Other [Issue 40] Veterans with the Pen - skitee

[TriNitroToIuene 4,765]

 
Skitee - one of the most influential reporters the Press has been lucky to get, a guiding force in the initial stages of the newspaper, and above all, a fantastic auteur (although, at this point, hogree's been simply nudging at me to mention that skitee's his brother).
 
Wait, before we start, you might be asking, what is this series all about? Well, I was just scrolling through the Archives one fine day and found this really old article of Issue 10. Surprise, it didn't even have a single upvote! I read through it, with growing amazement at the sheer quality and was furious to see this underestimating. Immediately, I took a vow to pay a tribute to our old reporters, come what may.
 
Before I start, let me explain the layout of this series. Every month, I'm going to pick a different reporter who has left the Tanki Online Newspaper Stuff, and write a history on him, including his works and what he meant to all of us. I'll be wrapping up with an interview among all the reporters about the ex-reporter's rich contribution.
 
Also, the banner will be a collage of the selected reporter's finest works, and remember, clicking on the pictures will lead you to the article itself!
 
And who better to start with, than skitee, the guy who steered the Press through all the troubled times and made it what it is today? So, ladies and gentletanks, I present to you ..... skitee!
 
Hogree gives me a polite reminder that upvotes and downvotes did not exist at the time Issue 10 was published. Thanks for specifying that, hog! Should have known that before I started this serie...... never mind, it's a great idea, anyway. And yes, hog, SKITEE IS YOUR BROTHER! I already told that!
 

EARLY DAYS

Well, I really can't call them 'early days'. Because, skitee's been around since the Newspaper itself - right since Issue 1. He was one of the few reporters, or rather, the only reporter approached by Bruce Lunga and Tommy60 to run the English Newspaper, and as skitee recalls, he 'jumped at the offer and never looked back.' The first Issue was centred around just four reporters, with conanthedestroyer (what a man, he's been the backbone of it all) as the editor.
 
For Issue 1, skitee wrote four articles - Clans, Clans FAQ, The "Perfect" Combination and Magadan (with a * after each title, I have no idea why). In 'Magadan', he wished to establish a series of map-related articles, but he went on to write just one (though awesome) sequel - Chernobyl... Magadan was also available in a PDF format, if it matters to you.
 
'Clans FAQ' and 'The "Perfect" Combination' were a set of questions and answers - the former an interview similar to the 'Ask the Community series we had going until recently (bother Rem with doubts about that, please) where he interviewed clan leaders, high rankers; well, the lot about their favourite combination in a battle. He signed off the article by giving his own opinions..... and that's it. Skitee was in action.
 
Of course, I can't forget to mention his article on Clans, which I must say was historic. Skitee, it seems, loved clans. He waxed his feelings completely in this article, giving detailed advice on what clans were (I'm sure many of you know that now), how to join a clan, how to choose the best clan, what to do in a clan... the whole deal. It seems noteworthy that this was one of the first articles which employed pictures to make concepts clearer to players - and I must admit, they did the job. Skitee ended that masterpiece with his signature...er...signature, you can see it here -
 

 

 
I guess Issues 2 and 3 can still be called 'early days', that's why I'm going to diverge.
 
Anyway, for Issue 2, skitee wrote 'Tanki Online World Cup', an account of the Tanki Online World Cup, obviously. He also penned an Interview with Clan Leaders, in which he interviewed leaders of Shadow Strikers, Dare Devils, Try To Stop, Domination Clan, and The IronClads. He continued this series into Issue 3, which turned out to be the only article he wrote for that Issue. This time around, he interviewed leaders of two German clans [boG and TTF] and one Italian clan [CP].
 
It would not do to forget skitee's unique style of introduction - the font. Skitee's intros looked... funky, to say the least. Even now, when I scroll through the archive, I read the same words over and over again - the white, uniform-sized, cyrillic-ish intro font skitee used.
 
