There is a difference between 45/50 MUs and 12/50 MUs. You have to dive head first into MUs, spending crystals and then more crystals to achieve a new level of turret performance. I think in the broad picture, you would be better off focusing on your whole garage rather than tiny incremental changes. Again, I focused on the big picture and a more generalized audience that is likely not at that point yet. I know I only mentioned the "mostly full M3 garage" caveat in the XT section but its basically applicable to most of items I discussed. If someone took their one M3 turret and MU'ed to M4 and their one M3 hull and MU'ed it to M4, they would be massively reliant on that combination. At that point, you're not getting the most out of the game that you could be getting.

That is it for this contest folks! We hope you enjoyed. Winners have been announced!

Different tasks for Special contests will be created in the future and their use will be cycled. Difficulty will play a factor in the decision process; simple contests like these are appropriate for 24hr events. More difficult or complex tasks would be applied to events that last for several days. For now, we would appreciate any suggestions for Special Contests. A new task will premiere in the next event.

Dear Tankers, if you thought this was a game built only for the masculine, you ought to think again. International Women's day is enacted to recognize and appreciate our feminine friends. In order to do this, we present this one day contest to help you get started! It's our classic DM task we've nicknamed "Deathmatch-Athlon". Your goal is simple, play a DM battle in an appropriate map with the holiday paint that is available during the event. At the end of the match, take a screenshot of the concluding screen. If that image meets the following requirements, post it to this topic for a chance at winning 15,000 crystals! Requirements You must finish within the top 3 places in the "DM" mode. You must finish with at least 30 kills. You must be wearing either the "Holiday" paint, "Lime Burst" paint that can be purchased in the garage, or the "Premium Women's Day Paint" that can be purchased in the Shop. The image must be the FULL Tanki Online screen that is not edited. One valid submission per account is allowed. Winners @Dragon_Master12_PRO - 15,000 @II.Aria.II - 15,000 @LilBoPeep - 15,000 @Cortana - 15,000 @Phil358 - 15,000 :excl: Crystals will be sent on or after Monday 13th of March. :excl: Get out there and celebrate your female friends by participating in this Deathmatch-Athlon! And don't forget, always be gentlemen to a fellow gentle-lady. Congratulations to our winners!

Awe thanks Adriel I'm curious, do you guys think the long missions are still worth it?

Updated (I think)

Apologies for being a little late to the party, but it's better late than never! Good luck guys, and enjoy the Iron Days!

I like this map. I like this map a lot. I'm itching to create a map but trying to find the time.

How to upload and Image

The Players' Opinion I sent about a dozen PM's to Russian forumers who had been the most active in the new forum and asked the following two questions: What is your favorite memory from participating in the old forum? Do you like the functionality of the new forum? Here are a few of their responses: Changeless: 1.) This, of course, all the information that has to re-balanced. Archival screenshots, stories, interviews with the moderators/administrators who have already left the project. 2.) I like the new engine, it is much better than the last. Not everything is perfect, but over time the forum and its functionality will be even better :) RomanTank777: 1.) This is a difficult question because the new forum has all of the same themes and topics that were on the old, and the variety of the forum members has not changed much. However, the forum contains all the stories, it was the face of the game for seven and a half years. It was possible to trace the development of "social classes" and individual players: noobs, competitive players and creative tankers, flooders and trolls, troublemakers, and those who fight them. This is more than a million in order (by the way, I personally have been waiting for the moment to create a theme number 1,000,000 - and did so), more than a million of the flood, discussions, forum games, questions that troubled players, and so on and so forth. And now it is not present. The pillar of Tanki Online's glorious past, which leaves the rest to many players. Many times I went to the archives, and with sadness, but also with pride rereading these themes, feeling a part of history. And, of course, on the old forum I had many friends and acquaintances, however, almost all of them have left the game and the forum long before the dreadful day of January 25, 2017. 2.) Just not happy that the design is copied from Tanki X to Tanki Online. But it does not matter - I'm not accustomed to this yet. Especially since it was created in the shortest possible time, and wait for the functional extensions to be implemented, which I think will take a couple of months. So this issue will leave no single answer. x-XOM9IK-x: 1.) Old forum was quite good and probably better for many players. From my memory was the design, which, unfortunately, will never be on this forum. 2.) Regarding functionality of the forum, I'm satisfied. There are many new cool items that were not in the old version. Yes, there are those things that are very unusual, but it's a matter of time. A number of the forumers simply responded along the lines of "it's too early to tell how well the forum will function."

