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The Halloween Map 2016


Viking4s
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Hello Tankers, I hope you have enjoyed your last two weekends with the Halloween celebration as much as I have! In this article, I would like to talk about a map. We all know that maps has always been a common source of inspiration for article; but this map is very special, this is the Halloween Map 2016.

The article is not a guide, nor a review, but more of a portrayal of the map. Big thank you to my AWC colleague electrolux1, whom has been kind enough to contribute to draw the portrait.

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Introduction

There are currently 74 active maps in Tanki Online. However, from time-to-time celebratory maps are added to the menu for a holiday special and only for a short period of time. I am speaking about the End of Year holidays map (a.k.a. ASL) and the Halloween themed map. They are only available temporarily and likely modified from one year to another, and no information, description nor guide currently exist.

As the Halloween map 2016 is still fresh in our memories, we will look at it in this article. First, we will describe the different map characteristics, then the gameplay experience per battle mode, followed by some special events recollection organised by the EN community and finish with the Gold Box special features and explain the mystery of why so many Gold Pumpkins fell in the middle of the map inside the cemetery.


The Map Overview and Features

The Halloween map was made available end of October, initially for three consecutive days from the 29th to the 31th of October and for another extra day on Saturday 5th of November.

► Map Description

The map features a bleak cemetery in the center surrounded by a high hill and three hillocks. The playable size area of this map is unknown, however our rough estimation is that the size is between the Brest map (2365 props) and the Barda map (1760 props). We can say it is approximately 2000 props. The Halloween map is nearly square shaped and delimited by rows of spooky dead trees, which could not be reached without enduring the fright of an automatic and instant self-destruction. Beyond the deadly trees line lays a scenery a dreary forest of dark pine trees.

The map is played by midnight under a supernatural sky sprinkled with pale shinning stars and lighted by a ghostly moon. The map is one of the few maps with background sound (e.g. Madness map), which could be qualified as creepy; if you listen carefully you will hear time to time a remote scream or a freaky complaint.

Have a quick tour of map with this video made by @robbie56, and listen carefully the map's background sound:

 

 

 

 

► Map Division and Overview

The map can be divided into seven distinct gameplay zones as describe below:


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  • the Blue base (the hillock in the first corner of the square),
  • the Hillock with the Haunted House (in the second corner) and the self-destruct zone adjoin,
  • the Red base (the hillock in the third corner opposite to the Blue base corner),
  • the High Hill (in the fourth and last corner),
  • the Cemetery (right in the middle of the map),
  • the Red bridge (neutral zone between Red Base and the High Hill),
  • the Blue bridge (neutral zone between Blue Base and the High Hill).

1. & 3. Red Base and Blue Base Areas:
These two areas are where the flags and the spawn points are located for each team. Both bases are very similar in proportion and aspect, however the Blue base is slightly bigger than the red base. They are both hillocks which host an abandoned house so damaged that it resemble more of a specter of a house than a house. A few torn and burnt walls frame the remains of the house’s basement from which you can only escape from by accessing two small ramps. This house provides shelter for tanks from long-range turrets and opportunity for defenders equipped with short-range turrets to organise ambushes. The shortest route from the two bases is to weave through the cemetery's tombstones. Two alternative routes can be taken via the bridges and the high hill (with a longer option via the small hidden pass large enough for light hull), or via the hillock or behind the hillock at ground level dangerously close to the self-destruct zone.

 

 

 

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2. The Haunted House Hillock Area:
This is the hillock in the second corner and includes the self-destruct map border. On the hillock, the empty house in the middle gives a real haunting atmosphere to the map in addition to the cemetery and the self-destruct zone. Two additional destroyed houses on the two opposite sides of the hillock provide two perfect high ramps for parkour lovers. This area also features a covered pathway to the enemy base to avoid the heat of the battlefield. This hidden route was more used than the narrow one on the edge of the High hill.

 

 

 

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 4. The High Hill Area:
The two stage hill is the highest point of the map, it features a couple of houses on the top section and a small passageway on the first ridge offering a protected and unique access for light hulls. Tankers often desert this area despite the top providing some good camping positions.
 

