The Universal Truth About Tanki Online

[DaMyAnIx 107]

The day before today I was so bored that I decided to come back to this game again, wondering if anything had changed for the better or worse. And well, it's the same old crapfest but with more saturation in the worst features. Having been a player since 2013, a lot has changed. What I realised is that TO has lost the fundamentals that made it enjoyable and fun. It has restricted its playerbase greatly, updates are mostly needless and useless, yes useless. The dev team "fixed" so many issues that made the game enjoyable in the first place. They backtracked on stuff that they previously did. Balancing is out of the window. Copying other games' features is present too. Playerbase rapidly decreasing.

 

Oh well, what hasn't been fixed you might ask, well drugging. Not listening to players, making TO even more pay-to-succeed. The list goes on and on and I am a bit too lazy to continue listing :D The universal truth is that this game sucks. Even more than before.

 

In defense of my claim: Players leaving. When I logged in during the peak of TO my friendlist had many active players on. The last time I logged in only a few were online. As of writing this, only 1 iswas online. There used to be over 100,000 players online before. This is during peak times, it still used to be at the over 50K benchmark or something. Nowadays it is merely reaching 20k. Of course that these numbers won't always be the same, it is normal for such games to lose people. Every dated multiplayer game goes through this. But games like Minecraft, WoT and GTA online still have a major playerbase of nearly 100,000 active players each (at least WoT that I know of). Whereas TO has lost like 50% or more of its active players. Summarised: shrinking active playerbase. 

 

So the next support evidence why TO is dying, why it is bad. The forum used to be way more active. Some topics I used to browse had frequent posts. Now the posts are dispersed over prolongued periods of time unless it is a popular topic or a controversial one. People are criticising the game even more than before. Just look at the most useful STEAM reviews :D Summarised: forum inactivity. Updates are getting more and more polarising which leads me to my next point...

Developers are incompetent at making a proper multiplayer game or competent at making a  p2w game. They add many new features that further change the core elements of the game. It used to be an entertaining game about shooting tanks and having some strategy. What is it now? All of these flashy elements are made to distract kids and attract more underage players. It had major problems like drugging, balancing issues and whatnot. Ever since its peak and introduction of the modules update in 2016 things have been going downhill. People complained, devs didn't listen. They removed kits which gave mX equipment at a lower rank because it was unfair. Then added these kits again after some time, hypocrisy! Hmm what else, the way battles worked was also changed drastically. Nobody complained about making their own battles. After an update, players could buy PRO battle passes and then make their own PRIVATE battles. But they could make regular battles without passes. Still not problematic. BUT THEN THEY REMOVED THE PLAYERS' RIGHT TO MAKE BATTLES ahahahaha. The Matchmaker update came along and it used to be so, so damn bad. A dude my rank playing with players 10 ranks above his :DDD Nice balance. IN THEORY, the pros are that less popular maps can now be put into rotation. Less chance of mults. But guess if that works in practice HA! What was so wrong about the old system that it needed changing? This is one of the features that made TO unique in my opinion. Why fix something when it ain't broken monkey devs? 

 

Exiting from this point into the other, the TRUTH is that the devs know what they are doing, I believe so at least. There is no way this is not deliberate. It is evident why they implement all of these changes. Their excuse is that it brings exciting new features in the game. Yes right, as long as they do not undermine the core characteristics. This is not the case due to reasons I pointed out above. It is okay to add new features, such as turrets, hulls and other stuff that are harmless. Animated paints, cool. Some cosmetic options, good. New game modes? Even better. Drones? Eh don't know. But these overdrives, drones, containers, premium shtick and etc. are directly borrowed from other russian releases like Crossout, WoT, Warthunder. Why is it always russian games that are so keen on such means of microtransactions??? The issue is that they made it way more friendly for the games and it doesn't really ruin the basics. 

