MM right now...well, just before today's reset: 1st game <1 min to enter, TDM losing team, about <7 min duration...OK game 2nd game 1st try >2 min to enter, never entered but back to lobby 2nd game 2nd try >2 min to enter, CTF losing team, <1min duration...complete waste of about 10 minutes altogether 3rd game >4 min to enter ASL, losing team, >9 minutes duration, I was the granddaddy on my team and I left in <2 min, the churn was awful, players spawned in and quit as soon as they saw the score

OK....uhhh, I think that is my point too. Redistribution of battle funds is separate from MM but released at the same time as MM. Hypothetically it could have been implemented without MM. I only mention the redistribution as kind of preemptive counter to one of the possible things that MM does that the Battle Button didn't. I think another smoothing addition, and a real biggie that I am totally grateful for, is the unchaining from the mission chain. It could have been implemented along with MM but was done earlier help with the shock of MM. I think if players were forced to keep up their mission chain under MM the hue and and anguished crys would have been outrageous. I think it would have decimated the player base. So MM has brought about some good changes...great changes in fact. But those changes are not part of MM, they are changes that could have been done anytime. Tanki is still playable and that is due in large to these two positive changes, but MM itself is awful, disappointing, and a real downgrade in my opinion.

You may have or you may not have. I guarantee that I could have picked ten games from the Battle List that would have tilted things in my favor. I would bet that with the same amount of time put in I would have come out with a lot more crystal reward from the old system because I could pick battles suitable to me. That is efficiency. And I still contend that if you didn't want to spend time choosing a battle that would suit you, you could have always just hit the battle button and wouldn't have had the wide rank brackets or the waiting time in queue. If you wound up on Highways with the Shaft Hoard, you could just leave it. So let's face it, there is NOTHING that MM does better in any regard than the previous system. I want to play as I wish to play and that is why the previous system was better...if you wanted challenge, you could find it easily, if you wanted comfort and "the same old same old" you could find it. In fact Tanki was much better before the Battle List because you do so many more things with it. Control of maps, battle criteria, size of battle, rank limits, on and on...mostly the same thing we have now in Pro-Battles, but it was applicable to Standard Battles where you could even complete Daily Missions!. Wow, nostalgia...the real good old days. Nope, sorry LittleWillie, your hard work is admirable and I commend your effort, but the argument and conclusion is just way off. MM is not very good...it may still be playable, but it is inferior in every regard I have heard or seen.

So, humor me, tell me what is different...other than those three things? I truly don't see any difference...enlighten me. Redistribution of battle funds is not a difference because it could have easily been applied before MM or like it was, to MM. It is not part of MM. What does MM do that the Battle Button didn't?

I just translated the last four pages of the matchmaking thread in on the Russian forum. ( Матчмейкинг (обновлено 31.05.2018) if you are interested) There are thousands of posts overall, but the last four pages are mostly just off topic chat. I wouldn't say that the Russians are looking at MM more positively, they are just talking about unrelated things with a zinger or two thrown in here or there criticizing MM.

Ok, you say they weren't the same. How were they different other than: 1. You would enter a battle that some other players had chosen when you used the Battle Button (like Highways and the Shaft hoard). 2. Rank brackets were smaller with the Battle Button 3. No was time spent in queue with the Battle Button. I see no other differences other than these three. And it would be very difficult to show that point #2 and point #3 are improvements. You contend that MM is so much better because you don't have to take all that time to sort through the Battle List to find a suitable battle. I contend you NEVER had to sort through the Battle List if you din't want to because you could have just used the Battle Button. And my main point is (if MM doesn't differ much from the Battle Button) that there is no improvement with MM, and MM is, in fact, a downgrade for the game overall. ...just some devs horribly misguided idea which provided a couple years of "busywork" for the kids in Perm. I think most players already agree that MM is a crock and pretty much the worst thing that has ever happened to Tanki...so far. Only a few very verbal proponents of MM seem to exist in cyberspace.

Nobody would use it. Maybe LittleWillie, but I doubt even he would actually use MM if he had a choice again...maybe occasionally.