I think Developers are operating under the assumption that more players that traditionally are not associated with eSports will participate in clans because the function is accessible in the game and not through external site. I still remain skeptical in regards to the claim that it would reduce the mult problem. Nice job :) Looking forward to the next one

The staple of the Russian community, its forum, was lost a few weeks ago. Little has been said about this event, but we're going to get to the bottom of it in this article. The Russian forum is back up now and we'll cover that as well. What Happened? Before we dive in, I'll let Russian Wiki Administrator, Serene, who was kind enough to respond while the Russian forum was down, explain what happened. During the week of the 23rd through the 27th of January, maintenance was planned to take place early Wednesday morning for 6 hours with occasional restarts. Instead, it took over 12 hours to get the forums back up. Other sources confirm parts of this story; the backup process that stores a copy of the forum data failed, thus deleting over seven years worth of Russian materials. Since this occurred, the decision was made to update the forum engine to the new IPS version. That is what was said in Vlog #123, though Serene's quote implies the update to the new forum was the process being done when the backup failed. Regardless, this was an unfortunate loss for the Russian community and it's members. As you can still see, at the bottom of our forum is the Russian eSports section that was put in place while the Russian forum was down, so eSports could attempt to still function in the down time. This will likely disappear when everything has been copied over, or when our forum is updated to the new version and at that point can be moved over to the RU side fairly easily. Is the EN forum at risk of being lost? The answer to this question from staff and developers is a resounding NO, but a real answer would be probably not. There is no doubt that someone learned a lesson from this disaster and no doubt that there will be more caution as other forums are updated. But the line has to be drawn somewhere. Human or technological error was the cause; or perhaps both. Humans are not perfect and make mistakes, we are not the first to point it out. Though the humans (the Developers) entrusted with the information created by its users, who are around technology most of their day, ought to have the necessary experience to prevent such events from occurring. Confidence isn't the right word; optimism, perhaps, that this will not happen again. Those that do not use the forum might not understand the impact it has, but those that are concerned with the English or any other forum are weary, understandably; you shouldn't worry, measures will be taken to prevent this from happening again. Old Version vs. New Version The recent demise or the Russian Tanki Online forums and its resurrection on a new design creates a defined rift between the contemporary Russian and the old English community forums. Several prominent features separate the two. The newer Russian forums have more text size options, an “Activity” tab that replaces the old “New Content” tab, a staff directory page, and the ability to have players follow each other. It has a sleek, modern look that is brought upon by a bright white theme with grey and green accents. This gives a more hostile yet clean look due to the harsh colors. On the other hand, the older EN forum has more general posting tools, a full member list containing all forum participants, and a quick navigation mode. The color scheme is black with green and grey accents, which provides a pleasant atmosphere that is comfortable for both day and night usage. The background image is more visible in the English forums compared to the RU forums. Overall feedback seems to be that most people prefer the aesthetics of the older forum design, but appreciate the new functions of the fresh design used for the Russian forums. As the Russian forum rebuilds, we await the update to the new, brighter version of the forum. The debate over which forum is better has already begun. Thanks for reading; hope you enjoyed. Old vs. New written by @Blackdrakon30. Special thanks to @Serene for the response.

One can assume they have more information about our accounts than just what you see on their profile. If they were following the kill count during the day, they could have found that tanker in battles and followed her around a bit.

I am a slight bit crazy. As MKT points out, small maps make it easy to target opponents. That plus supplies, it is possible without power leveling. I'd like to think that since it was mentioned in the vlog, the method of attaining those kills was verified legal. From the exact point your tank is destroyed to the point where you are no longer transparent and become solid is about 10 seconds. Test it out yourself and see what you get. Simply giving you a different view of what can be taken for granted or ignored easily. Would you have thought about those numbers outside of just seeing them in the vlog?

Correction acknowledged. I only presented 33% of the total. The total represents 133%, 1.33 / 273,095,516 = 205,334,974, with the actual difference being 67,760,542. (205,334,974 + 0.33(205,334,974) = 273,095,516). Thank you bringing attention to that.

Do you think it was difficult because of the two points and the distance between them? Or the lack of focus in the blue team itself?

"Don't corner me. Don't lecture me. Raise your hand's, you're a sinner."

