Review [Special] The Upcoming Matchmaking System and Patch #467

[Zenyth 6,494]

 

Greetings, tankers! The matchmaking system is almost here and the latest episode of the V-Log gave us some fresh, new insight on how it will function, supplemented by some other news and of course, another patch update to add to the long list this year. Let's see what the developers have been conjuring up lately.

 

 

First of all, we have the most trending topic among the range of developments that are currently under way - the matchmaking system.

 

So, what will the matchmaking system look like?

 

Once the actual matchmaking system is released into the game, the home screen of the game, the one which appears after we log in into our accounts, will drastically change. The current battle list and the accompanying panel at the right will give way for six buttons. Five of them will let you use the matchmaking system in different ways while the sixth one will lead you towards the familiar battle list. Among the five, there will be one mode-specific button each for the four game modes and a fifth for any random team battle.

 

 

The battle list will also undergo a few tweaks thanks to all these changes. It will only contain customized battles once the matchmaking system is introduced, as the non-PRO (sometimes referred to as 'random') battles of today will cease to exist as part of a list and will instead be accessed through the five aforementioned buttons. The said customized battles will be free to join and will not require the PRO pass. The PRO pass will thereby be abolished.

 

The daily missions update that made it mandatory for daily missions to be completed in random non-PRO battles will be carried over despite the introduction of the matchmaking system. You won't be able to grind your missions in custom battles chosen from the battle list. However, the developers plan to tweak a few of the existing daily missions since few of them are not a reasonable ask in full 10v10 battles (like the 'secure first place' missions, for example).

 

In addition to that, contrary to earlier belief, it's not likely that custom battles will be available through the matchmaking system. The reason being cited here is that it severely hinders the purpose of the matchmaking system, which is to supply the players with exciting full battles on a consistent basis. Making custom battles available through matchmaking will possibly narrow down the players in a certain queue as many of them will get filtered into various specialized channels, instead of only one channel of players looking for a battle with regular settings. Such options aren't offered by the currently functional BATTLE button anyway.

 

Moving ahead..

 

How will matchmaking work?

 

Since the matchmaking system is going to be here to replace the BATTLE button, it appears to be fairly simple and straightforward. It's meant to be the way to go for tankers who don't want to take the time to search for a battle of their liking or create one, but want to get going right away and play a full 10v10 game with regular settings. To ensure fair play and lessen chances of sabotage or 'multing', the matchmaking battles unlike random battles created via the BATTLE button will not appear in any sort of a list and hence, entry will be through a 'queue' system only.

 

Here are the steps involved.

 

① You click on one of the five buttons on the home screen.

 

Doing so will take you to a 'special screen' that will stay until the server finds players in the queue who are of the same rank as you. If there are not enough players at that moment, the server will progressively widen the rank range of the to-be battle until there's enough.

 

② When the matchmaking system receives enough players to start a battle, it will show you the loading screen and till then, the server will create the battle and balance the teams in full measure if it's a team battle.

 

③ After that, the participants will enter the battle, only to confront a countdown timer. This timer will indicate the time (in seconds) left until the actual battle starts. As long as the timer is active, players will be allowed to move and shoot but no damage will be registered and no points or flags will be 'live'. As soon as the said timer disappears, all the players will re-spawn and the real battle will commence.

 

The countdown timer will be introduced to make sure that all of the participants have plenty of time to spawn in the battle, and offers some leeway for the ones with slower connections. This way, a team cannot capitalize unfairly on an unprepared or incomplete team caught unawares, to some extent at least.

 

 

④ Suppose that any player leaves the battle for any reason. The given battle will not proceed with uneven teams. The matchmaking system will immediately start searching for a replacement for the lost player from the queue and make the teams balanced again.

 

That's about it as far as the matchmaking process is concerned. Now let's move ahead towards some other tidbits that have been talking points in tanker circles.

 

Private battles to be more or less Parkour mode.

 

In what might be a harrowing turn of events for miscreants in the game, especially power-levelers, the developers have completely removed the ability of private battles to obtain us experience and crystals. This makes it very identical to parkour mode with the only difference being the existence of weight MUs and self-destruction zones. The reason behind this move was obvious, private battles are a breeding ground for power-levelers and according to the V-Log, this fact is well complemented by statistics.