Dude, I hate MM as much as the next guy, but MM NEVER promised that. How could it possibly judge that? People even have a hard time judging a "good" player because the term is just sooooo subjective. Equipment, maps, opponents, your concentration that particular game, on and on and on, the variables are probably close to infinite. MM promised "balanced" matches. It has failed miserably at balancing matches, but that is all it promised. Originally Tanki pitched it as you would be playing against opponents of close rank and I even was naive enough to think that the useless "Efficiency Rating" would be the thing that matched opponents. Then. not long before MM's release, they started saying MM would balance teams evenly...meaning an equal number of low ranked and high ranked players on each team.. Even I, who knew MM would be trash, never dreamed it would be a pitiful as it actually is...20 months!, my gosh! :). MM has proven itself to be stupendously terrible at creating balanced battles, but there is no way it could possibly cull "poor" players, or distribute them evenly since there is no way to objectively determine a poor or good player.

Games, like many things in life, do different things for different people. You seem to embrace challenge, great! Some people want to play the game in a more low key style and relax. This is every bit as valid a way to enjoy a game as the person that wants constant challenge. In fact, I would guess the relaxed style player is way more common than the one that wants that constant challenge. Look at many popular games that you go through the same levels each time to reach the level that you are trying to break through...this is actually one of the most common game formats. People like that "comfort zone" as you call it because it gives a feeling of accomplishment. Everyone knows Tetris. You go through the first, say, ten levels easily then it starts to get harder...but people still enjoy the ten levels because the CAN DO THEM. Many people get so good it takes a very long time to even reach that uncomfortable challenge zone. They want the challenge, but want the comfort zone too. Not every one wants the stress or strain involved in "getting better" constantly. Or they want to do it at a slow pace. That is 100% as valid as the blitzkreiger that wants GodMode_On skills instantly. You keep harping on MUing your gear to full MU. First I think almost everyone is trying to do that all the time...it is a function of crystals, or actually, lack of crystals. The big facile I see here is EVERYONE will be MUing to the max, so the wide rank brackets are just as wide as when people only MUed a step or two. In other words, a rank 11 fully MUed going up against a rank 20 fully MUed is going to lose the vast majority of the time...hell, that rank 11 going up against a rank 15 fully MUed is going to get creamed most of the time. Your premise seems to be that few people will be MUing to the max. I already see WAY WAY more fully MUed combos out there since the 3X weekly rewards of the summer and the advent of containers in weekly rewards. This is part of Tanki's plan no doubt...spend the time to MU to the max (and get slaughtered in the process) or buy lots of crystals and get to level 10MU in a very short time (or, buy enough crystals and go to MU10 in a couple of minutes). Then I have a question for you LittleWillie. Back in the old days of Tanki when you had the nasty inconvenience of pouring through that intimidating Battle List that took up so much of your time, why didn't you just push "Battle Button" or one of the mode buttons? Basically that is MM. Well,...now we have the queue before a battle and the rank brackets were smaller with the Battle Button, but essentially the same thing as MM. If you didn't like choosing a battle, why didn't you just use the Battle Button?

That is difference #1...not much of a difference really but a difference. Are there any other differences that MM does that the Battle Buttons didn't? Anything? After all it took the devs almost two years to develop MM...what does it do differently than what they had before other than changing almost immediate access to a random battle into queuing for a random battle? Well. MM also widens rank brackets when necessary, which is not really a good thing.

Well at least the maps are happy :)

What is the difference between the old Battle Button and MM? ...other than MM has queue time before you can join a random battle. Seriously, I don't see any difference other than the queue and MM uses wider rank brackets if it needs to.

Here is an interesting statistic. I just finished a TDM match on Serpuhov. I was on blue and we got slaughtered. The main reason for this annihilation was players leaving the team. It was obvious within the first minute that blue would lose and it became a self-fulfilling prophesy. 26 players were on the blue team within the ten minutes...26 !!!

Interesting poll. I'm Twins/Viking all the way with some Isida thrown in on occasion to balance out my karma for the Twins carnage.

Change mission wording back to abbreviations It is a relatively minor thing, but two days ago daily missions started being written out in full. The abbreviations were much less cluttered and cleaner. And easier to read quickly. That is why most government agencies and the military use abbreviations...they are shorter, cleaner, and easier to read and assimilate once you know their meaning. TDM instead of Team Deathmatch Battle CTF instead of Capture the Flag Mode CP instead of Control Points Mode DM instead of Deathmatch Battle RGB instead of Rugby Mode ASL instead of Assault Mode JN instead of Juggernaught Mode (eventually) For the Latin server it is even more cluttered: CME instead of Battallas Combate a Muerte en Equipo CLB instead of Modo Captura la Bandera CP instead of Modo Puntos de Control CM instead of Battallas Combate a Muerte RGB instead of Modo Rugby ASL instead of Modo Asalto This was someone's idea at Tanki for improvement, but it hasn't worked as anticipated. It can be lived with, but it would be better to change it back to the cleaner, clearer abbreviations.