Sometimes it can be difficult to interpret numbers and what they really stand for. The sun is 92.96 million miles away from the earth; the human mind cannot comprehend this distance. In relation to the universe, that is quite small in comparison, when the main unit used in the universe is the light year. The sun is 0.00001581 light years away from earth. The numbers given in Vlog #120 (in regards to new year events) are obviously more down to earth and comprehensible, but a proper perspective was not given. Even though the numbers of last year's events are not available for comparison, there is still plenty to assess in this year's celebrations. Seven days of Striker This is split up into two halves, the first centered around the Striker Giveaway that took place from the 23rd to the 30th of December. Total Casualties Obviously tankers were busy racking up kills over the course of the week, although I wonder if it's actually as it seems by this quote. If you grab your nearest calculator and plug in the number of tanks destroyed and multiply it by 0.33 (that is the 33%) and you will get 90,121,520 kills (rounding numbers here, getting rid of decimals). So 90 million more tanks were destroyed compared to the average (found by subtracting the 90mil from the 273mil), which is about 182,973,996 kills per week.[!!!] This fact is brought up in relation to the striker giveaway which was sure to influence participation in the game. It's easiest to understand that within the context of that week because of that contest. Not to mention, the holiday celebrations usually always garners more activity in the servers because people are not in school and have time off from work. Timed appropriately with the festive map, props, and discounts that also have a huge pull. I have no idea how much that accounts for, but if I had to guess, I'd say that is 25% of the additional 90 million (22.5 million kills). That is the first piece of that puzzle; I'll get to the last component of this in a few moments. Lucky 3k kills The top killer depicted in the vlog is a Warrant Officer 3 named "K_A_H_U_6_A_Jl" which phonetically translates to "kanibal," perhaps trying to say he/she is a cannibal. If so, it fits the narrative when you hear that it destroyed 3,208 tanks in one day. I wonder if that account was started within that day or that week? Were crystals purchased? 15,410 crystals had been awarded for ranking up from Private to Warrant Officer 3. The achievement "Piggy Bank" was awarded for obtaining over 10,000 crystals. So around 25k so far. I think at least twice that amount could have been earned in battles; 75k. What she spent is a different story In order to give you perspective, let's look at the account's garage and examine the options (I suggest you have the profile open to follow along). To be completely unfair to this individual, let's assume every item was bought separately, without kits or discounts. Turrets, hulls, modules, paints, supplies used (assuming she bought 7x 100 supply kits), the player would have spent 442,300 crystals. Nobody would believe he/she to be that naive after she accomplished 3k kills. Even with the sales during the holiday event factored into the price, 320,230 crystals would have been spent. I think we can all assume this player is smarter than that. Based on the upgraded hulls, turrets, paints, and modules, she purchased and used the kits Vampire and Cupid (where I'll assume it's a female with the In Love paint). Excluding the cost of supplies in this example, she would have spent 86,680 crystals on her equipment with the discounts. If you were to tack on the supplies, it would still add up to a ridiculous amount. My colleague @Blackdrakon30 calculated some other important math on whether it was even possible for this player to complete 3,208 kills that have been calculated to have occurred in the 15 hours she played. We also obtained information suggesting she earned around just over 77k crystals in battles. Based on this, we believe this person purchased some items or crystals in some capacity. Likely the product kits and 1,500 of each supply. Premium account is not out of the question, though no concrete evidence that is visible suggests this. With smoky, freeze, and Viking as the most-used items and the amount of mines used, we can conclude this player played primarily on small maps. It would not have been possible in large maps due to the range. But wait, there is more! If you observe the experience points earned in each battle mode, it totals 95k, not 108k. This information was not collected prior to October of 2015. This account was most certainly not created the week of, but merely recycled and reused for these holiday events. However, that doesn't mean the player didn't know what he was doing. It is safe to say this is the mult of a tanker that has at least played the game. If you subtract the 3,208 from the current total kills, you get 741 (12k). This puts the player at about the rank Sergeant before her killing spree. After returning from a break from the game, you receive a gift in the form of supplies, crystals, and experience boost. If timed correctly, it is not a question as to how the 95k points were earned. Her kill total for that day would amount to at least 32k. If you add all the extra stuff earned by assisting a kill or capturing/returning flags, that could put it at 55k. The rest would be covered by the multiplier pass or premium, or both! Another theory that I think is a little too far outside the box but worth mentioning is the possibility that this account was made back when daily gifts were free and did not require a task to complete. If you weren't around in that era, you'd be surprised how easily drugs and crystals could be saved up. That would be really smart but I don't think anyone would