 

 

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5. The Cemetery Area:
The square shaped cemetery is filled with few macabre gravestones (some broken and few crosses). On the rim of the cemetery, a cracked wall let the howling wind, dreadful spirits and tanks free access or provides camping positions. This is the place where most of the battle actions takes place and the Gold Boxes drops.

 

 

 

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6. & 7. The Red Bridge and The Blue Bridge Areas:
The bases and the High Hill are adjoined by bridge sections (connecting to the lower hill section), which provides exposed routes. A small parkour ramp (located on the ground floor) offers an undercover and jumping access to the High Hill first floor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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► Supply Drops


There were a total of thirty drops available on the map: six Repairs Kits, seven Double Armours, seven Double Damages and ten Speed Boosts. The drops are more or less spread all around the map as usual, although it is worth noting that most of the inside of the cemetery is void of drops while its perimeter holds one third of all the drops: four Repair Kits, four Double Damages and three Double Armors. In addition, the two remaining Repairs Kits are located near each flag. For parkour enthusiasts, two Speed Boosts are strategically located at the bottom of the two large parkour ramps.

Comparisons of Halloween map supplies drops versus other popular TO maps:
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The Halloween map contains the highest number of Double Damage drops (seven) compared to the other maps feature in the table above and the second highest number of Speed Boost drops (ten) and Double Armour drops (seven). The ratio total drops versus max number of player is double for Halloween Map versus Barda and 50% higher versus Brest. These numbers are quite impressive, we would have expected more player or less drops to make the game more balanced.

 
Halloween is a map for aggressive gameplay, where tanker's strategic attacks are executed with a quick and deadly precision. This is not surprising as last year the map was only available for Death Match game mode.

► Halloween Special Features

For this Halloween special, a unique mission of “Earn experience on Halloween map   0/3000” with a high crystal reward (up to 10050 crystals) was made available. If you were lucky, you would have the Halloween mission in one of your three daily missions, and if you were not lucky you would want to change one of the three (preferably a mission with “Earn experience”) in hopes of getting it. If you were still out of luck, you would have to repeat the mission change request more than once and spend some crystals in the process before finding it.

 

 

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Additionally, the map had five times the chance of natural Gold Boxes. The standard white parachute of the supply drop was re-colored with a logo of an orange and black Jack-O'-Lantern pumpkin face. The gold box also undertook some special Halloween celebration revamping which we will present later in this article.

► Map Halloween 2016 compared to 2015


This map is about 80% similar to Halloween 2015 map. The main amendment was the capability to play in four battle modes, which is an improvement compared to last year when only Death Match battle mode was available.

In addition, the make-up of the map hills was altered (organisation and aesthetic):

  • a couple of houses and the reservoir high tower were removed,
  • two hillocks were modified to host the CTF bases,
  • one hillock added near the self-destruct zone,
  • 2 bridges added,
  • a few gravestones remove to fit the new Gold Box drops zone layout,
  • four ramps were added for (easy) Parkour as a treat,
  • inhabited and shattered houses added to give a unique look to the Halloween custom-made map.

Watch video by @shayanshiny to see how the 2015 Halloween looked like:

 

 

 

 

 

The Gameplay Experience

The map was available for all four battles modes (DM, TDM, CP and CTF) with a maximum of 8 players per team and 16 total players when in DM mode.

Comparisons of Halloween maps versus other popular TO maps: GfzYlxz.png

► Capture The Flag (CTF)

Though it may sound unlikely, Halloween CTF had an uncanny resemblance of Rio CTF. Just like the Rio map, there was no shortage of 'stalemate' situations where each team holds the others' flags. Another similarity was that often one team would have a high number of captured flags while the opposition just had one or two. The range of turrets that could be used effectively was like Rio CTF as well, from a Shaft at the entrance/exit of the flag 'building' to a Firebird or Freeze positioned close to the flag to destroy any attempts of theft.

Stealing the flag was usually possible using a triple-drugged light hull as long as the Repair Kit was available next to the enemy flag. The main attack route consisted of jumping off a ramp, then entering the building, taking the flag and a Repair Kit, and exiting and laying a mine on the bridge to destroy any chasers. As long as you avoided the Shafts that were in every game, you usually were successful.

