I played a few more games in TX. The game play got much better without the stupid bots, but the graphics started to become annoying somehow. My initial response to the graphics was that they were great, but as time goes on they seem less and less appealing. They actually don't have as much detail as TO graphics, the buildings are not as well crafted and detailed and the landscapes seem too contrived. The only thing that seems better is the backdrops and things just past the battle zones (open to players in parkour mode of TO). If TO went down tomorrow, I'd probably start playing TX, but as it stands, I like TO much better...even with the crappy matchmaking system. Additional, next day: Wow, I just played TO again after a week of TX. TO graphics are MUCH better. I didn't really realize just how poor the graphics are in TX until I got back to TO. TO had so much more detail and is so much cleaner. I said it before, but when I first saw TX graphics, I was very impressed, but as you live with them there is something that is off about them...I can't quite put my finger on it, but I know I much prefer TO graphics. They seem much higher quality.

OMG...The entire "I love MM squad" liked this post of yours. Anyway, your reasoning is mundane at best. I do have a nice bridge I'd be willing to part with for just a small investment on your part :) On a more serious note, after playing TankiX for a bit I think my theory that MM was implemented to reduce employee costs might be spot on. TX and TO run on almost the same code for everything now. A year ago AP would have had to have had more staff to keep two very different sets of codeing up and running smoothly. Now with TX and TO being so close and the coding so similar, they will need less staff to keep both games running smoothly. MM for both games makes them better candidates for semi-autopilot mode also, so less staff again. I am more and more convinced that this is the real reason behind MM and why Tanki really doesn't care if they lose player base...they hope to see a heftier bottom line by trimming overhead.

It's OK. :) Thank you for saying that. ;)

In marketing and sales you usually try to point out why you are different and then develop benefits to the differences. Generally you try to avoid being like everyone else. Tanki getting rid of diversity and choice, one of the best things they had going for them, is ludicrous from a textbook marketing perspective. I just don't see that decimating your player base (100K down to 25K) is justified just to keep up with the Jones or, in other words, conform the the multiplayer standard. If your game is like everyone else's game, well, your game is like everyone else's....why would a customer choose your game over another? I think there is something else afoot and Tanki must have some other more rational reason for MM...possibly the hope of drawing a huge mobile market...dunno. And...when was it that battles were ever hard to get into? Only Little Willie had trouble making a choice on which battle to join.

I haven't played Juggy mode much yet. I am a little disappointed in the new mode. It's my own fault because I thought it would be Juggy against everyone else. That seemed like it would be really fun. The reality of Juggy is that it is only DM...well, DM with one really badass player. I also thought Juggy would be more powerful. In the few games I played, no one got more than two or three kills before another player took over. I had envisioned more of a GodMode_On kind of game...so much for my guesses. Overall it is still a good update though. It is a slight variation on DM and that is welcome. It borders on shocking that Thunder would get a buff. Well, the hoard of already powerful Thunder players out there are happy with an even more powerful turret. Thunders, please target only Freezes (Freezi ?)...not me :)

By comparison to you, I am in fact a drugger. Why do you not use the drugs you get? It's kinda cool that you do so well without drugs, but, for me, I figure I might as well use them rather than let them just keep piling up. I still have ten times as many supplies in my garage as I have used overall...I never used them much before the triple weekly rewards and the boat load of supplies in containers. As far as gokuMI6, I am still trying to figure out what he actually meant. If you go back and read, he originally seemed to indicate that he was using my name like BuyBuyBuy. Here is a quote from him in a subsequent post: "Hh no i mean the term Drugger , to bye" to bye...I think he means, to buy...as in druggers are buyers. I just kinda guessed English was not his first language since he seems to keep making the same mistake with buy/bye. I don't think he ever called me a drugger like you did. (And I wear the title from you because you are very far from a drugger...perplexingly so.) I don't think it would be possible for him to actually call me a drugger since he tends to use more drugs than I do. :) And...to be clear...I would be much happier playing Tanki if there were no drugs at all. I dislike the constant fussing with 4-2-3-5, but it is part of the game now.

