[Special Review] Patch #460 & Vlog #133

[Crip 4,735]

  

---

 

Greetings! Guess what? It's Patch Review time! (Cue groans of "Stop torturing us @Savage"). Well, since you all must be getting incredibly bored of hearing me drawl on alone, I have recruited the help of the honourable @Thekillerpenguin! Together, we will be taking a look at the most recent update in Tanki Online, as well as checking out some interesting news in the most recent V-LOG.

 

Let's get started!

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Introduction

 

More updates = more pain work for the Specials Team. Although the number of updates being released has slowed somewhat compared to previous months, they are still coming at regular intervals. The update which adds the new Bonus Cards will be surfacing in several weeks' time and as the new matchmaking system is drawing close to being introduced, we can expect even more updates to be added. Part of #460 was preparation for this (the merging of the servers). #460 itself was not large enough to warrant a separate article, so after watching the V-LOG, we decided to add review of the more interesting sections that it had to offer (strictly the Bonus Card Update and the Interview).

 

So here we have it. A review of Patch #460 and the 133rd V-LOG combined. They are broken down and explored in depth below.

 

 

Patch #460

 

Servers Merging

 

Previously, the European cluster was divided into German, English, Polish, and Russian servers. The intention was to allow players to play with others in their community- German speaking players could play together, English speaking players could play together, etc. This had several benefits; a player could reasonably expect to be able to communicate well with their teammates or in the server chat, and the communities could be more centralized. However, a problem with the system of segregated communities was that the divided servers, particularly for the smaller communities, such as the Polish one, would run low on players during the off-hours, when many people are asleep or busy.

 

 

To solve this problem, the developers have decided to merge all the servers under the "EU" banner. Now, players from the EU cluster will all be playing with each other in all 24 servers, which appear to be rank-segregated as usual. You should have many more battles to choose from and won't as much of a problem finding battles during the off-hours for your time zone.

 

 

New Paints

 

A total of 9 paints were added to the Shop, meaning that they are available only for real money. These are:

 

"This paint gives your tank a glitched look. Use this to confuse your enemies and then take the advantage of their puzzled reaction to make your kill."

 

A real eyesore to many, but that's probably the purpose.

 

"This paint dresses up your tank in a warm woolen coating with a typical Scandinavian pattern. It should keep you cosy (sic) as far as the Arctic Circle."

 

A nice repeating pattern in a nice shade of blue. Your Viking would be right at home in it.

 

"A paint for the tanker who values personal grooming and battle skills equally. The paint also gives your tank a soft scent of delicate talcum powder."

 

Resembles one of those rotating poles commonly mounted on barbershops in the old days.

 

"A coating of Vanadium for your tank. Besides its appealing silver gray texture, this paint is highly sought due to the scarcity of its main component."

 

A repeating almost-tessellation composed of hexagons and six pointed stars in shades of bright silver. Fitting its description, this is one of the pricier of the new paints.

 

"Tantalize your enemies with the aroma, bright red color, juicy texture, and sweetness of your strawberry tank. And then, when they move closer to have a bite, give them a taste of your bullets."

 

A swirling, repeating red pattern somewhat reminiscent of the earlier Mint paint in concept.

 

"Fool your enemies into thinking that your tank is a corroded wreck - weak and defenseless. Then, when they move in for the kill, give them a nasty surprise!"

 

Resembles weathered, scratched rust. Sadly, it's no use for playing dead. Not even the wrecked tank props look like this.

 

"Since the reintroduction of «Space Mode», there has been a renewed enthusiasm for space trinkets and memorabilia. As a result, a group of rogue scientists, have created this paint using lunar soil smuggled from the moon."

 

Resembles the lunar surface. Or is it actually cheese?

 

"Computer games are great because you can play them wearing anything, even your pajamas. If you like your tank to be as comfortable as you are while playing, this paint is perfect for you."

 

Spangled dots of cream, reddish-pink, and white on a calm blue background. Looks quite artistic but far too similar to some of the existing paints that are available in the garage. It simply does not "stand out from the crowd".

 

"This paint gives your tank a succulent look that just begs to be bitten. Expect to be chased around the arena by carnivores with Firebird, while vegans will want to punish you for your lack of sensitivity."

 

A deep beefsteak red with some dark patterning for a somewhat meat-like texture. Looks more like liver, to be honest.

 

With these new introductions, the costliest Shop paints in the game are now Vanadium, Glitch, and Pajamas, which are even more pricey than the previous record holders (Domino, Mint, and Watercolor).

 

 

Vlog #130

 

Bonus Cards

 

As hinted at in the V-LOG Preview, Tanki would take a look at the planned "Bonus Cards" in V-LOG #133. They are expected to hit the game in several weeks' time. These cards will follow similar principles to the existing "Double Crystal Card" and will provide you with a special discount or bonus on certain items in the Shop. Like the DCC, you will receive an in-game pop-up after you log in, notifying you about your new card. Unlike a DCC, a special notification in the Communicator Panel will keep you reminded of the existence of your bonus card and remind you to use it. This notification will be available to be viewed in the "News" section, along with the other announcements. Similar to the DCC, these bonus cards will only be active (and usable) for 24 hours. You may also only have one such card at any given time.

 

The planned types of Bonus Card.

 

For Product Kits and Paints, there will only be one type of bonus card (the "Discount" card) which will allow the player to buy them at cheaper prices. However, for Gold Boxes, Premium and Crystals you can also receive a "Bonus" card. These special cards grant you with little extras to your purchases, like extra Gold Boxes, Crystals and days of Premium.

 

An example of how sales and Bonus Cards can combine to give a good deal.