 

However, don't cut that forlorn figure yet. There's going to be this thing that the developers call 'battle groups' which will allow us to play on the same side with friends. This provision will only be for team battles and according to what I gather and expect, there will be a way to list down friends who are online and enter a matchmaking battle with this group. The opponents will be chosen at random from the matchmaking system's queue. This appears to be a good tool for clans seeking to play versus randoms. However, we'll have to resort to private battles when playing in clan wars, tournaments and the like.  Another concern is the hassle of ranking up publicly, since rank up parties will not be possible in private anymore.

 

According to a forum post written by , the developers were considering applying this change to all PRO (custom) battles instead of just private ones as custom battles still provided customization options that were sometimes prone to abuse because of the amount of elbow room offered. However, the decision was, as we know, not to extend this change beyond private battles. Here's an excerpt.

 

[..] It took some time to consider whether or not it should be that way. Custom games cannot be customized any further and yield exp and funds at the same time as more customization options leads to more options of abusing the system. Say, if any day there will be an option to upload custom maps, player will take advantage of that to create an ultimate map for power leveling. Easy way out is to remove the core reason for power-leveling like that.

 

It was decided to keep exp and crystals in the battle list though, as there is a certain meta gameplay around funds mechanic in these type of games. While in matchmaking funds will be generated differently from how they are generated currently, in battle list funds are still going to be generated from player kills. That funds-via-kills mechanics create meta gameplay somewhat similar to poker in certain ways, with raids, leaves and drama around games that take long time to be completed. While it is commonly a toxic system with mults and backstabing, it is still part of what made Tanki a Tanki in the past.

 

With matchmaking, we can provide a safe environment with more or less balanced gameplay while keeping old style gameplay in custom games. For those who really know what they are doing [..]

 

We'll be able to name the battles we make, again.

 

Probably a welcome change. The erstwhile feature of naming battles (when they could be created without the need of a PRO pass) was removed in the battle list update of December 2014, which had also made the PRO pass a requirement to create private battles. The reason that was cited was that oftentimes these battle names used to be inappropriate or misleading. The change had its share of opposition from players, as back then, it was the only way of denoting whether a battle was intended for XP, parkour, mine hunts, rank up and other things (though it didn't actually deter players from ruining the battles). 

 

 

What benefit does it hold if added to the game now then? Considering that we have a separate provision in place for XP/BP, parkour and other formats, the benefits are not so apparent. It does add a personalized feel as you can add your own touch to the battle names and liven up the otherwise 'boring' battle list. It may even pave the way for conducting gold rains and similar events without advertising them on the lobby chat and eventually causing an unnecessary flooding of the chat room.

 

 

The Patch Update #467

 

The patch update #467 that was released on the 6th of July, 2017 included a few bug fixes (related to critical errors and invisible tank parts) and a relocation of the country selection dropdown menu but more importantly, introduced promo codes into the game's Shop section. The promo codes option is nested under the miscellaneous (other) category among the shop's offers. Clicking on it takes you to the place where you can enter your promo code and press 'Send'. The promo code's offerings get added to your account instantly.

 

 

What will promo codes get you?

 

Promo codes will give you articles from the game for free. That includes crystal packages or gold box packages or even supply kits of different quantities. It is expected that promo codes will offer premium account time, shop paints and possibly garage items in the near future.

 

 

Promo codes will not be something you can purchase. They will be given out as prizes in special promotional events. They will be handed out by the company itself and its partners or community representatives.

 

 

There we go, the end of other patch update review. I hope you found something interesting to read above, and I hope that you have something interesting to share with me below - comments, feedback and anything of that sort, shoot!

 

[O.S.A.N 714]

Really good, informative & well structured article, i am looking forward for the next releases :)

[murcielagoes 331]

Naming battles :O, all those declined ideas and suggestions about naming battles have come to end

[Zenyth 6,494]

Maybe because any ideas about bringing back removed features are not accepted at all

 

Wonder how this update defies that, but I like it

[Kurt_KurtDGreat 2,259]

Maybe because any ideas about bringing back removed features are not accepted at all

Wonder how this update defies that, but I like it

Well devs can do what they want technically :p but if they change the I&S rules after every update people will always suggest to revert the update :lol:

 

Nice name btw :3

 

And lovely article ;)

[HAPPSHOT 2,029]

Nice article! As expected from a Noob lazy Pro and Hardworking Mod

[Hatty.94 89]

naam badal liya @Zenyth lol  :D  :D  :D

[Alonee 5]

Its very good update but!missions are still problem..in tanki there are a lot of players with the highest rank and they have those super missions to complete (9999 kills/99999exp) and its almost impossible to complete those missions it takes a lot of time and it also takes a lot of supplies..I think it would be nice if we would complete our supper missions in format battles such as XP/VP or XC or DR..it would also make XC and DR a little bit popular formats I think and it would help a lot of tankers :)

[LIMITFULL 1,793]

Thanks Zen-Master for the explanations and information.
I am now at peace with Tanki once again....

