Day 2 Worse...much worse I had one five minute wait to join a game, the screen started to change, stopped, and I went back into the queue for another 2 1/2 minute wait. In the middle of that game, the lag was so bad it couldn't be played...it crashed and back to the queue. When I did finally join a battle where I could move and shoot, I was on the losing side. Variations of this repeated five or six times. Each game I was on the losing side in CTF. I never placed less than fourth place in any game and 1st place in one game (losing side). For an hour and ten minutes of absolute frustration, I made 760 crystals and completed my one mission of 1000xp in CTF...more than an HOUR! The rewards system is completely unbalanced...the bottom players were getting like 3 and 5 crystals and were in the entire game. One game the top three guys on the winning side got over 1100 crystals. The entire losing team got less than 210 crystals combined! The score was not a super slaughter with a score of 5 to 2. I capped one of the flag, killed 14 tanks. died 11 times and was driving Isida so healed countless teammates. I came in third place of the losing side and received 61 crystals. This is so frustrating! People want to see something for their time...reward for effort. I won't continue to be a loser like this, I don't care how many crystals you give me for free at end of the week. I can get killed over and over by higher ranked players, but I can't stand the long waits just to be rewarded with a pittance for my efforts. Again, I logout of Tanki angry and frustrated. If MM was not finished tomorrow, this would be my last day of playing Tanki on a regular basis. I'd log in now and then, do a mission or two, a battle here and there, but I wouldn't bother with keeping up with the daily mission chain which means I would be in the game only a tiny fraction of what I used to play and a small part of what I play now. I would bet I am far from alone in this.

freedom From choice...well said :)

I played Tanki all day today with several different ranked accounts. My conclusion is that the Matchmaking system is not the problem. The problem is the reward system does not match the Matchmaking system. The easy and obvious fix for the vast majority of current woes of Tanki and Players of Tanki would be to let Daily Missions be done in the free createable Battle List Section or in the Matchmaking Section...both. 99% of the thousand and more rants on this thread would be solved in one easy adjustment. The not so easy fix would be to do away with Daily Missions altogether since they are the biggest cause of anguish and replace them with some other in-game sort of income source. Another very sticky point is how battle funds are distributed now. It is grossly unfair to the losing team and lower placed players. It worked when players could create their own game but it doesn't work with matchmaking...it engenders anger. Players who stay the course of a game on the losing side need to be rewarded. The hog on the winning side that pops repair kit after repair kit should not see 50% of the entire battle fund even though he has killed twice as many tanks as the number two player on the winning side. Lower placed player need to have much higher rewards or, as matchmaking continues, losing team members will just quit and games will fall apart completley for both sides. Matchmaking has some positive aspects, but is only marginally workable with the current reward system.

But wouldn't it be better if players were happy and liked the game mechanics instead of just living with the developers crap?

Wow, you are right, complaining on the forum is more fun than the game....that is kinda pathetic and says perfectly how wonderful this update actually is. (now I've got that tune (and your words) buzzing constantly in my head)...players in the queue

The idiots at Tanki will implement this update no matter what feedback they get. When this moronic update is iimplemented permanently, I will continue to play Tanki, but I will stop my Mission Chain after more than a year of logging in everyday. Tanki will become a diversion to play now and then...kind of like Agario or Tetris...just a time killer.

How can you change in battle when you get in on the last 7 minutes of battle? It takes at least a minute to assess the battle situation and a full minute to get into garage...that leaves only a 5 to five and a half minute of play...the crystal yeild is so small it is pointless Yisroel, try playing, try playing and tell me this is a good update....no way.

NO! You are wrong...dead wrong. This is so bad it is easy to see it will not work...at least for me and the way I play. And I would guess there are thousands that play like me. This update is lunacy, sheer and utter lunacy! You talk about "at this moment" there are few players online...but this is when I play! Now, I'm online now and it took almost half an hour to play for 7 minutes in a battle that I was outgunned and joined so late that I made almost no crystals. You are dead wrong this up[date is UNWORKABLE and needs to be SCRAPED asap...no improvement, no tweaks, no slight adjustments...GONE...DONE...HISTORY ....NEVER implemented.

It took me 22 minutes to join a battle...then when the battle was over (I got in on the last 7 minutes so I got almost no crystals), you can't stay in the venue...you MUST exit the battle. So 29 minutes for 7 minutes of battle and 24 crystals. You may actually be the only person that likes this update>>> Yisroel.Rabin <<< Because it is absolutely awful and will truly kill Tanki

Rome is burning,and we dance to the fiddler's jig.

