Tanki from the perspective of someone who has not played in a while

[Klankill804 753]

QUICK WARNING: THIS CAN BE A LONG READ

 

Hello everyone,

 

My name is Klankill804, and I wanted to share a story about my mini adventure with the game, after all these years. 

 

(Some quick background) I have been playing since 2011, and I do remember discovering the game through Miniclip at the time. Two years later, I joined the forum, and have been an active member and player up until late 2014, where I began to slow down on playing. I occasionally, checked the forums every now and then, but that's only because I wanted to catch up on my old friends through PM, just to see what they were up to. 

 

Friday evening last week, I stumbled upon Tanki on Steam, while I was chilling and just looking at some Free To Play games. Out of curiosity, I wanted to try the game out and to see what's been going on since the last time I have played. To put this into perspective, the most prominent updates I remember prior to unintentionally moving on to other games were the rebalance, the changes in supply boxes, and the removal of crystal boxes. 

 

Since then, I have been a complete stranger to all the new updates that they have released. That all changed a couple of days ago, however.

 

Suffice to say, I am completely mind-blown by what I've missed out on. 

 

I've decided to organize my ideas into parts, because I do have quite a bit of things to talk about.

 

 

PART 1: FIRST GAME BACK

 

 

 

 

First, I decided to play on my main account (this one) and just try the game out once again. The first game I played, I was lost. There was a guy running around with the old look of Hornet (upon further inspection, it was called "Hornet Legacy"), and I also saw many more players using the old look of some of the guns. Another thing that made me go "wow" was the changes in the cosmetics of some guns. There was a Firebird throwing out white flame, and a Railgun firing purple rails, despite being an M1 weapon. The 'Prime' version of some of the turrets and hulls did not surprise me because I have seen Railgun XT and Hornet XT back then.

 

This was something that I liked very dearly - I've always wanted to see how the old guns would look in today's age. However, there was something that did not click with me - I did not understand how a Railgun was able to have an insane firing rate. That was when I discovered Overdrive. 

 

Personally, I feel that Overdrive is an interesting concept. It is very similar to some MMO games where they counter other character's abilities. Hunter's Overdrive works really well because it pretty much counters every other overdrive. What I'm saying is, this is a very game-changing idea, because the hulls you use in game can be vital to your victory in game.

 

Another thing that blew my mind was the kits (as usual). Let's just say that I hated seeing someone run around with an M3/M3 Combo at the rank of Brigadier. It didn't feel fair to see that, but my perspective on this changes (which you'll see very shortly).

 

 

 

 

TL;DR for this section:

 

Essentially, there was a lot of changes, and I felt that it was impossible for the state of main account to catch up to everyone else. Think of it as someone who has been cryogenically frozen, not knowing what new inventions has been shown to the world. 

 

So, I decided that the best thing to do was to recover my original account, and begin the game once again, this time as a "new" player.

 

 

 

PART 2: BEGINNING AGAIN

 

 

 

 

 

I think the best thing about being given the power to start once again is that my curiosity was renewed. I was playing like a newbie, acting like one, etc. It didn't take long before I had become capable to properly maneuver my hull and turn my turret accurately once again. Also, they had recently released this new gun called Gauss? And my God, it is the most beautiful thing I've ever used in this game (aside from my signature Smoky/Wasp combo  :lol: )

 

My go to combo for most games was Gauss/Hunter, because like I said before, Hunter's Overdrive is my personal favorite. Other than that, I was also eager to use Gauss/Dictator, but that was mainly for Gold Hunting.

 

Anyway, without further a due, let's talk about some things that I was new to, and what I loved about them.

 

The gameplay was no stranger to me, because I have already seen how it worked from my main account. The Quick Battles was a great idea, and it didn't take long to earn crystals over a span of 5 minute games. The kits were not too broken at the low ranks (this account was at Sergeant when I had recovered it). But what I was curious about were the stars beside the crystals on the top of the screen.