I'm sorry, I just read what I wrote...you did not deserve my harsh tone. I have spent many hours playing Tanki in several accounts over the past two or three years and it is upsetting to see something I enjoyed so much be changed into what it is now. But you are right, it is their game and their company...they can take it in any direction they choose. I was lucky to have been able to play Tanki when it was fun. I think now, after reading my last post and then some other posts I have made, Tanki is no longer a good environment for me. The frustration caused by MM and the helplessness I feel at not being able to save the game or even affect any of what I consider to be terrible judgement errors is turning me into a person I don't want to be. A game should not have that kind of effect in a persons life. I think it is time to hang up my Twins and Isida. Everything changes all the time. Tanki changed.

Great! A wonderful solution to the problems of MM...ProBattles! and everyone will buy a ProPass which is good for Tanki revenue which keeps the game solvent. I'm 100% for it...now let us complete missions in ProBattles and it's a total winner.

1. Get games started more efficiently? You gotta be out of your mind! How does is spending a minute or two or three make Tanki more efficient? I have read your posts about how you used to have to pour over that horrid battle list to find a suitable battle. The fact is all you had to do was click on a random battle...done...1 second and the same thing as MM. You just don't want any choice and you could have done that for yourself by randomly clicking any battle open to you without regard to map, duration, lose/win, teammates. Your argument about MM being more efficient is patently moronic. 2. A mult is a passive player...usually placed by the opposing team to give advantage to their side. Only the fools that call everyone "noob" think a mult is a poor player..get real. As MM and from what I have observed there are as many if not more passive players in almost every battle. They may not have been put there by the opposing team, but they are still there. Maybe they waited too long and don't know the game started, maybe they are actively trying to sabotage the game...and I think most are just like the mults from before MM and the opposing team DID place them...it wouldn't be that hard, just less chance of the mult winding up in the battle the player wanted him in. 3. What a load! So you have 20,000+ players online and MM can't find 16 that want to play the same mode? OMG, PLEASE! And why wouldn't you be playing under the old system? I played plenty of games with four, five, of six players in total...even two, one on each side. There were many more battles to choose from which we know was too much for you to deal with. 4. SO WHAT? That is what people want to do...so what? Is it Tanki's job to force people to play "the right way" ? 5. Again....SO WHAT? I know you had trouble with choosing a battle to join, but this would have been a great hint for you under the older system "don't join the battles you don't like!" Now with MM both those maps are a bore to me...they are bland to large and insipid just like all the other maps in the standard map stable. 6. No, if Tanki wanted a fun game they would remove MM, but THEY DON"T CARE as long as people MU that equipment as quickly as possible just like you say. That translates into SEND IN REAL money. Most free players MU their stuff a quickly as they can. I'm sure Tanki hopes MM will motivate more players to spend real money to MU their equipment. Tanki needs to generate income and I truly hope they make a fortune, but not at the expense of compromising the game like they have done with MM. What I see coming is another large loss of player base because players are going to get tired of waiting in queue to be put on the losing team in a half finished game. I suggest that MM is going to bite them in the ass and cut their revenue. I doubt that enough new mobile users will be added to balance out the player base loss. I think this is the last time I will bother to respond to your posts other than a word or two. You have your opinion...most of what you say is rubbish or twisted at best. The few points you make that have any basis in reality, I generally disagree with. I am glad you like MM, at least someone does...I sure don't.

