Review [Issue 49] Top Ten Tanki: Game Changers

[Fen-Harel 1,176]

Hey there, tankers! Welcome to another edition of Top Ten Tanki. Recently I took a look at what Tanki needs to do in order to fine-tune our gaming experience. This time, however, I'll talk about what I think are the biggest game-changing updates Tanki introduced so far. These will be the updates that have pretty much revolutionized Tanki and completely changed the way we involve ourselves in the game. Without further introduction, these are the Top Ten Tanki: Game Changers!

10. The Improved Friends system

This is one of the most useful updates for stalking your friends. Not only can you see which server they're in, you can now message and invite them at any time!

It used to be so irritating finding out where your friends are. Yea, you could see if they were online, but that wasn't really helpful. Well, maybe you could say that most people are in the XP craze in RU1 and that's the best place to look. But when I was a low rank I would shift between 3 whole servers! Servers 1, 2 and 10 were a thing, so you had a 33% chance at finding your friend. Imagine that, playing on different servers in non-XP, non-Pro battles in Moon Silence! Good times, good times.  I would never go back to that time ever again. XP ftw!

 

9. Hammer, Vulcan and the New Paints

Finally, some new equipment!

This was a really nice update. It not only introduced two different weapons, it also gave us a bunch of new paints. Most of the designs weren't anything special for me, but there are some really good looking ones, too. I'd even say Atom is my new favourite paint in terms of looks and its name is also pretty cool. Anyway, some new high tier paints were also introduced that carry some serious protection. All in all, a refreshing change to the game.

 

8. Smart Supplies

The long awaited solution to kit buyers and druggers...

Just after I bought two over powered kits, Tanki decided to announce the smart cooldowns update. After fighting my way up all the way to Brigadier without any kits against full on buyers, I can't say the timing for this update was good for me. Anyway, I was still surprised that the developers doubled all of the garage supplies, that was a really unexpected gift there. The update works, it prevents excessive drugging and really adds another tactical layer to the game. Some players still say that drugging is impossible to play against, even if it's just one constant supply. I don't really get that, I've been through full on 234 druggers and ended up just fine. Maybe buying two kits made me less sensitive to these problems, but I just don't see how there's an unbalance of druggers versus regular players.

 

7. Anti-Flood System

Let's limit the typing speed of players in the chat, nothing could possibly go wrong with that!11!!1

I type reasonably quickly and I often chat with a lot of people at once, so this update was a nightmare to me. At times I would have to wait for over 15 seconds to send a message. Not to mention having to talk to someone with a long username. Then you get the people who make flood waves of dots that slow down the chat further. Thankfully, this latest update that introduced private messages has the anti-flood disabled when talking to one specific player. Maybe I can finally have normal conversation with someone now.

 

6. Format Battles

Yea, of course formats would be in this list.

No more ruined XP/BP battles, Prodigis, Smokies, Ricos - this update fixed it all. Suggested countless times, the fanatical community of XP players finally got what they needed. When it first came out, it was weird not being worried that someone would join, ruin the battle and steal the battle fund. I must say, I've spent countless hours in these formats and they're really something else compared to the regular battles. There's just this awesome feeling of battling people with the most demanding combo in the game. My favourite update by far, but since I'm trying to keep this list a bit unbiased, I had to put it a few places down ._.

 

5. Changing equipment in battle

Now it's actually worth having a full garage.

Here's a direct change to the game's mechanics. Switching your tank combination mid-battle was something a lot of players wanted to do. Since now, instead of being able to use only one tank for an hour long battle, you can adjust to any situation if you have a  large enough arsenal in your garage. The only awkward thing is your opponents have the same ability, so at times you'd see constant gear changes as players try to counter each other. Kind of makes a good internet connection vital if you wanna employ this type of gameplay to its fullest.

 

4. Micro-upgrades

Instead of M4 gear, we got M3+ which costs around 500k crystals to upgrade fully. Meh, close enough, right?

Another direct change to the game's parameters. The Micro-upgrades were designed to give you a slight edge over your opponent in battle. However, there's still a noticeable difference between a normal M3 and a fully Micro-upgraded one. You practically cannot play a Gen only drug war if you don't have M3+ gear at this point, or at least you can't do it effectively. Luckily for some and incredibly unfair to me and many others, a change to the Micro-upgrading system gave pretty much every tanker an M3+ tank. Basically, anyone who upgraded at least one parameter of a turret (such as 12 reload steps for Railgun which are pretty cheap), hull or paint, got it fully Micro-upgraded for free! Great right? Except I spent 500k crystals on fully Micro-upgrading my Railgun when the update first came out. Now it isn't special anymore...

 

 

3. The New Physics

Probably the most anticipated update for me. I loved the idea of the New Physics update.

Back in the days when I was a little Warrant Officer, I heard about the New Physics update. I've started following the topic, checking for any news and joining every single open testing. Tanks were pretty slow back then and I'm generally a fan of dynamic gameplay. This is why I loved the New Physics update, it changed the whole dynamics of how hulls work. Come on, my Hornet could drift! It doesn't get any cooler than drifting tanks, right?