[AmonNAmarth 63]

just a question ! Can we still create battle with no Drugs and still have crystals and and exp ??? 

 

Or there won't be anymore custom battles ?? :( :( :angry: :( 

Edited July 14, 2017 by AmonNAmarth

[Zenyth 6,494]

Can we still create battle with no Drugs and still have crystals and and exp

Yes, you will be able to create no-supplies battles, or for that matter any kind of PRO battles except Parkour battles and private battles and get exp.

[AmonNAmarth 63]

Yes, you will be able to create no-supplies battles, or for that matter any kind of PRO battles except Parkour battles and private battles and get exp.

okay thanks for answer 

YEAH !! that's a good New !! What a great Update !! to take away Pro-battle making it available for everyone it's ( for me ) the best thing Cuz now even weak player that haven't enough money for Pro pass will be able to join Battle and have fun !! one of this players is a friend of mine and now i will be able to play with him in no-supplies battle  :D 

 

and battle will be more balanced !! I really have to say                                                          when will this update be done ?

great work Devs !!

I am in haste of this update !

Edited July 14, 2017 by AmonNAmarth

[Zenyth 6,494]

According to the V-Log, Matchmaking system is expected by the end of July or early August.

[Tofu 6,773]

atti uttam

[RIDDLER_8 5,553]

This is a very well written article. I read it in full. The matchmaking system is just around the corner and sounds interesting. The matchmaking system is expected to be added into Tanki Online's interface by the end of July or early August 2017. I can't wait.

 

I only hope that I will be able to play and participate in battles as usual, without any problems.

[RIDDLER_8 5,553]

When is Tanki Online moving into HTML5?

[Zenyth 6,494]

When is Tanki Online moving into HTML5?

I think that will happen after matchmaking system is put into place; we haven't been informed about the details, however.

[RIDDLER_8 5,553]

Thanks.

[Mario3108 462]

A full-detailed Special article. Great job!

 

I can't wait for this update, although naming battles is an useless feature.

[Heroic 53]

Its very good update but!missions are still problem..in tanki there are a lot of players with the highest rank and they have those super missions to complete (9999 kills/99999exp) and its almost impossible to complete those missions it takes a lot of time and it also takes a lot of supplies..I think it would be nice if we would complete our supper missions in format battles such as XP/VP or XC or DR..it would also make XC and DR a little bit popular formats I think and it would help a lot of tankers :)

sure  but  Tanki    need  money  and  the  game  is  bad  now  

[Heroic 53]

Stupid  Update  #NochangeMatchmaking 

[Kosmas_Greece 0]

First will the battles from the matchmaking system last 1 minute?

And 2nd why cant we make missions in battles from the battle list?

[Zenyth 6,494]

First will the battles from the matchmaking system last 1 minute?

And 2nd why cant we make missions in battles from the battle list?

1. The battles from the matchmaking system will probably be of a standard duration like 15 or 30 minutes. If I'm not wrong, the 1 minute battle question comes from experiences in the test server. It is very likely that this kind of duration was kept just to test the system. :p
2. The PRO battles or soon to be, custom battles from the battle list provide customization options that are prone to misuse and they provide unusual ways (may be termed as 'unfair' ways) to tankers for completing missions. That's why they will have to be completed in matchmaking battles only.

[FTW 240]

The worst thing ever, it will literally ruin the game balance and i'm very sure that 40% of daily tanki player (10k daily players) will leave the game and of course i'm being hated by the whole moderators crew now for revealing the truth, and surely candidates too and players who are willing to be moderators - However this system will remove the PRO Pass which was added few years ago to have better experiences with battles.. until developers nerfed/broke the regular battles thing and then added all the features including the creation of battles to PRO Pass.. now this system will remove the ability of both and just lets you join PRO battles using premium only (as it was in the test server)... i left the game when they implemented the new graphic's and then i thought that it's the worst update ever but came back in april i was hoping to see newer features and more smart updates but seems like they released (still releasing and thinking of some) stupid updates, they have shoes instead of brains inside their heads.

Edited July 26, 2017 by FTW

[S-H-A-R-V-A-N 84]

So if i'm not wrong, how will the upcoming Masters of Parkour work if we can't create battles in Parkour mode?