Where is the improvement? I see as many if not more blowout games with MM...and now, I'm usually on the losing team instead of the winning team because MM stuck me in the game on the losing team with only a few minutes left. I am seeing as many mults as before. They may not be purposely planted passive players like before, but I would venture to say there are actually MORE passive players than before. They are AFK, they didn't realize the game started, they don't seem to care about the battle, they are actively trying to ruin the game and other reasons I'm sure, but the end result is MORE PASSIVE PLAYERS not less. No specific maps being favored...so what was wrong with that? Did favored maps hurt anyone or take away from the game in any respect? Players have specific equipment for specific maps so those maps get used a lot. Shaft likes Highways and Brest so now that Shaft Mammoth has to fight in Forest with MM. He bought and upgraded his equipment to battle as he wished to battle...that was one of the fun things about Tanki. It was up to you what you wanted to do in the game, now it is homogenized monotony...every map is about the same with every battle about the same, only minor differences. I do agree with your one point about MM, "I wouldn't even call it good in It's current state "...neither would I or probably anybody else except maybe LittleWillie, MM's biggest fan.

Wow! So well written and very funny....brilliant! Easily one of the best things I've read in any issue.

Too bad we can't choose maps any more...missions were much easier (and more fun) when you didn't get tossed into a random battle that is 80% finished on the losing team with everyone outranking you.

I have said in before even as a suggestion in the Ideas&Sugs thread some time ago. Put a link button right next to "News" "Chat" on the menu in the lobby. Change it to "News" "Chat" "Forum" That will increase traffic for sure. Then run an advert in the news...a small blurb that invites players to visit the forum. To boost that, offer some sort of reward for visiting the forum...it would have to be coded to one reward per player so that might involve too much work for some poor coder...maybe something could be interfaced with promocodes...I don't know Tanki mechanics, but the button and a text invitation would bump forum views dramatically.

yes...I can buy the M2 for the full price of 100,000. But I already have a fully upgraded M0 that should have become an M1 which I could them upgrade into an M2 eventually...not shell out 100000 for what I consider a non-essential module. Diddled by Tanki tortured logic again.

It doesn't seem fair at all. I paid to upgrade my M0 module. I should be able to take the M1 for a fully upgraded piece of equipment regardless of my rank and whatever is available. I feel cheated, I really do and something like this should always swing to the side of the customer...it doesn't hurt Tanki or Tanki's economy. And, yes, at the next sale I can buy a module for 50,000 (if it is 50% and not 30%. But I really wanted to bring it up gradually since I don't use it much. There is no way I will shell out 50K or probably 70K for a Protection module at my rank when I already have my three or four favorites. If I could have increased protection slightly I would have...I feel ripped off by Tanki again. This is going to be another problem when I get to M3....anything I want to keep to continue to upgrade I will be forced to MU to 100% or lose the entire investment. That is just wrong. Tanki should do what it claims in many different places...even one of the little dialog windows while you wait for a battle. I am glad you posted this in the Wiki...guaranteed this will catch many players off guard. It really should be fixed in favor of the player. Heaven knows Tanki has abused players garage holdings enough already. Tanki should be GENEROUS and make friends....not piss players off constantly by nit-picky greediness..just like with duplicate protections were just a wash instead of some sort of compensation...no reason.

Quote from Tanki: Attention! You can only get the next modification for free if you have not yet reached the unlock rank of the modification after it. If you micro-upgrade an M0 turret to 10/10 steps when your rank already allows you to buy M2, you will NOT be able to get the M2 (typo, they mean M1) upgrade for free. Be careful not to waste crystals. They just wrote this so there is a mistake ...they mean M1 in their example. In other words, if you have that M1 Shaft sitting in your garage that has been upgraded to 8/10 (you spent more than 33960 crystals to get it to M1-MU8 from M0) and you are about to hit Marshal Rank, you better dump in another 38960 crystals or you will lose everything you invested so far because you will NEVER be able to upgrade it once you become Marshal. If you want a competitive Shaft again you will have to buy an M3 Shaft for the full price...just like you never owned a shaft before. Yep, 100% full price...no credit for previous investment. This is not the end of the world and won't even affect most players much, but it is a rule change that got snuck in at the Module change over and it is not what Tanki has always done...fully upgrade your equipment and the next level is free when available. Now, that only applies to the very next level. Personal example: I have an M0 Firebird Module with 15 protection. I want to upgrade it to 16, then 17, etc. but I can't...it is dead at 15 and can't go to 16 protection because the 25 protection is available at my current rank. All I can do is spend 100,000 crystals more to buy the M2 module...the 30,000 crystals I spent before has no bearing at all. This is not fair and I feel cheated because Tanki has ALWAYS said that you could advance to the next level when it became available...now they change policy with no notice. Is that a kick in the butt or what?