Review [Special] The Game Balance Update

[Opex-Rah 5,375]

There are some notable tweaks to the other statistics too, including a fall in turning acceleration for Wasp and an increase in turning speed for Hunter, Viking, Titan and Mammoth. Furthermore, apart from Hunter and higher modifications of DIctator, hulls have lost quite a bit of weight on average (they must have gone on a diet). All hulls can now accelerate much faster when making turns, meaning more similarity to the style in which Wasp turns when pressing the left/right arrow keys. Finally, a big one - Hornet's 'drifting' ability is removed. I've highlighted these changes in another colour just because they're so sneaky and easy to miss under the tables of data, but it's true - Hornet will now drift as much as Wasp, so pretty much not at all! It also now has the same turning speed and acceleration as Wasp... and weight... oh weight (ba dum tss)...

 

BREAKING NEWS: Ignoring the unimportant 'reverse acceleration' statistic, the stats for Wasp and Hornet under this update will become identical. The only exceptions are acceleration rates (which Hornet has a slight edge in at M1, M3 and M3+), top speeds (which Wasp always wins) and health points (where Hornet only really wins at M0).  From M1, Wasp always has better top speeds and health points than Hornet, and only slightly lower acceleration rates. In fact, at M2, Hornet has lower acceleration, top speed and health than Wasp while the other stats are identical!

 

In other words... Hornet has been decidedly nerfed. Yes, even more than Isida. (And by the way, Hornet/Isida happens to be the 'dream tank' M4/M4 combination I chose after winning the Supplies Tutorial Contest, which may make this is a particularly entertaining turn of events <_ not sure how else to put it heh and i intrigued as the thinking behind this unique approach hornet statistics. perhaps time for most popular hull in game fall from its status of disproportionate battlefield glory>

Reading this bit made me check what is it in there in the wiki. Well, there is a mistake.

 

Hornet's side acceleration should be 10-14, not 15-24. Hornet will have its signature drifting.

 

It happens, I guess :)

[Baby_Sam 614]

Excellent article. They should give you another dream tank. Tell them to take this one and ...

[Play_2_Win 0]

This will take some getting used too. :unsure:

Luckily I have an account exclusively for Firebird/Wasp.

[Leaflet314 18]

So there will be no real difference in hulls anymore, they are all going to have nearly the same statistics? that just means that each hull loses some of it's character, for example, I love hornet's drift, especially on monte carlo. and I like railgun as a heavy hitting sniper, but now I'll just use wasp and rail, because there will be no real distinction in between the two light hulls anymore. Also, I'm going to have to re-learn the game, and have to adapt to the new strategies of the weapons and hulls. (which, by the way, now sound like they're pretty much all the same, in their aspects. thunder is going to be more like smoky, freeze like firebird, and rail like shaft.)

[ThirdOnion 4,898]

Thanks! I would, however, think you do have to explain why making M3s available at Marshal is a terrible idea, since that's not a self-evident 'fact' at all. As I explained in my article, while players will have to wait longer till they reach the M3 levels, surely the advantage of this is that M3 gameplay will be more diverse as (at least as per the idea behind it) more equipment will remain competitive? Currently, early-unlocking M3s are arguably not all too effective by the time players reach Generalissimo.

 

The reason I think this idea is terrible is that it would affect many players around my rank (M2-M3 ranks) negatively.

For example, I am one rank from unlocking my first M3s so I can compete a little better against higher ranking players who already have M3s. If the update is passed, I won't be able to get any M3s and will be stuck with M2s until Marshal, and that is a huge disadvantage. Players under the rank of Marshal who have already bought M3s will be at an advantage, while those who are near the M3 ranks will remain with M2s and be at a disadvantage. The devs said they will make up for this by having a sale, but the problem is, no one under Brigadier will be able to use this opportunity to get M3s except for through kits, which not all players can afford. Sure, players with M1 and M2 will not be affected, players above Marshal will not be affected either (and it may even turn out better for them), but players like me, who are in the M2-M3 ranks, will have problems keeping up.

[ThirdOnion 4,898]

As a side note, for those who want to see how Tanki Online will be like after the re-balance, play Tanki X. The parameters of turrets are hulls in Tanki X will be the parameters in Tanki Online. I'm not sure why the devs are doing this though, maybe to familiarize Tanki X players with Tanki Online or vice-versa? 

