No but his opinion is just as good as the next person and his fundemental point is correct.

A few days ago (against my better judgement) I bought the Pro-Pass with crystals I could ill afford as I was hoping to build up the tank to try to make it competitive against those who spend real money. Thanks for the tip to join Sandbox. I gave up playing in the sand pit once I passed my 6th birthday. On the rank I use to play (I only use this one to post whinges) there are precisely 5 Pro-Pass battles and 3 of those are Sandbox. I actually was quite happy with the way things were before the Create button was taken away from general players, there were plenty of diverse battles going on with plenty of choice so it would appear I am flogging a dead horse bothering to register my displeasure at the latest changes. I don't wish to play special games as I delete any approaches from those who want to be my "friend" and have never asked to be anybody elses friend, what's the point of that?

Not on my playing rank there isn't. Crowded battles may be good for some but I prefer the limited ones, maybe 6 or 8 players on a small uncomplicated map. I can hear my mum say, "You will get what you are given my lad!" When I would ask, "What's for dinner?" Same thing here, no choice.

Welcome to My Daily Whinge. I did the same, ByeByeBye, and I have been saying something similar for days now. My Serapuv (thingy whatever it's called) mission is unfullfilled because there are no battles there. Start one yourself!! I hear the brainwashed say. Oh yes brilliant, I scuttle around like Billy No Mates for about 5 minutes until crouching down in the corner smacking my head against the wall at the futility of it. With few exceptions the battles are now full to capacity so it's like going to a crowded shopping centre where everybody has a supermarket trolley bashing into each other whilst going nowhere. I am going to paint a wall and then watch it slowly dry, that will be exciting. I shall call it Painti Online and tell people they can earn paint runs to purchase bigger brushes and eggshell paint and if I get enough painters they can splash paint all over the place and each other. Hang on there I reckon I am onto something.

Compared to the negatives there is no contest. Personally I don't want to waste hours of my life playing one battle, because my mind works like lightning......one flash and it's gone! Play 15 mins, 30 at the most then when most of the players clear off go on to the next battle.

And the benefits are? Please explain because they seemed to have escaped me.

I know you mean well, Willie, and I appreciate your patience in answering my post but I am yet to be convinced. With my new Pro-Pass I create a new game, collect a couple of flags or points whilst waiting for somebody to join me then give up after 5 minutes because I am still on my own. I just checked and there are 4 battles for my Pro-Pass with 17 players total. None of the battles are ones I would choose if my favourites were there but maybe I would give them a go....maybe not. The other battles, for players presumably who either cannot be bothered to use their Pro-Pass or will not get one, are heavily populated. Those battles it hardly gives you time to pass wind before having to re-group having been blown up or fight and lose half your life having been the victor and going on to be blown up at the next tank. Before the changes all of my grumps were around the blooming Vulcan being so strong, the Twins having had their teeth removed or those players who spend heavily to get a powerful tank. At least that last lot moved swiftly on to a higher rank to leave me waddling slowly behind with others of like mind. Now with the changes I still have those grumps but without the ability to choose to play where I want. In a nut shell what is the benefit of removing the Create button and introducing the two tier system .......Pro-Pass (little used) or open battle (crowded)?

In my playing rank (not this Forum writing rank) having bought the Pro-Pass to give it a try there are 4 battles with a total of 10 players spread between them. I leave it to you to judge whether that's good. For what it's worth, I have read the chat about whether the Pro-Pass costs too many crystals if the cost is reduced why have it anyway? Why not go back to before it was introduced. Quite frankly I don't see the point of it. Can somebody explain to me in words of one syllable (because I must be a simpleton) what is the point of a Pro-Pass if all it has done is to prevent those that haven't got one be herded into playing games they wouldn't have as their first choice against others in the same position. I seem to recall it was like when I was a teenager at dances (we didn't have clubs in those days) and it came near to the end it was time for "grab a granny" when we desperate for any female with a pulse rather than go home on our own.

I always try to obtain ricochet as early as I can and together with hornet it suits the way I play, so I stick with them. Today I obtained the Pro-Pass for the first time to give it a go and there are precisely 2 battles to play neither one of the maps are ones I like. Most of the other battles play near to capacity and it's just not the way I like to play. You may think I am picky but the fact remains there are less players now than a week ago so something isn't working people. Bury your head in the sand if you like but the changes are not welcomed by a lot of others as I see it.

Willie, I appreciate the explanation about the different passes, I do get confused quite a lot these days. The way I play I will never get much passed my present rank, in fact I have already given up on Tess_Tickle apart from being able to post on the Forum. So I start all over again from the bottom and it is noticeable it is now much harder to climb through the ranks because of the changes made, and for the fact this bizarre habit by some of leaping and jumping about looks to me like some sort of hack is general knowledge. Maybe I will try the Pro-Pass to see for myself if my objections to the changes are valid.

I beg to differ. At a low rank (as I understand it) a player is able to buy Titan and Vulcan (for example) and could then be up against non-buyers with what is on offer IE. fairly weak equipment. I have no problem with playing against weak players with weak equipment as we are then on an equal playing field but it is the ones paying for strong stuff who are often hackers leaping and jumping about that I have issue with.

I have just been back to my other (much lower ranking) tank to find there are only about a dozen battles available to me, As you say, and you are most probably correct, I could buy a Pro-Pass but I do not want to do so for a few reasons. The main one being this site is littered with scammers and I don't trust using real money to run the risk of being ripped off. The other is that I have been playing this game for about three years without spending any money at all and I am not going to start now as it's the principle of being pushed into doing something that offends me. Most probably young people see no problem with spending money whilst sitting alone in their bedroom playing games but my kids, the eldest of which is over 50, would think I have gone "doolally" (Deolali) if they knew.

Either you have misunderstood my post or I have used the wrong terminology. Apologies, LittleWillie, I don't really understand your final paragraph. If you are inferring I am annoying then that's water off a ducks back with me because that I am afraid is in my nature. As I understand it, drugs are the items that come down by parachute and/or they are the supplies I visit the garage to obtain when I have sufficient crystals to buy. That being said I am perfectly happy to play along with others who do the same thing because then you win some and you lose some. What I have issue with are the players that come in at the bottom rank and immediately spend money to buy big tanks with big weapons to move swiftly through the ranks whilst at the same time scooping up everything that drops by parachute. Because I refuse to buy the Pro-Pass I am left with the few battles open to me with none of my my favourites being there and more importantly no ability to create my own battle with others of like mind. The battles open to me are nearly always full so it's a constant process of being blown up by big tanks passing through the ranks. I will never have the ability to get much further than my present ranking, nor do I want to, so with the present system whenever I go back to the bottom rank it will be the same old thing all over again and with the present system the fun element has gone.

I don't believe you spent only 4$. To get where you did you spent heavily over the 140 hours during which time you were blasting much weaker tanks.