[Issue 62] [Other] Is TO a "Strategy Game"?

[Quarks 2,255]

 

 

Ladies and Gentlemen, they have returned. I have decided to revive my opinion articles, ©Avante_Garde 2017. Throughout almost every guide the Paper has put out over these many years, we have always given you different tips and strategies on how to be the superior player. This got me thinking: after all this, is it possible to consider TO a strategy game?

 

 

Before I begin to fully divulge the weird things that go on in my mind, we must first define a "strategy game", because any game can be considered a strategy game under loose definitions. So, to me, a "strategy game" is a game which requires and/or highly recommends the use of planning and strategies with a team to be successful. Fancy sounding, right? This will be the definition that I will be using in this article, if you happen to have a different definition, we might come to different conclusions, so just keep that in mind as we begin out journey.

One of the most obvious uses of strategy is in the clan system. How a clan uses their members' skill sets, terrains, different combos (light format excluded), and the tactics they use can make or break a clan's success in battle. They constantly train to be in sync with each other and to determine the most effective way to win, i.e., strategies. They have to plan how to defeat their enemies and make adaptions mid-game to be as strong as possible. Unfortunately, this kind of teamwork and precision is rarely found outside of clans and clan wars. In a regular random battle, whether you will have a good team or not is hard to tell right off the bat along with whether or not they all speak your language. Nothing destroys team strategy like the inability to communicate. While it is possible to employ individual tactics, it is very hard to launch a coordinated assault or keep a solid defense. This means that in a majority of matches played, the idea of team strategy is almost nonexistent. Are there exceptions? Sure there are. I have played on some very fluid teams myself, but I have also played on a lot of teams that are either all attackers, all defense, or just unwilling to help. So while many clan battles require strategy, the majority of battles played do not employ it, but when you get a fluid team, it is rather easy to dominate an uncoordinated one.

Another strong argument for the need for strategy is in format battles, specifically XP/BP; I will be getting to parkour later. In XP/BP, your strategy is second only to skill. Where to approach the flag, drop the flag, keep it, among others. All of these have to be constantly taken into account and acted upon. Charging in blindly is a surefire way to be lit up by your opponents. Bad jokes aside, XP/BP relies on strategy almost as much as skills. This is further exemplified in a duel, as it is all up to your skills and how you use them to succeed. I'm no master at dueling by any stretch of the imagination, but it is not that hard to see strategies importance. However, notice how I said having a strategy is second to skill? Someone with enough skill doesn't need strategy nearly as much and can just demolish you, especially in a duel. Who cares if all they do is charge over the top if you can't hit them consistently?

Speaking of format battles, parkour is another incredible example of strategy in TO. Which prop to conquer, how to do it, and what turrets to use are all critical components of parkour. I'm by no means a parkour expert, probably not even a novice, but I can tell the amount of planning and trials that go into many of the different stunts. Just look at Masters of Parkour contests held over the years; if you don't see planning in the videos that won, you will never see strategy in TO. As cool as parkour is, the planning is really only found in parkour clans and if you were to join a random parkour battle, you will, as you inevitably have, found absolute chaos. People doing random "flips" off ramps with Hunter or trying to get recoil out of Twins, I have actually seen that with a guy trying to do solo parkour, I laughed.

However, as far as strategy goes, it always seems to lose out to overpowered equipment. Yes, it is possible to outmaneuver/outplay them, but higher level equipment has a huge edge even before the battle begins. They can take more damage, deal more damage, and be a total pain. They more or less turn into an immortal battering ram, especially when they join low ranked battles. For example, a few months I fought a guy who had just bought Legend kit in a CTF battle. There was nothing we could about it, he could outmaneuver everyone on the team, and one shot just about everyone. There was absolutely no way to deal with him without ignoring the rest of the team. No strategy of ours except constant mining worked, but we died too quickly to be effective. It was simply too OP to handle, and we could do nothing about it.

Speaking of OP combinations, I shall now not-so-subtly transition to my next point: your combination choices. This single choice determines almost everything that has to do with TO. What paints you buy, micro-upgrades, playing style, et cedera. This single choice depicts your ability to plan ahead and the knowledge of how to use particular combinations. For example, picking Mammoth-Rail for offense would not work, just like Wasp-Twins on defense. The strategy behind choosing a good combo is enough to write an entire article on, just be rest assured that choosing your combo is an important checkbox of TO and that strategy should control its every change. Unless, of course, people happen to think you are a mindless drugger...

Another thing commonly viewed as "strategy-less" is the use of supplies, particularly before the smart cooldowns update. All you had to do was press 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 and you would be deathless. Just hop into any hull and you became a battering ram, ramming into other battering rams that were wandering around. Now, however, if one person has OP equipment and a plethora of supplies, they tend to dominate any battle they join. It seems all they do is hit a supply the moment they can and won't stop till the battle ends. Yes, they are a massive pain, but supply usage is a key strategy. With the advent of smart cooldowns, you have to plan for when you use your supplies and which ones. Not much is worse than activating a nitro to realize that you should've used a DA. Sometimes the constant druggers can be rendered crippled if they don't properly ration their supplies. Yes, I've seen it happen, and yes, it's hilarious every single time.

Well, as for a conclusion, I would say "YES". Despite it being a flash TPS MMO, it is structured in a way so that stratagem construction is not only suggested, but almost required. Sure, sometimes it feels like a mindless action game, but that's the beauty if Tanki Online, the fact that it can go between tactics and O.K. Corral 'shoot-em-up's depending on the battle and who is in it. It adds a nice variety to the gameplay so that the game doesn't get old. Again, I would consider TO a strategy game, as it relies heavily on how you respond to every upcoming situation and knowing what to do in advance is needed. Is it on the same level as Final Fantasy or even Pokemon? No, not really, but is a nice edition to an enjoyable MMO.

 

 

Thank you for indulging in my think-fest of mostly useless information. Perhaps you enjoyed it, or perhaps you disagreed with my conclusion and have your own to state. If you think either of those or you just want to say how much you dislike me or that my new nickname is misspelled, since it is an Avant-Garde spelling of Avant-Garde,  let me know in the comments below.

 

 

[bc200214_777 582]

First :D

 

Nice Article!

[TriNitroToIuene 4,765]

You conclude "yes", but that'll just mean TO has strayed from its original path, because in the day (and I believe currently as well) they advertised themselves as a "dead simple to play" game.

Edited March 30, 2017 by TriNitroToIuene
Well written, btw :)

[Quarks 2,255]

You conclude "yes", but that'll just mean TO has strayed from its original path, because in the day (and I believe currently as well) they advertised themselves as a "dead simple to play" game.

It is simple to play and learn, but mastering it does require strategy, whether it is intentional or unintentional ;)

[Drey 879]

I believe once it comes to eSports strategy may come into play. But for some normal battles, I doubt strategy can show itself since you barely have means to contact your teammate(s) for the next shot to take/avoid. But that's just my opinion.

[PhatDawg 28]

 

picking Mammoth-Rail for offense would not work

Not always true......I run an OP M2 Mammy/Shaft combo and play it like a traditional rail and light hull. Yes, stealing flags and close combat with the added luxury of single shot kills of many opponents too. It is extraordinarily funny to see those "How the **** did a Mammoth Shaft just steal/cap our flag?" comments! Obviously you must pick your battles as a 1v1 against a pimped m3 would most likely result in me going boom rather quickly. Now comes to playing defense, yeah, I am one of those pain in the butt battering rams you described especially with an Isida by my side. But you CAN play offense with a big giant pig of a tank- If you're slow ya gotta be strong!