 

It was here when I discovered Challenges. I absolutely loved them. Why? Because not only do they give you rewards for it, you can earn them. At the same time that I loved them, I hated them. Why? Because they give more ridiculous rewards for people who pay for premium. Don't get me wrong, I never once hated buyers, because they fund the game and all, but I just feel like there's too much being given to them. In some other games, the people who pay are usually paying for cosmetics, but never for any advantages over other players. However, being a bit more understanding and mature than I was a couple of years ago, I understood this, but still, I refuse to spend money for microtransactions  :lol:   :lol:   :lol:  

 

Moving on, the daily & weekly missions was something I supported since its release. They help players develop not only their garage, but also their "skill." They give players who don't pay for crystals (like me) earn crystals by simply playing the game. This can be somewhat painful however, because some of the missions can be gamemodes that you do not like, but at the end of the day, they give out great rewards (like the containers, weekly containers, supplies, etc.) which helps players develop. 

 

Speaking of which, let's talk about those containers.

 

Now, I believe that these things are probably the greatest things that have come to the game. They make it much easier for players to gain things they need in order to improve their accounts. Not only that, but opening one gave me adrenaline similar to that when that horn you hear and in the middle of your screen it says Gold Box Will Be Dropped Soon.

 

Like Forrest Gump once said, Life is like a box of containers, you never know what you're gonna get.

 

Also, a container I opened on my low ranked account gave me 33,000 crystals? It's ridiculous man. Like there should be no reason for me to not be able to upgrade accordingly. 

 

 

 

 

TL;DR FOR THIS SECTION:

 

Plenty of changes, and I believe that all of these changes make it quite easy for anyone in the lower ranks to be able to develop their garage properly, with all of these things given at our disposal. 

 

Now, let's talk about the future, and to conclude my feelings about the game after all this time.

 

 

PART 3: THE FUTURE

 

 

 

 

 

I believe that the direction that Tanki is heading towards is something I don't know, because I've only played the game for 4 days after nearly 5 years. But I do like what is going on though. 

 

I love how they have given every player the power to gain crystals, the power to gain supplies, whatever they need to have good turrets and hulls by just playing the game. They made it easier now for someone to improve quite a bit economically within the game. But that being said, they have not made it impossible to still have a player's development be completely ruined by buyers. Every game is still infested by people with kits and gear that are way beyond their ranks, and in turn this results in them getting even more crystals in games because they top frag, and it prevents the younger, more lower ranked players from having the power to gain crystals. I'm not saying it's impossible to keep up with the players who have great garages, but a question arises about this for non-buyers, how much are you willing to risk to win a game? Are you willing to spend nearly hundreds of supplies against people who have thousands just for a reward of 200 crystals in a five minute game?

 

That's what I believe will always be the problem for Tanki - finding that balance.

 

I think they should base matchmaking off of gear score, not ranks. That makes more sense to be honest - there should be no reason that my tank with a gear score of 4971 should be matched with people who have gear scores of 8500+. Absolutely no reason at all.

 

 

 

 

TL;DR FOR THIS SECTION:

 

I believe that the game is really improving in terms of how it works, and how it's letting the players properly develop this time around, by giving them the power to compete against a few of the more overpowered players. Still though, problems arise because of the unbalanced tanks, etc. They should base matchmaking off of GS, not ranks.

 

 

 

To conclude,

 

Love the direction the game is going towards, but as always, there will be bumps on the road. I love how it's giving new and low ranked players the ability to improve their skills and garages by giving them everything they need to succeed, but at the same time the problems still arise when these players are forced to play against buyers. This changes in the high ranks however, but still, it can be a bit of a pain for these players to gain the upper hand against the more overpowered tanks. Essentially, I used to love this game because of the adrenaline it gave me, and how anything can really happen in a game. Nowadays, it's mostly the team with more P2W players who win most games. 

 

Still, a game can only be as fun as you make it.

 

Thank you for reading (even if you only read the TLDRs, I understand), and I hope your day is filled with gold boxes.

 

P.S if there's still any old players, how's it going guys.

 

Wow I wrote quite a bit. Guess I got carried away.