Best of luck in your new endeavor. You will be missed ByeByeBye

Great article Hexed...well thought out and well written. I disagree strongly with one of the points you make though; Quote: "the developers have made the Repair Kit more balanced and have potentially eliminated the huge unrest of 'drugging' between buyers and non-buyers. If buyers have any real advantages now, they're from buying product kits at an early stage or things like Premium Account and so on." End Quote Buyers have an even bigger advantage now. What do they care about less efficient repair kits? They just have to buy more now where the free player must hoard rep-kits since there is a finite supply of them or they will have to use upgrade crystals to buy supplies. From what I have seen there is WAY more drug use now than ever before...nobody thinks twice about popping that rep-kit. Remember when you popped a repair kit and two or three chatters would call you noob or drugger for it? Doesn't happen now...that is because everyone is using supplies at an alarming rate. The special Summer Bonuses of choke supplies are to get players wired into using lots of supplies including rep-kits. Summer ends and the supply bounty ends (probably), but we are all acclimated to clicking those sweet DDs, DAs, and the ultimate supply, Repair Kits. Many non-buyers will give up and send in money to continue the supply orgy and become buyers. The current buyers will just buy supplies as they do now...only a marginal greater expense for the extra supplies they burn with abandon. I'm sure this is what Tanki has in mind with the changes to drugs and big drug rewards in mission chains...turn some non-buyers into buyers, which is all well and good, but it might backfire and people might just walk away when their store of supplies is gone rather than paying money for more. Regardless, no matter what, drug use is way up and will continue as such...part of the continued deterioration of Tanki.

I think Tanki increased the range of the rank brackets to help bolster the Matchmaking system. Matchmaking promises to lower the range of the brackets...as long as there are enough players of similar rank. If not, there will be rank 8s competing with rank30+ (M0 vsM4). Tanki will then claim that Matchmaking has generated a much more "balanced" game play because the ranks are closer to each other. It's a ruin it to fix it type of ploy to make Matchmaking more tolerable. The downside of Matchmaking is vast. I foresee a few of the possible pitfalls as: 1. Long waits for battles to begin (both sides filling up) 2. Zero choice of maps (I hate Solikamsk) 3. Exacerbated exodus of losing team members (start to lose and quit) 4. Strong players can't come in with guns blazing to rescue a losing side (no choice in where you are sent) 5. Overall, less freedom of play...choices are all made for us by those that know how we should be playing Tanki 6. Probably lots more, but too depressing to contemplate

Pony Tail Boy....funny. Is their room in there for arrogant and possibly smarmy? The thing is, as Rome burns in front of them while they fiddle around, they will jump up and down and claim that the horribly unpopular updates have had nothing to do with the demise of Tanki..."it's an old game that is dying of natural attrition" And I think they really believe this fairy tail they tell themselves. There are posts in this forum (maybe even on this or the last patch note thread) that spout the Tanki Party line; da comrade, is trrue. For some reason they can't see the thousands of complaints about the majority of the updates. Even the V-log QA was mostly players basically asking, "Why to do you keep degrading the game? Can't you change it back?" But the all wise Pony Tail Boy seems to be at the helm and it's DAMN THE TORPEDOES...FULL SPEED AHEAD! What I really don't understand is someone has to have their money invested in this enterprise...I doubt it is the all wise Pony Tail Boy Why don't the money people step in and do something about this consistent death march Tanki seems to be doing? It is a mystery. I guess it was pointed out in another post that you can still buy supplies, as kit packages, in the garage for crystals along with individual supply units. And you can buy tank kits in the garage for crystals...well, not today, but probably tomorrow (I hope this is just a glitch and they bring back full tank kits anyway). But overall, I agree with you that all the changes link back to the quest for real money and selling pixel equipment. My contention is that all the horrendously bad changes and the reconfiguration of the entire game will come to bite them in the, you know where, and their bottom-line is going (and probably already has gone) to be lower and even lower as proposed changes are implemented...dread the Foul Matchmaking System otherwise know as Tanki-Killer. Alas, my favorite game is mostly gone...

Well said. I am so frustrated with Tanki, I'd like to quit but I am an addict. The turrets used to be so much fun and so different. The hulls all had unique characteristics that altered the turrets effectiveness for the good or sometimes the bad. The supply usage was a tenth what it is now...you used to get chastised for using a repair kit, "drugger" was up on the chat in a flash...now it is par for the course. Tanki has thrown in whistles and bells and plan more silly ODs. And, we have a real 800 pound gorilla update in the works....Matchmaking. Matchmaking will probably be the final straw for me, I foresee long waits to start a battle, battle disintegration as soon as one side starts losing, never getting to play on maps you prefer, even more difficult Daily Missions, and many more seen and unseen side effects. It is a real pity since Tanki had a game that was timeless and would have generated income for them for years to come. Now they will fold in a year or maybe two and blame their demise on "outdated" technology..."people just don't care for these "old" games like they used to". The fact is they continue to turn their game play into something that is, like you say, luck somewhat effected by skill instead of mostly skill. It is quickly becoming nothing but a kids game...and kids have a proclivity to change games frequently.. Too bad for Tanki...pity, that.

There was some sort of foul up somewhere...I suspect it was at my ISP, but it seems to have corrected itself regardless of where the glitch was and I can now log into battles with no more than usual trouble. Thank you for yout time and trying to help. Cheers!

