Is Tanki Becoming Pay-To-Play?

[QueenSeraphina 407]

:) you late [issue 37] The Word "Noob" and its Karma

Not exactly about the the word 'Noob' itself, but a nobody's perceptive of TO. Similar to @greyat's Journey of a Tanker

. I thought of writing it a long time ago even through it's 'common sense'.

[Phoenix.Raised 5,992]

Not exactly about the the word 'Noob' itself, but a nobody's perceptive of TO. Similar to @greyat's Journey of a Tanker

. I thought of writing it a long time ago even through it's 'common sense'.

ok

[Sniper5213 18]

Tanki Online is a free-to-play MMO tank shooter game. The game revolves around fast-paced gameplay, critical thinking and decision making, and lots of teamwork. The game supports an open-chatting system that is patrolled 24/7 by trained and expert moderators. Tons of new content is rolled out constantly that makes the game dynamic and fun to play.

 

...At least it was, from what I take it. Yes, I have only been playing for a few short months (like nine or ten actually), but I've already started to notice a downward trend that I'm sure a lot of people have noticed. But I want to address the topic head-on:

 

Is a game like Tanki, a game which states itself that it is a free-to-play game, purposely putting down free-to-play tankers in favor of those who pay?

 

Let's look at some of the changes that have happened recently:

 

- Change in balance to make the non-popular turrets popular (which means more players spending money to get the good turrets, and the players spending no money get the crappy turrets.

 

- Change to PRO passes and private battles to make players pay more money for battles that don't include drugs (yes, you have to pay crystals to play in a battle without drugs).

 

- Removal of crystal drop boxes in matches to force players to finish a battle to (maybe) collect the crystals at the end of a battle.

 

- Removal of Daily Rewards to make players perform Daily Missions to earn tons of drugs and unfair advantages. The players who don't play Daily Missions ended up buying more crystals to get the drugs that they would have had if Daily Rewards hadn't been removed.

 

- Newly-announced Premium Accounts that give players unfair advantages. (And no matter what you say, you'll never convince me that a 20% DEF boost against ALL turrets and mines is not unfair).

 

- Players didn't like some of the updates and started downvoting them, so Tanki removed the downvote button! (it's not like they listen to the forum posts anyway).

 

But the FINAL STRAW for me was reading a comment by one of the Tanki mods. I'm not going to name him as I don't want to be disrespectful, but you know who you are (and if you want to admit it, go for it):

 

"Ok, so make everyone pay $10 USD a month to play tanki and do away with drugs, and mu's, and paints, and anything else that gives players an advantage... and all the players who have never paid anything to tanki but who love to whine a lot...

 

-or-

 

Nobody pays anything and the game closes

 

-or-

 

Keep the game like it is. It is doing fine.

 

Mind you, this is a post from a businessman, not a player! And I realize that your rank might be all that high sir, but how often do you actually play? If your answer is 'often', I'd ask, how often do you play without drugging every second? And if your answer is 'yes', then I'd ask you if you think the game is still doing fine. I doubt your answer would be anything but negative.

 

Also notice what he said about free-to-play tankers? He speaks as though we've done nothing -- that we're a nuisance. We haven't payed anything, but we sure love to whine a lot! That makes us sound like immature brats and free riders who don't appreciate their work. And yet they never listen to WHY we're upset -- because the game is unfair to those who don't pay money. Skill is no longer needed, just shill out a few hundred bucks and become Godmode_ON!

 

As for the second-most-important part of that comment (the part so tastily colored in violet)... let me just say this. When I first started playing Tanki, it was uncommon for there to be any fewer than 200,000 players online at one time. Now I often see it dip down below 10,000. Is the game really doing well, or are all the free-to-play tankers leaving? If the latter is correct, there must be a reason, and the reason is that the pay-to-play tankers are dominating the free-to-play. Not only that, but the moderators and admins are ACTIVELY insulting the free-to-play tankers. Do you think that makes me want to play?

 

Here's my solution: Either change the battle to support free-to-play tankers, or drop free-to-play altogether. The game as it is is broken, and it desperately needs one of two fixes. (If you couldn't tell by how I highlighted them, I prefer the former)

 

You could:

 

- Nerf the effects of drugs (just look anywhere in the Ideas and Suggestions section and you'll find plenty of great suggestions for this)

 

- Nerf Premium Accounts (seriously, 20% defense to ALL, plus +50% XP, and +50% crystals? That's just cruel)

 

- Bring back Daily Rewards (and possibly keep Daily Missions as well for those players who want to go 'above and beyond')

 

- Make non-drug battles free (playing in battles without players with unfair advantages should be the norm, not a privilege)

 

- Bring back the down-vote button, and ACTUALLY LISTEN TO US!