[Hex 11,520]

It happens, I guess :)

Everyone does mistakes. No worries Goldi :)

[MJROCKS05 428]

Do something about isida, don`t let go such great weapon!   

#SaveTheIsida

#Spreadthemessage

[Quarks 2,255]

Do something about isida, don`t let go such great weapon!   

#SaveTheIsida

#Spreadthemessage

We can't. Is Isida nerfed? yes, but it is still very useable. And if it is too nerfed, TO will buff it.

[Guest]

Reading this bit made me check what is it in there in the wiki. Well, there is a mistake.

 

Hornet's side acceleration should be 10-14, not 15-24. Hornet will have its signature drifting.

 

It happens, I guess :)

Fixed! ;)

Please send me the middle values, those are wrong as well, both in our EN Wiki and in RU Wiki (basically, in all Wikis).

[GoldRock 6,165]

You're quite welcome, Good luck with Oxford fingers crossed

 

 

What I don't like about this re-balance / revenue restructure update and previous ones is that they spend all of their resources on devising new revenue streams from the existing veteran players who had already paid their dues for years acquiring the best equipment and protections.

 

In reality when you look at the costs they place on the veterans to continue as was the case when they added MUs to the game, you are in fact obligated to spend as much to return to your previously enjoyed position and reputation in the game each time they develop a new re-balance / revenue restructure update.

 

This game is no longer a "Free to Play" game, it is in reality a "Free Trial" game.

 

The developers had to, and  continue to increase the cost vs in game rewards to such an extent that new players must spend or be faced with having inadequate equipment by the time they reach Marshal, or they become a saboteurs, mults, noobs, farmers, power levelers or any other name referenced to about players that try to keep playing with M1, M2, limited protections, and supplies in the M3 / 4 arena.

 

The first thing this does is make the veterans bitter and spread bad publicity about the game, driving away any new players from wanting to trying it out.

 

Existing players rising up the ranks lose any incentive to progress in the game, which is where the imbalance really comes from.

 

The Veterans, well they just leave, stop playing as much or continue to feed the people who just keep making them pay to stay with fewer and fewer people to play with.

 

The Developers are stabbing themselves in the back because the revenue will just continue to decrease without new players registering, participating, and staying in the game.

 

The multiplying of parameters by 10x is no different than the one they did with crystals, it is just a way that they can increase costs more by giving less and adding room to add new revenue streams on the players in the future.

 

If the developers didn't focus all of their energy on generating revenue from the existing dwindling veteran players who have supported the game from the time the registered on this game, and spent time optimizing maps and communication between client and server to reduce lags, create new battle modes, and maps, marketing the game to generate a vibrant new player base, and building a community to truly make this game a "Multiplayer" experience, they would generate much greater revenue, without making existing veteran players rebuild what they worked and paid for every 9 months or so, existing players would actually start marketing the game for them, creating even larger player base.

 

Thanks!

 

As for the rest of your post, very well-phrased. I suppose the only specific counter-argument I could present is that one could argue the development's motivations are to improve the game for the players and for their own progress, so if they're not having a beneficial effect as you say, it isn't 'malicious' as such. The more general counter-argument would be just to refute your entire point, but I think there's value to be gained in heeding and being understanding of the perspective you've provided here, regardless of the 'sides' we all personally take in this debate. The ignoring of opinions can lead to some of the greatest setbacks against real progress.

 

What a great article!

 

I must say this has definitely helped my mind, these updates can be quite confusing! So BIG thanks to the writer for that. I was surprised to see some changes, especially firebird and freezer. I am slightly sad about that being a firebird lover. Also I think we will see a lot of freezers in CP than firebird. Kinda looking forward to it.

Cheers, and that's great to hear. Thanks for sharing your insight too, you make a fair point there :P

 

Sorry about that then, it only seemed probable. But by saying this, do you deny that staff know anything before players (excluding staff confidential matters which would never be released to the public anytime)? Because I don't know, maybe you guys don't know about official game updates, but things like the photoshoot with Cedric, it just seems like staff would know about it beforehand.

 

I'll even bring some source of backup to what I'm saying. TX forum moderator, beaku knew that there'd be a new map added to TX before anyone else. Maybe TO and TX run more defiantly than I thought.

