First Glance - Rugby Mode

[TheTankBuster2 34]

 

The release of a new game mode is a big deal. Assault mode was released last year, but before that, the last release of a new game mode was way back in 2012 (CP), long before many of us joined. Almost all of my career has been with 4 game modes, but now Tanki has another new one: Rugby. This guide will give my thoughts on the new mode, from the concept, to gameplay, to potential tactics.

 

My experiences, specifically in terms of actual playtime, will be based on two rank tiers, from this account and my other account (). Additionally, Rugby mode is still only days old, so all of my information has been derived in a very short amount of time, so this truly is a first glance. All information may or may not be accurate, as I am judging the book by its cover. On that note, let’s begin!

 

 

Overview of the Mode

 

For those who may not fully understand Rugby mode yet, I will give a brief description of the mode. As per almost every other mode, there are two teams: red and blue. There is a red point and a blue point. After that, it differs from other modes. There is a ball that drops from the sky, similar to supply drops. There are several places that the ball can drop to, and they are labeled on the ground. The goal is for your team to catch the ball and deliver it to the point of the opposite color (blue team delivers to red base, and vise versa). After that, the ball drops again.

 

When you kill the person with the ball, the ball drops, similar to a flag in CTF. However, instead of being able to drop the ball (like F key in CTF), you can throw it. When you push F (or whatever key you have assigned to dropping a flag), the ball is thrown in the direction that your turret is facing. Other players can then catch it.

 

The round ends either after 15 minutes or when one team scores 10 goals.

 

 

My Thoughts on the Original Concept

 

When I heard about Rugby mode, I’ll admit, I was skeptical. Seeing that I hate sports prefer shooting/combat over playing sports, I thought that Rugby mode would defeat the purpose of a tank shooter game. I was hoping for a more tank-related name, and graphics of the ball and goal to be more related to Tanki.

 

Now, post release, I stand by my original thoughts. I like the graphics of the ball and points; I think they fit Tanki well enough. I still don’t really like the name or the comparison to sports, but I have no better name ideas, so I will keep my mouth shut.

 

 

My Experience in Gameplay

 

A game mode is not just about whether it seems good on paper, but whether you can get exp fast you find it fun and exciting to play. Through my years of experience and unending wisdom, I will share some pros and cons of playing the new game mode.

 

Pros:

 

Killing people

 

The eternal goal of the game. A nice thing about this mode is that only half of the people on the map are trying to kill you, and if you don’t have the ball, and the guy next to you does, and you tell everyone that he is tastier than you, you won’t be the first target. Additionally, when the ball drops, lots of people try to get it, and that’s more people for you to kill, which helps the eternal fight for a good K/D makes things fun.

 

It’s different from other modes

 

There’s not much that makes it similar to other game modes. The only real similarity is that the guy who has the valuable object is kill priority #1. Other than that, it’s totally different. No other game mode has people ruthlessly trying to murder each other in order to collect a falling sky object. No other mode has the ability the pass the valuable object by throwing it. And no other mode is named after a sport where people try to beat each other up for fun. These things bring new tactics and dynamics to the game.

 

Cons:

 

It requires you to catch falling objects from the sky

 

For those of us who can’t catch gold boxes (definitely not me), this is like a slap to the face. There are only two ways to acquire the ball: catch it from the sky, which has now been ruled out, or get lucky and be next to the guy who just died with it. 

“But wait!” you interject. “Can’t teammates pass it to you?” To which I respond: When you find a teammate who isn’t a selfish jerk and is willing to pass you the ball in order to benefit the team instead of himself, let me know, because I would like to play with someone like that for once.

I will also add at this time, that since I am not as much of a team jerk as many other people, and I find it wrong to push teammates out of the way in order to catch falling sky objects, in my extensive experience with Rugby mode (about an hour thus far), I have never obtained the ball.

 

It requires teamwork for true success

 

As previously stated, teammates don’t like giving up the precious cargo, even if it benefits the team. Some people don’t

realize that the winning team gets the majority of the crystal payout. They find their experience bar to be more important. These are the people that I don’t like playing with, and this flaw is very evident in Rugby mode. People not passing ball = people dying with ball = enemy possession of ball = no crystals.

 

 

Tactics for the Future

 

With the use of my time machine, I have uncovered several tactics which may become useful in the future (and of course, if they are not, I will tell you that I put them in to trick you). As always, not all of these apply to all people.

 

1. Use a splash damage turret.

 

People tend to flock towards the ball as it drops, and with a splash damage turret such as Thunder or Magnum (which is super OP and annoying), you can conveniently kill several of them at once and get more exp allow teammates to get the ball.

 

2. Use a heavy hull

 

Heavy hulls can serve two purposes. First, they can defend your point. Defending your base means less scores against you, which is a good thing. Also, since Titan and Mammoth have a higher power statistic, they can push enemies away from the point (Plug for future overdrive of Mammoth, which could be very useful here), and catch the ball as it drops. From there, it can be passed to someone else to score.