 

or, you could:

 

Drop the free-to-play aspect altogether, lose tons of players (which, may I remind you, also means a lot of free advertising), and make winning a battle based off of who spent more money on the game. If you do choose this, then that's fine, but I for one won't be around afterwards.

 

But you can't leave the game as it is. Tanki is made of mostly players who play freely, and if you're getting a lot of flak for the updates, maybe you should listen to them, instead of listening to those who pay money.

 

(And just for the record, I work for a living and I crave every dollar that I make... I'm not compelled to spend money on a video game that's going downhill)

 

As for the tankers, pay-to-players and free-to-players, what do you think? Do you have any suggestions that could help better this game, or at least tip the scales to be somewhat even again? Feel free to leave a comment or two below -- the admin might not listen, but I assure you that if nobody else does, I will.

Agreed! Now with premium accounts ppl cant have "fun" without using money! Used to be fine, but now? Still good, but not as much..

[Jwimmer 2,835]

A couple of your reason in the main article made me raise my eyebrows. Pro passes cost 5k cry per month (can be earned in 1 good day, 2 bad days). The removal of daily rewards in lieu of daily missions actually helped. I earn more crystals from missions than I did from rewards. The removal of drop boxes, while not necessarily good, didn't MAKE you complete battles to earn crystals. The main way of earning crystals was and always will be battle funds.

 

I don't see tanki becoming pay-to-play anytime soon, but I do see where you are going with paying players getting more benefits. In my mind, its a necessary evil, it makes garages (wealth) vary, which is needed in a healthy economy.

 

Premium accounts have not been too op yet, just something that makes you look better, however, we will see next sale how much the 50% fund increase will effect premium tanker's garages.

[kostas604 106]

This reminds me; people who buy actually DO get advantage in this game because of the premium accounts. People who constantly pay for the game get a slight advantage, mainly with the paint that you can only purchase and use as a premium. Just shows how it's another way for the developers to gain more profit.

Yeah they get an advantage but In those games I mentioned ( especially in drakensang ) buyers are like gods. You can't hurt them and they can kill you with just a single move of their little finger.

[Supernatural 2,053]

Nope, it's already p2w actually.

[r_xKillerPro0 1]

Tanki Greedinss - 50% score multiplier no more in garage. 

[ghost-guns 1,486]

More like drug to win.

[Buggati_The_Best 1,233]

Tips for getting XT mission?

Please be clear,i saw in a V-log tips and i not got it at all...

on my gismo account i wasted 300k total (on changing missions during some months) for nothing and i really want a XT .-.

and i want to save crystals too(i am non-buyer and losing 300k slowly was a torture -_-,i could had buy lumberjack full price .-. 

So please,many useful tips!  

[Maf 32,300]

Tips for getting XT mission?

See here: http://en.tankiforum.com/index.php?showtopic=284554

 

You can also check the more detailed version of the guide, by clicking the link on the bottom of the first post.

 

Also keep in mind that the average amount of crystals needed to get an XT mission is 2-3 million.

[Supernatural 2,053]

Tips for getting XT mission?

Please be clear,i saw in a V-log tips and i not got it at all...

on my gismo account i wasted 300k total (on changing missions during some months) for nothing and i really want a XT .-.

and i want to save crystals too(i am non-buyer and losing 300k slowly was a torture -_-,i could had buy lumberjack full price .-. 

So please,many useful tips!  

There are no tips ok

Keep wasting crystals if you want for something that you already have ok

Do you think its a fashion game? No. They why are you wasting 300k for nothing?

[KrystenHunt16 128]

Tanki recently added a crystal bonus boost to the Premium Account players. Now, preemies will receive an added 100% crystal bonus, or twice as many crystals as normal. Just goes to show you that the people who spend the most money have all the power.

 

In my opinion, if Tanki is going to add this crystal bonus, they should remove or lower the XP bonus, since now free-to-play tankers will be swamped by kit buyers.

 

Or at least remove the premium account crystals column at the end of the battle. God dammit, stop taunting me with the crystals that I didn't earn!

[Maf 32,300]

Just goes to show you that the people who spend the most money have all the power.

Having the 100% extra crystals doesn't actually give buyers any advantage that a free player cannot have. If you want to wreck everyone in battles, but don't want to pay, you'll have to spend many hours in the game every day and play only long battles (999 flags and similar), so that you can get a worthy reward in the end. Buying crystals (or premium) simply makes earning crystals more convenient, meaning that you won't have to worry about your in-game income any more. That's what buying does - saves you time and nerves.

