Let's Discuss Shaft!

[Assad 20]

Shaft will always be ruined for me because of that stupid laser sight.

[C.O.N.Q.U.E.R.O.R 3,845]

Shaft will always be ruined for me because of that stupid laser sight.

The laser sight was literally the most ineffective attempt at a nerf that the devs have ever made. All you have to do is aim at a nearby wall and then move your scope when you see an enemy. More info on how to use shaft effectively here: http://en.tankiforum.com/index.php?showtopic=374315%C2%A0 

 

 

totally not shameless advertising

[GuidoFawkes 2,361]

totally not shameless advertising

it's obsolette now.

 

example : there you had advice like not to engage smoky/thunder slol at close range because "do not bring a knifeto a gun fight".. well right bnow at close range shft deals 20% more dps than smoky

 

 

most of your focus is about using the scope... now shaft has become more about arcade

[FogOfWar_XXX 793]

it's obsolette now.

 

example : there you had advice like not to engage smoky/thunder slol at close range because "do not bring a knifeto a gun fight".. well right bnow at close range shft deals 20% more dps than smoky

 

 

most of your focus is about using the scope... now shaft has become more about arcade

Odd, because shaft is not still a arcade beast, but then, the intention of slowly denigrating the shaft as a sniper is clearly in effect here.  Trying to influence the game play of shafters and get them into the frenetic mind set of the other turrets.  They despise shaft game play, tactics, and methodology, and this is their way of trying to entice us out of it.  We can still shaft, but were more likely now to run into the fray if even a half charge shot consumes all the energy and we're more likely to do more damage per shot with arcade.

 

I played last night, verdict is still out, I wasn't so impressed with my arcade damage.  I'm a non-drugger, so every point of damage counts, and I can tell you, the buff did little for me, except at close range.  Game play DID SEEM like I was able to perform a few more kills the normal, but again, I need to play more to know more.  All said and told, I can't say it's bad yet, but great or good, I'm not thinking I'll be singing this modification's laurels for time eternal either.

 

 

Edited October 16, 2018 by FogOfWar_XXX

[splitterpoint 10,986]

I'm a non-drugger

Why? 

[FogOfWar_XXX 793]

Why? 

Drugs are absolutely ridiculous.  Especially heal ups.  This is a game of armored combat, and one assumes that large caliber projectiles slamming into armor (or futuristic energy weapons that some how kinetically translate the same), it's a given you are going to get shot, damaged, and die.  The notion of carefully planning and hunting your prey down, timing shots,  Observing the wounded and picking them off, it all goes out the window when someone you just smashed can just press a little button and all your hard work and planning is instantly evaporated and they are as good as new.

 

Now, throw in double armor, which is like some dumb force field, and your thoughts on how much damage you need to do to be effective are instantly halved, and your understanding of your turret inherently is thus halved, and given everyone is DA as much as possible, my M4 is more like a M2 (of course exactly paralleled, but you get the idea).  Now, add in DD, and I see certain types of enemies coming towards me and I can decide if I can confront them or retreat to a better and more advantageous position, or not, because I don't know if they are going to DD up and hit me 3 times, or 2, and kill me.  Do I retreat and try to engage at a better position that might allow me to fight it out, or do I run because I'm facing a ridiculous odds in terms of DPM? Speed boost you can take or leave, that's a complicated advantage that COULD be argued, but ultimately is not directly relevant to the mechanics of your turret or hull for the purposes of engaging in combat.  Nitro exists in the world, though not in diesel engine tanks, that I know of, but whatever, at least it skirts something to reality.  Mines are fine, though I think each hull type should have a max load out.

 

If own a M4 SHAFT!  M4!  And I can't single shot Wasps half the time.  Throw in protection modules and drones that up the effects of drugs, and hell, what's the point?  EVERYTHING is a variable, not just the skill and acumen of the player.  I regularly get rapped by NO SKILL, like ZERO SKILL, "no turn my turret" Ricos in Vikings and up because they just come at you with DA and DD, and heal up once you've done them enough damage they feel like it's time.  And then what?  Smokies too, thump thump, I hit, they heal, thump thump, I'm dead.  Give me a break.  I have watched Vikings go across a map without an izzie in tow, got shot at by three separate units, kill two of them, pick up a flag, heal up, and when their drugs died (they came in hot, all three on), they overdrive, haul butt back home, and RK is ready to be used again by the time they are near or in their base making the final run to capture, and they do it.  We're talking in the realms of maybe 50K to 70K+ points of damage dealt to a single player, and they DON'T die.  Ridiculous, just stupid.  With DA on, at distance, VS a shaft module protected enemy, my M4 can deal as little as 54 points of damage in arcade.  Are you kidding.  And in scope, Ive been insulted with full charge shots at distance of sometime 128 to 200s.  I understand this math all the time, and sometimes I wonder if it's in error, be regardless, the point is all the drugs, overdrives, and drones, combined with protection modules make it impossible to make a shaft shine to combat very often.

