In Bad Company with the Tankers and the Clubbers
Fellow Pilots,
As you know, tanking is intentionally losing to lower your rating. After the tankers tank, they embark on a long period of seal clubbing - destroying lower league players. These fratricidal practices are condemned by God*, the University, and hopefully by Pixonic in the near future.
*the U doesn't normally claim to know the will of God. In this case, however, we are certain.
Today, however, there are still people (I use the term loosely) working as hard as they can to obtain an unfair advantage over lower level and ill-equipped pilots. And of these cheater/tanker/clubber types, "Dior" is one of the worst. Dior's clan is called "Bad Company," and if (s)he is any indication of what they are about, then the name is particularly apt. I first noticed Dior at the beginning of the Christmas event, when (s)he was a champion-level pilot who destroyed four robots, ran into battle with the fifth, and then exited the battle.
Dior destroys four robots in quick succession ...
Who knows how far Dior has fallen, but the win rate here is only 12%. Maybe (s)he can only win 1 of 10 in Champ play, hence the hasty exit! Rating is 5797. The 30 destroyed (and 2.7M max damage) says that Dior participates in fixed matches to pad statistics and achieve event goals artificially.
Dior's team loses 75% of the time, as they are playing five vs. six.
Dior's rating plummets by 500 points in a VERY short time.
Great - now (s)he's on my team. Always check to see who you are playing with ...
and ... gone in 39 seconds.
Sometimes the team manages to thwart Dior's evil plan, and we pull out a win without the sixth player ...
Dior ignores any/all attempts at contact.
Seeing Dior on the other team is an early Christmas present for the blue team.
Dior's rating has fallen over 1500 points from 5797 (probably not the actual beginning of the tanking) down to 4271. The rating falls at -17 or -22 per battle; at less than 60 seconds each, the whole process takes only 60-90 minutes.
I shared all of the above with Pixonic on the day it occurred - the first day of the Christmas event - and didn't see Dior for a while. As you know I play in Masters/Champion league, which is what tankers are running away from. Yesterday, January 3rd, I decided to look up our old friend to see how far (s)he had fallen. Even though Dior is on a seal clubbing expedition, (s)he is still only back to Silver league. (S)he has racked up several hundred more wins worth of silver and gold.
If you thought these pilots were aiming to get down into "fair" competition at the Expert level, think again. They go ALL the way to zero, and they come back up getting 10 Au per match plus tons of silver. Imagine what these hangars do to Destriers and Cossacks with level 5 weapons and inexperienced pilots. They make the new pilots quit the game, spending their time and money elsewhere.
Red Bears, Bad Company, and most importantly, Pixonic: please kick these pilots out of squads, clans, and the game. Don't support or assist them unless they play real matches against similarly situated opponents. The University applauds all serious efforts to stop the tankers and the clubbers. For the long-term survival of the game, War Robots needs to be fair for all the players.
Your humble servant,
Professor Where y'at?, phD
PS: It is possible to win at the upper levels, against the fully maxed-out hangars. Stop camping. Help your teammates, and let yourself be helped by your team. Play patiently. Be strategic about your upgrades. If you are interested in a no-tanking clan that supports its members in competition, please check out Aurora Nova (my clan, Aurora Doctrina, is one of 12 chapters).
As you know, tanking is intentionally losing to lower your rating. After the tankers tank, they embark on a long period of seal clubbing - destroying lower league players. These fratricidal practices are condemned by God*, the University, and hopefully by Pixonic in the near future.
*the U doesn't normally claim to know the will of God. In this case, however, we are certain.
Today, however, there are still people (I use the term loosely) working as hard as they can to obtain an unfair advantage over lower level and ill-equipped pilots. And of these cheater/tanker/clubber types, "Dior" is one of the worst. Dior's clan is called "Bad Company," and if (s)he is any indication of what they are about, then the name is particularly apt. I first noticed Dior at the beginning of the Christmas event, when (s)he was a champion-level pilot who destroyed four robots, ran into battle with the fifth, and then exited the battle.
Dior destroys four robots in quick succession ...
Who knows how far Dior has fallen, but the win rate here is only 12%. Maybe (s)he can only win 1 of 10 in Champ play, hence the hasty exit! Rating is 5797. The 30 destroyed (and 2.7M max damage) says that Dior participates in fixed matches to pad statistics and achieve event goals artificially.
Dior's team loses 75% of the time, as they are playing five vs. six.
Dior's rating plummets by 500 points in a VERY short time.
Great - now (s)he's on my team. Always check to see who you are playing with ...
and ... gone in 39 seconds.