I am only making a guess...I'm not a game designer. But it does seem logical to me that if you reduce the amount of variables you reduce the chance for glitches. I think when players could control almost every aspect of each and every battle even to the point of selecting a server, it had to be a much more complex system than what MM is. With MM everything is automatic and therefore less prone to glitches...less glitches, less people to chase and correct the glitches...less staff, less overheard, larger bottom line. I would guess that eventually, after all the initial bugs are worked out of MM, Tanki will be able to run almost on auto-pilot. Employees are probably the biggest expense Tanki faces. Facility rent/mortgage, equipment, servers, utilities, insurance, taxes all must add up to a bunch of overhead, but staff almost has to be the number one expense. Get rid of a few salaries each month and it is the same as selling outrageous amounts of in-game doo-dads. A player buys 2,800,000 crystals with his discount card and 500 gold boxes along with a couple of product kits....he has made a big purchase but even though all that is gross profit for Tanki since there is no intrinsic value to pixel product, it probably doesn't even pay for a half a months salary of one coder.

Guys, this thread is not really a re-hash of "I like MM, I don't like MM". There is already an over burdened highly repetitive thread where you can voice your MM opinions. I would like to hear feedback on the plausibility of my idea concerning the reasoning behind the implementation of MM. Is it to save money by reducing staff? Does the reduction in player base have a positive aspect to management that we may have missed? PLEASE...no "MM is the best thing since sliced bread" or "The floccinaucinihilipilification of MM is truly epic". We already have both sides to the argument....lets try to figure out the WHY of MM for better or worse.

I just had an epiphany. I think I may have figured out the reason Tanki wants MM and all the horrible anit-fun updates that have led up to the implementation of the dread MM. I'm sure most of us keep wondering WHY? Why would Tanki seem so oblivious to the wishes of it's player base? Why would they keep making the game less and less fun? Why would they spend all this coding time ($$$) to generate an inferior, less versatile placement system? I think I have the answer: Fewer employees/coders at Perm. When we could choose battles on any of 30+ maps, when there were 100,000 players (mostly free players I would venture to guess), and almost everything about Tanki was adjustable by the player, it had to generate lots and lots of critical errors, code bugs, glitches, etc. With MM everything is automatic so it just has to run more smoothly from managements perspective. MM probably provides an environment where you need way less staff to maintain it. If in Tanki's heyday they needed (guess) 15 coders working like crazy, with MM they might only need 4 or 5 once it settles in...maybe even less. If you could get rid of even one monthly salary that would increase the bottom line dramatically...if you could get rid of 5, 6, 10 coders, that is a hell of a lot of savings, and you would need to sell WAY way less kits, crystals, paints, etc for cash. If you could cut your player base by 80% but still retain the majority of your cash buyers that is another big bottom line win. It would also make maintenance even easier, so again, less employees. I think their ultimate goal is to have Tanki as an almost automatically running online game. Well, that and trying to develop a mobile market. The less hands on more auto-running MM lends itself to the mobile platform also. This is all just conjecture, but it does seem to make the seemingly insane management decisions much more plausible. Any thoughts?

Wow...thanks...that was very thoughtful.

May I point out that in English "bye" is a shortened version of goodbye and becomes idiomatic....as in "bye-bye see you later". When you purchase something you "buy" it...buy means to purchase, as in "buyer...one who purchases These two words are called homonyms...they sound exactly the same but have two completely different meanings. Sadly there are many of these in English and tend to be confusing for people trying learning English. But keep it up and you will keep getting better and better the more you practice. ...always learning...just gotta watch those typos :) It should be "trying to learn" or just "learning" of course! ...stones and glass houses...perfect ;)