 

We're supposed to be the one shot, one kill "terror" of the battlefield, and short of drugging up too, we're nothing but a reminder to press RK and DA.  On principal alone, for all the reasons above, I dislike and hate drugs.  People who work very hard to line up shot and kills are left with blinking little wrenches over their targets and all their work left for nigh.  It's wrong, it's cheap, it makes no sense, and it's just a money grab.

Edited October 16, 2018 by FogOfWar_XXX

[thesquarerootof2 165]

I think that Shaft's arcade shot should lose some more range and get like 0 weak damage. It just doesn't make sense that this weapon has an OP sniping mode and then in ADDITION to that it gets a very good arcade mode, rivaling the DPS of Smoky and Thunder (and that's pretty high) and the same range as Ricochet (and more range if you count that it does weak damage while Ricochet just cuts off) I mean, even ignoring everything else, this is a long-range weapon; isn't short-range defense exactly what those things are supposed to be bad at? 

P.S. yes the sniping mode is actually OP

Edited October 16, 2018 by thesquarerootof2

[Assad 20]

Drugging is literally Pay2Win (using daddy's credit card to buy drug kits) and Press2Win (no skill required). 

I'll never understand the mentality of those defending it.

[GuidoFawkes 2,361]

Drugging is literally Pay2Win (using daddy's credit card to buy drug kits) and Press2Win (no skill required). 

I'll never understand the mentality of those defending it.

and where the hell would the money needed to fund the game come from?

[Assad 20]

and where the hell would the money needed to fund the game come from?

Tank kits, modules, paintings, drones, crystal packages? There are more than enough microtransactions, especially for an old game that isn't being worked on much.

 

If they want more money, they should focus on making the game better to attract more players, thus more potential buyers.

Instead of driving away players with ******ed changes.

[DieselPlatinum 5,121]

Drugging is literally Pay2Win (using daddy's credit card to buy drug kits) and Press2Win (no skill required). 

I'll never understand the mentality of those defending it.

And why do you think that? Is it because you don't have any supplies of your own? Or is it because of the star week event?

[Assad 20]

And why do you think that? Is it because you don't have any supplies of your own? Or is it because of the star week event?

Because it ruins the gameplay? Instead of skills, MM games are decided by who drugs the most.

Also everything that FogOfWar_XXX said.

[wolverine848 13,097]

Drugging is literally Pay2Win (using daddy's credit card to buy drug kits) and Press2Win (no skill required). 

I'll never understand the mentality of those defending it.

How is using supplies pay-to-win?     

 

You may not like supply-battles (I prefer non-supply battles), but you not liking them does not make it pay-to-win.

 

You should have so many supplies by now that you don't need to actually buy any from garage or shop...

[DieselPlatinum 5,121]

Because it ruins the gameplay? Instead of skills, MM games are decided by who drugs the most.

Also everything that FogOfWar_XXX said.

 

As bad as it is now, it was much worse before. In 2014, you could have all three supplies on at once, and over drives didn't exist back then, neither did drones. The supplies would last around 3 minutes and when they deactivated, you could just put them right back on. The smart cool downs would take care of the spamming of supplies.

 

Since then up until last year, supplies would last 45 seconds long and repair kit would fully heal your tank instantly without being disrupted..

 

Now, supplies would last 30 seconds, and repairs only heal 1000 hp instantly, but the other 3000 can be disrupted.

[thesquarerootof2 165]

Technically drugging is no less skillful if you have to deal with everyone else doing it as well

Edited October 17, 2018 by thesquarerootof2

[splitterpoint 10,986]

 

Drugs are absolutely ridiculous.  Especially heal ups.  This is a game of armored combat, and one assumes that large caliber projectiles slamming into armor (or futuristic energy weapons that some how kinetically translate the same), it's a given you are going to get shot, damaged, and die.  The notion of carefully planning and hunting your prey down, timing shots,  Observing the wounded and picking them off, it all goes out the window when someone you just smashed can just press a little button and all your hard work and planning is instantly evaporated and they are as good as new.

