You will dutifully listen to us whine until you can take it more, ah la "constant spam to tech support team from players who " (are) "being destroyed by kill zones", and you will UNBLOCK those paths and remove my laser beam? Seriously? Of course you won't, because you are not being honest. You hate the shaft and you hate the idea of the game play it creates. IT was you, after all, that said "If laser is not enough to stop Shaft from camping, I will find more ways to enforce it.". In the end, if this was all a mistake, it was on the developers part, not the players, and again players are being punished for game play that has been allowed to occur for a very long while. A wall there right of out of testing and this would have been a matter that would have never been spoken of period. So, for all to see, I am going to put the question and the OFFICIAL TANKI answer here in one place. QUESTION: Serpuhov was changed without notice and had walls added that removed access to historically excellent locations for shafts, why? ANSWER: The access was removed by a developer who stated that other players complained to tech support about getting shot from players in otherwise historically well known and used locations and the developer seeks to enforce upon the tanki playing community an anti camping environment for shafts.

Well Elizabeth, I just watched the latest VBLOG and they spent some time explaining balance. They have some valid concerns, because as they tweak the engine and the physics, platforms can gain major advantages, but with that said, I am completely with you on this. The Shaft is getting the shaft constantly. This is a combat based game, even if very arcadish and not overly realistic in terms of all the effects and mechanics of the game, but that said, it's turning into a football game, like my analogy, and not a fighting game. Faster units move in for objectives, heavier and more powerful units trail behind and support. This is combat, this is how armored and vehicle combat works, combined arms effectiveness. This is turning into a FPS on tracks, and not a vehicle combat game. Rails rule here now simply because they are very powerful and they have auto aim. Learn to time the firing and the game engine does the rest. I"M SICK of fools says that learning to play a shaft is easy, just requires patience. Patience is paramount in sniping, but we don't sit around waiting for things to cross our paths, especially now that lasers tell all where you are. I spend more time scoped OUT and observing from a distance and then engaging then I do scoped anymore. You need to take shots, otherwise we aren't doing anything for the team and we ACTUALLY HAVE AIM, not like the ricos, twins, and rails that can point in our general direction and poof, rounds come our way, it's infuriating. Now I'm not going to complain, I started playing and it was this way, what kills me is that the shaft WASN'T this way before and people expected to have it changed while their game play didn't change. This brings me to something VERY poignant about change. The VLOG developer that mentioned it said something that is an issue I think the Tanki Development Team should reconsider and use EXTREMELY careful judgement on. It was stated "Tanki is always changing . . . ". Lets talk about that for a moment. We play and learn to play based upon our experiences in the game. We form our expertise and talent by discerning the abilities of our equipment and the terrain we play upon. We learn how the opposing equipment functions, when it is strong, weak, etc, again, all by playing the game, in short, experience. Change is sometimes inevitable, I understand this, but it should be improvement without impacting the core of the game, what we all know and understand. If maintaining balance constantly means shifting the paradigms of the things we have come to know in game play, it null and voids our ability to make decisions in the game because the rules have changed. If you make a shaft and sell it as it is, then people DO DESERVE to have it as it is, otherwise you have taken their monies and then played bait and switch on them. Same goes for any other turret, change a dynamic enough that affects them and you have fundamentally changed them, and their capabilities. If Tanki wants to implement change, they really need to be FAR MORE thoughtful about the impacts upon the HISTORICAL aspects of the game. They are very good at maintaining the technical standards, and ensuring that the new is always functional and not broken, broke they spend far less time ensuring that what was historically a reality for players is not broken. People spent inordinate amounts of crystals buying powerful shafts, and they were summarily cut to ribbons basically with the laser penalty (yes, I will no longer refer to the laser as a upgrade or update, it was a pure and simple attack on shafts). Change should be about creating the environment that is better for game play, but the platforms that have been historically used, unless it is a change that cuts across all platforms in a uniform fashion to solve an issue that otherwise made the overall game less reliable or functional. I am the first one to stand up for rail players and say"while I think your auto aim is bs compared to my shaft's having to carefully select constantly where that round goes, the ability to flip others in the game has been there and you bought into that platform for it's capabilities. Now, if every tank on the field seemed to be flipped over