plan appropriately for such an instance. Do you get the same result? Let us know what you think! Contest Winnings Counting the number of winners in the winners page; 1,612 players completed at least 1,000 kills; 12,077 completed at least 500 kills, and 78,167 completed at least 250 kills. Multiply the two numbers of each category and you get 1.6, 6, and 19 million kills respectively. That is a total of 27 million kills, 30% of the 90 million more than the average per week. The 25% I suggested earlier and this 30% are not mutually exclusive because they are a part of the same 100% of the 90 million. If you assume they are exclusive for a brief moment, the 30% is probably closer to 40% because the minimum amount to get into each category was calculated. The 25% is interesting because a small percentage of that amount who were participating in the game because of the other factors aforementioned could have coincidentally fallen into one of those winning categories over the week. That 25% is also within the 60% that is not accounted for in the winnings; in other words, those that were unsuccessful in winning and just trying to get the crystals for an upgrade. With all of that said, I don't think the seven days of striker had much of a pull for players to participate. It can be quite easy to get distracted by the other events going on and decide not to actively participate with the specific goal of winning something. Though the higher amount of kills, the more likely the player had the specific goal of earning that amount of kills. Kanibal obviously had the goal of getting 1,000 kills whereas someone could have accidentally crossed the 250 mark. What do you think? 1612 winners - 1460 modules = 152 tankers who have not claimed a module. Kanibal is one of those players. The Kodiak module was purchased before the end of the contest. 16 Days The second part relates to the entire holiday event that lasted from the 24th of December to the 9th of January. Triple the GBs Splitting that total by three, you get 507,674 gold boxes or the average for the two week period. This is not mentioned within the context of the doubled fall rate in the Assault mode map. The number of maps given was of the "created" and not necessarily of the "played on" to the fullest extent to that would produce the doubled amount of golds. Think about it as if it was just twice as much as the average; 1,015,348 gold boxes over that period. That alone would be difficult to accomplish. Let's say 75% of those holiday battles were full and completed, so 136,500. Depending on the length, the luck of the players, and initiated gold box supplies; we'll say each of these battles dropped 4 gold boxes on average. That equals 546,000, about a third of the total that fell over the period. This was just a hypothetical, but now you understand how it was even possible in the first place. Smart Buyers This is great to see. Players know how to use their crystals in a savvy way and are rewarded heavily for it. You don't know how much you save until you do the math. Here are some numbers based on varying assumptions (most of which are unrealistic. By the way, the cost of turrets was 50% of the normal. If everyone bought just M0, they would have saved 225 crystals, for a total of 18,162,900 crystals cumulatively If everyone bought just M1. they would have saved 12,150 crystals, for a total of 980,796,600 crystals cumulatively If everyone bought just M2, they would have saved 58,550 crystals, for a total of 4,726,390,200 crystals cumulatively If everyone bought just M3, they would have saved 108,575 crystals, for a total of 8,764,608,300 crystals cumulatively 33% bought M0; 599,376 crystals. 27% bought M1; 26,481,508 crystals. 25% bought M2; 118,1597,550 crystals. 15% bought M3; 131,469,125 crystals. You can adjust the ratio of the upgrades any way you like for your own perspective. If anything, just look at the amount of crystals saved. As a Legend, I could get a hip new paint with those 108k crystals that I didn't expect to be getting. Imagine what you could have gotten with that amount of crystals at your respective upgrade range. The Game Participation Of the total amount of players that registered, 20% completed the 5 days of sifting through clues to find an answer. Unfortunately, I did not participate in this years game, so I'll have to reference this lovely topic by @CooperO. In comparison to the other days, I don't think day three was the hardest. You should probably be thinking "that's just your opinion man" and rightly so; I don't know what it was like to be in the shoes of the participant. The survey within day three probably threw people off. Even though you could go back to switch your answers, some could have gone searching and delayed their entry or changed answers that did not need changing. Or woke up late on a Thursday. I also think it is not unlikely that players would miss the hyperlinks in the descriptions of the items and assume they have arrived. Only those that are familiar with the contest would know it is not as easy as it seems. Numbers are easy to throw around but harder to truly comprehend and draw conclusions from. I hope you take note of what I highlighted in this articles and perhaps disagree and agree where it is appropriate for you. Comments of such instances are encouraged. Let me know what you thought of this review and suggest ideas for future reviews as it relates to the news. Thanks for reading; hope you enjoyed. Special thanks to @Blackdrakon30 and all other reporters that gave their input while I was writing this. [!!!] - I only presented 33% of the total. The total represents 133%, 1.33 / 273,095,516 = 205,334,974, with the actual difference being 67,760,542 more kills per week compared to the norm. (205,334,974 + 0.33(205,334,974) = 273,095,516)