 

Now, throw in double armor, which is like some dumb force field, and your thoughts on how much damage you need to do to be effective are instantly halved, and your understanding of your turret inherently is thus halved, and given everyone is DA as much as possible, my M4 is more like a M2 (of course exactly paralleled, but you get the idea).  Now, add in DD, and I see certain types of enemies coming towards me and I can decide if I can confront them or retreat to a better and more advantageous position, or not, because I don't know if they are going to DD up and hit me 3 times, or 2, and kill me.  Do I retreat and try to engage at a better position that might allow me to fight it out, or do I run because I'm facing a ridiculous odds in terms of DPM? Speed boost you can take or leave, that's a complicated advantage that COULD be argued, but ultimately is not directly relevant to the mechanics of your turret or hull for the purposes of engaging in combat.  Nitro exists in the world, though not in diesel engine tanks, that I know of, but whatever, at least it skirts something to reality.  Mines are fine, though I think each hull type should have a max load out.

 

If own a M4 SHAFT!  M4!  And I can't single shot Wasps half the time.  Throw in protection modules and drones that up the effects of drugs, and hell, what's the point?  EVERYTHING is a variable, not just the skill and acumen of the player.  I regularly get rapped by NO SKILL, like ZERO SKILL, "no turn my turret" Ricos in Vikings and up because they just come at you with DA and DD, and heal up once you've done them enough damage they feel like it's time.  And then what?  Smokies too, thump thump, I hit, they heal, thump thump, I'm dead.  Give me a break.  I have watched Vikings go across a map without an izzie in tow, got shot at by three separate units, kill two of them, pick up a flag, heal up, and when their drugs died (they came in hot, all three on), they overdrive, haul butt back home, and RK is ready to be used again by the time they are near or in their base making the final run to capture, and they do it.  We're talking in the realms of maybe 50K to 70K+ points of damage dealt to a single player, and they DON'T die.  Ridiculous, just stupid.  With DA on, at distance, VS a shaft module protected enemy, my M4 can deal as little as 54 points of damage in arcade.  Are you kidding.  And in scope, Ive been insulted with full charge shots at distance of sometime 128 to 200s.  I understand this math all the time, and sometimes I wonder if it's in error, be regardless, the point is all the drugs, overdrives, and drones, combined with protection modules make it impossible to make a shaft shine to combat very often.

 

We're supposed to be the one shot, one kill "terror" of the battlefield, and short of drugging up too, we're nothing but a reminder to press RK and DA.  On principal alone, for all the reasons above, I dislike and hate drugs.  People who work very hard to line up shot and kills are left with blinking little wrenches over their targets and all their work left for nigh.  It's wrong, it's cheap, it makes no sense, and it's just a money grab.

 

Thanks, I've read everything but before I am going to make my statement about your perception: Are you playing Matchmaking battles and are you opening containers; even if that would not be your main objective?

[Benefactor 6,888]

Drugging is literally Pay2Win (using daddy's credit card to buy drug kits) and Press2Win (no skill required). 

I'll never understand the mentality of those defending it.

  

Tank kits, modules, paintings, drones, crystal packages? There are more than enough microtransactions, especially for an old game that isn't being worked on much.

 

If they want more money, they should focus on making the game better to attract more players, thus more potential buyers.

Instead of driving away players with ******ed changes.

Did you just contradict yourself?

[FogOfWar_XXX 793]

Thanks, I've read everything but before I am going to make my statement about your perception: Are you playing Matchmaking battles and are you opening containers; even if that would not be your main objective?

Yes, it's all I have to play right now, matchmaking.  I had tried with a premium account when they first came out.  I was hoping the pass would really make a dent in the groups that wanted to play drug free, and the groups that wanted to play drug format.  Quickly I realized that since you couldn't rename battles back then, it was extremely difficult to promote and announce your battle formats, and learning some cryptic lexicon of symbols to look at one by one as you clicked down the ever shifting list was so time consuming it was pointless, I gave up on it.