I never said I denied that... In cases where it makes sense, then Helpers (not 'staff', that implies we're somehow employed in a position of superiority when we're just volunteers for the game's projects) do know some things in advance. However, the motives for this are never 'defiance' or being 'above players' as you've implied - whenever that happens, it's simply to aid us in helping to perform our voluntary roles.

 

Reading this bit made me check what is it in there in the wiki. Well, there is a mistake.

 

Hornet's side acceleration should be 10-14, not 15-24. Hornet will have its signature drifting.

 

It happens, I guess :)

Fixed! ;)

Thanks for clearing that up! The article will be changed to reflect this point.

[lasttruesoldjaleft 34]

Well, once again when I thought it couldn't get worse it does. Guys  and I'm talking to the developers, what are you all doing? I mean, really, what are you guys thinking? This is NOT a good update. All I see is pure greed off the backs of people who probably don't mind paying but are tired of all the changes that make what we've paid into this game mean nothing. What I know, is that I cannot in good faith continue to support this game. I admit that I liked the game a great deal when my son introduced me to this game. When I first started playing I became addicted instantly.

 

Over these few months, all that has changed. It's not about us the player anymore. It's about the money hungry TO developers. TO appears to be no different from the others who started out valuing their customers but when they got bigger so did their ego's. So much for humble beginnings. It makes no sense to me. And the only ones who will like this update have never really played this game that long.

 

No matter, I'm just voicing my opinion. TO isn't going to listen to us anyway. I can't speak for everyone else but my days of playing are coming to a rapid close. I've decided not to make anymore purchases in this game. TO is going to lose a lot of people but honestly, they don't care. They don't care about you spending your hard earned money as long as you give it to them. So what if they give you the old bait and switch.

 

This game has a lot of potential or should I say had? I took off from playing for almost a week only to come back to discover another change on the horizon. Wow...wow is all I can say as I sit here and shake my head. It will pay if TO will listen to the people that pays their bills for a change.

 

Like one poster said, more time should be spent on making the game better in terms of the lag. Make the game better through better/new maps. I have been killed quite a few times because the lag is horrible...so much so I had to leave the game. I've enjoyed the time I spent but I'm basically done. I've met some good friends whose real names I don't know. Sadly, when I'm done, I probably wont talk to them again. TO you guys are losing it. You guys are ruining a good thing. But I don't have to spend another dime on the 3 accounts I pay for. So go ahead with your changes. I hope someone else learns from your mistakes and make a better game. This update will seal TO's death as a premier game. Veteran players, time to look elsewhere where our voices will be heard.

[Phoenix.Rising 2,519]

As anyone test these out in the test server?

[r_AIexanderCrete1 0]

Lol, I have to admit I'm really nervous about the hornet update. Is Wasp going to increase by health points, or is Hornet going to decrease?

 

EDITED : you don't have to quote the whole article 

Edited October 7, 2016 by DNA

[41tkbat 52]

This is ridiculous. People invested a lot in the weapon and hull of their choice for the specifics of that weapon or hull and you change that just like that? How would you like people to modify your house, car, or bike just like that. Unbelievable tanki did this. BIG DISLIKE

Edited October 7, 2016 by 41tkbat

[41tkbat 52]

Well, once again when I thought it couldn't get worse it does. Guys  and I'm talking to the developers, what are you all doing? I mean, really, what are you guys thinking? This is NOT a good update. All I see is pure greed off the backs of people who probably don't mind paying but are tired of all the changes that make what we've paid into this game mean nothing. What I know, is that I cannot in good faith continue to support this game. I admit that I liked the game a great deal when my son introduced me to this game. When I first started playing I became addicted instantly.

 

Over these few months, all that has changed. It's not about us the player anymore. It's about the money hungry TO developers. TO appears to be no different from the others who started out valuing their customers but when they got bigger so did their ego's. So much for humble beginnings. It makes no sense to me. And the only ones who will like this update have never really played this game that long.

 

No matter, I'm just voicing my opinion. TO isn't going to listen to us anyway. I can't speak for everyone else but my days of playing are coming to a rapid close. I've decided not to make anymore purchases in this game. TO is going to lose a lot of people but honestly, they don't care. They don't care about you spending your hard earned money as long as you give it to them. So what if they give you the old bait and switch.

 

This game has a lot of potential or should I say had? I took off from playing for almost a week only to come back to discover another change on the horizon. Wow...wow is all I can say as I sit here and shake my head. It will pay if TO will listen to the people that pays their bills for a change.

