Tanki Mobile - A desperate attempt to save the game?

[Maf 32,307]

And that is the crux of the matter. Hopefully it will be fixed. That takes me to another point I made. Pony Tail Boy and the Dev's have made claim after claim they're making the game better with the changes they've made. The point is that they've done just the opposite. Now while no one is going to make the right call every-time, you would hope that they would make the right calls MOST of the time. Pony Tail Boy and the Dev's have done the exact opposite, and with that track record I would have to think that they are not going to do any better on a new platform

Have they really failed though? They have a free MMO game that's been alive for almost 9 years and still has a pretty significant player base. Do you know @Serene? She's pretty experienced with MMO games and knows how they work, and when I spoke to her a while ago she said that it's amazing that Tanki is still alive and has thousands of active players, despite its age, outdated platform and other disadvantages. So in that sense I think devs did a pretty good job at improving the game and keeping players interested. Of course this is my opinion and I don't have any actual proof other than what developers said during livestreams, so feel free to not believe me.

 

I say fix the problems first. Put out a quality product on your existing platform before moving on to another. HTML5 isn't a golden bullet that is going to magically fix all the problems. It may be more stable, it may fix some of the hacking problems, and it may even allow cross platform compatibility, but the main problem lies in content and game play. The Dev's and Pony Tail Boy have been notoriously  arrogant in not listening to the players. Granted you can't do everything everyone wants, but even when it has been proven that a certain course was wrong they refuse to back track and try something different. So that is why we have the situation we have today. Bad decision piled on bad decision and a dwindling player base. That will not change with the mobile version.   

That I can't disagree with. I myself saw plenty of great ideas over the years, some of them being pretty simple and straightforward, yet offering a solution to some significant issues that a lot of people complained about. Devs' excuse for this is that they have a schedule and a set of plans to follow and they can't get distracted by requests for small improvements, but I agree that they should focus on finishing and improving existing features first (alterations, clan system, garage interface, etc.) and then adding new stuff.

[Tani_S 736]

I have a theory that due to the way our minds work, negative events/changes make a greater impact on our memory and are therefore easier to remember. So while there may have been more good things than bad, to a lot of people it seems that the bad things outweigh the good because you remember them better, even if that may not be the case. Anyway, it's just a theory I have, but it's worth giving a thought.

In a way it sounds to be related to the prospect theory: the fear of losses is greater than the expected value gain that one gets through wins...

[Tani_S 736]

And that is the crux of the matter. Hopefully it will be fixed. That takes me to another point I made. Pony Tail Boy and the Dev's have made claim after claim they're making the game better with the changes they've made. The point is that they've done just the opposite. Now while no one is going to make the right call every-time, you would hope that they would make the right calls MOST of the time. Pony Tail Boy and the Dev's have done the exact opposite

[...] but the main problem lies in content and game play.

Devs had to dismantle various parts in the game in order to make room for Matchmaking. This cutting back is perceived very negatively by the players. Matchmaking & Mobile is located at the center and it's the foundation for the upcoming changes and the rebuilding of the game.

 

With cutting back I specifically mean: mission update, battle creation, battle length, map diversity reduction and equalizing fund generation, delayed equipment balancing, removal of locale-specific battles.

Edited May 15, 2018 by Tani_S

[LUCIFER1_the_dark 1,230]

I've heard of a few rumours that the other two separated communities (BR/ES and Chinese) can fight face to face with the rest of the communities (EN, RU, DE, etc) when the mobile version of the game released to everyone :ph34r:

Tell you what, this is what I was fearing may happen, especially the chinese community.

Right now Tanki has not even witnessed what Pay to Win actually is!

 

I have seen dozens of game getting destroyed due to chinese high gaming elites.

The economy favours then even more than EU and USA, and once tanki comes in mobile version, mark my words, this game will soon be flooded with buyers.

 

Only way out of this mess would be to have a individual buying system based on each country's economy, which takes efforts and time, which means more things to fix.

Edited May 15, 2018 by LUCIFER1_the_dark

[GuidoFawkes 2,361]

I've heard of a few rumours that the other two separated communities (BR/ES and Chinese) can fight face to face with the rest of the communities (EN, RU, DE, etc) when the mobile version of the game released to everyone :ph34r:

oh crap... i sure hope not..

 

my nickname there containes profanity.. because the mods there are just mods to get power and crystals i have never gotten banned for it for so long...

 

if they merge then.. :(

[splitterpoint 10,986]

It is extremely ambitious to let mobile and desktop players play the same game I'll to you that.

No way that a touchscreen wins from keyboard controls...

 

I'm very excited on how this'll turn out.

It's a change and it is nice to see that development has gone outside the browser environment which T.O. has always been in.

 

 

 

Rumors will always be there before something big happens but one can only truly judge an update once it's finished.

[CooperO 7,956]

No one will play TO on consoles.

 

Mobile development and HTML5 are being worked on simultaneously, because mobile version runs on HTML5.

I remember it was mentioned in a V-LOG a while back that they decided not to make the mobile version on HTML5. I don't remember which episode it was though. I'll let you know once I find it.

[Tani_S 736]

I remember it was mentioned in a V-LOG a while back that they decided not to make the mobile version on HTML5. I don't remember which episode it was though. I'll let you know once I find it.

It was in Vlog 157.

[GorgoBlesk 831]

Magnum and bad balance ruin this game. Please make the rebalance and matchmaking as fast as possible.

