Remembering Crystal Boxes

[TriNitroToIuene 4,765]

REMEMBERING CRYSTAL BOXES

 

DISCLAIMER - Read this carefully. I am not here to start a campaign to bring back crystal boxes, because I respect the decisions made by moderators. What I really am doing is write an article remembering the good old days. So you guys can keep your smart-aleck comments to yourselves :P

 

Sometime last year (don't ask me when, because firstly, I'm terrible at history, and secondly, I'm too lazy to look it up in the Developer's News Archive), the calm tranquil of the forum was shattered by a topic created by Semyon.

 

Looking at the title, many people were thinking, 'oh, goody! That'll be the update to increase crystal box values further!', as, just a week or two previously, crystal box values had been trebled. Depending on the battle fund, they could be as low as one crystal or as much as a hundred.

 

Lost in visions of becoming crystal hunters, they blindly like the topic, but once they read the whole thing through, they realized that Semyon had, indeed, dropped a bombshell.

 

I didn't think I ever saw a topic as unpopular as that one was (although, the camera speed modification one could give it a run for its money), but yet, the number of likes it got was quite disproportional to its popularity.

 

Crystal boxes would now be directly added to the battle fund instead of dropping in those familiar boxes, meaning one would have to play the match through to claim his reward.

 

For some, this meant the end of mults who simply turned up to picket crystals and were a liability to ther team. For others, well, it meant sacrificing more time in their already busy schedule.

 

Crystal boxes had turned from one of the pivotal aspects of the game to a thing of the past.

 

Nowadays, we can manage quite well without that blue chip of crystals, but there still remain some people who go their bed weeping quietly at night wishing for that relative of the gold box with one-hundredth of the content.

 

***

 

So... so much to tell, where to begin?

 

I guess I'll begin with a definition of a crystal box. Well, it's blue in colour, contains ten crystals each, and is cubic in dimension, so it can be defined as v³ where v is a perfect cube or any real number. A cube's volume is written as l X b X h, where l is the length, b is the breadth, and  h is the height.

 

Whoa, I must have dozed off, sorry. No, Illuminati is not confirmed! It's just my mathematical self interrupting this article I've been working so hard on.

 

Well, anyway, the crystal boxes were worth ten crystals each, and were a great source of entertainment and income for people, especially lower ranks. One of its greatest assets to the community was the fact that it didn't discriminate between anyone. A Recruit or even a Generalissimo could hoard them for a few days and then buy the item of their choice.

 

It used to be a real treat to the eyes, to see that flash of blue saturate the skybox of Tanki and then alight with a slight bump onto the game. All the tankers used to rush for it (well, those foolish enough not to concentrate on flags), and we all had a good laugh on each others' expense. It really was a stressbuster.

 

I remember the day I was frantic to buy my first M1 - Firebird. It was the last day of the sale, and the servers were almost empty. I rushed through a Moon Silence CTF, collected all the crystals through boxes, and bought my M1  B).

 

Moon Silence. How we miss it *sob*. Don't get me started on that topic. Maybe next time!

 

Anyway, me and my other nub friends used to prepare for goldhunting with crystal boxes. Now you'll be thinking "typical nub", but believe me, it actually worked, as the crystal boxes shared the same drop spots with the golds.

 

In battles where the gold did not fall, crystal boxes served as the best alternative, especially in high-funded Sandbox CPs. In a few minutes, one could collect a hundred crystal boxes and be as well of as a guy who waited long hours in the queue to cash in his gold box.

 

There soon came a time where people started moving away from the gold and towards the blue crate with one-hundredth of its value.

 

Also, crystal boxes, for many, did away with the need for buying crystals, albeit at the cost of an hour or two. Instead of shelling out real money for instant crystals, one could shell out his time for gradual crystals. Everyone was happy, peaceful and contented, casually hunting the crystal boxes and getting slowly rich.

 

That was, of course, till the new update.

 

***

 

Post trebling, the outlook of the tankers changed. Why wait for funds at all when one could get crystal boxes worth a hundred crystals? The game headed towards disaster - these boxes were preferred over battle funds. Now, mults stretched over drop zones and putting gameplay in jeopardy with a mini-gold rush during the appearance of a hundred crystal box was a common sight. In each battle, half the people were just lying in wait for the crystals and not helping out their team at all.

 

Now, crystal mults added to the already mod-taxing list of gold mults. Soon, the amount of passionate players decreased drastically, with the usual cries of 'gold plz' being changed to '100 cry plz'. The spamming grew, multing grew, the sabotage grew, I grew, you grew, plants grew, the world grew.