Defense was usually pretty basic as most of the spawn points were around the flag building. The defenders usually consisted of a Firebird sitting inside the building and a Shaft outside.

Mid-fielding in Halloween CTF was extremely interesting due to the diversity of usable combos. Firebird and Hammer were among the most effective and popular, along with any medium or light hull. That being said, almost all turrets were common to see as midfielders.

► Death Match (DM)

DM was by far my favorite mode for Halloween. Usually each 15 Minute game would provide a reward around 450 Crystals, assuming you were in first place and the battle was full. One strange thing with Halloween DM was that golds seemed to be rarer than any other mode, of the 30 or so golds I saw in the Halloween map only 4-5 of them were in DM. Conspiracy? :ph34r:

The most popular turret in DM seemed to be Hammer with a large diversity of hulls including Titan. I personally used Fire/Dictator M2 with some supplies and ended at least third in all the battles I participated in.

 

 

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In conclusion, DM wasn't as great as CTF for crystal earnings but in my opinion more than made up for it by being extremely enjoyable.
 
► Team Death Match (TDM)

Team Death Match is not a popular battle mode on TO and is mostly played on a few key maps. Does the Halloween map will break this curse, you may wonder?

When I played on the Halloween map, I noticed that Tankers used a large variety of hulls and turrets. You would see heavy to medium hulls combined with long-range turrets (Shaft and Vulcan) camping at their respective bases, assisted by one or more Isida. On the other hand, one could see light to medium hulls, combined with short to medium-range turret, harassing the enemy base and everyone in its vicinity. After participating in a few TDM games, a pattern started to repeat itself. Early in the battle, one team always swiftly took advantage over the enemy team and maintained it until the end, leading most of the opponent to exit the game as it was merely “spawn killing” carnage. The mains reason for this quick superiority and the perpetuation of the advantage are: firstly, the losing team was trapped in their base, as the spawning zone are in close concentration. Secondly, all the strategic supply drops (Double Damage, Double Armour and Repair Kit) are located in the territory under control of the enemy, preventing the chance to overturn the situation. This is a map for dynamic gameplay, basically if you camp too much you will eventually lose.

 
A revision of the spawning zones and the supply drops for the sake of TDM mode on the Halloween map would be greatly appreciated to make this mode more balanced and enjoyable for both teams.

► Control Point (CP)

The map had three Control Points (A, B and C) spread over the map: the Control point A is located right in the middle of the Cemetery, the control point B is placed inside the destroyed house on the hillock and the last control point C overlooking the map from the top of the hill.

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The first thing I thought when I entered Halloween CP was, 'umm, why three points?'

Halloween was a medium sized map and I would expect it to have at least five points. Three points made Halloween CP game-play somewhat boring, as you had to travel a long distance from your spawn place to access the nearest control point, which by that time someone had already captured it. Most of the action was around the central point, with the other two points always being in the possession of opposite teams thanks to their location.

Comparison of Halloween maps CP Battle mode versus other popular TO maps:
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The closest popular CP map I could compare it to would be Polygon CP, but without the excitement or fund. If I were redesigning Halloween CP, I would have the points in all four corners of the central area plus one in the center. In conclusion, if you wanted to battle in Halloween, CP is not the way to go.

► Battle Mode Popularity

Did the Halloween map prove to be a success? Which mode was the overall favorite? Was Halloween DM a popular mode?

We do not have the exact answers for these, but we looked regularly at the EN 2 server and could compare and count the battle modes played on the Halloween map for the Brigadier rank. Here below a series of screen shoot taken on Saturday 5th of November at 11:15 UTC on server EN2.

 


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The Halloween map had everyone under its spell as the map was clearly dominating current battle panel. We can definitely say that the heavy crystal reward (with big exp required) associated with the promise of extra Gold Box rate was a huge incentive to play the map. Obviously other factors such as the limited time availability and the novelty of a the map were also part of it but to a lesser extent.