 

Like one poster said, more time should be spent on making the game better in terms of the lag. Make the game better through better/new maps. I have been killed quite a few times because the lag is horrible...so much so I had to leave the game. I've enjoyed the time I spent but I'm basically done. I've met some good friends whose real names I don't know. Sadly, when I'm done, I probably wont talk to them again. TO you guys are losing it. You guys are ruining a good thing. But I don't have to spend another dime on the 3 accounts I pay for. So go ahead with your changes. I hope someone else learns from your mistakes and make a better game. This update will seal TO's death as a premier game. Veteran players, time to look elsewhere where our voices will be heard.

I could not agree more

[41tkbat 52]

For what it's worth, you'll still be able to keep any M3s that you currently own- it's not like the developers are going to confiscate them or anything. Whether you'll like your M3s or not post-update is a different matter, but yeah.

But they make every investment you made worthless. Incredible rude from tanki to mess with equipment people invested in and payed for. It seems liek tanki wants all players to leave

[ThirdOnion 4,898]

Do the devs even read the forums? Because if they don't, there really isn't much purpose complaining here.

[KingLionBlast 22]

Well I've noticed something. This is to push alterations, which will make tanki players spend more money. On a business standpoint its genius for the money cows who are willing to eat whatever you put in front of their face. But for those who don't have the luxury of having bottomless pockets this spells doom.

 

Turrets: There is a difference between balance and making it so that everything plays exactly the same way .

 

Railgun: increasing reload speed of railgun to reduce damage per shot. While that sounds good on paper, isn't railgun suppose to be the long recharge heavy hitter. Thats the reason why people bought it and to change it indirectly you made players waste crystals. imo railguns reload speed at m3+ levels ins't really that long ffs, making it shorter will turn it into thunder without splash damage.

 

Smoky: so basically you guys are turning smoky into the re-rebalance smoky? sure seems like it to me. Critical damage is almost non existent now, impact is now laughable. Its the real recruit weapon now... Might as well use thunder.

 

Twins: WOW! UNBELIEVABLE! You listen to people saying that self heal is overpowered but not the consistent dps + impact force that twins have? Wow, I dont even know what to say to this but its clear that the dev's like twins. Its legit top 3 best turret in the game. I know. "No turret is the best turret, Its the player using the turret.'' Yeah but when you have constant people saying things like. "noob twins" it means either they got beat by someone better than them or that turret just might be an issue. Twins may lose at long range but unless your in low ranks, you wont see any twins-wasp running around.

 

Firebird: imo it was a nerf but not a huge one. 2.5 seconds to 5 seconds for burn damage is good on paper again but firebird has arguably the strongest dps in game. It doens't exactly have to rely on DoT as its main source of dmg. The fuel issue is more abundant because if firebird users want there 2.5 sec back they will need alteration I think.(IDK i personally hate firebird which is why any nerf to them isn't a big deal)

 

Thunder: I always thought thunder was OP but now they cemented it with this update that thunder will be the best midfielder turret no contest. The one thing keeping thunder from being OP was its reload, which you increase... and to make matters worst you increase its impact force... Well thunder confirmed new smoky.

 

Rico: Dont even know what to say about this gun its almost non existent on the battlefield. Its basically turned into a suckier twins that can bounce on walls :)

 

Vulcan: Why! Why I ask you! increase its damage? FFS it has close range turret damage and like smoky and thunder's range. and it can shoot faster. ffs its like the dev's and the players play a different game if this is balanced...

 

Hammer: HAHAHAHA hammerkings rip. That is all

 

Isida: well people who liked being vampires, time to have your dreams crushed. your self healing is now 10%... and considering isida is a short ranged turret its most likely gonna meet firebirds and freezes a lot... well easy kill. as for anyone who likes to camp on Brest and heal shafts you also get rekt :) reduced healing and an increase in ammunition. WOW i love the way this is promoting isidas to stick to one person or suffer the consequences. This turret is good if you like healing I guess but it wont even be able to do that well.

 

Freeze: No complaints from me. Being frozen instantly means it lives up to its name. Max damage further away though may be a little much though.