To see it, just open the spoiler - 
 

Looĸιng тнroυgн тнe average ѕerver, тнe lιѕт oғ тнe мapѕ υѕed can вe very мonoтonoυѕ... ѕιlence тнιѕ, ғorт ĸnoх тнaт, polygon тнoѕe, ĸυngυr тнere, ιѕland нere, вlaн, вlaн, вlaн, ѕaмe old, ѕaмe old, ѕaмe old. ѕaмe мapѕ нere, ѕaмe мapѕ тнere, тнe ѕaмe мapѕ all тнe тιмe. тнυѕ, ιn тнιѕ ғeaтυre, every arтιcle, ι wιll вe тryιng тo “dιg oυт” ѕoмe oғ тнoѕe мapѕ wнιcн ѕeeм тo вe overlooĸed wнenever people creaтe gaмeѕ...

By now, skitee had firmly cemented his position as one of the most superb reporters of the pre-balance era. Even after the update, he continued to impress us with fantastically written pieces as he entered what is called his 'golden age'. Yes, hog, we're praising your brother a lot. Happy?


 
THE GOLDEN AGE

Issues 4 through 8 was when skitee was at his absolute best. He absolutely tore up the community with blockbusters like The Map Awards, Control Points, If the English Community was a company (which is currently being presided over by his brother), and R.I.P Maps - the immensely popular series of the time which continued into four editions.

Let me elaborate.

Skitee was around when Update 1.100.0 released, and sure, he was quick in reviewing Control Points, the new game-mode that had just released. It was a highly precise guide and is the forerunner of the guides by hogree or Tommy60 one can see in the Main Page. YES, HOG, you would have made your brother proud! Now stop nagging me.
 
Further along, skitee continued to express his love for clans in 'Ten Reasons  Why Every Tankman Should Be In A Clan' which was a combination of witty humour, pure logic and expression. In Issue 6, this love just intensified with the publishing of 'Clan Championships : The final', the sequel to the article of the same name, albeit without the last two words. Skitee went over the layout of the final game and also the Clans that made it into the top four.
 
For a while, people thought that 'Clans' was the only theme skitee would ever write about. However, he put all these qualms to rest with a smashing return with 'What makes a good map?', featuring an interesting banner, credits to Picmonkey.com, and set some benchmarks for the size, geography, layout and uniqueness that we refer to even today. It was an epic catalogue. 
 
He also started the 'R.I.P Maps' series where he introduced maps that were just desperate and struggling for players. From a start with maps like Highland and Hill, he continued bringing back memories with further sequels featuring Industrial Zone, Deck-9 and Station (believe me, that map was actually seen back then) to name a few. It was possibly one of his best and well-written series, which brought back evocative nostalgia and even made tankers sorry for abandoning the maps.
 
Issues 7 and 8 went by as usual - a summary of the Clan Championship, a Poetry Contest, an interesting series which presented the happenings of each month much like the present-day 'The Dictator'. Believe me, that was one of the funniest articles back then - skitee really knew how to tickle funny bones.
 
They featured the second and third installation of 'R.I.P Maps' and featured a few now-fairly-popular maps like Ping-Pong and Arena. Two more articles, a whole lot of fresh tears.
 
So far, skitee had proved to the community that fresh entries into the reporter teams could not challenge him - he was at a level of his own. He had proven his mettle by writing some of the most memorable articles of the Press, and the Press was now steady through its journey - well, somewhat. The only question was, how much higher would skitee go.....
 

NEARING THE END - ISSUE 9

Issue 9 was skitee's penultimate Issue as a reporter, but it didn't feel like that - skitee wrote four articles covering a wide range of topics - 'So you think you know..... the Tanki Maps', 'Maps that once were', 'What we want, what do you want?' and 'R.I.P. Maps - Part Four', the final installation in the much-beloved series.
 
'What we want, what do you want' exactly wasn't an article, as it was just an appeal by skitee for ideas for the Press. This soon evolved into the 'Newspaper Requests' topic we love flooding in  faithfully pop in suggestions for the current team.
 