Most popular Game mode? CTF battle mode was the winner game mode (more than 50% of the battle in play), followed by the CP mode (25%), DM mode (16%) and finally the least favorite mode for Halloween: TDM (5%). To me this is not a surprise, as the CTF and CP are the modes that provide the most experience points and crystals, and in the case of TDM mode, the format already suffers from a low popularity on standard maps. The unbalanced gameplay of the Halloween map being did not help this mode popularity.

DM was in third position in term of popularity (16%), despite the map seeming tailored for DM battles (overfilled with 30 supplies drops especially Double Damage, Speed Boost and Repair Kit). The aversion to Halloween DM does not seem like it was attributed to the map's small modifications, rather is due to the Tankers limited amount of time to complete the Halloween Mission requiring a substantial amount of experience points (an therefore substantial amount of time to play). CP and CTF are the best mode to achieve this in the quickest way, not DM nor TDM.


► Other Feedback and Suggestions for Improvement

The midnight theme was not to the liking of all the Tankers (including me), however the map is called Halloween and therefore it ought to feel like you are playing on a chilled night. Deselecting the skybox option can help to gain some clarity though. Other feedback was relating to annoying glitches, which stopped any tanks dead in their tracks even at full speed. This happened at the bottom of each of the parkour ramps and sometimes at the top of bridge slopes (when coming from the High Hill). It is worth noting the two majors dead zones located under the bridges and the self-destruct zone, which were barely used by tankers, maybe on Death Match game mode (for hiding and for spawning), and the Team Death Match game mode (only for spawning).

Suggestions for improvement for the Halloween map 2017:

  • Increase the number of players for this medium-large map (Increased from 16 to 20 total (Mirroring Rio map) or to 24 total (like Brest map).
  • Increase the appeal of the dead zones and the High Hill zone.
  • In CTF and TDM battle mode, include some spawn points outside the bases on the lower section of the hillocks to reduce spawn kill.
  • Review the number of control point on CP mode; add more CP points (five points like Rio map) or have only one point (like Polygon map).
  • Consider alteration of the supply drop setup: reduce the number or re-organise (maybe move some of the drops into the dead zones). The current set up is perfect for DM mode, however it could be modified to improve the game-play of the other modes (especially TDM).
  • Creepy background music was a little bit dull and could use some improvements.

 

The EN Community Events

This year some tankers got their bags full of not only sweet treats from TO special discounts and other freebies, but also of Halloween spirited events (official and unofficial) organised by the EN community. Here is below three event that we have heard of or have been involved directly or by surrogate account.

► Halloween 10K V Event (Gold Rain)

A 10K V Event (Gold Rain) was a unofficial Death Match battle organised by Tankeress @AlphaNinjaGirl in which a Gold Rain took place, with a minimum of 10 Gold Boxes supplies dropped in a one hour battle. However, in the frenzy anything can happen and more Gold Boxes could drop. 10K events are set up periodically and, so far, each time on different map chosen by the event coordinator choice. The first 10K event (10K I) took place on September 14th, 2016, and featured a drop of 16 Gold Boxes. The fifth 10K event (10K V) was organised on October 29th (Halloween weekend 2016) and took place on the Halloween map as a battleground, and witnessed an insane Gold Rain of 47 Gold Boxes.

A full report of the Halloween 2016 10K V is available on the 10K Event (Gold Rain)
Forum Page. Find below the battle score result.
 

 

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Special Halloween Event – The Running King

The Running King was an official event, which was organized by @Nikk (formerly known as Katekizem). The objective of the event was to kill the spooky Running King, which was impersonated by a very special guest, which is a legend in the TO community: the near indestructible GodMode_ON Tanker. The fearsome King was majestically geared with a XT Wasp hull and a XT Firebird turret (both M4) and wore an unknown protection module, which rendered him almost impervious to any Freeze turrets and the blast of mines while the fifteen determined and fearless hunters were dressed in white paint and equipped with hornet hull, freeze turret and a miserable zero module protection.

