I agree with the OP in almost every detail. And yeah, it seemed like my railgun just would not shoot straight today.

Spawn killing is just a natural result of gross imbalance in battles. Several changes could be useful in addressing the problem: 1. Can only join the leading team when it is short a player, not when there are equal numbers. 2. Keep spawning tanks invisible until they can shoot. 3. End or somehow nerf the ability to give overdrive to team-mates. 4. Narrow the rank range within battles when there are enough players online. 5. Restore the ability to create battles. Choosing your map lets you set tactical conditions that avoid mismatches. 6. Have the AI set to ensure spawning location is not within a certain distance of say 3 enemy tanks.

That's the whole point of Shaft. You give up all maneuvreability, and a large amount of situational awareness for it.

Taking away our partially completed holiday missions was a miserable, miserly move. It's like Santa Claus taking back a toy because you didn't play with it 'enough'. What's hurting this game is a grasping, ungenerous attitude.

But why was that a problem?

I was just about to post a new thread with this precise subject. Started tanki in 2014 and recently took about a year away from it. When I left, a typical day had 50000+ online at peak times. Now it rarely breaks 30000. That's a loss of 40% in a year! There should be alarm bells ringing all over Tanki HQ. Obviously they have been making changes that are driving people away. If they want the game to fail they can continue on that course. I think it would be better to save the game by undoing the things that have ruined it for people: pro battles and the inability to create normal battles of our own. Why must we search, search, search for the maps we want instead of just starting them? Why are there no night battles? Why must every map be jammed full of noobs bouncing off each other? PLEASE TANKI, SAVE YOURSELF.

The "average" wait time is a sick joke. In dozens of trials I have entered in less than the average precisely ONCE. Usually it takes 2-4 times the listed "average".

What the hell is all this WAITING for???? We never had to wait like this before. Is there something broken in their brains???

When I was playing Tanki in 2014-2015, there were 50000+ players online at peak times. Now there are 30000. The reason? Bad updates. But this ... this latest change is THE. WORST. EVER. It's like the developers have never played the game before. Why would they do this? I predict a crash in player numbers. This update will kill the game.

The new system is just plain TERRIBLE. You can't choose maps or winter or night. You get stuck in without even knowing what the battle situation is. STINKER.

This new system is absolutely horrible. I'm leaving the game until they change it.