 

I know you can name battles now, and I have toyed with the idea of getting a pro-pass alone, no Premium account, and see what it would be like lately.  I'm ranked in a way now that XP and access to garage items are a non-issue, so maybe I could stop caring about playing more games, and just play better ones, but there is still a principal at play here.  Lower ranked players will not stay and remain to play non-drug battles if their experience has always been drugged battles.  I am the first person to admit Alternativa needs to make money.  I am the first person to advocate though that said earnings can be had by equipment sales, crystals for equipment, and new offerings to enhance the game, the play, the turrets, and overall experience.  I actually have REAL ideas that I have thought of floating to them.  But it seems like the easy draw of selling drugs is also inherently deeper than the drugs themselves.

 

They see EASY money with drugs.  It expands the player base.  Again, this is the company that invested a large amount of manpower and man hours adding mouse controls so "less intellectually capable" people, ie those who can't be bothered to read, wouldn't load the game, try turning the turret with the mouse, failing, and claiming the game sucked and was broken.  It was always my contention the catering to this lowest common denominator of society was an adverse influx of players, not a something that behooved the game.  Volume, quantity, not quality, is at play here.  It's build a bigger mouse trap, not better.  For all it's simplistic nature, Tanki was at least, a very clever and nuanced game, with rates of fire, damage amounts, vectors for inducing damage, along with armor and speed being actually very close to something realistic.  You had quantifiable odds, and if you knew your stats, and you understood the ones you were facing, you could work to turn your advantages against your enemy.  As a team, everyone could supplement the other, and tada, tactical and strategic gameplay for armor.  Now, all that is for nothing, drugs reign supreme, all your hard work can be randomly done away with with the press of a 1 key, and your effects can be halved, and your targets potential doubled.  What to do?  Do the same, except you, too, now are creating false effects, ruining the effect of the efforts of others in an unrealistic manner.  It's not skill that kept you alive, or tactics, it's the number 1.

 

As for opening containers, yes, I do, and I have HUGE, I mean a HUUUUGGEEE, warehouse of drugs.  I have used them ever so sparingly, and in nearly every instance, it was to complete missions that I was unable to because not using drugs was simply not an option, as I was getting beaten death trying to bring home a flag for 2 DAYS!  Two reasons for not using them, the first, the obvious inherent reasons I described above, regarding the offset of game play caused by "magically" powering up and healing up.  The second, is that if I did join that fray, I would eventually get to the point where the elites buy, because I'd be using them so much to keep up, the rate of rewards does not equal the rate of need.  I know this for a fact by placement in most battles.  As of late only, have I been in the very bottom of battles, and even then, it's a little over half the time.  I attribute that to my new rank, the MM system parring with more Legendarys and Gens, and their use of drugs in team play, I see a lot more coordination in the MM now that I have ranked up.   These are hard core players that obvious are in communication and playing as a team.  It's to be expected.  If started using drugs I could certainly raise my score much higher, but then I'd need them.  Again principal and guiding logic keeps me from contributing to the problem.

Edited October 17, 2018 by FogOfWar_XXX

[Assad 20]

principal and guiding logic keeps me from contributing to the problem.

I think this is a very important and understated point. I too can drug and easily dominate battles, but I choose not to because I have integrity.

I want to win with just my tank and my skills VS your tank and your skills, no artificial invincibility or godmode by press of a button.

 

Unfortunately even most non-druggers eventually cave in and drug themselves in order to keep up, thus an endless cycle.

 

I suggest just playing Pro Battles, that's where all the fun and intense matches are. I only do MM quickly for daily rewards and then leave, because I refuse to be a punching bag for some drugging Ricochet who can't even turn his turret.

[GuidoFawkes 2,361]

I think this is a very important and understated point. I too can drug and easily dominate battles, but I choose not to because I have integrity.

I want to win with just my tank and my skills VS your tank and your skills, no artificial invincibility or godmode by press of a button.

 

Unfortunately even most non-druggers eventually cave in and drug themselves in order to keep up, thus an endless cycle.

 

I suggest just playing Pro Battles, that's where all the fun and intense matches are. I only do MM quickly for daily rewards and then leave, because I refuse to be a punching bag for some drugging Ricochet who can't even turn his turret.

then why you say people should buy tank and module kits, drones and crystals???

[FogOfWar_XXX 793]

I really need to proof my posts, so many typos.

 

I'm gonna  edit my last two, just for the record.

[SporkZilla 1,775]

It’s not about integrity for me. Putting too much emphasis on that is just going to annoy people.