The event took place on the Halloween map and comprised three rounds with Death Match battle mode. For each round the hunter who killed the King was rewarded with 10K crystals, in addition if hunters managed to flip the king, three gold boxes were dropped. It is worth mentioning that the prospect of the gold drops was a good incentive for the hunters to try to flip the King with mines before killing him by a freezing and slow death.

Watch a video of @So, which feature one of the Running King round and the execution of the King and his passage to the underworld:

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the Tankers who are interested to know the protection module level worn by the king, the video above give all the relevant information to deduce it thanks to the newly implemented Damage Indicator (-50 HP from a mine and -4 HP from the freeze bite). Based on my calculation the King’s gear offers a protection of 98% against Freeze turret and about 95% against mine.

► Halloween Album Photo 2016

As a ritual for each TO holiday celebration, Tanki Reporter (candidate) @Yisroel.Rabin has been organising a unofficial Photo Album Project; this time, on the Halloween map. Yisroel has been managing the creation of photo album for the EN community for all last five Tanki Online special celebration time using is skills and the "Spectator mode" using camera settings. All you have to do is to volunteer to have a photo of you immortalised with the holiday paint, your favorite tank combo and the special Halloween map as background. After the event, all the photo taken are assembled in an photo album which is posted under the forum topic “Photo of the Day - Have any?”.

 

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Have a peek below of the picture taken of @Viking4s on the Halloween map and disguised with the Halloween 2016 holiday paint.

 

 

Photo by @Yisroel.Rabin

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The Gold Box

► The Gold Pumpkin

The Gold Box was re-named “Gold Pumpkin” or just “Pumpkin” by the tankers as for this celebration, the Gold Box had the appearance of a pumpkin to fit the spooky festivities. To the disappointment of some tankers, the Gold Pumpkin looked identical to the one from the Halloween event of 2014. Nevertheless we think this is a better option than the weird Gold Box from Halloween 2015.

The gold pumpkin dropped 30 seconds after the notifying screen announcement (“A gold box will be dropped soon”) and the warning sound that sounded like crazed laughter. The Gold Pumpkin drop location marker was also altered and took on the silhouette of a stylized grinning Jack-O'-Lantern framed by eight bones shaped segments. This design is identical to the one displayed to the Halloween event of 2015.

 

 

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As usual, the same techniques to catch the Gold Box on a flat area with no high surrounding applies here. Note also that the Gold Box supply dropped during the event retained the everyday Gold Box contour, but still announced by Jack-O'-Lantern laughter and dropped on the Gold Pumpkin drop location marker.

► Gold Box Drop Zone Trick

Knowing the gold box drop zone pattern on a map reduces the time to find the envied gold marker, providing extra time to prepare for the catch and overall increase your chance of catching a gold box. If you have played quite long hours on the Halloween map you would have noticed that the gold pumpkins have been dropped quite repeatedly in the cemetery area and especially close to the cemetery walls, while drops have been scarce on the hillock, the bridges and the hill.

Well, over the Halloween weekend two separate groups of Tankers have unearthed the hidden pattern of the gold box drop zone and what they found was not something they would have imagined or dreamed of!

As the gold box supplies started to pour one after another, they never seemed to saturate the available drop spots. After the rain of a staggering 109 Gold Boxes supplies, to the astonishment of the players and mine (when I saw screen shots and videos) a very distinctive shape carved with glowing gold box appeared in the middle of the map: a monstrous Jack-O'-Lantern scattered over the entire cemetery!

 

 

Photo by @Yisroel.Rabin

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Watch below the videos posted by the the two groups solving the Halloween map Gold Box mystery:

 

Video by @Yisroel.Rabin:

 

 

 

 

Video by @Vegas:

 

 

 

 
After spending time watching the two videos above and the pictures made available on the TO forums, I counted and listed all the Gold Boxes (GB) by map area:

 

  • 92 GB in the Cemetery area: 70 to form the giant Jack-O'-Lantern and 22 on the cemetery outer wall,
  • 10 GB in Hillock area: 7 on the hillock and 3 behind it by the self-destruct zone,
  • 3 GB on the top of the High Hill,
  • 2 GB on red Neutral area on bridge and one behind the bridge,
  • 2 GB on Blue Neutral area on bridge and one behind the bridge,
  • No GB drop zone can be found on the two bases!