 

Again, with TO now you can get previously rare paints, you have to buy passes to play however you want, batteries for your drone, you gotta stay competitive with drugs. Aaa yes drugs, another fundamental problem that has gotten worse. I've always had issues with their usage in the game. It isn't because I am a noob or anything. My stats prove that I am an above average player but it isn't this that matters. As a matter of fact, all of these stuff are overwhelming and do not improve the gameplay. Only saturate it. Overwhelming is probably the right word as a poster said in a topic. Everything in TO today is overwhelming. Alternativa did no good job at improving the existing issues, maybe this is the incompetency of the developers. Back in the days I used to have pretty nice scores while playing. Even better at lower rank matches, it was still acceptable. Drugs were also not that prominent, still annoying though. Another problem with supplies is that even with the rewards the usage to storage ratio is not positive. You use more than you store in the end. Supply rewards won't last you in a heated battle, even if you manage your usage. The enemy team may drug more than you, prompting you to use them constantly. They have become such an engraved part of the game that casual players or new ones can't reach the levels of the hardcore users and buyers. This is the pool that Alternativa is milking :D

 

Developing my abovementioned points further, I can provide proof that things have gotten worse. 

Come on, I can suck at times but this is just abhorrent. By the way, the bad stats in the 1st pic are because I tried out the new turret. So look at everyone else's stats

 

I think these 2 images are only a fraction of the current situation. They still provide some useful information. Again, I am not that great of a player but I can take care of myself. Or could, now it is unbearable. You have to waste tons of real currency in order to be good in the Juggernaut mode as well :)

 

The current meta is just impossible to be enjoyable without buffs or dedicating a huge amount of your time to this game. A game that used to be so much better. It is a shame really. 

 

The truth is that the devs are milking this game dry off its socks. They know just how bad it is and are purposefully making things worse. The devs are also inept at making it better though. Our feedback isn't worht much. As long as the money flow runs everything is okay for them. It is still questionable just how profitable the updates are because the game used to be way more popular before. Out of my real life friends that played it (around 10) only me and another dude are left. And we aren't even regular players. 

 

The question is why change somethin so much? Money! Profit! There are still people that are willing to compensate for their lack of time with money and nothing wrong with that. I would too, but I don't want to waste money on this .... . But then there are noobies that can't turn turrets that still get good scores because they use drugs to compensate for their lack of skill. 

 

Lower ranks used to be fun but now the drugging plague has reached them as well. Since their introduction to the game, players are taught how to increase their skill with this simple trick. Have a guy without buffs in front of you? Kill him with 2x damage! Don't use your skill to outclass him. 

As for balancing, melee turrets such as firebird and freeze are damn OP. They needed buffs but this is just horrible. SOme other points:

 

• less maps to play on when in the MM
• too high prices for such a low quality game. Come on, some things cost as much as a premium tank in WoT. Tanki is way worse than WoT :)
• incompetent staff that can't do their job properly (see the Complaint Book topic)
• not dealing with the ,main problems of the game while still trying to get that paycheck ahahaha
• The game is still an enormous grindfest, you have to battle A LOT to get what you want to and do well

There are probably many more stuff I forgot or am not aware of. I am leaving this to the rest of the people that are going to post here. What else could you criticize the dev team for? 

 

Here's some food for thought as well.  Players like you and me are also responsible for the current situation. Although voicing our disdain against the meta and other injustices, what else do we do? Do we stop paying? I myself paid like 10 dollars in total, I supported this problem with a small sum. We still play this despite our dislike for stuff. Yes, some leave and props to them. This is the way to go. The devs are also at fault because they don't listen to the players.

 

Another problem is that even if they did listen to their players, there are just so many vast and different opinions on one matter, let alone all of them :D We should have clear demands. Clear sanctions. Everyone is to blame for this. But the community is toxic and divided, people accuse each other of being noobs because they drug. "Its in the game bruh" and this is the problem. It should be way more balanced than it is.

You are also the problem because you support such abominations.  This is why players are rapidly leaving. The game is melting. Anyone with half a brain is able to see this and no amount of apologetic bootlicking can conceal this fact. We are to blame and the devs are to blame. But it is their utmost responsibility to develop the product with quality in mind. 

 

Casually explained, this is what Tanki is lacking, quality. It lost the features that made it great, the soul is gone. I do not know how to specify this text. Is it a rant? Maybe. But I did love the game at one point. It is just sad and I deplore the devs for bringing it to its current state. Removing the floor of Madness is a blasphemy. Most decisions are a blasphemy and Semyon was right to leave this trainwreck. I believe many players are in a similar situation.