 

Finally, Tanki had no choice but to get some shears and stunt that growth - first temporarily, then forever.

 

The experiment was met with mixed reaction - some wanted it implemented, some didn't. In the end, Tanki gave in to the protests against the hardworking players that the players had become parachute addicts had never cared for the game less.

 

A few days later, the blue boxes disappeared forever from our life.

 

The protests started. Some even wrote passionate defences of crystal boxes. I believe a player called RIPcrystalboxes even started a topic called 'Funeral Service for Crystal boxes'.

 

Were all these updates for the better? Or for the worse? Even now, as we play in an era of high battle funds, we all pause and think of gameplay, in the scenario in which crystal boxes dropped from the sky merrily and we all crowded underneath it, waiting for a taste of those diamonds (i mean figuratively, but perhaps there would have existed some people who deliberately wanted to break their teeth by chewing on diamonds).

 

But still, there is no denying, crystal boxes, once such an important part of our game, still live on - in the hearts of the old faces, and in their minds, falling gently on a parachute......

 

***

Edited July 9, 2015 by TriNitroToIuene

[golden5648 1,686]

Why is everyone always behind crystal boxes, I understand your feelings guys but the devs have already told why they were removed. 

[TriNitroToIuene 4,765]

Why is everyone always behind crystal boxes, I understand your feelings guys but the devs have already told why they were removed. 

Um, I'm not trying to bring them back, it's just an article by me remembering the good old days of the crystal boxes.

[golden5648 1,686]

Um, I'm not trying to bring them back, it's just an article by me remembering the good old days of the crystal boxes.

Yes, but I am getting fed up on topics regarding crystal boxes. I am not blaming you, but everyday even on chat I here people swearing to the devs because they removed crystal boxes. 

[Cor7y 13,862]

*sobs in the memory of crystal boxes*

[Ambitious 2,084]

Stop reminding me about them!

*goes to corner*

*lies around*

*tries not to cry*

*cries*

 

Great article *sob*

[dilsharox 2,395]

nice

R.I.P crys boxes

[falcosenna1 8,320]

Ooooh okay, it's an article! Feeeew. When reading the title, I thought it would be another topic made by a player crying for the return of crystals boxes! You scared me! :p Nice article! ;) 

[TriNitroToIuene 4,765]

Ooooh okay, it's an article! Feeeew. When reading the title, I thought it would be another topic made by a player crying for the return of crystals boxes! You scared me! :P Nice article! ;)

Thanks 

I did hope I had added the disclaimer in time :P

[Prady007 96]

RIP Crystal Boxes and Jon Snow :(  :( 

[Zenyth 6,494]

RIP crystal boxes, I loved them! Great article!

[Kevred 1,586]

Yes, but I am getting fed up on topics regarding crystal boxes. I am not blaming you, but everyday even on chat I here people swearing to the devs because they removed crystal boxes. 

Who doesn't like gleaming boxes packed with material goodness? My boxes :''''''(

[momy950666 960]

RIP i really loved them they helped my buy m1 fire and shaft

[golden5648 1,686]

Who doesn't like gleaming boxes packed with material goodness? My boxes :''''''(

:o

[NedFighter 408]

Awesome article :) 

[Yisroel.Rabin 16,224]

Nice article ^_^ +1

---

 

It was in the old days sunny,

as small numbers of crystals fell from the sky.

But today and forever tomorrow it is cloudy,

not allowing our beloved crystal boxes to fly.

But what's this?

A glance of the future,

a glance of crystals?

Yes, yes it is!

Crystals will rain once more,

because where's there's clouds,

there's rain,

and when it shall rain,

it shall rain happiness.

 

Random cheesy poem. XD

[Rayyan 3,415]

Missing those blue containers of happiness i hate new tanki becuz it dont have crystal boxes

 

#wewantcrystalboxesback 

[lukey0 27,543]

RIP Crystal Boxes. :)

[1stsuperwhitedragon 408]

Why is everyone always behind crystal boxes, I understand your feelings guys but the devs have already told why they were removed.

I don't understand why (in fact I didn't hear about it) <_<

[Eragon 13,876]

R.I.P  :(

[r_JK140 46]

RIP crystal boxes..

[drazeruzumaki 5,021]

i never saw crystal boxes <_<  so anyway RIP

[golden5648 1,686]

I don't understand why (in fact I didn't hear about it) <_<

But you said that you joined Tanki on 2012, you must know about crystal boxes then I think...

[Reeco9 1,567]

[Sr.I3oSS 2,546]

Those are history now... forget 'em.