R.I.P Maps' fourth and final edition contained the maps Industrial Zone, 2042, Station and Deck-9. It was the usual heart-rending stuff, but this was now followed by the article Maps that once were, as a tribute to maps which were removed from the game, namely Carousel, Madness (it was removed for a while back then), Space Monte Carlo and many others. So You think You Know Tanki Maps,  however, was a new entry by skitee into the world of contests, after the 'Festive Tanki Poet' one. It's present avatar could be seen many issues later in the 'So you think you know a lot about Tanki Online' quizzes.
 
Anyway, It was already Issue 9, but skitee showed no signs of letting up. In fact, he didn't even look like he was in a mood to quit!
 
There, there, hogree; here, take a tissue. Shhh!
 

A TEARY ADIEU

Skitee's decision to leave the Newspaper Staff was so sudden that it was disconcerting - nobody really knew why he did so. I would have asked hog, but at the moment he's taken a break to remember all that his brother did for the Press. HEY, HOG! A LITTLE HELP! NO? TAKE YOUR TIME, BRO!
 
Okay, he's upset.
 
Anyway, skitee's final Issue contained just two articles - If the English Community was a Football Team and Skitee's History of Tanki. The former, if I may say so, is the best article in the 'If the English Community Was...' series, although one can see 'If the English Community was a Restaurant' quite clearly in its rearview mirrors. A fantastic piece designating places for everyone - the devs as the owners, Bruce Lunga as the manager, SuperNick95 as the goalkeeper, FBI as a centre-back, MizARee and Flipsquad in the strikers' slot. Of course, there was a lot of protest by other mods clamouring for the hype of football, but skitee managed to publish it anyway.
 
If you're interested, view skitee's chosen eleven here - 
 

 
The second and last article skitee ever wrote is 'Skitee's History of Tanki' - where he finally decided to quit, and as a fitting farewell, decided to write an article which combined a garage analysis, game history, guide and farewell message. It made us realize just how experienced skitee was, and it also shed a lot of light about the older aspects of the game for many new tankers on the scene (including me - that was the first Press article I ever read). Skitee ranted spoke at length about the pre-balance, and the update. He spoke about his garage purchases, with the buying experience feature. He also specified a lot about contests, gold boxes, Tanki Online v2.0, well, almost everything one needs to know.
 
It was a pretty emotional article, with an equally evocative farewell, wishing all of us best of luck in the future, skitee signed off. An era had ended.
 
In fact, all it took to set one off in tears was this first line - 
 
 

As some of you already know, this issue will be my final issue as a Tanki Online reporter.

 
:(
 

 
WHAT SKITEE WAS TO US
 
 
As you might have noticed, I just completed an article remembering possibly Tanki's most iconic reporter ever.
 
What made him so popular? How did he become one of the most-loved figures of the community? Of course, writing skill is something every reporter has - that's why they're reporters, you see.
 
Nope; what really made him popular was his choice of topics. As blatantly obvious as it is, clans were in the rage back in skitee's times. He decided to use it to his advantage, and delivered a slew of articles centred around clans which not only made him a popular trendsetter, it also gave the community what it needed to know. You yourself can see the thought which has gone behind R.I.P Maps - it's something every tanker can associate with - new tankers because they're eager to know more, and old tankers because they know what it's like.
 
Skitee wrote articles that everyone could relate with; in a relatively simple, yet powerful language. Also, he was patient. He knew what to wait for.
 
These qualities, combined with his natural, genetic (I swear hogree made me write that last word) writing skills, made him the 'Reporter of the First Phase' - he was the one who made the first stages of the Press popular and readworthy.
 
And that, folks, is why we'll miss him.
 

 
REPORTER THOUGHTS
 
Well, I decided that simply being eloquent about skitee wouldn't work out that well, therefore, here's a question about skitee - answered by all the reporters! Thought you'd be interested in reading their thoughts....
 