Sometimes the team manages to thwart Dior's evil plan, and we pull out a win without the sixth player ...
Dior ignores any/all attempts at contact.
Seeing Dior on the other team is an early Christmas present for the blue team.
Dior's rating has fallen over 1500 points from 5797 (probably not the actual beginning of the tanking) down to 4271. The rating falls at -17 or -22 per battle; at less than 60 seconds each, the whole process takes only 60-90 minutes.
I shared all of the above with Pixonic on the day it occurred - the first day of the Christmas event - and didn't see Dior for a while. As you know I play in Masters/Champion league, which is what tankers are running away from. Yesterday, January 3rd, I decided to look up our old friend to see how far (s)he had fallen. Even though Dior is on a seal clubbing expedition, (s)he is still only back to Silver league. (S)he has racked up several hundred more wins worth of silver and gold.
If you thought these pilots were aiming to get down into "fair" competition at the Expert level, think again. They go ALL the way to zero, and they come back up getting 10 Au per match plus tons of silver. Imagine what these hangars do to Destriers and Cossacks with level 5 weapons and inexperienced pilots. They make the new pilots quit the game, spending their time and money elsewhere.
Red Bears, Bad Company, and most importantly, Pixonic: please kick these pilots out of squads, clans, and the game. Don't support or assist them unless they play real matches against similarly situated opponents. The University applauds all serious efforts to stop the tankers and the clubbers. For the long-term survival of the game, War Robots needs to be fair for all the players.
Your humble servant,
Professor Where y'at?, phD
PS: It is possible to win at the upper levels, against the fully maxed-out hangars. Stop camping. Help your teammates, and let yourself be helped by your team. Play patiently. Be strategic about your upgrades. If you are interested in a no-tanking clan that supports its members in competition, please check out Aurora Nova (my clan, Aurora Doctrina, is one of 12 chapters).
 |
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The U is not just a blog ... we are also iOS clans #48669, #141459, and #139479. We are always looking for champion-league pilots, and welcome skilled communicators from around the world.
The U is not just a blog ... we are also iOS clans #48669, #141459, and #139479. We are always looking for champion-league pilots, and welcome skilled communicators from around the world.
He Yat. I appreciate you calling out the tankers and I enjoy your blogs. That said, it seems a bit off to call out the last couple of people who play fairly, but maybe lack certain skills. A better approach is to try and contact them in game and give some advice?
ReplyDeletePerhaps you are right, Unknown ... it's my hope that people take the "academic" attitude about the University posts, but I don't want them to go away mad! I do feel that the public-facing hangar view is fair game, but can always handle the advice more delicately. Thanks for commenting!
DeleteI think its a good idea to show the hangars because your lessons were spot on. Maybe just blur out the pilot names/ID. Not for the tankers of course! Leave those names in)
Deletei agree with you, but i'm still gonna tank all the way! As Pix is getting more greedy, why be so serious on this game? Let's start Tanking and kicking out players, this would help Pix to realize their evil plans won't work.
DeleteProfessor Where y'at?, phD,
ReplyDeleteYou are my HERO ! Thank you so much for your publication, and especially this topic. I always re-post it on the Discord channel I am most active on and it always sparks some very good debates. I commented on one of your earlier articles and suggested a type of mark on the players id (an asterisk) so I was very pleased to see in recent WR news that in fact an identifying mark on players id's is projected to be a part of the game for those who have entered the Tankers League a.k.a. Low Priority Queue (LPQ). I'm sure that whatever Pixonic has in store for this issue is sure to upset many but I feel will please much many more.
Dominic M
Right on Dominic, and thanks for the vote of confidence!
DeleteHello, just want to let you know that I appreciate your blog and the efforts of War Robots University. While I approve of the tanker-shaming, I especially enjoy your analysis of tactics, strategies, and weapon uses. I am a long time player and consider myself reasonably skilled and well versed in many of these tactics, and it's nice to see that people are spreading knowledge of tactics and stuff. Long ago, I wrote a post in the wiki forum sort of similar to these posts (only without the neat visual aids or university credentials) about the benefits of corner-shooting, a skill I see rarely enough in others on the battlefield. It'd be cool if you could make something for the pros and cons and whens and hows of corner-shooting to help other players better conserve their bots when facing certain builds.
ReplyDeleteNo problem Werdna - corner shooting is a lost art, and "shoulder shooting" is too. Look for a post in the near future, and thanks for the comment.
DeleteIs there anything players can do in the game to try to stop tankers (like a report system?)
ReplyDelete