Do You Remember?

[PracticeParkourStunt 31]

Written in memories of Flying Juniors and Happy Dragons. Today is their birthday.

 

 

Do you remember half a decade ago? When we were younger, unaware of the miseries of today and the downfall of Tanki? When we could call our friends and ask them whether they wanted to play this great game called Tanki Online?

Do you remember when the game mechanics where laughable? When long-ranged Railguns could flip tanks, when the laser-less Shafts could one-shot Vikings, and when the fiery Firebirds would make you feel the burn? When there was no Hammer, Vulcan, Striker, Magnum, nor Gauss? When Wasps ran as fast as lightning, jumping over cliffs and tanks, when Hornets drifted in style through corners, when Dictators truly dictated matches, and when the woolly Mammoth was undefeatable? When colorful paints such as Pixel, Zeus, and Graffiti had their own protections and personalities? When battles lasted 999 minutes, when Firebird Arena was the best crystal maker, and when XP/BP was at an all-time high? When battles would last 15 minutes by default, enough to showcase one’s abilities? When you could be a Warrant Officer and still play with your friends from Generalissimo? When tanks could use devastating mines to fly onto buildings, Thunder could parkour by itself, and Twins could conquer the mighty Skyscrapers?

Do you remember when the game used to be flocked with people? When servers used to hit over a hundred thousand players on a daily basis? When the players played so much that they turned the server channels EN1, EN2, RU1, RU2, and so on red? When players would desperately spam on RU1 server to play the ever-popular XP/BP? When the matches were not dictated by official rules, but by mutual understanding? When players sought opponents in the public server chats? When there was no such thing as private messaging? When there were no Daily or Weekly Challenges as incentives for the players because the game itself gave the desire to play?

   

Do you remember when the game used to create a desire for social sensation? When friends would desperately scroll through the battle list to find an unbalanced team so that they could play together and not against each other? When there was mutual respect and joy in battles even when in a losing battle, for the opponents truly had skills and teamwork? When we would have over dozens of clans and clubs and forum games? When clan wars were mutual and without grand official rules? When the Masters of Parkour was simply breathtaking and respectable? When we would rush to see the Weekly V-log, but quickly mute the volume because the intro was too loud? When we would raise the volume up again to listen to Semyon Kirov’s grand announcements about new and wanted updates and sales? When mystical things were done by @SwiftSmoky, @Nikk, @eragon33, @Maf, @Hate, @Night-Sisters, and more?

Do you remember when the game used to be free? When buttons 1 through 5 were rarely ever used? When 6 and shift did not have any function? When crystals would go towards upgrades and kits and not supplies? When you had to consult the wiki to make sure that the crystals were best to be used for Thunder and not Smoky? When it was skills that were used to get kills? When the ground was unmarked with drops? When the skies would drop valuable supplies for everyone to use? When there would be blue boxes dropping, boxes of crystals?

Do you remember the game before the Great change? Before we were removed of our right to choose ‘normal’ battles from an actual battle list? Before the introduction of so many turrets? Before Firebirds, Railguns, and Isidas were butchered from their powers? Before those same powers were sold back in the form of Alterations? Before crystal boxes disappeared? Before Gold supply boxes appeared? Before supplies dictated the match? Before crystals were needed to desperately buy such necessities to warfare? Before Premium and Challenge Completions had to be obtained to obtain more of the game currency? Before the drones came and butchered away player numbers? Before all of these?

Do you remember the time when we did not need to remember a greater time with a great game?

 

Spoiler

Special thanks to whoever managed the Updates page. It was honestly really hard to find links to past game content. With that wiki page, though, it was a lot easier to find the necessary announcements and Tanki Online V-logs. The pictures are obtained via screenshots of V-logs and this post. Note that much of this was written from my memory, therefore it is entirely possible that I have missed some features that I should have written. Also, I played Tanki Online first in 2014ish and have not played for about 2 years, so my recalling timeframe is limited (and I was a kid at that time, so my memory is even duller). I tried keeping information as true as possible by referring to the wiki, announcements, and V-logs. Most importantly, this article does not intend to elicit any disagreement or anger, rather, it intends to simply recall the past from my perspective.

 

[Person_Random 4,991]

Approved.

First of all, happy belated birthday to Flying Juniors and Happy Dragons! During the article, I had to resist crying tears of nostalgia while reading, so you definitely mastered the art of emotional appeal. I like the repetitive structure to a point, though I would suggest a "Do you remember?" and then some description per paragraph because the questions do feel a bit too repetitive after a while. Overall, great work!  Hopefully you will continue writing in the AWS.