Anyway, here's the question I posed - 
 

How, in your opinion, has skitee benefited the Newspaper Team and what do you feel is his greatest literary work till date?

 
 
@hogree : Skit was a major building-block to the Newspaper for a couple of reasons - he had clear direction towards his writing and attractive topic choices. The fact that his writing was applicable was one of the things that helped the Newspaper not turn into a dosage of Tanki-based stories each month but also contain a useful element. Not to mention that he was in fact one of the major instigators of planning the group.
 
For me, his best works have got to be the Predictions articles which he made for 2013, following on from his 2012 Predictions posted on the Off-Topic Discussion before the Newspaper began. Still look back at these ever so often just to humour myself again. Brilliant usage of Tanki stereotypes and exaggerated events. Read here - and the second part here.
 
@greyat : Though I didn't know him by any means, he seem(s/ed) like a great writer to me. I particularly enjoyed the humorous passages that he would inject into his pieces, which are/were always a delight to read. I'd say that my favorite of his articles were his predictions for coming years, and also his article on Magadan - one of my favorite maps (RIP).
 
@conanthedestroyer : Skit was a pioneer in the game. he laid the foundation for what the newspaper is today. The quality of his writing is what our standards are judged by and without him, I am quite certain the newspaper would never have gotten off the ground.
 

 
So there you have it - a comprehensive history of skitee's time in the Newspaper Team, an overview of what he did and finally, multiple opinions on exactly how important he was to the Press. Feel free to share your opinions below, and if you have any suggestions for which ex-reporter's history to cover next, please jot it down in the comments!
 
Till then, this is TNT. See you on the battlefield!
 
 

Edited January 7, 2018 by Hexed

[skitee 555]

lol

[TriNitroToIuene 4,765]

lol

Srsly you come back to the forum, see an article praising you and write 'lol'? :P

 

Anyway, tell me how much of it is the truth, I had to rely on the Newspaper Archives for this one.

[I.Devastation 2,053]

The spoilers are dodgy m8 but other than that its good

[TriNitroToIuene 4,765]

The spoilers are dodgy m8 but other than that its good

Dang it, thanks for pointing that out.

[Therider 2,034]

Wonderful! Brought back some great memories - Skit was the foundations of what the newspaper is today. Some may say it has deteriorated rapidly however there is no denying Skit was the mastermind of the newspaper and will never be forgotten. Good Job.  ^_^

Edited September 18, 2015 by Therider

[Ninja892 50]

*Thumbs Up*

[classyplebs 1,786]

Actually loved the bit about the Football team

[anuclearbomb 220]

The spoilers are dodgy m8 but other than that its good

awww i was gonna say that...

 great article, hope to see more, nice to see the name shadowvisions again, never knew him in person, but this is about skitee... 

[TriNitroToIuene 4,765]

awww i was gonna say that...

 great article, hope to see more, nice to see the name shadowvisions again, never knew him in person, but this is about skitee... 

This is a series, ShadowVisions will be covered sooner or later ;)

[Armoured_Phoenix 294]

Sorry accidental down vote :unsure:

[TriNitroToIuene 4,765]

^No problem :lol:

[lukey0 27,543]

Lovely article.

lol

  Nice answer. :lol:

 

This is a series, ShadowVisions will be covered sooner or later ;)

Shadow, awesome guy and wonderful reporter. Also and his famous Shaft Recordings. Shame he left.

[genak138 950]

Lol, you kinda failed on the spoilers :P

[TriNitroToIuene 4,765]

Lol, you kinda failed on the spoilers :P

I don't know, it's a kind of error. Either I keep the spoilers or I keep the line break :/

[Guest]

nice and its too big

Edited September 30, 2015 by liverpoolaum

[anuclearbomb 220]

I don't know, it's a kind of error. Either I keep the spoilers or I keep the line break :/

grats on ranking.

waiting for next article