 

Principle is fine. I’ve tried to avoid using drugs because I think the game is better without them (especially repair kits) and not using them is just my way of making a stand for the type of gameplay that I believe in.

 

Thankfully, at my ranks (including this one) there are still lots of MM battles that aren’t dominated by heavy druggers. When I get to the point where nearly every MM battle is a drugfest, I’ll probably retire those accounts.

 

Edit: RKs really are the worst, and a P2W supply. I’ve saved up almost 5000 of everything else on this account (have nearly 1000 batteries too) and would probably never run out if I started using them now, but only have 2400 RKs and I think I’d run out of those. Dealing with heavy druggers wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t for RKs. At least I’d get some points for damaging them.

Edited October 17, 2018 by SporkZilla

[FogOfWar_XXX 793]

It’s not about integrity for me. Putting too much emphasis on that is just going to annoy people.

 

Principle is fine. I’ve tried to avoid using drugs because I think the game is better without them (especially repair kits) and not using them is just my way of making a stand for the type of gameplay that I believe in.

 

Thankfully, at my ranks (including this one) there are still lots of MM battles that aren’t dominated by heavy druggers. When I get to the point where nearly every MM battle is a drugfest, I’ll probably retire those accounts.

I both entirely agree with that sentiment, and abhore it.  Integrity is almost a bad word nowadays.  What are people learning in life when everything, even a stupid game, is about GAMING it.  It pisses me off to think people can't even go toe to toe in some dumb online game. they have to edge the bets with crap.  Like you said, taking the stand, whether on principal or desired game play is important, because it sets an example for others to hopefully reflect on who they are and what they do.  This isn't a life skills class, but hell, I don't need to be part of the problem, and if I can say something even marginally worth while to someone about life with this tiny gesture, so be it.

[wolverine848 13,097]

 

 

Yes, it's all I have to play right now, matchmaking.  I had tried with a premium account when they first came out.  I was hoping the pass would really make a dent in the groups that wanted to play drug free, and the groups that wanted to play drug format.  Quickly I realized that since you couldn't rename battles back then, it was extremely difficult to promote and announce your battle formats, and learning some cryptic lexicon of symbols to look at one by one as you clicked down the ever shifting list was so time consuming it was pointless, I gave up on it.

 

I know you can name battles now, and I have toyed with the idea of getting a pro-pass alone, no Premium account, and see what it would be like lately.  I'm ranked in a way now that XP and access to garage items are a non-issue, so maybe I could stop caring about playing more games, and just play better ones, but there is still a principal at play here.  Lower ranked players will not stay and remain to play non-drug battles if their experience has always been drugged battles.  I am the first person to admit Alternativa needs to make money.  I am the first person to advocate though that said earnings can be had by equipment sales, crystals for equipment, and new offerings to enhance the game, the play, the turrets, and overall experience.  I actually have REAL ideas that I have thought of floating to them.  But it seems like the easy draw of selling drugs is also inherently deeper than the drugs themselves.

 

They see EASY money with drugs.  It expands the player base.  Again, this is the company that invested a large amount of manpower and man hours adding mouse controls so "less intellectually capable" people, ie those who can't be bothered to read, wouldn't load the game, try turning the turret with the mouse, failing, and claiming the game sucked and was broken.  It was always my contention the catering to this lowest common denominator of society was an adverse influx of players, not a something that behooved the game.  Volume, quantity, not quality, is at play here.  It's build a bigger mouse trap, not better.  For all it's simplistic nature, Tanki was at least, a very clever and nuanced game, with rates of fire, damage amounts, vectors for inducing damage, along with armor and speed being actually very close to something realistic.  You had quantifiable odds, and if you knew your stats, and you understood the ones you were facing, you could work to turn your advantages against your enemy.  As a team, everyone could supplement the other, and tada, tactical and strategic gameplay for armor.  Now, all that is for nothing, drugs reign supreme, all your hard work can be randomly done away with with the press of a 1 key, and your effects can be halved, and your targets potential doubled.  What to do?  Do the same, except you, too, now are creating false effects, ruining the effect of the efforts of others in an unrealistic manner.  It's not skill that kept you alive, or tactics, it's the number 1.