 

2. Removal of Crystal boxes

R.I.P. crystal boxes...

Crystal boxes were always a signature feature in Tanki, along with the Goldbox. What started as an experiment ended in a complete removal of the Crystal boxes. I never really picked them up and they were never a distraction, but I can't stop feeling that they're just missing in every map. I don't know how to describe it... I'd never stop fighting to pick up a Crystal box and the reward they gave me was never anything tempting... I just feel they're part of Tanki, even if they're just a background image to me.

 

1. Rebalance

 The most hyped and legendary update ever made... that I wasn't there to see.

Yea, if you've read any possible topic about the "Old Tanki" you'd stumble across the Rebalance. As far as changing the game goes, you can't get better than the Update 114. Literally every aspect of the game changed. It was so big that it required Tanki to give refunds to every player in the game, allowing them to buy what they want again. It also included new ranks from Field Marshal to Generalissimo. This is pretty much the update that started off the modern Tanki and is one of the most widely discussed ever. I wish I was there to actually see it happen live, but what's done is done and hopefully the release of Tanki X becomes another huge game changer. Stakes are high to beat this update in its revolutionary changes.

 

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And those would be the updates that I think shaped Tanki the most into what it is now. I should probably mention that there were many other huge updates that didn't quite seem fitting for this list, mainly because they didn't have a huge impact on the way I and many others play the game (such as the Rank up effect with rewards and Daily Missions). The ones in the list actually made me adjust the way I play and I think that's what a game changing update has to do. Anyway, that's my two cents on the topic. Tell me what you think below about what's your favourite update, or suggest ideas for the next Top Ten Tanki. That's all from me this issue,'till next time - bye!

 

Previous Top Ten Tanki articles:

Top Ten Tanki: Beast Moments
Top Ten Tanki: Thuglife
Top Ten Tanki: Best Maps
Top Ten Tanki: Needed Improvements

 

Edited July 24, 2017 by Hexed

[Yisroel.Rabin 16,224]

Another Top Ten Tanki, nice. Will read later today.

[I3est 181]

Nice Fen!!
in 10th pic big pro invites you tho!!!1 :rolleyes: 

[DragonOfStorms 2,706]

I love these 'Top Ten Tanki' articles Fen, keep it up!

[KillerGnat 3,135]

Great, although I wasn't even here for most of those updates.

[Zenyth 6,494]

2015 rebalance and 2014 removal of crystal boxes hit me big time. Smart cool-downs lessened the blow though!

[Zenyth 6,494]

Great, although I wasn't even here for most of those updates.

Haha, newbie!

JK, I wasn't here for the 2012 rebalance, New Physics, New friends system and Changing equipment in battles.

[dilsharox 2,395]

Nice

You should write more articles like this

[assolik 134]

You Can I love your writing and I really enjoyed your Rico and Hunter guide please make more like it! :)

[r_gigiz0 327]

The biggest mistake they made tanki was getting rid of crys boxes maybe they should of made options that you can have crys boxes in battles or not like the recent gold update

[storm_braeker2 36]

No not the upgrades -_-

[Podey_the_Buster 87]

Hi guys, just made it for being on the first page. :)  I wasn't here for most of these except the changes in Micro-upgrades. My brother still thinks it works the old way!  :o Any way, great article. :D

[RivaIdo 1]

+ Pretty good but one update......the Premium druggers...

[r_IceDragon2o50 3]

I do wish I was there to see the "Old Tanki" too :( , crystal boxes sound great!!!! ;)

[marc.jp_44 20,837]

Great Article!

I think you might wanna fix up the exclamation marks here:

"Let's limit the typing speed of players in the chat, nothing could possibly go wrong with that!11!!1"

Some of them became "1's" instead of "!'s."

Edited February 21, 2016 by Marc

[KiwiriusPRO 0]

smart supplies was the biggest game game changer

[beaku 2,656]

Top Ten Tanki: Sales?

I really miss the 1 hour 70% sales... :wub: :wub: :wub:

[Bugs.meeny 1,013]

Wow looking back at the updates, I see how long ive been playing. Kinda sad really.  A few of these were before my time, but most I experienced

[slycleaversmart 1,154]

Wow looking back at the updates, I see how long ive been playing. Kinda sad really.  A few of these were before my time, but most I experienced

Same. :D

[Arcohhs 67]

I am an Older Tanker, and first of all on behalf of many players, I disagree with you on The Rebalance being 1st on the list. The Rebalance was a very well hated update. A lot of people that are old as I am in the game might say that they hate the update.

[Lhamster 4,081]

The article isn't about most liked/hated updates, but the ones that brought the biggest change, good or bad.

[Link_1119 183]

rebalance- spent 50k in todays tanki money on xp....

[mayhl 0]

If you wanna be according with truth approximation, then you have to add poll questions about top points, such as: positiv, negativ, neutral - at minimum.

[LOLKILLERTOTHEDEATH 1,921]

Just to confirm, this is a list of complaints, right?