Are you saying that you don’t like the 2012-2020 skins?

I too have come back from a six month break, so I’m not up to scratch either. However I do occasionally watch some of the esports players and streamers, particularly the Russian ones, and 99% of them seem to be using Paladin these days. Probably has to do with the OD.

No one even asks for things like that. Most reasonable players simply want more balanced games, whichever form that may take, rather than more broken status effect/drone/OD nonsense. And here I must stress that I have nothing against these various gameplay features. The problem is when they are implemented badly - which they unfortunately are. And why on earth would the game shut down due to lack of revenue? The devs make ridiculous profit with all the “Tanki Fund”-style events that we have had in the past year. Where is all that money going? Why does it still take the dev team A MONTH to release a SINGLE HD skin? In summer 2021 Hazel was showing off a working new interface, and he spoke of it as if it would release in the next few weeks/months. Here we are in FEBRUARY 2022 and still no word about this new interface. So once again, I ask, where is all the revenue going? Clearly not to maintain the servers as they are still suffering from the same lag. Clearly not to speed up the development of maps/skins/cosmetics or even just new gameplay related content. I wouldn’t even be surprised if there is some dubious financial irregularities going on behind the scenes. Nonsense. There are no classes of players - “those who care about the game” and “those who just play”. You can not care about voting in polls or using the forum and still care deeply about the game. And likewise, those who use the forum or “care to vote” don’t necessarily care about the game either. I think I understand what you mean, that there are players who are serious about the game and those who aren’t, but that’s as far as I would go to categorise them. As far as keeping players happy, I would have to disagree. The devs seem to have adopted a new business model in the last few years: create temporarily interesting content (augments, drones, ODs) which, when badly implemented ruin the balance, but which will attract new players to the game. The problem is that Alternativa don’t care about old players. In fact, I am certain that Hazel would be happy to sacrifice them in exchange for newer players who would be more likely to spend big bucks or even just a little here and there compared to the veterans. When they realise they can’t compete they too will leave and get replaced by yet more new players, and so the vicious cycle repeats. More players coming and going = more profits. So no, the devs clearly aren’t interested in “keeping everyone happy”, possibly with the exception of some small quality of life changes here and there. But that’s it. In terms of the overall direction of the game, we the players have absolutely no say. And while I’m not saying we should have a say, it’s clear that Hazel has firmly set his mind upon totally changing everything about the game, and therefore every future update will always be aimed at catering to new players and attracting more of them because that is where the profit lies. It’s not about TO’s evolution into something modern and new, it’s about a total altering of the game’s audience and demographics at the expense of the current playerbase.

You described it perfectly. I want to hear from Hazel himself how he can logically conclude that new players will flock to the game after all the changes he’s made. Because he’s either lying through his teeth or incredibly deluded to think that.

Exactly. Hazel’s sacrifice of older players for new ones has failed so far, as there are barely any new players joining the game and I doubt there will be any time soon.

I mean, some of these events such as the Tanki fund last year seemed worth it, but after the container updates I think this event probably isn’t. Just my personal opinion.

Maybe they are going to add all the non-HD skins to the game as “Legacy 2.0” skins.

No I meant that I’m rephrasing what he said, it’s not a direct quote.

Which is why the smart players will not buy any bundle. Because even if you are on the winning team, the container statistics are either totally wrong or they are rigged on purpose. So don’t expect to get even a single legendary from all those containers. Also this event is nothing like the Tanki Fund last year, where iirc you didn’t even have to have any Stars, you just had to be on the winning team to get all the rewards including the 4th slot + other stuff I can’t remember off the top of my head.

Hazel (lead dev) expects the old players to get bored and quit, he said so himself in one of the older V-LOGs, and he wants that so that new players can join and spend money on the game. Notice how most of the updates from 2020 onwards have been focused on “improving the experience” for newer players, for example, the update that removed the option to micro-upgrade if you had already unlocked the next modification. No one asked for an update like that however Hazel pushed it through with the excuse that it would “simplify the upgrading process for new players” (not a direct quote). Also, virtually all of the interface changes were done to cater to new players, a younger audience - possibly mobile-oriented players - who are more likely to buy stuff in the Shop before they realise just how unbalanced the game is and leave. So in the end, you have a game that has lost its soul just as you said. From a nice arcade game where you can hop on for some fun when you feel like it, to a brainless gacha experience where battles are simply “who can better utilise the more broken augment/drone/overdrive”.

That user is a troll who bas been arguing how Gauss EMP isn’t at all overpowered for at least a year.

No idea, honestly, but he shouldn't go and ruin a battle like that.

Agreed, if he's gonna test using Juggernaut at least do it in the TJR mode.

Yeah, it’s no wonder virtually every esports player is using Paladin these days, its OD does seem far too strong.

With both accounts as well. More and more I get the feeling that that is simply one person with two accounts.

Brutus is basically a necessity because otherwise your supply power will be greatly limited (don’t remember the exact percentages).

Actually sometimes they have to test things out specifically on the live servers, but I’m not excusing him for that.

It’s probably more to do with the OP status effect augments and broken Overdrives, like Paladin’s, but I get where you’re coming from.

Hornet and Rico aren’t even mentioned in the patch notes, as far as I can see, so how have they been changed?

Exactly, because none of them are balanced. EMP Gauss is just one of the worst offenders.

Of course, he probably has an excuse that he was just “testing something out”…

I disagree. That user is just downright trolling now. It’s arguing for the sake of arguing, even if their ‘argument’ is non-sensical and purely anecdotal at best. Mods used to give out warning points for that, but I guess they don’t really care.

One of my all-time favourite memes about Tanki: Source

Lead TO developer, Hazel, that's him.

@Abellia Agreed. It’s no surprise these OP gimmicks aren’t permitted in esports matches. Yeah, esports battles - the epitome of balanced battles, or so I hear since I’m not an esports player. On another note, I can see the alt accounts are out in full force today, reacting with ‘shrug’ to the exact same posts and comments. Unfortunate, but that’s what the forum has come to I guess.