 

Now, these new cards leave us with some interesting scenarios to deal with. You may be thinking "Wow, if I wait until a Shop sale and hope for a "Discount" card the discounts will combine and I'll get the item super-cheap!" Unfortunately, this will not be the case. It was specifically mentioned in the V-LOG that the discounts granted by bonus cards would not "stack" with any other existing sale. Instead, the higher discount will be the one considered. However, if you happen to acquire a "Bonus" card during a Shop sale, the bonus will combine with the regular discount to provide you with more of the item for your money at a cheaper price.

 

It will be interesting to see what percentage sale "Discount" cards provide you with and whether you can use the card repeatedly for the entire 24 hours, rather than it being a "single-use" card. According to the V-LOG, at least one of the "Bonus" cards will be a 25% addition. It is also puzzling that although a Supply bonus card is shown in the picture, it was not mentioned by either of the developers. Will we get a "Bonus" card as well as a "Discount" for the Supply kit? We shall see.

 

Interview with Alex Lynch

 

 

For the first time within my experience, we were treated with an interview with one of the people who act "behind the scenes" in the game and make things run smoothly. In the V-LOG, we were finally introduced to the "Voice-over" artist for the Tanki Online V-LOG itself, Alex Lynch.

 

Q: Tell us something about yourself.

 

A: My name is Alex Lynch and I am the voice that you hear every time I say "Hello Tankers!" (at the beginning of V-LOGs for example). I'm from Yekaterinburg and it's almost like the third capitol of Russia It is situated a very long way from the actual capitol Moscow and is actually pretty nearby to Perm. I am a professional musician and I have been around since forever - 2007 I guess.

 

Q: You're Russian? You don't sound Russian?!

 

A: Yeah, I have had language education which is why I don't sound so bad. It took me years to practice and perfect this way of speaking. I've also been to the States and I've learned that speaking a lot is how you can polish this kind of thing.

 

Q: How did you end up working with Tanki Online?

 

A: Well, one of my friends was working here for a long time and one day I just said "Dude, you work for this game developer company, so why don't we work together?"

 

Q: Do you play Tanki Online or TX?

 

A: To be honest, I have actually never played Tanki or Tanki X but I've seen a lot of footage and it's enough for me to understand what is going on and to get the general idea. I'm not in to games anymore. The only game I have is "Balda" which is a mobile Russian game and that is it.

 

World of Tanks? No...

 

Q: How long does it take you to record a complete Vlog?

 

A: When I started, I guess it took me a couple of hours or maybe even more to record it because I wanted everything to sound precisely the right way. Now it takes me about an hour. Still, it's a lot and I'm working on reducing the amount of minutes I need. Probably it will be 30 minutes by next year, or maybe even 20. Yeah, maybe one minute eventually!

 

Do you have a message for our players?

 

A: Play fair and enjoy the game. See ya!

 

~ Alex Lynch, Voice-Over Artist for the Tanki Online V-LOGs

 

 

Conclusion

 

Done and dusted! Another update successfully covered! An interesting patch, though the merging of the servers seems to have caused much confusion in-game. The introduction of those nine new paints will certainly please some tankers (namely the buyers), but will offer completely nothing to the ordinary tanker. This statement also applies to the Bonus Cards. Overall, not much has changed after #460 apart from the fact that all the Russians are now dominating the poor EN tankers across all the servers.

 

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed checking out this review! Stay tuned as I feel that there are larger updates looming on the horizon. Thanks for reading!

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

How do you feel about the merging of the servers? Do you find it easier to find battles or are you struggling to cope with the fact that many of your new teammates don't speak English?

Leave your opinions below!

 

 

 

      &      

 

 

 

 

Edited May 23, 2017 by Savage

[Crip 4,735]

A review of the latest Patch Update and V-LOG #133. Thanks for reading!

[Guest Maserati]

Savage mult. Nice article.

[Spoon 1,030]

Nice article Jason  ^_^

[Logician_UC 37]

It hasn't changed gameplay all too much. Although the lack of communication has caused a few issues since I can't give warnings of intruders the way I could previously. 

 

The amusement of seeing english speakers getting confused about all the Russians though...that's just great.

[DarkVengeance 31]

From what I see, Germans and Russians learn some English and can get along talking in said language, dont know about Poles. On logging on to Tanki, top right, there is still a selector between German/English/Chinese/Brazilian/Italian/Chinese/Polish, and there is commentary on the Vlog to the effect that whilst for Battle purposes the Russian, English, Polish and German communities are merged, the chat will still be seperate. Im getting plenty Tankers messaging in Russian, and this conflicts with what is said on here. We seem to be getting different information, and need clarity?

 

DarkVengeance

[l3iG_GUY 12]

ohno pls pls remove this update! before i was really capable of finding my friends and english clans easily but with this system i lost everything everyone speak spanish.....russian....and other kind of languages that i dont understand u see. now wha should...the poor...english players....should do to fibd there english mates easily?

[aravind_striker 0]

Wow Awesome Article!!

[RIDDLER_8 5,553]

Good update.

[RIDDLER_8 5,553]

I am looking forward to the matchmaking system and 50% micro upgrade sales.

[RIDDLER_8 5,553]

This update has created a new bug. When I edit a post or comment that I have created and click on "Post", the changes does not get saved. Please report and fix this bug.

[Guest]

Sag bhai.. Itna ignore mat mar plej :(

[Later 76]

When we will be able to buy that cards?

[Musa 5,352]

Ikr

[Defense 25]

Jason!! Please do something other than this man. It is getting monotonous xD. Try something new, you may surprise yourself. ;)

[Crip 4,735]

Jason!! Please do something other than this man. It is getting monotonous xD. Try something new, you may surprise yourself. ;)

Well, since I'm no longer a Reporter, you won't have to read any more.

[Biscuites 0]

I didn't Like the merged servers. :(

 

When I opened the chat there r many people talking different languages which i couldn't understand :unsure: .