Best of luck in your future endeavors! ;)

I'm no expert at rap, but when I try to read it quick as if it was put to a beat, it's too choppy and doesn't have consistent flow stanza to stanza and even within some stanzas themselves. You notice these occasional breaks from the flow in rap music and that's great, although they can't happen all throughout.

No mention of the future of ASL mode; will it be saved for next new year celebrations? Low on the list, to come after the updates mentioned? Or scrapped?

New additions to the reporter team symbolizes a fresh start or reset for the team. Energy is always heightened as new writers come in. This time around was no exception and the tradition of interviewing the newbies shall not be forgotten. The following reporters have already started writing and publishing articles in the paper. Introducing... _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Yisroel.Rabin A character that many could recognize from around the forum, Yisroel.Rabin never shy's away from an interesting topic. His work hardly seems like work as he plots his next humorous article. His wit and class is always on center stage in his content. Viking: Hey there Yisroel. You've been a member of the team for a little while before this is being published, you've published a few articles yourself, how has your experience been so far? Yisroel: It's been quite great so far, especially in terms of intersecting with the other reporters. I'm proud of myself for being able to do what I've done thus far, and I've had more than enough fun chats with the reporters. Of course, there are those chats where I've made fun, more than had fun, but it balanced out; I get made fun of a bit too. :ph34r: Viking: It's just our right of passage... oh, uhh.. I mean, it's not normal for reporters to make fun of each other. As I understand, like many reporters nowadays, you joined the team after being in the AWC; walk us through that progression from writer to reporter. Yisroel: Well, no one made fun of me, I'm not being bullied, just the fun, everyday disses. :P Anyways, although I was in AWC before becoming a reporter, I don't think that the AWC had anything to do with my desire to become a reporter, nor did it affect my application. I was a writer before AWC was born, although not much in Tanki. I wrote a few, very cheesy articles back in the day, with the exception of my modeless spectator guide, which I'm rather impressed of. But my real writing, before me joining the reporter team, resides in my elementary school newspaper, which I became the so-called "admin" of. Viking: Elementary school newspaper? Do tell! What does an elementary paper write about? Which aspect do you think prepared you for this writing job better, the writing itself or the organization aspect as a whole? Yisroel: Well, what does an elementary school newspaper write about? Let's see, there were always those interviews on "important people" who visited the school, like the local firefighter (although I doubt that guy was actually a firefighter), and then there were random article on things like "How *name of our school* Came To Be", and obviously the occasional humorous articles, implemented by yours truly. Ah, I remember it like it was yesterday: "The best ways to destroy "the name of our school" and "Guide to Deal with Bullies and How to be One". But to be honest, that newspaper didn't prepare me that much; I had horrible English knack in the day (I only learned to read and write English in 3rd - 4th grade, actually - Long story), which was fortunately fixed by the admin (I was only admin in my final year of elementary), and my "wannabe hilarious" jokes made me the hilarious joke. However, I did get better in my later years (7th and 8th grade), and although some of it was thanks to the newspaper, I think it was mainly because my passion for writing grew, hence, I wrote better, and with more passion. And with better jokes, I hope. Viking: Interesting title within the context of an elementary setting, I'm sure the content was still a part of you and your style of humor. To get a better picture of your long story, I'd like to know more about you in general; tell us about yourself. Yisroel: Well, I'm going to assume everyone knows about what I do on Tanki, so I'm going to tell y'all a bit about my real life background (yes, I have a life). I live in Canada (you've always gotta start these kinds of things off with where you live), I like it a lot here. Canada's a nice place (it's just north of corruption). However, contrary to popular belief, I wasn't actually born in Canada, I was born in Brooklyn (in the country of corruption), but I moved to Canada when I was three. Nonetheless, I really enjoy visiting my hometown from time to time. My hobbies include art, and writing (I know, I know: Yisroel? Writing? What?!). I don't exactly know why, but those are always the go-to hobbies when someone asks you what your hobbies are. So, just to not be some predictable, I'll tell you another strange hobby of mine: sports. Never mind, still lame and predictable. I'm older that everyone in my class, and somehow as a result, I have the best jokes, so I never fail to make my classmates laugh. In school, I'm an average student, 80%s are my norm and 100%s are my "Oh'ma'gad, we gotta hang dis on da fridge!" Viking: *gasp* You traitor, you're supposed to submit to the corruption. What do you enjoy most about your hometown? How does it compare to your new home? Yisroel: Interesting question. I love my hometown, even though I don't have many memories of it, every time I go back to visit it I have a certain warm feeling. It's connected to me religiously as well, as it's home to a religious "headquarters", so to speak, but that parts rather complicated, so I'll leave it out. On the other hand, I love where I am currently, I love it so much that when my mother, my siblings and I moved out of it I felt a connection had been broken and as a result, returned back to it. So I guess what you can say is that I chose a city over family. Not the biggest thing ever, but for me, either way, was a difficult situation. Viking: As humans, we create emotional connections with the people, places, and objects we attain, cities are no different. Where does your humor originate? Did it come about naturally or do you have some favorite comedians? Yisroel: Well, I never really considered myself a "funny person" to begin with (although, compared to my fellow reporters and classmates, I'm beyond compare - that's how unfunny my friends are). Nonetheless, I guess it's safe to say my humor is natural. I have read a bunch of joke books, and have a few comedians I like, but they have no relation to my sense of humor. To name a couple; Michael McIntyre, Gabriel Iglesias (Fluffy), Kevin Hart, and a few more. Viking: I'd think it's safe to say your content at least squeezes a smile out of the readers, many of whom may agree. Great stuff in AW section like the girlfriend guide and quitting tanki guide. And now your play on classics like If the English Community was ... and The Dictator. Great start to your career, what else do you have planned or are interested in doing in the future? Yisroel: Well, I wanna try and bring the appropriate amount of humor to the project. At first glance, articles of mine just seem like big jokes, but there's a bit of logic behind it too. So, in simpler words, as long as my interesting brains keeps functioning differently than most human beings, and keeps producing random content to put out for the whole of the EN community to see, my plan is to do just that. Will I ever write serious articles? I don't know, you tell me - Am I a serious person? Viking: I've seen you around the forum and worked with you on a project or two; I think you are a serious person but you use the humor to bolster that logic in order to get people to think. Thinking -- people will do when they read your work. Thanks for taking the time, Yisroel. Best of luck! Yisroel: You too! It's my pleasure to participate in this interview. Thanks, Viking, and thank YOU, the reader, for reading this hopefully interesting interview. Buh-bye! _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Blackdrakon30 A newer face around the community, Blackdrakon30 embraces the hot topics of the game. Talk about a burst of energy, he is never lacking in that department. A principled and driven writer, nothing less. Viking: Hey Blackdrakon, as a candidate reporter for the Tanki Online Newspaper, how does it feel and what has it been like? Drakon: I must say that it's a tad surreal. I never really expected to become a reporter since I had no plans of applying, yet here I am! It's been an awesome workplace so far, and I definitely don't regret the decision. Working with AWC is an opportunity that I love, and I also really enjoy contributing to various Newspaper articles behind the scenes. All the reporters have been really cool about it all, and I thank them for that. I haven't needed to do too much upfront writing yet, as part of the Special Issues team, but I don't doubt that you'll be seeing some of my writing in lieu of some recent hints in the V-Logs. My favorite part is the i34|\|T3R though. :P Viking: Our banter is quite legendary, am sure other staff groups are jealous. How does one "not plan" on applying and then suddenly apply; could you expand on your road to where you are now, I take it through the AWC? Drakon: Well, I definitely owe it to the newspaper that I began writing again at all. A while back, long before I began playing Tanki, I wrote a little bit but never expanded it much because I never felt like my family would approve of the quality. I did some assorted bits and pieces of writing for a while, but nothing large. One day while playing Tanki Online, I saw a little section in the announcements about the Newspaper. I decided to check it out and began entering some contests because I needed crystals badly. I met a close friend through mutual contest-winning, and then AWC began soon after. I avidly participated in AWC, loving it as a place where I could showcase and receive feedback on my writing. I multed around in AWC for quite a while. The decent reviews of my Amateur Writing section articles lead me to continue writing the occasional piece. Eventually, I began my Flash Flood series that was designed for the audience who wished me to write more Tanki-related pieces. When my first Flash Flood article received really positive responses, I chose to continue the series The second Flash Flood article was deemed good enough to be used as an actual Special Issue article, which is what got me entangled in all this reporter business. :ph34r: Soon after, Goldrock asked me if I ever considered becoming a Reporter. We talked about some issues, and I eventually accepted his invitation to join the Reporters team. My application wasn't done in the most traditional sense since there wasn't much formal information-transfer