 

Urgent note to the moderators: If there is a problem with this post, I do not care. I am speaking my mind in a civilized manner as is. If this is removed, then it further showcases the censorship :D

 

Now to the users: Feel free to criticize and discuss. I am certain that this is the truth about tanki. The evidence is everywhere around you. This is why many have stopped playing and new players are not that many. They are halted by the looming thread of drugging and constant grinding for nothing.  They are hammered to say so and it scares them off to search for better games. Again, look at the STEAM ratings and other websites. People are vocal about the state of TO. 

The last thing but not least thing, why did I write this? I don't know. I am frustrated that a game that I adored turned into such trash. People tried to suggest valid improvements, nothin good came out. Should there be a change? Yes. Will there ever be one? No. Tanki Online is slowly dying due to the incompetence of the devs. They won't listen, they won't improve it. They do not care. Most players don't care as well. They just want to dominate by every mean possible and that is what the devs are exploiting. What I can apologize for is the way I wrote this thing. It could've been way better written but eh. 

So at the end of the day, agree or disagree, this is how things are. Sadly.

[DieselPlatinum 5,121]

100,000 players or 100,000 accounts? ;)

[Maf 32,307]

"Ah shoot, here we go again"

 

[XxStriker 519]

"To is dead, cun"  I read the bold letters.

Aka...

 

"Ah shoot, here we go again"

 

[Pyre 3,485]

Would a TL; DR be too much to ask for this page-long rants?

[Maf 32,307]

 

When I logged in during the peak of TO my friendlist had many active players on. The last time I logged in only a few were online. As of writing this, only 1 iswas online.

This only means that your friends are sensible people who don't dwell on the same thing for years and move on with their life. Very few people play the same game for many years, especially when it's a game like Tanki, which doesn't have that much depth to it. It's very uncommon for someone to be interested in this game for so many years.

 

 

But games like Minecraft, WoT and GTA online still have a major playerbase of nearly 100,000 active players each (at least WoT that I know of). Whereas TO has lost like 50% or more of its active players. Summarised: shrinking active playerbase. 

I'll talk more about this and other related things in an upcoming newspaper article, but just so you know - Tanki stopped advertising in 2015 and is losing players "at an expected rate", according to developers.

 

 

 All of these flashy elements are made to distract kids and attract more underage players.

But isn't the majority of gamers (and Tanki's target audience) exactly that?

 

 

Why is it always russian games that are so keen on such means of microtransactions??? 

Not just Russian games. A lot of online games have it these days. Anyway, it's not the worst form of microtransactions. The balance between buyers and free players isn't perfect in Tanki and yes - there are definitely intentional elements of P2W (like early unlocking shop kits), but at least the game doesn't have some kind of premium-only items, which have 50% extra power or something like that. So yeah, it could be a lot worse.

 

 

Exiting from this point into the other, the TRUTH is that the devs know what they are doing, I believe so at least.

I'm glad you think that. Very few people realise that devs have a business to maintain. Hazel Rah, the lead game dev, said multiple times that he'd love to get rid of P2W and give us cool features and free stuff, but he is constrained by the limitations of Flash engine, not enough time, not enough resources and profits margins he needs to meet.

Although I hate to see that you followed it with this:

 

They know just how bad it is and are purposefully making things worse. The devs are also inept at making it better though.

There's no reason for them to intentionally make it worse, because if the game is truly getting worse, then players will leave, and the revenue will decrease. Tanki Online is AlternativaPlatform's main project, so it makes no sense to just kill it off for a bit of extra profit.

 

 

Another problem is that even if they did listen to their players, there are just so many vast and different opinions on one matter, let alone all of them :D We should have clear demands. Clear sanctions.

Exactly. Devs can't just do what the players ask, because if one group asks for one kind of change, another group will ask for the opposite, and you can't please everyone with every update. That's why they absolutely DO listen to your feedback, but listening and considering it is not the same as straight-up doing exactly what players demand.

 

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There's nothing particularly wrong with the topic, but we prefer to keep the discussion of similar topics in one place. If you want to respond to the main post or my reply, please use the topic Your Opinion About Tanki.

 

Closed.