[CooperO 7,956]

It was in Vlog 157.

In that V-LOG it was mentioned that they decided to make it for HTML5. In V-LOG 161 they said they changed their approach and switched from HTML5, which directly improved performance.

[Hancho 3,902]

Tanki on the console would work out. 

[Tani_S 736]

In that V-LOG it was mentioned that they decided to make it for HTML5. In V-LOG 161 they said they changed their approach and switched from HTML5, which directly improved performance.

Ah thanks for highlighting Vlog 161 too. In Vlog 157 they kind of pre-announced that there will be a special (= native) app for mobiles.

[Dliver 436]

Have they really failed though? They have a free MMO game that's been alive for almost 9 years and still has a pretty significant player base. Do you know @Serene? She's pretty experienced with MMO games and knows how they work, and when I spoke to her a while ago she said that it's amazing that Tanki is still alive and has thousands of active players, despite its age, outdated platform and other disadvantages. So in that sense I think devs did a pretty good job at improving the game and keeping players interested. Of course this is my opinion and I don't have any actual proof other than what developers said during livestreams, so feel free to not believe me.

 

That I can't disagree with. I myself saw plenty of great ideas over the years, some of them being pretty simple and straightforward, yet offering a solution to some significant issues that a lot of people complained about. Devs' excuse for this is that they have a schedule and a set of plans to follow and they can't get distracted by requests for small improvements, but I agree that they should focus on finishing and improving existing features first (alterations, clan system, garage interface, etc.) and then adding new stuff.

I find myself in almost total agreement with you on this point. Though I think the main reason for the longevity of the game was because it was such a good game and that it was because of that fact that it has taken this long for the Dev's and Pony Tail Boy to ruin it. You did, however, put your finger on the failure point of the Dev's and Pony Tail Boy's thinking.

 

And I quote :

 

"I myself saw plenty of great ideas over the years, some of them being pretty simple and straightforward, yet offering a solution to some significant issues that a lot of people complained about. Devs' excuse for this is that they have a schedule and a set of plans to follow and they can't get distracted by requests for small improvements,"

 

It's one thing to have a grand roadmap as to where you want to go with a project. It's quite another thing to ignore good ideas when they come along that would fix intermediate problems that would make your customer base happy as you travel that path. This is where the Dev's and Pony Tail Boy have failed. I think everyone agrees that a game needs to evolve over time to stay relevant and fun to play, but to ignore good ideas and solutions just to doggedly stay on that road map leads to ultimate failure. The way you stay relevant and popular is to listen to your customer base and fill a need. I know of no business that has stayed successful and not followed that most simple principle. Pony Tail Boy and the Dev's have failed to do that and thus you have seen the constant decline of the game. It's simple hubris on their part. They simply can't recognize any good ideas that don't come from them. This is what will also be the cause of failure for the mobile version.

 

As a last side note, yes I'm familiar with @Serene. I just checked her profile to make sure it was the same person you were mentioning. I find it interesting to note that she hasn't been active since February 9, 2018. Hopefully she's not another casualty of Pony Tail Boy and the Dev's decisions.  

Edited May 16, 2018 by Dliver

[Maf 32,307]

Hopefully she's not another casualty of Pony Tail Boy and the Dev's decisions.  

Nope, she just left this community and moved back to the RU forum.

[Coat 2,280]

New topic: Maf - The last hope for Tanki's survival

[Hancho 3,902]

New topic: Maf - The last hope for Tanki's survival

The last spammer for Tanki's survival. 

[Dliver 436]

The last spammer for Tanki's survival. 

I will agree that Maf is an apologist for Pony Tail Boy and the Dev's, but he has always been a good sport and civil with all his posts. I may not always agree with his posts (make that most of them) but overall he's a good guy and should be treated with respect.

[Hancho 3,902]

I will agree that Maf is an apologist for Pony Tail Boy and the Dev's, but he has always been a good sport and civil with all his posts. I may not always agree with his posts (make that most of them) but overall he's a good guy and should be treated with respect.

I've never had any disrespect towards him because I can view his points from his perspective because it's all logical and I like that. 

[lukey0 27,543]

I will agree that Maf is an apologist for Pony Tail Boy and the Dev's, but he has always been a good sport and civil with all his posts. I may not always agree with his posts (make that most of them) but overall he's a good guy and should be treated with respect.

I will admit that I had a similar view towards people like Maf 3-4 years ago. That they only stuck up for the Deves when they released a so called 'bad update' and nothing else. But looking back now (and a few years ago), I couldn't have been more wrong. These people look at the overall picture, not just small snippets of it, or only one side of the story. They take everything into account and try to understand why this update has been released.

 

I'm not saying you need to change your opinion, but just understand why other's have made their own.

 

I've never had any disrespect towards him because I can view his points from his perspective because it's all logical and I like that. 

I agree. :)

[Dliver 436]

I've never had any disrespect towards him because I can view his points from his perspective because it's all logical and I like that. 

My apologies then, I misunderstood your post.

[TakeAShower 300]

Let's face it Tanki on a PC is almost dead. We're at the point that the game is having a hard time even reaching 30,000 during peak times. Now for you new players that may seam like a lot, but when I began, there use to be over 100,000 during peak times and it was hard to even get on the servers. But after a series of unpopular changes to the game you've seen that number dwindle down to what you see today. Even during special events you hardly see any increase in  the numbers of players now.

 

Tanki lost most of it's players while it was not being updated.