Edited June 20, 2019 by Klankill804

[Pyre 3,485]

Nice to see a review that is actually thought out and not just a rant about how the game has been ruined.
 

Any mods here, can you guys put spoilers? I forgot how. Ty

The code is

text [/spoiler.] Just leave out that period.

 

 

 

Like Forrest Gump once said, Life is like a box of containers, you never know what you're gonna get.

 

That made me laugh.

[Guest]

wait until you discover the stupid p2w scam called drones.

[Klankill804 753]

Nice to see a review that is actually thought out and not just a rant about how the game has been ruined.

 

The code is

text [/spoiler.] Just leave out that period.

 

That made me laugh.

Thanks!

[r_Given6 859]

Woah, a really nice and honest perspective. Most of the back-from-the-past topics are created by players who couldn't adapt to the current circumstances and complained about everything, not just the P2W features like Drones.

[Initiate 1,306]

 

Checked your profile - you've got a bit of catching up to do! ;)

Just so you know (you'll find out soon enough) Hornet/Rail is one of the weakest combos at the moment, so maybe switch to something else. I just see that you have XP M2 +Swash equipped right now :)

Welcome back!

[Potdindy 866]

Xp is fine in matchmaking battles. Use double damage and pop overdrive and get 1 shot kills for days. Even more at lower levels, ppl dont have as good protection so you can drug 1 shot kills even without overdrive...thats just icing on the cake

[Okami 3,041]

Its nice to see a post from a returning player that's positive. I also came back to TO in April, and I completely understand how everything seemed new, exciting, and strange.

Edited July 9, 2019 by GrayWolf8733

[TheCongoSpider 8,942]

A player that I've known a few years ago came back: UsernamelessUser.

 

 

I found him in a Year 2042 battle. He didn't do so well, despite benefitting from having M3 Thunder at before the M3 rank swaps. I aproached him a few days later when I saw him online. He said everything looked different and I tried to explain the new things that were implemented into the game. He said it was a lot to take in. What was important was how many supplies he had. He had many so he should have done fine. One problem is is lack of good hulls. He only had Viking M2 and it seems as if he had purchased Mammoth M2 during the sales. 

 

I put some links to the Wiki for him in the chat. He has a lot of catching up to do. 

[XxStriker 519]

A player that I've known a few years ago came back: UsernamelessUser.

 

 

I found him in a Year 2042 battle. He didn't do so well, despite benefitting from having M3 Thunder at before the M3 rank swaps. I aproached him a few days later when I saw him online. He said everything looked different and I tried to explain the new things that were implemented into the game. He said it was a lot to take in. What was important was how many supplies he had. He had many so he should have done fine. One problem is is lack of good hulls. He only had Viking M2 and it seems as if he had purchased Mammoth M2 during the sales. 

 

I put some links to the Wiki for him in the chat. He has a lot of catching up to do. 

M2 hulls are fine, but he needs to get sledgehammer... And possibly have falcon and grizzly at the highest % possible.

[TheCongoSpider 8,942]

M2 hulls are fine, but he needs to get sledgehammer... And possibly have falcon and grizzly at the highest % possible.

He has Twins, Thunder and Railgun protection at M3, so that's 3 prevalent turrets down. 

[Maf 32,300]

Very interesting post. I must say I also like the direction in which the game is being taken. Unfortunately the game has been P2W since the start, and it's impossible to change this now. Buying items for power has always been a part of Tanki. However, at least there are no super powerful exclusive tanks that you can buy for money only, meaning that eventually a free player is able to purchase the same equipment that even the biggest buyer has, even if it will take a LOT longer to save up enough crystals for it.

 

The massive Battle Pass rewards from Challenges are an incentive for players to spend money on the game while also increasing their play time. So it brings in revenue and also helps with player retention. 

 

I personally think that right now the game is more fun than ever, IF you have enough gear to be able to compete. For free players and lower ranks (below Legend) it's probably quite a bit more difficult and at times frustrating, but I'm pretty sure that's always been a problem to some extent due to the P2W nature of the game I mentioned above. It will only get better from here, since the release of HTML5 will improve performance and open up opportunity for new cool features. Can't wait to see what's coming.

