Interview with Roman Kungurtsev, Marketing Specialist for Tanki Online

May 27, 2014 7:35 ( Interviews ) 0

 

We got the chance to sit down with Roman Kungurtsev, Marketing Specialist at Alternativa Platform, developers of Tanki Online. If you like tanks, you may be interested. Check it out, along with some screenshots and in-game video footage.



QUESTION: First of all, thank you for giving us the possibility to interview you about Tanki Online. Would you be so kind to introduce yourself to our readers?

Answer: Hi! My name is Roman Kungurtsev. I’m a Marketing specialist at Alternativa Platform which develops the browser multiplayer game “Tanki Online”. Thank you for the interest, I’ll be really glad to share some information about us and the way we communicate with our players.



QUESTION: How would you describe Tanki Online to someone who has never heard of it before?

Answer: I would say that it perfectly suits the needs of a player looking for fun gameplay. “Tanki Online” is all about high dynamics, competitiveness and team work. It takes about 30 seconds to enter the battle as the game is browser-based and registration process is really simple. Finally, as only real players participate in battles, there’s no way you are going to get bored when playing.

QUESTION: What makes Tanki Online to stand out in its genre? Why should a player choose to play Tanki Online over any other Tanks war games?

Answer: “Tanki Online” is not just a Tank war game. It’s a futuristic action with a really fast pace, endless respawns and guns shooting with fire, ice, lasers and plasma. I think that those who decide to play “Tanki Online” do not make history in-game, but have a lot of fun instead.
One more difference is that there’s no client that you would need to download. It takes a few minutes to get in the battle even if you haven’t registered before. Because all you need to do is start your internet browser and go to tankionline.com.

QUESTION: Tell us something about the game modes and maps offered by Tanki Online.

Answer: There’re four game modes at the moment.
• Deathmatch (DM)
• Team deathmatch (TDM)
• Capture the flag (CTF)
• Control points (CP)

In DM you’re only responsible for yourself and think about ways of increasing the kills’ number. But in other modes it’s better to cooperate with your team if you’re interested in winning and sharing the reward.

As for the maps, there are more than 70 available at the moment. They may differ in some parameters, being less or more aimed at certain game modes, but these differences always correspond with key features of the game – intensity and fun. For example, try to google “Tanki Online – Madness map” and imagine what happens there when tanks break in 

QUESTION: Can you tell us something about the player progression system?

Answer: In “Tanki Online” everyone has a military rank. Players start their career as “Recruits” and earn experience points (XP) by participating in battles. There’re four ways of getting XP:
• Destroying enemy tanks
• Healing allies with a gun called “Isida”
• Interacting with flags in CTF
• Capturing points in CP
The highest rank at the moment is “Generalissimo”. It’s important that by ranking up players unlock new maps, new grades of hulls and guns and paintjobs for their tanks.

QUESTION: Can we customize our tanks?

Answer: In “Tanki Online” we have three groups of items that can be chosen to customize a tank:

• Guns
Players can choose from 9 turrets depending on their preferable play style. For example, some pick Railgun for dealing the maximum damage in one shot, while others stick to Firebird and burn their enemies with fire at closer distances.

• Hulls
The correct choice of gun is only a part of success. You also need to choose a hull. And there’re 7 hulls varying in size, mobility, survivability and other parameters in “Tanki Online”.

• Paints
We know that there are players who enjoy managing the appearance of their characters, tanks or whatever it may be. In TO there are more than 60 paintjobs that may make your tank look pretty realistic or like a jaguar or a zebra, it’s all up to you. Each paint also protects the tank from certain turrets.



An important thing is that each turret and hull has 4 basic upgrade levels, unlocking for purchase when player gets to a certain rank. Besides, all guns, hulls and paints have specific parameters that can be upgraded at any level – they’re called ‘micro-upgrades’.

QUESTION: Is there an in-game clan system, maybe with leaderboards and competitions?

Answer: Yes, we have a strong clan movement and work with it very closely. We know that being a member of a team, communicating, learning and competing with other teams is what our players are really interested in. And to support that, we organize events like the clan championship that bring different teams from all over the world together and provide all spectators with spectacular fights.

QUESTION: How do you plan to keep players hooked to the game in the long run? Do you plan to regularly release new tanks, game modes and maps?

Answer: Well, the maps’ development process is rather continuous. We listen to our player’s desires and add arenas if the idea is cool. And of course, people love when developers add new content to the game. Our last update of this kind was ‘micro-upgrades’. The next big addition for us is two more turrets and the new version of “Tanki Online” based on Unity engine with completely new visuals.

QUESTION: Tell us something about the social aspects offered by the game.

Answer: Actually I’ve already mentioned that before when talking about clans. It’s great that our players interact in many ways – they compete, they co-operate, they make friends and establish clans. We do everything possible to support these aspects and our community managers are really close to players, making sure that everyone has a great playing experience and value the time spent in game.

QUESTION: Is there a cash-shop in the game? What kind of stuff can we purchase?

Answer: Yes, there is a shop where Crystals (the in-game currency) can be purchased. However, players who decide to pay can’t simply get the maximum grade for weapons being a “Recruit” or get a turret that is unavailable for others. The conditions are equal for all, but if you want to unlock something and your rank allows you to do so, but you don’t have enough time to earn the needed sum in battles – you may ease your way a little.



QUESTION: Thank you for all your answers. Would you like to add something?

Answer: Thank you for the interview! My answers were rather short and probably haven’t covered all details, but be sure that all kind of additional information, screenshots or videos may be found on the official website.

 

 

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