involved. Originally I was going send an application in perhaps in June since I was concerned about time requirements, but it was definitely not a priority. But hey, an opportunity appeared and I took it. Good things are gained for those with the initiative. :P But yeah, that's how someone who had no urgent plans of application suddenly became a reporter. :ph34r: Viking: That's awesome to hear, so many writers are being found through AWC nowadays and are offered a role in the actual newspaper team. As you joined, you were filed under the "Special Features" team; what led you to that side of the newspaper? What do you think the series you created, "Flash Flood", stands for? Drakon: Originally I began the Flash Flood series as my audience wanted me to write more Tanki-related articles. The series began as a way of reporting large updates and additions to Tanki with blazing speed. The Tanki Online newspaper didn't cover the new topics particularly fast, and neither did AWC. I realized that I would have a unique niche role in AWC if I could get an overview about updates released near-instantly before anyone else did. I went ahead and named the series Flash Flood; which reflects the suddenness of the article release and the (ideally) large quantity of information contained. To me, the Flash Flood series means reporting the actual current events of Tanki as they happen and while they are still relevant. It also means some sleep loss and intense research, but that's the trade-off. Once part of the newspaper team, I decided to continue the series because I can write quickly when needed, and now am fairly fond of the series. Additionally, this way I don't have to force my writing very often. I work better when writing something that I am inspired to create, or when writing something I need to create. Viking: I love the concept of the series; the name, content, and purpose really adds to the newspapers' plethora of articles. Keep doing what you're doing and we look forward (oddly enough) to more Flash Floods. Switching gears, now that we've talked a bit about you and the newspaper, let's get to know you. Could you describe yourself and perhaps a few of your hobbies? Drakon: To be honest, I don't know how I'd describe myself. I've been called wise, smart, kind, blunt, prideful, loud, helpful, and a few other adjectives. It really just depends on how you perceive me since I act differently as needed for different scenarios. So go ahead and judge me by my actions that you see, rather than who I say I am. However, above all else, I value truth and trying to make the right choices. In my free time, I like to write, play Pokemon and other strategy games, build Lego creations, and mult around on Tanki (duh). As for facts, I'm a 16-year-old Christian dude from Chicago, and I'm currently studying in high school. I'm not sure what job I'm going for eventually, but it will probably be related to writing, whether that be journalism, law, or being an author. Viking: Something related to writing.... Interesting. The TO newspaper can't be your only influence in this field. What other experiences have you had to lean you towards that general area? Drakon: Reading. I began reading really early on and loved it so much. Once I actually missed a quiz in 3rd grade because I was reading a book and not paying attention. :ph34r: The stories that I read made me realize how writing can make people laugh when they are feeling down, guide them when you can't be there in person, and aid someone who is hurting and needs help the most. I decided that I want to be able to impact others through writing as well, although I would never use writing to hurt or scare someone. That's why I have yet to write a horror story, and never will if I can avoid it. I didn't have many plans for writing in my future after hating to write essays and narratives back in my earlier school grades, but then I discovered how much I enjoyed writing when it wasn't forced. I began investing a little more time into it, but I didn't begin writing a significant quantity again until I became part of the Amateur Writing section. Viking: Fantasy does require a lot of thought. Have you contemplated writing some short fiction for the newspaper? Or are there any other potential ideas you'd like to write out for the paper in the future? Drakon: I have a few concepts planned for future Newspaper writing, and possibly some short fiction pieces. I tend to write as the inspiration comes rather than dedicating to a specific genre, so I don't even really know where or what I'll end up writing in the future. :ph34r: Viking: And that's how we'll leave it, a cliffhanger in regards to Drakon's content. Thanks for participating, best of luck with your writing career! Drakon: Thanks, it was fun talking with you! _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Great guys, am I right? I hope you check out their work and welcome them to the position. I hope you enjoyed my rendition of this classic ritual for new reporters. If you're feeling inspired by these success stories, check out the Amateur Writing section. Check out budding talent or write your own original content for your peers to critique. We are always welcoming of suggestions to make the newspaper better; don't forget to drop them at the Newspaper Requests topic. Last but not least, applications are always open for new reporters. If you think you got what it takes, fill out the application thoroughly. Hope to see you soon!