[Guest]

Very interesting post. I must say I also like the direction in which the game is being taken. Unfortunately the game has been P2W since the start, and it's impossible to change this now. Buying items for power has always been a part of Tanki. However, at least there are no super powerful exclusive tanks that you can buy for money only, meaning that eventually a free player is able to purchase the same equipment that even the biggest buyer has, even if it will take a LOT longer to save up enough crystals for it.

 

The massive Battle Pass rewards from Challenges are an incentive for players to spend money on the game while also increasing their play time. So it brings in revenue and also helps with player retention. 

 

I personally think that right now the game is more fun than ever, IF you have enough gear to be able to compete. For free players and lower ranks (below Legend) it's probably quite a bit more difficult and at times frustrating, but I'm pretty sure that's always been a problem to some extent due to the P2W nature of the game I mentioned above. It will only get better from here, since the release of HTML5 will improve performance and open up opportunity for new cool features. Can't wait to see what's coming.

IMO it's how you look at it. I personally detest the the drug and drone meta where everything is based off of the amount of consumables you use rather than positioning, controlling pickups and strategy.  So meta wise each new change would be worse and more unfun, because that new feature is most likely going to revolve around drugs.

 

The only thing that will make me an active player again would be more customization/filters for pro battles (e.g preventing people  from joining if they have a certain turret or hull equipped), or if people would just stop making worthless Parkour battles, unfun meatgrinder Hill/Island CTFs, or no supplies battles that have Overdrives in them.

Edited July 11, 2019 by Guest

[TheCongoSpider 8,942]

The massive Battle Pass rewards from Challenges are an incentive for players to spend money on the game while also increasing their play time. So it brings in revenue and also helps with player retention. 

I get that, but it was a big let-down when they started taking away prizes from the Silver Tier. That just seemed like a line that shouldn't have been crossed. 

 

Oh how demotivating it is to see 4 empty tiers before the grand prize. That's 4 tiers of high star prices to get nothing in return. 

 

Decreasing the rewards earned in the Sliver Tier for certain tiers? Alright. Taking away the entire reward from a number of tiers doesn't seem alright. I want to believe they're doing this for the greater good of the game's economy. 

[wolverine848 13,097]

Very interesting post. I must say I also like the direction in which the game is being taken. Unfortunately the game has been P2W since the start, and it's impossible to change this now. Buying items for power has always been a part of Tanki. However, at least there are no super powerful exclusive tanks that you can buy for money only, meaning that eventually a free player is able to purchase the same equipment that even the biggest buyer has, even if it will take a LOT longer to save up enough crystals for it.

 

The massive Battle Pass rewards from Challenges are an incentive for players to spend money on the game while also increasing their play time. So it brings in revenue and also helps with player retention. 

 

I personally think that right now the game is more fun than ever, IF you have enough gear to be able to compete. For free players and lower ranks (below Legend) it's probably quite a bit more difficult and at times frustrating, but I'm pretty sure that's always been a problem to some extent due to the P2W nature of the game I mentioned above. It will only get better from here, since the release of HTML5 will improve performance and open up opportunity for new cool features. Can't wait to see what's coming.

I'm a F2P player and feel I have enough decent equipment to compete.

At upper ranks it's not the gap in power that is an issue.  For me it's actually the direction in which the game is being taken.

 

It's not even close to the same game it was 2 years ago - less reliance on skill and strategy and more reliance on luck and bells and whistles.

Feels like TO is catering to people with short attention spans that just like shiny things that dazzle.

Having trouble getting anything done because you can't turn your turret?  No problem... your OD is almost at 100%... ;)

[Maf 32,300]

I get that, but it was a big let-down when they started taking away prizes from the Silver Tier. That just seemed like a line that shouldn't have been crossed.

 

Oh how demotivating it is to see 4 empty tiers before the grand prize. That's 4 tiers of high star prices to get nothing in return.