 

 

In my opinion, if Tanki is going to add this crystal bonus, they should remove or lower the XP bonus, since now free-to-play tankers will be swamped by kit buyers.

Your logic is completely wrong. If they remove or lower the XP bonus, then players with 100% crystals will be earning even more crystals for every experience point they gain. Premium accounts will only become more OP.

[I.WalkAlone 548]

I don't get why tanki gave a 100% boost of crystals to premium accounts. That's dumb. It may make premium accounts seem more attractive for buyers but it's also reducing the amount of money they get from people buying crystals.

[MusicJam19 737]

I don't get why tanki gave a 100% boost of crystals to premium accounts. That's dumb. It may make premium accounts seem more attractive for buyers but it's also reducing the amount of money they get from people buying crystals.

Maybe, but premium can be paid for monthly, as opposed to one-off payments of crystals, so it all works out in the end. They do have a marketing team.

[Maf 32,300]

Premium Accounts are meant to make your gameplay experience easy and effortless. Developers realised that with the initial Premium account settings players were still forced to buy after a while of playing, which is wrong since these players are already paying a monthly subscription fee, so they shouldn't have to pay even more to have comfortable gameplay.

[I.WalkAlone 548]

Premium Accounts are meant to make your gameplay experience easy and effortless. Developers realised that with the initial Premium account settings players were still forced to buy after a while of playing, which is wrong since these players are already paying a monthly subscription fee, so they shouldn't have to pay even more to have comfortable gameplay.

Yes, but why would they do that? Won't that hurt their 'fragile economy'? According to them, 50% sales (which are pretty rare) can hurt the economy; but won't giving buyers double funds every single day hurt it? After all, they are the ones who pay money for crystals to tanki. And crystals cost a lot more than a premium account does (ie for m2 ranks and higher). This is just beyond me. Maybe, the reason which MusicJam19 suggested is right. Even so...

[Maf 32,300]

50% sales are for everyone, while double crystals only affect regular buyers (probably less than 2% of the total player base). Besides, if you want to always have premium you still have to pay a fair amount every 3 months, so it's not too much different from buying crystals regularly.

[Buggati_The_Best 1,233]

There are no tips ok

Keep wasting crystals if you want for something that you already have ok

Do you think its a fashion game? No. They why are you wasting 300k for nothing?

Well,i got full m3 garage and 2 are m4,dictator and thunder

got good paints and i am so proud that i managed so much just by playing xD

And i want a XT just for pride xD

I pretty got all i want from garage,maybe i want nano paint and i not really want all the expensive paints

Check my profile better,alex334567

I got 4,3 million experience about and i am proud of my garage <3

And why do girls make up each day even if they look good?

They want to look as best as possible,is about the feeling of attention and being loved by others...

So i kinda want 1 XT for feeling special 

And since i got my dream garage,on what i can spend crystals?

for 1 XT mission

Edited November 8, 2015 by Buggati_The_Best

[ghost-guns 1,486]

Drugging is totally ruining this game for me, once I get m3 I will quit. I might as well spend all my crystals on supplies.

[The-Operator219 1,929]

"Nothing in life is free."

​-Someone of greater significance than I

[blacksouleater 190]

Premium accounts....So you can put in time and hard work just like you would do for anything in life that's worthwhile or, you can buy your way without the sweat just like rich people in real life. What a wonderful option..........................not!

Edited November 10, 2015 by blacksouleater

[projectkronos 24]

Premium accounts....So you can put in time and hard work just like you would do for anything in life that's worthwhile or, you can buy your way without the sweat just like rich people in real life. What a wonderful option..........................not!

Premium accounts aren't a free ride, they just reduce the grind.

[projectkronos 24]

For everyone who thinks that buying crystals or premium accounts will be the death of the game, isn't fair, etc, etc, I have a question:

How would YOU do it?

 

What's your plan to earn money while keeping the game 100% balanced? What's your plan to make the game "fair" while ensuring there is still a game to play? If you have a really good idea, speak now and maybe the devs will implement it. Or you can keep whining because some guy who's better than you beat your butt and happened to be premium. I have a feeling most people will choose the second option.

[blacksouleater 190]

Wow! I've never actually heard the term" reduces the grind" in regard to playing a game.

This is a game....correct?

In regard to people and ideas, they have been speaking out everywhere with ideas that of course are NOT being listened to as usual. So, knowing that...

What exactly is your point?

Edited November 10, 2015 by blacksouleater