We often make our garage purchase decisions based on what we feel is important to purchase at the time. I wrote a guide to this process a while ago and gave my take on the order of precedent; what you should purchase first and what could follow. Many things in the game have changed since August 2014, but the theme of of that article remains true today. In this guide, I'll highlight some of the items that should be lower on your wish list; in some cases, not at all. Paints In the Disintegration Update, the product that was once all-in-one was split into two. The protection against weapons is a valuable item to have, many modules would be most beneficial for a variety of circumstances. The paint itself is only helpful in the rare instances where it matches the surrounding battleground, allowing you to blend in. You can get away with fewer paints than you could with protection modules. In fact, many paints are of similar hue and texture and are interchangeable, in terms of look and cost. The variety of paints available is super inciting. You can preview what they look like and set them to specific combinations, etc. It's too easy for someone to set a goal of obtaining a cool cover rather than a much needed upgrade. Bad enough that the paints are sorted most expensive first and the amount of paints added in the past few years is more than ever before. I started playing the game in 2011 and don't recall new paints very often, other than the holiday stuff. I'm not saying you can never splurge on a more expensive paint that looks better than your classy Roger, I'm just saying it should not be on the top of the list. Although in my opinion, it is not a total waste, but definitely low on the list of importance. Modules, however, are high. Micro-Upgrades & Alterations The incremental improvements to equipment is now approaching an older status now that Alterations have become an option. Even though the mechanism of micro upgrades has been improved, I still maintain that they are not worth the time and effort spent. If you are a fan of MUs, you know you don't feel an inch worth of change with one single upgrade. It's more likely that you'll get stuck in a rut and continue down the road of upgrades that are not noticeable and end up paying more in the long run. Alterations are a large adjustment with advantages and disadvantages that are apparent upon purchase. I think it would make more sense to spend crystals on such items because you are going to get an immediate return. However, I'd say alterations are low on the list. Micro-upgrades are a waste in my eyes, feel free to disagree. Gifts You know how I feel about these already... But seriously, you shouldn't be spending crystals on these regularly. I understand the desire to send your thoughts (positive or negative) to players in game. It has been a thought that has probably existed since the birth of the game. That's something I can appreciate. I disagree with having to spend crystals - I think they should cost something, yes, but they are less relevant when compared to the friends system or other external mediums like the forum PM system and Skype. The decision to buy these are usually impromptu and circumstantial. You might have gotten out of an intense lengthy match and wanted to send kudos to a player you did not exchange information with. If it is worthwhile and your crystal production is stable, you could get away with a cheaper gift. So this should be considered on a case by case basis. XT's This is obviously more for high ranked players and may seem a little redundant. We Generalissimos and Legends understand these products are purely external additions to the look of the tank. There is no functionality in the purchase. By any other circumstance in the lower ranks, it would be considered a waste of crystals. Even as a second Legend myself, I think the XT's are a waste in the practical sense, what this article addresses. In the non-practical sense, you purchase these for personal, self-esteem driven boost of morale. You look good and are doing your thing. I am guilty of this with my Railgun and Hornet XT purchases; also planing on getting Viking XT next. That is my personal decision, it is for you to make yourself when the time comes. I'd suggest you save the purchase of XTs until you have a mostly full M3 garage at the very least. As long as you are capable using several different combos in a variety of situations and are satisfied with that, then you could look into the purchase. Always low on the list. Long Missions If you thought you struck gold when you received a large mission that required 9,999 kills or 99,999 points, I urge you to reconsider. There are more variables that hinge on whether or not you should keep them. The physical task of obtaining what you need to claim the reward might not be possible, for instance if you weave in and out of activity depending on your schedule (like I do). Whether you complete the minimum of one mission per day or all three, the long mission limits your options for an extended period of time. The choice of whether or not to change a mission you don't like has variables in itself. You might not like going into a CP mode battle or not like the reward. This is a normal process; but for some reason, that changes when people get a long mission. They think they must keep it because it is rare and valuable, but is it really? I believe missions are meant to be a short team goal. Your garage purchase of an upgrade to an item are the long term goals. Think of that spot that holds a mission as worth a certain amount of crystals or supplies, say what it costs to change the second mission in a day (ranging from 62 crystals at Corporal to 875 at Legend), which is a quarter of the maximum that is possible in a mission. Each day you hold on to that lengthy mission, you're missing out on that many crystals/supplies per day. Of course this is grossly inaccurate but I feel this thought experiment is necessary for some, especially those who are the most active and complete missions habitually. Such players would be put at a disadvantage and see a reduction in short-term crystal production. I just completed a large mission of my own, as seen above. I was not in need of the supplies prior to claiming this as I play without supplies 90% of the time. It wasn't practical for me to complete it but it was the easier of the two I had at one point. I also have a 9,999 kills mission with a reward of 83k crystals, That is harder to complete because you can gain more points by capturing flags or points in addition to the points you get per kill. I saw that I was going to attain the points much faster than the kills so I changed that one and got rid of it. I know you're probably going "why on Earth would you do that?" I did it symbolically because that spot that the mission occupied for well over 4 months could very well be worth 40k in that amount of time. Of course if you're prolific in activity, you could double your profit in the case of 80k. But would you prefer 40k as soon as possible or 80k down the road? You should want the 40k as soon as possible. If you were to keep a 80k reward mission and plan even further ahead and pick what you were to spend it on, it would be like a needle in a haystack. If you are a smart buyer, you wait for sales to get the most bang for your buck. You could have eventually completed it just after a sale and lose out. It would also be like if you've only obtained a quarter of the experience you need to advance to the next rank and you're already planning what to spend the rank up crystals on. Unless you unlock what you plan on buying at the next rank, it isn't worth the thought as you needs will easily change in that period of time. Again, do you want 40k now or 80k later? And I understand this example isn't even a garage purchase, so why include this? As I mentioned, that mission slot is worth something. By choosing to limit it's capability, you are losing potential wealth that you could have gained to spend on a garage purchase. So it's an investment of sorts that that doesn't pay off on your terms. If you could plan and predict sales like investors watch the markets, then it would be a different story. A case by case issue; for me personally, it feels like a waste. In the two years since my previous guide, implementations to the game have only made the distinction between high priority and low priority items clearer. Some make you look good, some make someone else feel better, and some make you waste crystals. At the end of the day, it's still up to you to decide which is which. Thanks for reading; hope you enjoyed.

Bloody Motte sounds like a scary tourist destination people say they've gone to but actually never have. Excellent article, Vik.

The source has been found. Your confirmation bias is inaccurate.