 

Shaft: I really don't understand why this is the only game that has a sniper that can't ohko everything. I mean ffs the sniper motto is one shot one kill. I know ppl dont like being one shotted but guess what? That's what a sniper is suppose to do. ffs its not even a sniper anymore its basically a thunder with a scope.

 

 

Well what I see is not balance but clearly making specific guns useless on purpose and making viable guns play the same way as each other. Well done guys.

Edited October 8, 2016 by KingLionBlast

[Amagi 1,728]

This is ridiculous. People invested a lot in the weapon and hull of their choice for the specifics of that weapon or hull and you change that just like that? How would you like people to modify your house, car, or bike just like that. Unbelievable tanki did this. BIG DISLIKE

Says the butthurt Isida user. Devs never intended for Isida to be dominating in DMs like it did now. It's a support turret after all. A way of fixing that is to reduce heal/damage ratios.

Edited October 8, 2016 by Stinger911

[JK_Trolling 12]

I wish tankers could stop jumping to conclusions about this game balance update. We actually don't know exactly how the changes will affect the game. We will just have to wait and see.

[RIDDLER_8 5,552]

I hope that next week's V-Log 110 will have a much better and deeper overview of this upcoming re-balance update.

 

I am not happy about the overall weakening of M4 hulls and M4 turrets.

[RIDDLER_8 5,552]

It will be very difficult for players to unlock and buy all M3 turrets and hulls at the rank of Marshal. Players will now have to be forced to work out with their M2 equipment which, for a while, which will make them a difficult task for players to rank up.

 

Levelling up has always been a tankers favorite dream!

 

Levelling up not only gives a big handful of crystals and congratulations applause, but also has the potential for players to unlock and access to their dream tank, including other goodies.

 

How do you think players will cope with their M2s, right up until the rank of Marshal?

[RIDDLER_8 5,552]

Mines Cooldowns

 

This update also brings another problem with one product kit.

 

The current cooldown of mines is (currently) a bit too long before players can drop another mines. It currently takes 20 seconds for the cooldown of mines to let the players reload and drop another mine after those 20 seconds.

 

But this re-balance update helps in shortening the cooldowns of other supplies, but, on the other hand, it doubles the cooldown of mines from 20 seconds to 40 seconds.

 

Now it will be extremely difficult for players to be able to hide the flag in CTF battles, to protect themselves and to keep the enemies away from the team member's base.

 

By having a 40 second cooldown with mines it will make it impossible for players playing in team battles win the battle against their enemies. Mines are a very important supply, and this update will ruin the ability for players to create a mine field filled with mines to keep enemies out of the base.

 

For example, the red and blue team battling in the Noise map will not be able to keep the enemy out on either side because it takes too long for mines to cooldown and reload. The 40 second cooldown it too bad.

 

Mines should cool down after 10 seconds. This is perfect because 10 seconds gives players time to reload and drop another mine on the base and create a mine field that protects their base.

 

The 10 seconds cooldown is exactly the same time that it takes for a destroyed tank to re-spawn.

[RIDDLER_8 5,552]

Mines disappear after players get killed

 

I really hate it when mines disappear when players drop them. The player who has dropped mines loses all his mines when he gets killed.

 

This is a huge problem that me and other players faced in Tanki Online. Many times players have lost battles in team battles due to the fact the all their mines have disappeared after they got killed.

 

I have previously complained about that problem last year and the developers did not change that.

 

I hope that this time the developers of Tanki Online will make mines remain on the ground after the players who dropped them gets killed. Also, when the battle round is over and the mines did not explode, all the mines that the players dropped should be given back to the player(s) who dropped them.

 

Giving back the mines that did not explode in battle, will prevent players from losing and wasting mines. Mines have physical and graphical effects so, they must be returned to the player(s), if they did not blow up during that particular round in battle.

 

Mines are supplies like other supplies but have more physical properties and they are proper hardware ammunition that greatly improves the gameplay of Tanki Online and also help players to win a round in team battles.

 

Mines should also come in a box supply format just like the green repair kit box, brown double armor box, red double damage box, yellow speed boost box, and of course the gold box supply.

 

When players pick up a mine box, the mine will not be laid on the ground, but instead, the mine will be given to the player's stock of supply boxes like other supply boxes that are collected in daily missions and supply boxes that are automatically used and run when players activate them by driving their tanks into them during battle.

 

There is a huge need for a big update to completely change the way mines work.

Edited October 8, 2016 by RIDDLER_8