all the time, I'd say then yes, there is a problem with game play, but given the difficulty of those shots sometimes, it was just a reality that as player I had to account for when engaging a shaft, knowing that they might flip me over if I get into a sniping brawl with them. Oh well, if I get flipped, I get flipped. I have not played at the M2 and above levels, so maybe it was there that it became untenable, but still, I never the forums awash with complaints of this, so I'm guessing it wasn't as bad as it might have been presented. They wanted a rail, the bought a rail, learned to play a rail, they should get their rail as is, period. Afterburn to me is highly over powered, that said, I know it's a flame tank and that's what it does, I need to plan for that in advance once I know that's what that team is using. Thus change is a insidious enemy of consistency in Tanki, and it needs to be addressed by developers in a manner that change easily applied without throwing the "balance" of platforms off. This then takes me to my next point, balance, shafts, and change. Shafts were given a raw deal, we complained, we pointed out the sheer stupidity of putting visible laser on a sniping platform, and then we retreated back to the game in anger and ire and made the best of terrible situation. We figured out where and how to snipe under the new conditions, we figured out how to position ourselves to be less vulnerable to counter attacks once we took that first shot, we figured out how to close more wit hthe enemies and "semi-camp", as I like to call it, nearer the flag and "shoot and scoot", and we learned how to move around more to avoid the annoying rage players that can['t have their stupid wasp shot down as they run with the flag and are popped off by us 5 times in a row because we are doing more than driving in circles really fast. Notice, there is a word there that repeats itself OVER and OVER. That word is "we". Us, the shaft players, we have changed, and we have adapted to the new paradigms. We have taken a very bad situation and turned it on it's head as best we could. What do we get for our efforts to cease the complaining the settle for the stupid reality of our tanks now? Further impediment. This is EXTREMELY telling. DEVELOPERS INTENTIONALLY cut off our power plays in Serpuhov, but this isn't a laser, or powerful cannon shot, or overpowered hulls vs speed and agility. This time, this time we are being attacked for using OUR BRAINS and being clever and effective and shunning the status quo and NOT conforming to XP battle mentality. WE ARE BEING forced to dumb down our game play so idiots in wasps and rails can do the ever so boring and ever so overdone, rush, snag and grab, and run away thing over and over. Wasps now rule the first place positions it seems on all maps with CTF and even CP. Why? Because going real fast and running away now is basically easy, with little chance of reprisal, except for other "go fasts" chasing them en-mass. Very much like a Rubgy or Football game. If a shaft can't get a wide field of vision from a distance to tack a bead on a target, it becomes fairly useless. Again, WE out thought the limitations, we took back some advantage, with the "balanced" circumstances, and we are AGAIN penalized for it. The fact of the matter is shaft players are THE smartest, hands down, of all the turret lover types, and our acumen is being attacked constantly. This is absolutely NO REASON for this and this IS developers INTENTIONALLY trying to sink shafts. To your point of Vulcans, it is funny that another shaft player would bring it up, I have NOT vocalized it, BUT I noticed the same thing. Vulcans were supposed to be long range solutions to "I don't know what", and as long range engagement units they have been mediocre at best, and GREAT for my kill count. They are annoying, but certainly NOT worrisome. I'll let one open up on me and take half my bar while I charge snipe them. The explode quite nicely with the tall and narrow necked turret, comical almost to think they are real contenders in the game. THAT SAID, I do have a fearful prediction. For the sake of GAME BALANCE, maybe there will be "too many long range options" available now, I mean with rails and vulcans, and maybe shafts should be removed, maybe? Think about that again, what I just said. A long range weapon with auto aim and even gyro locking on a target. No aiming, no skill, just a button mashers delight. Is this the excuse to be used somewhere down the line to get rid of shafts, as they "fall out of favor" since they simply cannot be played effectively anymore? I was thinking about starting thread that went into the deeper aspects of shaft, but now I fear to even mention anything would because for examination and attack on the part of players and devs alike. Shafts do need to start banding together and thinking about what can be done to keep the ever constant rolling attack against us at bay. Some might say I'm not "high rank" enough to know what I'm talking about, but this is a newer account, I've been playing for almost a year now, and I can tell you I know better than some who have been playing for years, my place in most matches will attest to that. Anyways, we as shafts can discuss this all we want, but right, the thread at hand is a good place to start, get a real answer about a real and obvious change and start a dialogue there, with hopefully people that matter. It's just a game, but so is NHL, NFL, MLS, MLB, ML WHATEVER. We take our fun seriously.