 

Decreasing the rewards earned in the Sliver Tier for certain tiers? Alright. Taking away the entire reward from a number of tiers doesn't seem alright. I want to believe they're doing this for the greater good of the game's economy.

As soon as the first challenge was made available I was sure the rewards would be reduced. But I agree that it's demotivating to see empty slots. Honestly, I don't understand why they couldn't just fill those slots with useless rewards (like mines or a cheap garage paint), or even just take rewards from other tiers and spread the out more evenly. Having empty slots is honestly a terrible decision on their part, IMHO.

 

I'm a F2P player and feel I have enough decent equipment to compete.

I did say "below legend rank" :P

 

It's not even close to the same game it was 2 years ago - less reliance on skill and strategy and more reliance on luck and bells and whistles.

Feels like TO is catering to people with short attention spans that just like shiny things that dazzle.

Having trouble getting anything done because you can't turn your turret? No problem... your OD is almost at 100%... ;)

It's probably true that the game is moving away from strategy and smart gameplay, but to be honest I'm not complaining. You can still play PRO battles with an organised team if you want proper gameplay, while in standard battles teamwork was never particularly strong. However, I still often see good players and some teamwork, but at the same time it's nice to be able to do something on your own without depending on your team.

[wolverine848 13,097]

 

I did say "below legend rank" :P

 

It's probably true that the game is moving away from strategy and smart gameplay, but to be honest I'm not complaining. You can still play PRO battles with an organised team if you want proper gameplay, while in standard battles teamwork was never particularly strong. However, I still often see good players and some teamwork, but at the same time it's nice to be able to do something on your own without depending on your team.

Well I have a Brigadier account - I stand by my statement. :P

 

Not enough players in Pro-battles these days.  Very few choices on battles and... inexplicably, half those battles have supplies enabled. Why not just play MM and complete the Challenge triers? :blink:

 

But hey - if TO keeps changing things at same pace, I have every confidence there will be more players jumping ship from MM and eventually Pro-Battles will have a bigger share... B)

[Guest]

 

 

 However, I still often see good players and some teamwork, but at the same time it's nice to be able to do something on your own without depending on your team.

In legend ranks I assume this is the case, but mid ranks? There's barely any teamwork because everyone is either a mult who has m1 fire/hornet or an RTL account. What do these noobs have in common? Both have no regard for the objective and just try to spawnkill each other to get stars. It's pathetic when you think about it.

[TheCongoSpider 8,942]

In legend ranks I assume this is the case, but mid ranks? There's barely any teamwork because everyone is either a mult who has m1 fire/hornet or an RTL account. What do these noobs have in common? Both have no regard for the objective and just try to spawnkill each other to get stars. It's pathetic when you think about it.

True. There are some battles though where I and a few of my teammates would make smart plays that benefit the entire team. I hate it when an ally is on 10% HP with the flag and wouldn't give it to the big, strong Titan Twins right next to them. They must be either very selfish or desperately trying to complete a "capture a flag" mission. 

 

Teamwork isn't dead. It's endangered, but there is enough to not give up hope. 

[Klankill804 753]

Speaking of teamwork, I do miss those battles in Silence where a wasp would nab the flag and just jump off the cliff. If their health was low they would simply press F mid-air, and have a teammate wait for the flag down below.

 

This may not be as impressive or a wow moment like the games high ranks or even "pro" players have, but it was indeed something.

 

Also miss the usual Freeze/Mammoth and Isida/Mammoth combo usually camping and defending a flag, surrounded by a minefield. Those were the days.

 

 

Woah, a really nice and honest perspective. Most of the back-from-the-past topics are created by players who couldn't adapt to the current circumstances and complained about everything, not just the P2W features like Drones.

Thank you, I appreciate it. I will admit, I cannot adapt to the game now because I am quite resistant towards change. That doesn't mean that others cannot enjoy it though.

 

Also, the game has always been P2W from the start, and I've accepted it since. It was just a matter of "to what extent" is the game a P2W. Either way, the game is enjoyable for anyone willing to put in the effort and grind for a stronger garage.