Edits:

Spoiler

• Minor spelling changes
• A few phrasing fixes

 

[Lose 881]

I indeed remember those times, but what will we do with our remembrance? Let us rejoice it happened and not complain it ended, as everything will.

[Sacrifice 2,278]

Happy Birthday to Happy Dragons [HD] and a very beautiful article indeed! 

[Do.Or.DiE 521]

Very well written! Reading this really made me sad, couldn't forget those days.

[PracticeParkourStunt 31]

2 hours ago, Lose said:

I indeed remember those times, but what will we do with our remembrance?

Using our remembrance, we will worship Semyon Kirov secretly.

Legends say that GodMode_On was responsible for Semyon's disappearance and that Semyon is currently in hiding in Tanki Online 2.0. 

[arnav0506 2,777]

Very well articulated and expressed PPS

One more thing: remember when HD was a clan, and not a club? Miss those days 

[rishabhhaunt 1,629]

This brought back memories.......good old days  

Edited April 8, 2020 by rishabhhaunt

[need.higher.rank 3,491]

Good memories  

Spoiler

Tanki will never be the same again  

 

[kaisdf 3,320]

Happy fourth birthday to HD (and 3rd birthday to the in-game clan) - it was the best of times.

 

Having said that, I think there is quite a lot to this article that is nostalgia-fuelled, and not really that accurate; often portraying changes as bad that really weren't (WO5s being able to play against Glissimos may have been fun occasionally, but really wouldn't have been that fair most of the time...).

 

Also, throwback to when Staff Sergeant could play against Marshal?

[Mular 145]

Omds brought back memoriessss

[foxer_XXX 135]

 This is so touching... I didn't play back in 2012 (like with the blue boxes and no drop zones), but I did play back when Crystals were saved for kits, not supplies, skill was used to dominate matches, back when Railgun, Firebird and Isida actually had their own special "characteristics", and almost everything else you mentioned in your article. Well written, I shall say. And I hope that, one day, Tanki will be able to turn back to its old noble state, so that it is looked upon in favor of its Players once more. Hopefully it will be soon     

[Total_SkiIl 1,983]

great article but should've used comic sans

[Benefactor 6,888]

Spoiler

 

 

 

[PracticeParkourStunt 31]

6 hours ago, kaisdf said:

often portraying changes as bad that really weren't

I learnt this from my English class. Put some good things among the bad, and people will normally think that the good things were bad as well.

Indeed some updates were good, such as the private messaging, drop zone markers, and clan systems.

[4RCH4NG3L 2]

Warmest regards by i2.

gab brought me here

[Viking4s 10,791]

Long live HD!

[SwiftSmoky 8,445]

On 4/6/2020 at 12:43 AM, PracticeParkourStunt said:

This reminds me of flip fights from when Hammer just came out, I don't think I ever uploaded a video of it, but it was a lot of fun 

 

~ posted by swift's ghost

[Quarks 0]

I was lucky to join during that time and got a lot of fun out of that. Man, this kinda hurt to read as this game has so much nostalgia for me.

[foxer_XXX 135]

Hopefully Tanki can become that Game again... Not the Game we have now. It's really saddening to be honest  

[zaara_tanker 1]

my heart literally melt. i dont know if you guys remember me but yeah i was a part of Flying Juniors when it actually started. i miss you guys so much.

anyway, if you still remember me do reply this,

~zaara

[RaKaZa 104]

nice article

[JESUSaves2 98]

oh yea i remember

[LIMITFULL 12]

On 4/7/2020 at 5:39 PM, Person_Random said:

Approved.

First of all, happy belated birthday to Flying Juniors and Happy Dragons! During the article, I had to resist crying tears of nostalgia while reading, so you definitely mastered the art of emotional appeal. I like the repetitive structure to a point, though I would suggest a "Do you remember?" and then some description per paragraph because the questions do feel a bit too repetitive after a while. Overall, great work!  Hopefully you will continue writing in the AWS.

Edits:

  Hide contents

• Minor spelling changes
• A few phrasing fixes

 

Wow - Person_Random - now a reporter - congrats!!!  Awesome to see you here and continuing.
Me ... well I've been AFK for like 6 mths now.  Still playing most days, but not the same "as back in the good old days ... ah, I remember them well..." !!!

[LIMITFULL 12]

On 4/8/2020 at 12:35 PM, Benefactor said:

  Hide contents

 

 

 

I remember my Minotaur kit.   BEST.  DAY.  EVER!!!