So, last night, I fire up Tanki, can't play for long, find a Serpuhov game, 15 minute, figure squeeze in one, maybe two games. Fire up the Shaft, red team, truck behind the building heading for the ledge and what on earth do I se but a barrier!? Um, never heard about this update coming and I can find NOTHING today to indicate that this was implemented, not a peep. Okay, um, I still get the ledge, but no camping picking off flag runners opposite the map, whatever, for now, doesn't make sense, but okay. Yep there is time to play a second one, blue team, let's go. Up the ramp on the left, and hit reverse, time to camp in my favorite "eyes on" base and spawn points camp ground, but alas I can't seem to move backwards. A quick spin of the turret (okay, relatively quick, it IS A SHAFT) and what do my eyes behold? Yep, another barrier, it's like they put it in just to stop ME from playing, those are the two best camping locations in Serpuhov (Okay, Red Team it's a toss up, I actually LOVE the ledge, if you have decent team, you alone can pin one third of the map down for the purposes of covering team mates running flags). Red team could shut down flag runners running along the opposirte side of the map, and the Blue team, that position was perfect for supporting your team as the made breaks for the flag, keeping defenders down and then allowing you to drive forward and meet carriers and then escort them back down. Blue team, truth be told, has NO GREAT spots on the map for camping, so that one was it, period. Why and when was this done. Hello developers, this goes out to you. Again, Shafts are trying really hard to make up for the laser, we compensate, we work hard for our tricks, and then they're taken away wholesale. With the exception of a few souls wanting to sneak into bases, the only people that used those locations were shafts and the occasional rail that wanted to snipe. Why are long range shooters CONSISTENTLY penalized in this game. We earn little money often, points towards rank are slower too, it's not like were tactics and roles launch us up the rank and equipment ladder quickly, so why do these things to further frustrate players? I wrote about these two exact locations in response to the Newspaper article posted about sniping in Serpuhov and it's like you guys took that apart and simply ran with it. Look, a sniper says this, we need to shut it down. More and more, Brest is the only place (and Dusseldorf) that is great for sniping, but those are meant to be nothing but long range slugfests. Shafts NEED to be able to support the battle, not just srive right up to it, kill one tank, and then get destroyed by defenders. If this keeps up, tanki is going to turn into some sort of Rugby or Football game, and no longer resemble a combat game.

All fairly well, glitchin' hard these last few times on tanki, it's killing me, I don't know what's going on, sometimes I think there is hack to glitch the opposite team. Always happens it seems when I'm about to take the shot, or dodge certain death, pissing me off hard lately. Still staying in the top four on the team, but that ain't saying too much. First and second is where I need to be with a shaft since I generally don't run flags. My D/L is something I'm VERY proud of, I can rock 10 to 15 a good portion of the time. It goes down if I get too aggressive, but then I'm usually covering runners on a base and then running cover for them on the way back, sacrficing my tank to ensure the flag makes it, case in point, blue team, Serphov, crossing that big open space plaza. Got popped a number of times lat night, but something interesting happened. I did it ONLY BECAUSE my team was full of 'tards that couldn't rush the flag, even though the were in wasps and hornets with Firebirds and Ricos and what not. Just one little brave wasp/smoky was trying very hard, so I started running cover for him and we actually turned the score over and won. He/she, dunno, started dropping the flag and giving it to me near ours. I don't get too many points, no distance really run with the flag, BUT, I get points for capturing it, so that was an awful decent thing for them to do. Earning is DEATHLY slow lately too, seems like the battle funds barely ever push 2000 on any of the games I play, and a lot of them barely break 1000. Life is hard when you're a Shaft I guess, but harder when the teams can't score squat. I consistently take 2nd and third, right behind the primary flag runner, but that's a huge gap in points never the less, and not too many CP battles on larger maps, so I'm stuck. I hate all the unrealistic maps too, Monte Carlo, 2042 (though that one is tolerable), and some of the more outlandish setups, so I'm limited to Industrial Zone, Serphov, Massacre, Rio (though I tire of Rio quickly), Koholz(sp?), Barda, Brest, etc. Dusseldorf is my all time favorite, but it's hard to find anyone playing them, and if I make one, it seems like NO ONE ever joins. I love a 20 on 20 in Dusseldorf, talk about a Shaft's dream map. So much going on at the intersections that it's like shooting fish in a barrel, I freaking LOVE THAT MAP. Brest rocks too, but that's different still. What about you, how goes Tanki for you?

Update: Added three songs to the playlist. Thinking about more updates other than just telling you guys about new songs. Ideas, if ya got any, I'm all ears (doesn't me I'll do it, but I'm listenin')