I liked 10cc because they wrote lots of songs about themselves or at the least introspective songs. So many great lyrics, melodies, arrangements, grooves...even humor! (usually the kiss of death for a pop band) Their music is all different styles and all very intelligent. One of the most under-rated and overlooked famous bands of the 70's and early 80's. Clever, clever, clever creative boys...experimental wizards. From Rochdale To Ocho Rios is light hearted peppy calypso about life on the road as a touring musician. Be sure to listen to the style changes between 1:40 and 2:27 ...seamless transitions. ...and my favorite piece from 10cc. Dreadlock Holiday was about their last top 40 "hit" and it is my favorite 10cc song. Not exactly 10cc, but the two mad musical scientists that drove 10cc, Godley & Creme..and my favorite 10cc-ish song. At the time this was recorded it was a very a unique train of thought or perspective because there really weren't any "old men" in rock and roll...even the guys from the 50's were still young in the 70's. Now, in the 10's there is an army of old farts still banging away...just like the song suggests. The song handles the concept with melancholy where the reality is way more harsh...sometimes even a bit embarrassing. Anyway, this is my favorite 10cc song. The Worst Band In The World is musical slapstick...so funny, but yet still very tasty. It is my favorite 10cc song.

I went to your YT channel. They are all quite good. You should try a "Tanki" inspired piece...nah, nah...it would be too sad and depressing since matchmaking started :) In case someone else might like to listen: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2CzJkJf7yXGajskOODKtZg

I figured it was just an uploading YouTube glitch. If it was an over site, can you go back in and fix it without too much grief? Do you use a midi controller of some sort, or just fart around with the Nexus screen keyboard? Did you record the vocals yourself or did you use a clip/sample of someone's spoken word? I thought it was a clip from a movie or audio book. Is the vocal section on one dedicated track or was it's layer combined with the other tracks? Anyway....please please post some more that you have done.

Oh wow!...I never heard this before. This is tremendous...the term epic actually applies. What a jewel...thank you for the turn-on. Obviously this goes into my rotation

At 0:14 the voice comes in too hot...it is actually a bit startling when contrasted with the lovely chord progression in the beginning. At about 0:37 it sounds like the voice takes a slight dip in volume which might have been better from the beginning. At 1:44 the voice comes back in in a seamless transition...perfect. The song gets cut off at the end...it felt like you were about to slow the piano part down, let the back orchestral part fade out to nothing and then have the piano end the piece with a lovely major resolve single note...probably the tonic. Overall, this is BRILLIANT!! So well crafted. I am so envious of you gifted types. What did you create the orchestrated parts on?

Maf...I was happy to just let this go, but I would like to point out that what you say carries WAY more sway than other posters because you are a Tanki spokesperson and you seem to be a pretty reasonable person on top of that. So I suggest you be more careful before criticizing posts...at least READ them before criticizing them. The original post you made was totally unfounded and you only said it because you didn't actually read my post or you didn't understand my post. As time goes on, other forum members keep "liking" your post because you criticized someone (me)...only because you are Maf. They obviously didn't bother to read what was written either since in a subsequent post you "liked" my post...the one that called attention to what I actually said...I took this as a defacto kinda-sorta apology and that was fine since it was just a little slip up on your part. But people keep reading your goof-up and liking it which grates on me a bit. I can make a fool of myself on my own...I don't need someone to omit or twist what I say to make me an even bigger fool than I already am.

I totally forgot about this version...so much so that it took me some time to remember that I had even heard it before...it's great! Neil Young's version is what I think of for this song, but this Prelude is really really nice. Thank you so much for the memory jog. Here's Nasal Neil's version just for comparison sake:

Interesting...maybe I'll give it another go. How far do you have to level up, or roughly how many games before the bots go away? And, you are right it does sound a lot like Neo-Tanki...shoot, shoot, shoot, drive, shoot. The new Tanki is only a shadow of it's former self. It is tragic that the devs have made TO so much like TX. I have a feeling that if I started TO as a true newbie today, I probably wouldn't care for it much, but, at this point, I am emotionally invested since I have spent so much time playing Tanki over the past couple of years. That being said, I find myself drifting away from Tanki more and more. I spend more time fooling around on this forums music thread than actually playing Tanki...a lot more time actually. Matchmaking and it's myriad of evils (long queues, mismatched battles, etc) in conjunction with the homogeneous and repetitive maps has made TO kinda boring.

