Original date of blog: January 13th, 2016
As of last week, I officially make YouTube videos out of my games, when I feel they’re awesome or when I feel I should show them for other reasons. For this, we made a Clan Phoenix YouTube channel we can all upload to. I have my own playlist there, and so far, I’ve uploaded four videos, and I have a few more in the making. To fit them to me, I made an intro for it that resembles the Transformers-credits, including the sound effects that go with it. Even though the images are just an edited template, I’m pretty proud of it all the same.
From the first video onwards, the comments I have had on my vids have mostly to do with the way I tank. Mainly, I drive somewhere, and from the moment I think I’ll be meeting enemies, I enter snipermode and very rarely exit it again until the end of the battle. Apparently, my way of tanking is very special. And depending on who commented, it came out as special or as “special”. And to be perfectly honest, those comments made me quite insecure.
I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t worry about that, and didn’t think way too much of that, and about that. As a result, I’ve been trying to see what happens if I exit the mode more often. The result was pretty clear – I’ve never noobed so much in my life. Well, not since I first started the game, in any case. So instead, I’ve started analysing my style and have been comparing it to others that do not tank like the game is, as Timbit said it, an FPS.
I found out there are huge pro’s and con’s both ways.
The reason I first developed a great fondness for the snipermode was because I drove only td’s at the time. With them, you’re always looking and standing in the direction you’re shooting, so there really was no need for me to zoom out much at all. The need to modify my tanking style came when I started down the E4 line, my first turreted tanks. Turreted tanks turned out to need a completely different approach, even if only because when you look at something, your entire tank does not follow you in that direction.
It took me quite a bit to learn how to sidescrape – and I know that has to do with the fact that I’m always zoomed in in the game. But, I’ve since learned how to do that – in snipermode. All it took was zooming out a bit here and there to learn where I was positioning myself if I saw this or that part of a building, dead vehicle, or whatever I was using to sidescrape. Once that became natural, back to snipermode I went, and didn’t need to zoom out to sidescrape anymore.
And it was the same with angling. It’s taken me a bit to learn how to, but now, it comes naturally, and I do it subconsciously. But that, I think, is the same for everyone. What view you have on your tank has little to do with how you’re angling it, imo, but maybe, some people need to see the whole of their tank to angle it right. Or at least need to see it to be aware of just what angle they’re using.
Because of my YouTube videos, Sparta started something they call the Amauchallenge. The rules: drive a low tier vehicle, enter snipermode as the battle starts, and don’t come out of it until either the battle ends, or you die. The results are hilarious, but it’s also given me pause, and helped me figure out the differences in tanking-style.
People really have a heck lot of problems trying to drive the same way I do. They drive into things, have no clue what’s happening around them, and seem to lose all connection to their tanks, the maps, everything. The only thing they connect to, is their turret and their gun. And that’s made me understand why I developed this style by driving my td’s, but also why it works for me and not for others.
Because I’m practically always in snipermode, I learn the maps differently. I read the game differently, so to speak. It takes me a bit longer to learn things, but when I do, what I’ve learned becomes natural. When there’s a new map, I will noob in it the first ten or so matches I drive in it, because I have no clue where to go and what to do. That’s the same for everyone, only I probably noob more because I’d drive into things in the beginning. But once I’m aware of the map, snipermode or no, I no longer do. The only things I bump into then, is my own team, because they’re not connected to the map, and I mostly use the minimap to keep track of the movements of the enemy, not that of my own five or six cannonfodders, depending on if I have a toonmate with me or not.
The big pro I’ve found though, blew my mind. Until I started to compare, I had not given it a lot of thought. By being in snipermode pretty much all the time, I lose the reaction-time needed to zoom in, aim, fire, zoom out, move. For me, it’s aim, fire, move. The standard reaction time of an average human being is two seconds. It’s a little less for gamers, but not by much, but I do still believe it saves me time. I also see where I can hit a tank that much faster, because I’ll see it the moment the tank gets into my view-range, and simply need to decide where and with what ammo I’m going to shoot that tank, or know I’ll need to reposition before I can shoot them at all.
The only tanks I’ve noticed I zoom out with more, are the fast ones. I’m not sure if that’s me still getting used to it, or just a requirement for me when I drive fast tanks. Since I only just started down med-lines, and only just got the Type59 (but omg I adore that way too overpriced tank to bits ), only time will tell. So far, the zooming out with them has only been needed when zooming across large distances, or in some particular situations where I was in close contact. I have a feeling it’ll just end up being a slight alteration to my style, just like there’s a difference in my style of tanking between my driving td’s and my heavies.
All in all, it stands to reason that people can’t drive the same way I do, unless you started doing that from the very beginning. Maps, tanks, objects, it works differently for me than for others, so switching from one style to the other is not something that comes easy. I learn differently, I pay attention to different things in different ways. Likewise, I don’t think I could ever drive the way I see others drive on YouTube, or in game once I’m dead.
Whether my FPS-driving makes me special or “special” I don’t know, but fact of the matter is that after 13k battles (reached that milestone this morning) I’m at 67.69% winrate, so I must be doing -something- right. It obviously works for me, if not for anyone else. So when you meet me in battle, know that I’m properly zoomed in and already aiming for whatever juicy part of you I can hit. And considering you will know how to angle, you can also rest assured – it’ll likely be prammo that I’ve loaded for you.
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