No, American :)

So now EVERYONE must struggle with Daily Missions to the detriment of the game (fewer players). And when you speak of "game economy" you seem to really mean profit, not in game economy...which was fine but now has been beefed up by trippleing mission chain rewards all summer. I understand profit and wish Tanki great riches, I really do, but the way they are going about it is insane in my opinion. You must admit they have changed (and plan to continue changing) the game dramatically over the last year. There is a great hue and cry at every update...some more than others, but Tanki seems not to listen because, I guess, they believe the silent players embrace the new updates. Hundreds of voiced complaints (I still contend thousands) but the majority is still happy...not likely. Anyway, profit...why not try other avenues for profits sake rather than ruin the game? The most likely, and the 800 pound gorilla, is advertising....my gosh, you have 30,000+ (way more previously) people online at a time...probably logged in for two to three hours on the average (guess)...probably more than a million logins a day (2 million?). This has to translate to serious advertising money. And there are ways to do it that aren't too obtrusive...certainly not as foul as the recent update chain. My guess is players would much prefer to watch an elective video and receive a small crystal reward for watching when they login rather than have all these dramatic and tragic changes done to their game. Even fixed ads would be preferable to Tanki's bull in a china shop approach to generating income. And there must be other ways to generate income other than wringing the golden goose's neck. As far as the chart you posted goes, it is surprising. I honestly would have thought Tanki's deterioration was more dramatic than that. That being said, my guess is the drop in ALL PC based games is probably similar. The world moves towards mobile devices. That doesn't mean ruin what you have by slowly morphing it into something dramatically different...hang in and ride the attrition downwards. If it is a trend in PC gaming (which is most likely) the changes Tanki makes won't matter anyway so why break what was not broken? The solution is not changing the game but the way to make profit from it. Leave the golden goose alone and find better ways to make use of it...don't dye him blue, put shoes on his feet, a cigar in his beak and call him "improved". Gods I wish I owned Tanki or had real input.

Client shows a blank screen saying "Library Loading Error 2032" I can't get it to load at all right now...it says it can't connect to the balancer

refreshed page, cleared cache, reinstalled client, restarted wifi....same result

Is anyone else having a problem today? I was able to login to my account, but not join a battle (error, re-join) Now I can't even log in...all I get is site unavailable...but I can obviously get into the forum. I can't get in through Mini-Clip either. I may have a local internet foul-up since my provider is not up to Western standards.

You helmet icon guys must be brainwashed. How can you possibly say there is LESS drugging now? What server are you playing on...I wanna play too. SO WHAT if missions were being done easily! SO WHAT? Did it hurt anyone? Were players happier? Do you actually listen to Hazel-Rah and his spin? Players need in game income...if they can't get it they will either send in money or stop playing. Doing missions is, most likely, players largest source of income. What is the big problem if a friend helped you take #1 in a one flag created game? SO WHAT? Every player had the ability to do the same thing, it was completely equal. The problem with it was Tanki might make more money if missions get harder...GREED. And if you have hundreds of people protesting, you can bet that the majority of players are displeased. #$%@@#%% Can't you read that serious long time players are abandoning ship? I LOVED this game. I LOVED playing it and now it is almost broken. It has NOTHING to do with it being old, I was never bored...it has everything to do with the constant ill-conceived updates. COME ON....READ the forum! I challenge you helmet guys to get the administration to organize a real poll...with well thought out questions, not leading stuff like, "How long have you been beating your wife?" Try framing the questions here on the forum. Send the poll to everyone that logs in in the news pane and maybe even offer a crystal reward for completion like has been done in the past. The important part would be to frame the questions with care and not biased towards the answers you particularly want or expect. I believe whole hardheartedly that the majority of players are disgusted with most of the recent updates. There are at least 400 players that agree with me...and that is only on one update! How many liked it other than helmet guys? 5, 10 maybe? Fantastic rationalization...mind-boggling. ...I have a a really nice bridge in San Francisco I'd like to sell you guys...I'd sell it to you cheap. You helmet guys could pool your money and send it to me all at once to save postage. Oh, and it is THOUSANDS when you read the forum...not just one thread about one, albeit horrible, update, but the forum section concerning News and Announcements....THOUSANDS of unhappy players, all from foolish game-marring updates.

OMG! You are delusional...what an utter crock. If Tanki is dying ABSOLUTELY because of the updates. Are you blind?...read the forum you moderate. When THOUSANDS of players complain about the updates, do you just assume the ones that don't complain on the forum are enjoying the updates? 95% of what I read laments the days when Tanki was fun BEFORE all these game changing update started. If, by natural causes, you mean mismanagement and poor decision making, well, then you have a point...natural causes

I might stick around long enough to see Tanki implement the planned "Endzone Touchdown Dance" where, as you cap a flag, your tank rears up on its stern treads (like The Lone Ranger's Silver), does two spins, a quick backflip, and blinks your team's color..