I wish we didn't have to use drugs, Tanki was much more fun without timing the constant punching of number keys. But in this new environment, there is no choice if you want to be competitive. Sadly, gross supply usage an integral part of the game now, just like the lame matchmaking system. I sure don't like it, but there isn't any choice. Previously "drugger" had the connotation that that person was not very good at the game. Now, since everyone has lots of drugs from daily missions, weekly mission rewards, and especially containers, "drugger" means nothing to me anymore. In fact, I'm kinda flattered if someone calls me a drugger...I figure I am really doing well to make someone that angry...same thing with "noob","buyer", or the very best, "hacker". If I have the time, I always try to thank the name caller for the compliment. That being said, there are still some players that might fall into the "drugger" category. Unless you are a buyer it's pretty hard to hit a repair kit every chance you have after the cooldown period. Those guys are darn hard to beat and usually take the top slot in a game. But again, they are keeping the game alive with their cash, so I don't begrudge them their slaughter and mayhem. This is from the current meme contest by AbsoluteZero ...it applies to me and my repair kits:

I don't think you read it quite right. I will highlight my point...all in the same sentence. I guess I was not clear...sorry. Quote: "TX seems very childish to me...just a kids game. It seems complex with all the blueprints and types of crystals and all the different types of module upgrades you constantly get almost every game you play, but it is misleading...all that gobbledygook is automatic." So at first it may seem complex, but it isn't complex at all. ...Not complex. I guess I should have said "this" instead of "it"..."this is misleading" would have been more clear.

Wow...I feel so famous :) I think you meant BuyBuyBuy, right?

TX seems very childish to me...just a kids game. It seems complex with all the blueprints and types of crystals and all the different types of module upgrades you constantly get almost every game you play, but it is misleading...all that gobbledygook is automatic. The reality is that it seems all you really have to do is click "Play". Click Play, shoot shoot shoot drive shoot, collect rewards, repeat...TX There is no control over anything in TX...well, I guess you can still choose hull and turret. The battles are all just hack and bash. The only thing I like about TX over TO is that it takes more shots to kill an opponent....in TO there are way too many one shot kills and some DM battles you only live about second before you are toasted. The graphics seemed cool at first but got very repetitive very quickly. Then they became annoying and kind of interfered with gameplay...too much flashing and fussing...needless. I don't see how TX can hold an audience for long. It also makes my computer run very very hot which I do not like at all...TX has to be very hard on circuit boards. TX got boring in 15 battles. There is just nothing to it. I voted 1

TX seems very childish to me...just a kids game. It seems complex with all the blueprints and types of crystals and all the different types of module upgrades you constantly get almost every game you play, but it is misleading...all that gobbledygook is automatic. The reality is that it seems all you really have to do is click "Play". Click Play, shoot shoot shoot drive shoot, collect rewards, repeat...TX There is no control over anything in TX...well, I guess you can still choose hull and turret. The battles are all just hack and bash. The only thing I like about TX over TO is that it takes more shots to kill an opponent....in TO there are way too many one shot kills and some DM battles you only live about second before you are toasted. The graphics seemed cool at first but got very repetitive very quickly. Then they became annoying and kind of interfered with gameplay...too much flashing and fussing...needless. I don't see how TX can hold an audience for long. It also makes my computer run very very hot which I do not like at all...TX has to be very hard on circuit boards. If TO becomes TX, I am definitely done. TX got boring in 15 battles. There is just nothing to it.

One of my all time favorite songs