With 92 GB out of 109 found in the Cemetery and its close vicinity. This represents 84% of all drop zones, leaving 9% on the Haunted House Hillock and 7% on the rest of the map. Knowing this, your best chance to find the Gold Box drop zone marker was to drive around the inside of the cemetery and then to head for the hillock (9% of the drop zone) or just search in the sky for the gold box.

The 2016 pattern is a drastic change compared to the last year pattern, while still focused in the cemetery area it displays more drop zone and an undoubtedly cheeky trick from the developers with the Jack-O'-Lantern shaped drop zone.

Watch the  two videos below to see the complete Halloween 2015 Gold Box drop pattern:


#1 Video by @Mr.Perfect_Skill: partial pattern with only 21 Gold Boxes

 

 

 

 

 

#2 Video by Cansten: full pattern with 31 Gold Boxes

 

 

 

 
 
Conclusion

The Halloween map set up provided good fun and an enjoyable gameplay, mainly due to the opportunity for Tankers to play using their preferred tank combination. The map offers many spots for campers, many options for defending and the amount of drop available gave many advantages to the attacking player, which will help to win the battle when put in good use. The availability of the four battle modes was a real bonus, and the four Parkour ramps provided entertainment to adventurous Tankers hungry for flying surprise attacks.

On a final note, the Halloween map 2016 was a real treat from the Developers with a giant spine-chilling Jack-O'-Lantern gold trick.

 
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 
This is all for now, you have successfully completed one of your daily mission by reaching the bottom of the article. The next map portrayal article will depict the special Happy New Year 2017 map, we can bet all our crystals that it will be an enriched variant of last year ASL map with the winter midnight theme and the picturesque Moscow’s Red Square building background.
 
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> Other articles by electrolux1

Fire Wasp: The Ultimate Burning Guide!
Tanki Online Selfies: A 101 Guide

Updates: The Loved & Hated
30 Tips For Effective Article Writing
20 Punny Tanki Related Jokes!

 

> Other articles by Viking4s

Lexique du Tankist (French)
[Guide] Parkour Tandem #1 (Translation to EN)
Amphibious Hovering Hull - Triton (Developers's Corner #1)
[Review] The Tesla Turret (Developers's Corner #2)
[The Twilight Zone] The Keyboard - Chapter 1
[The Twilight Zone] The Keyboard - Chapter 2

Edited by Viking4s
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Edits:[...]

Very well done!

Thank You, I did more edits: minor correction and rephrasing, plus finalized the pictures sizing and the missing one.

 

Man, what a article!

+1

Thank you

 

Excellent article, well done all around! Pleased to see it turned out so nicely and pulled together with all the images.  :)

Thank you for proof reading it!

 

Fantastic, great to see it published!

Could not have been done in time without your contribution. :D

 

AWESOME! Especially the images, they are just SPLENDID! :D Keep it up!

Thank you, Not all picture are from me, only the signed one, the other are credited to their creator. And video are from the EN community found here and there while roaming the TO forum and UT.

 

Nice. Unexpected.

Thank you. Unexpected? what do you mean?

Edited by Viking4s
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Very well written! I wish you all the best in your future articles (if any).

I am sure, there will be more future articles of him.

Plus, I am anxiously waiting for them.

Edited by ToHoYoNTaDa
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I am sure, there will be more future articles of him.

Plus, I am anxiously waiting for them.

Very well written! I wish you all the best in your future articles (if any).

Thank you, yes there is definitely more to come, stay tuned on the next newspaper January 2017 (some article would be in French sowy).

 

 

Awesome! Glad to see I made it in...  :wub:

Yes, you're famous now ! ;)

 

Nice

Thank you, spammer

 

Well written article all around! Would like the article, but can't because I ran out.

Thank you. Don't give up.

 

Damn this is very detailed :o

Very well done!

And thanks for using my video  ^_^

No problem - Thanks to you for making this perfect video. Waiting for your next video on the New Year map.

Edited by Viking4s

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