 

3. Use a light hull

 

To state the obvious, light hulls are fast, and fast hulls are good for capturing things, such as flags and balls. In a theoretical game where people pass the ball, you can wait for a heavy hull to catch the ball and pass it to you for a quick goal. Of course, practically speaking, people don’t pass the ball, so a medium hull that can push people and then still score yourself may be more useful.

 

4. PASS THE BALL!!!

 

It seems to me that a team that passes the ball will be more likely to win. Even if it’s only when you are about to die, throwing the ball somewhere will keep it out of enemy hands for a bit longer than if you just die and drop it. Pass the ball, and someone who isn’t doomed to die can keep moving it forward.

I think there is great potential for clan wars and tournaments in this format. These are the only real times where people play as a team, and playing like that, passing and being strategic, could be genuinely fun to play and watch. It’s a shame that things like this don’t happen in random battles, but since I don’t have any friends or skill am not active enough in the game, I won’t be able to join a clan and participate in such fun.

 

 

Summary

 

Rugby is a new game mode, so people are still figuring it out. Learn with them, or be left behind. There is potential for this game mode to become as popular as CTF or CP, but there are also some flaws with it. It's up to you to decide your own opinion.

 

This concludes my in-a-little-depth guide of the new Rugby mode. Perhaps you liked or enjoyed what I have written, or maybe you disagree with my every word and are in the process of hunting me down. Maybe everything I have said is common knowledge; I don't know. Feel free to share comments as well as additional pros, cons, or tactics.

~@TheTankBuster2

[tweezers 1,034]

Approved.

 

-Minor respacing.

 

Well written, with the right amount of humour and actual information. I like! 

 

 

Also thanks now that I know what this Mode does I can pretend to be less of a noob than I really am  :ph34r:

 

 

[GrandExecutioner 1,403]

This was very informing. I agree the passing the ball is something you'd probably see more of in competitive games rather than random battles.

[Crip 4,735]

I get a weird feeling of déjà vu when I read this, I seem to recognise your writing style from somewhere.

 

Maybe you're written stuff from your main?

 

Anyhow, a nice, compact little piece. Good job!

[House 135]

Nice Work!!!

[You.Have.to.die 519]

Informative. :) More pictures would help explain your points and make it more presentable.

[akiket 402]

Hats off, I had a very nice game in Tribute today.

[Viking4s 10,791]

I was septic as well on this mode. But once you played it it is really good fun.

 

If you want to compare to an exiting sport, I would say it is closer to american football, were teammate cancelled each other (here by killing opponent) and there is specialities for player to be offence and defence. Fast player will go around and try to run away form slow defender, while heavy tank will just try to force there way through. I would definitely appeals to american players.

 

If you want to compare with existing TO combat mode, it is actually close to ASL, but the difference is that both team plays offence or defence depending on who has the ball. It is far less static than ASL. 

 

Passing? to be reworked!
There is not much pass unfortunately, the ball does not fly far or high and in really slow motion. It's shame because it was better in the test server. 

 

I really like this mode because there is more teamplay and I think people playing it will actually get better at playing CTF after, because having to follow the ball teach them that it is important and that could benefit there team to do it with the flag too. I play with light hull and I spend time cleaning the path for the ball carrier, railgun is quite good for this job, K/D is going up. In defence there is a lot of work done by heavy hulls.

 

And yes it also train to catch flying object, that's is a good point you made in your review. 

 

Graphics? A W F U L !
Can 't see the ball, it's transparent and the colours are ugly. 

 

Sound is OK.


 

Edited January 28, 2018 by Viking4s

[TheTankBuster2 34]

I get a weird feeling of déjà vu when I read this, I seem to recognise your writing style from somewhere.

 

Maybe you're written stuff from your main?

 

Anyhow, a nice, compact little piece. Good job!

I wrote a few things on my main account, but that was probably 3 years ago back when we spammed the Off-Topic Discussion section with these kinds of things. I also used to be friends from my main with a few reporters, so it could be similar to them, but they quit about that same time as well, I think.

[Crip 4,735]

-------BEST TIP EVER-------

 sabotage

 

 

 

real one: when the ball is near your base, throw it off the map (or into another killzone)

 

 

The thing is, the ball will respawn almost immediately when you do that, so it kinda doesn't affect anything (unless your team were in a good position I suppose).

[akiket 402]

Passing? to be reworked!

There is not much pass unfortunately, the ball does not fly far or high and in really slow motion. It's shame because it was better in the test server. 

Well, for me, it works like charm. I am isida wasp, catch the ball (I am fast), make my way to first med I can find, pass the ball, get behind and heal. 

Also, when I am low on health and enemy will most likely get the ball, I can throw it away from base or towards a teammate.