 

As for opening containers, yes, I do, and I have HUGE, I mean a HUUUUGGEEE, warehouse of drugs.  I have used them ever so sparingly, and in nearly every instance, it was to complete missions that I was unable to because not using drugs was simply not an option, as I was getting beaten death trying to bring home a flag for 2 DAYS!  Two reasons for not using them, the first, the obvious inherent reasons I described above, regarding the offset of game play caused by "magically" powering up and healing up.  The second, is that if I did join that fray, I would eventually get to the point where the elites buy, because I'd be using them so much to keep up, the rate of rewards does not equal the rate of need.  I know this for a fact by placement in most battles.  As of late only, have I been in the very bottom of battles, and even then, it's a little over half the time.  I attribute that to my new rank, the MM system parring with more Legendarys and Gens, and their use of drugs in team play, I see a lot more coordination in the MM now that I have ranked up.   These are hard core players that obvious are in communication and playing as a team.  It's to be expected.  If started using drugs I could certainly raise my score much higher, but then I'd need them.  Again principal and guiding logic keeps me from contributing to the problem.

 

 

I understand where you are coming from - if I could complete missions in Pro-Battles I'd probably play that exclusively.  I prefer non-supply battles and I hate the random maps, and the shortened battles as well.  Wasting time in garage after joining a battle certainly does not help.

 

I'm relatively new to the Legend battles, being an L2.  As MM does not differentiate between L-levels I'm fighting my peers, and also fighting L55's who have many more upgrades and options than I do at present.

 

I have never bought anything with real money - but - due to the mission rewards and containers, I find that I have 8k-10k of each supply except for RKs - where I probably have ~ 2k.  Buyers have no advantage on me regarding supplies - with one exception - batteries.

So I do encounter what might be buyers with Drones equipped.  Don't know enough about them to comment if they make a huge difference or not.

 

The outcome?  In MatchMaking battles I can end up anywhere from 1st place winning team to last place losing team. I'd say my average is around 4th position on either team.  It is possible to compete without buying.

 

Question for you...

Even though your preference may be to non-supply battles (like me), if you are playing team battles through Matchmaker, do you feel there's a possibility you are handi-capping your team by not using supplies - when - maybe everyone on the other team is using supplies?

Kind of like OverDrive - it can be frustrating to play on a team where many of my team-mates save OD for golds and refuse to share with team - even as we lose the batttle...

[FogOfWar_XXX 793]

I understand where you are coming from - if I could complete missions in Pro-Battles I'd probably play that exclusively.  I prefer non-supply battles and I hate the random maps, and the shortened battles as well.  Wasting time in garage after joining a battle certainly does not help.

 

I'm relatively new to the Legend battles, being an L2.  As MM does not differentiate between L-levels I'm fighting my peers, and also fighting L55's who have many more upgrades and options than I do at present.

 

I have never bought anything with real money - but - due to the mission rewards and containers, I find that I have 8k-10k of each supply except for RKs - where I probably have ~ 2k.  Buyers have no advantage on me regarding supplies - with one exception - batteries.

So I do encounter what might be buyers with Drones equipped.  Don't know enough about them to comment if they make a huge difference or not.

 

The outcome?  In MatchMaking battles I can end up anywhere from 1st place winning team to last place losing team. I'd say my average is around 4th position on either team.  It is possible to compete without buying.

 

Question for you...

Even though your preference may be to non-supply battles (like me), if you are playing team battles through Matchmaker, do you feel there's a possibility you are handi-capping your team by not using supplies - when - maybe everyone on the other team is using supplies?

Kind of like OverDrive - it can be frustrating to play on a team where many of my team-mates save OD for golds and refuse to share with team - even as we lose the batttle...

To be clear, I think you refer to team in general, and yeah, I know for a fact that I've had players that try to Sab me out of rounds when they see me, tell me leave, because they know me, of me, and my politic about drugging.  To that, I say, what if a bunch of non-druggers in a MM battle started trying to run off a drugger, then what?  It's open to everyone, it's Tanki's bread and butter, can't do missions without them, so, sorry, I'm joining MM, regardless of the outcome on my team.

 

As for Battle Group teams, I have played only once, and that was a battle group of two, with someone I play with on occasion (though it's rare nowadays).

 

As for the Goldbox reference, I'm not sure what relevance it had, but, I as rule, I skip the gold boxes entirely.  I do like the new randomization and short droptime, I've collected as many in the last few months as I have in the entire time I had played Tanki before the update on those.  That said, I still don't chase gold boxes/