Tankoin Kits now available 4 ranks below crystal kits (Stealth Change)

[DestrotankAI9 1,520]

Hey folks,

So I was checking in the shop on my Colonel account, and I happened to notice that I could buy Mk7 kits for Tankoins. This struck me as strange, since as far as I was aware (and as is stated in the Wiki, these kits are not available until Major General. Even under the old system pre-MK update, M3 kits could not be obtained before Brigadier.

So I checked a few of my lower ranked alts - and what I found across various ranks seemed to be the same: Tankoin kits have now been changed to be available not 1 rank (or 2 ranks as in the old system) before crystal kits, but 4 ranks before!

See the following screenshot from my First Sergeant alt below, we can see that Osaka and Lizard Mk4 are available to buy - according to the Wiki these should not be available until Warrant Officer 2 for Tankoins. But they are now available at Sergeant Major, a full 3 ranks below what is stated in the wiki - 4 ranks before those kits are available for crystals at Warrant Officer 3. But Mountain and Guardian Mk4 are not obtainable, which are supposed to be purchasable for Tankoins at Warrant Officer 3 - so this is consistent that Tankoin kits are now available 4 ranks before crystal kits. If you check your shop, you should all see the same thing.

 

https://prnt.sc/s20ofe

 

Where exactly was this announced!? I have checked the patch notes and I see no mention of it.

May I ask what exactly the point of the MK update was, if it was supposed to stop there being a huge imbalance in Gearscore in battles, with players having Tanks vastly more highly microupgraded than other players if Tanki are now going to allow buyers to have kits 4 ranks ahead of non-buyers, the largest rank disparity in equipment we've seen yet? This totally un-dos much of the actual good of the MK update. The players that had their gear converted to much higher MK level than is now obtainable were supposed to disappear gradually as they rank up was supposed to cause a temporary imbalance which will level out - now we will have a permanent imbalance.

The situation at high mid-ranks will be worse than ever before. In the past you could not get M3 kits (and upgrade to M4) until Brigadier. Now you will be able to get M3 equivalent (Mk7) two ranks lower at Lieutenant Colonel, and upgrade to Mk8 (old M4)! And to make matters worse, such players will now be facing up against lower ranked players in the diamond lieutenant ranks, who are using Mk4/Mk5 equipment, and can't even upgrade to M2 10/10 equivalent as they could before. This will cause adsurd imbalance.

So I would like to ask, why did Tanki see fit to make such a massive change to the economy and dynamics of the game without telling us, and secondly what exactly was the point of the MK update if they plan to suddenly make Tankoin kits available a full 4 ranks before Crystal kits are available, creating a massive imbalance between players???

I see little justification for putting such a huge pay-to-win change into the game especially during the lockdown, a time when Tanki's income (and the income of all online games) will no doubt increase, as we have seen with the huge increase in player numbers over the last while. This increase will no doubt last even beyond the lockdown period, which in itself is likely to be quite a long time.

It would be brilliant if the Tanki devs could be transparent about huge changes to the game instead of adding them in an underhand manner unannounced like this. Also, if they would care about game balance than trying to make a quick buck. Until that day comes, we will have to keep calling them out when they try to pull things like this.

[sharifsahaf 661]

1 hour ago, DestrotankAI9 said:

 

i can relate to this .i have mk4 -mk5 equipments at first llieutenant rank .many times ive come against people with fully mu'd mk6  kits  .its just an one sided battle after that

 

[Dhikr 132]

Yeah, I also noticed this when I was colonel. They just slipped it under the rug. They are just increasing the gap between f2p and buyers one step at a time.

[DestrotankAI9 1,520]

3 hours ago, Dhikr said:

Yeah, I also noticed this when I was colonel. They just slipped it under the rug. They are just increasing the gap between f2p and buyers one step at a time.

Seems like it  

 

If Alternativa are planning to make big changes like this (and I don't see the need or benefit to gameplay to give people access to kits 4 ranks before others, for the reasons I've already given above) I wish at least they would be open and not try to do everything in an underhand, sneaky way such as this was is a major totally unannounced change. There is no wonder the playerbase has no trust in the Tanki devs, things like this destroy that trust every time. And if they think that's a good business model, even from a moneymaking perspective, then I'm afraid they are sorely mistaken. Why would I want to invest in a company which can't be in the least transparent and open...

[DestrotankAI9 1,520]

3 hours ago, sharifsahaf said:

i can relate to this .i have mk4 -mk5 equipments at first llieutenant rank .many times ive come against people with fully mu'd mk6  kits  .its just an one sided battle after that

 

Yes, after the MK conversion quite a few of us (myself included) ended up with equipment which is well above the level you can get at the current rank, but the explanation for this was that of course "things would balance out over time as these players rank up", which is fair enough because that is indeed true. However, having went to all the massive amounts of trouble they did to make an entirely new complicated MK system - the main purpose of which was apparently the address the problem which had been annoying people for years, with some people getting kits and microupgrading them to ridiculous levels at low rank to the point other players couldn't fight against them - they've now gone and given a massive 4 rank advantage to players willing to buy kits which takes us straight back to exactly the same situation as before. 

Except at high mid-ranks it is going to be worse than ever with mk8s at Lieutenant general, and everyone else around that rank having weaker gear than before. So why did they bother with the MK change at all then? Total waste of time, unless the sole purpose was to give a new and bigger advantage than ever to buyers. Not to mention the fact that under the new system crystal kits are basically impossible to buy, so it will be more like a 6 rank advantage. Even if I chose to by a few kits, I am not sure I'd even want that kind of edge over everyone else, only so many 30-0 battles with no challenge before even the buyer will get bored, while everyone else quits the game.

[Gauss-Hornet 493]

All this crap and still Tanki feels the need to crunch down on crystal kits so as to encourage buying. Being able to buy kits of the next modification level 1 rank before was already enough incentive, and now we have to deal with yet another cash grab move.

[Joeguy 954]

Remember when Tanki first introduced Tankoins not so long ago?  They emphatically said there would be no changes to the economy from the addition of Tankoins...Tankoins were a means to allow mobile players access to equipment and other offerings.

 

Try to buy a kit you previously wanted with crystals now.  Easy to buy with Tankoins if you have enough Tankoins.  Tankoin kits carry a 30% discount when offered on sale where the very few crystal kits only have a 15% discount when offered.  Plus you can buy kits at anytime with Tankoins.

 

Lies, spin, distortions, greed, manipulation, lies, and more lies.  I guess it is all legal with Tanki's gigantic slippery umbrella 8754 word End User License Agreement, but it is absurdly far from ethical.  But if we want to play Tanki's game we are forced to deal with Tanki's treachery and deceit.