Tank: A Nerf to marines, or xenos?

[Mister Jeether]

When tanks got added to CM, they could have been considered a NERF to marines, because of how bad the TCs were on driving It. Of course, It was just added, so the players had to learn and adapt to It, in order to properly use it.

Later, people learned how to use them to their full potential. Off screen gibs made xeno players Salt more and more frequently in deadchat, until the tank was finally removed.

So, what are YOUR thoughts on It, regarding the tank, in general?

[Simo94]

with the new explosion rework the tank is dumbfuck stronk, u can literally win a round by deploying a tank and 4 specs.

[GoliathTheDespoiler]

A semi-competent tank crew is enough to completely roll the xenos over, especially now that explosive immunity has been nerfed super-hard.

Crushers and Queens are no longer immune to explosions, and it sucks.

Though to be honest the RPG is just the LTB attached to a marine.

[Maxim Inc]

I liked it.

[Butterrobber202]

its a nerf to marines because if we nerf xenos any more they are gonna turn into jelly.

[Jonesome]

the tank being removed due to a handful of salty players is major suckage. I waited years to see a vehicle added to CM and to see it just dumped makes me want to commit sudoku. like wtf

[GoliathTheDespoiler]

the tank being removed due to a handful of salty players is major suckage. I waited years to see a vehicle added to CM and to see it just dumped makes me want to commit sudoku. like wtf

>when the handful of salty players was pretty much the entirety of the xeno main group who were criticising the fact that the tank was just completely unfun to play against and totally adjusted how rounds worked as all marine strategies quickly began to revolve around it, causing dozens upon dozens of queens to get massacred when they are inevitably run over by the speed demon or sniped at long range by the LTB, which has now caused most of them to leave to go play marine or on alternative servers and we now have a severe shortage of actually competent xeno mains, resulting in inconsistent round results as the new greatly decreased minority struggles to carry a team full of complete baldies

[waswar]

A friend of mine made a joke:
We can put a tank on the Alamo but can't give the Liaison a secretary?

Now that the tank is gone, that's another chunk of the game inexplicably removed, with nothing to make up for it. The meme was we'd get tanks or boonie hats. I supported boonie hats because I'd rather the whole USCM get a new customization option than a niché role for two people, but hey, it's a role nonetheless, and better than nothing. It's a needless shaving of variety. Even as someone who desired boonies, I prefer a tank over nothing.

[Garrison]

I only wish I tried harder to get to be a Tank crewman before they removed it.

If anything, the tank was a double edged sword. It could blow through a Xeno assault, but it made marines hesitant to advance and it could also blow through a marine push.

[GoliathTheDespoiler]

A friend of mine made a joke:
We can put a tank on the Alamo but can't give the Liaison a secretary?

Now that the tank is gone, that's another chunk of the game inexplicably removed, with nothing to make up for it. The meme was we'd get tanks or boonie hats. I supported boonie hats because I'd rather the whole USCM get a new customization option than a niché role for two people, but hey, it's a role nonetheless, and better than nothing. It's a needless shaving of variety. Even as someone who desired boonies, I prefer a tank over nothing.

Remember, the tank's not being removed permanently.

Devs are currently in the works of remaking how it works, I believe.

[kastion]

As a xeno main I liked the tank, it was fun having to fight around it and eventually swarm it and destroy it. What I absolutely hated was off screen gibs. I don't care what you say or why they exist but they are 0 fun for the person getting off screen gibbed. There is no counter play to not know someone is around you and getting instakilled. Its the same reason the RPG is stupid as fuck and needs to be nerfed.

[carlarc]

tank was cancer to fight against,glad its gone

sometimes the admins run an event with it so thats cool tho. theyre not smart enough to give xenos good stuff to make up for it, sadly

[CCONX]

I dont think the tank should be full on removed, as it adds a little more variety to the game.
That being said I agree that it became the literal ace of all marine strats and was/is more or less an instant win card.
What it needs is to be nerfed in a way that the xenos CAN counter it with proper strategy, while also making it more for support instead of just bum-rushing the xenos into instant submission.
The reason I say the latter part is because, in a way, it makes the marines more of support for the tank rather than the way it should be, vise versa.
A few ways to combat this are to increase load times between tank rounds, make the armor less durable, and adding some sort of fuel mechanic.
Though these are just ideas, and I full on understand why xeno mains dont like the tank.

[Huebone]

Why is the tank so damn big? Rhetorical question.

Just give the tank crew smaller tanks. Fuck it, make it a new addition to the squads. Each squad gets a miniature tankman. Like honestly, tanks shouldn't be fucking inconveniently big, look at metal slug, they had cool looking futuristic tanks that were a decent size. That one we have is an abomination, it's realistic, but it's also inconvenient. It's the equivalent of a high-res hyper-realistic person in a cartoon show.

[TopeyDopey]

Or add APC which is a mobile and better version of M56D and have ability to overwatch lol

[Madventurer]

Can confirm that the tank was absolute cancer to play against, since the only caste that could stop it was the crusher, and the tank could equip a weapon that hardcounters crushers.

Just no.

[kastion]

Or add APC which is a mobile and better version of M56D and have ability to overwatch lol

m56d is already nuts, giving something a MOBILE m56d thats MORE powerful would be completely ridiculous.

[CABAL]

m56d is already nuts, giving something a MOBILE m56d thats MORE powerful would be completely ridiculous.

Just give it standard M56D "nest" like in dropship and make it very inaccurate during "movement". This way it would be balanced as mobile FOB, perfect for rescuing marines (like Ripley in the movie), holding designated spots, but weak for assaults. No off-screen gibs (kills still possible thanks to extended view of M56D "nest", but requires xeno at low health, or literally standing in one spot) and xenos are happy.

"Running over" could be changed, to stun for longer, deal more damage, but damaging tires/tracks to the point of making it immobile, until engineer repairs it. That would be for T1's/xenos with "small sprite" (drone, runner, sentinel, lurker and spitter). "Bigger sprites" can't be run over, but they can be "stun-pushed" like marines are by runner, but with additional twist: Hitting a wall with xeno between would crashgib it. How cool is that? (It would be made to discourage stopping desperate evacuations, since it's not as dangerous as tank)

[FGRSentinel]

When you stop to think about it, the tank's strengths were never really balanced against much other than the unique gameplay surrounding it making it unfamiliar to most people. Once people started figuring out how to control and operate it, it became incredibly powerful in the right hands. For instance:
Pros:
1. Heavily armored to the point where it could be used in a cade line.
2. Modular allowing it to deal with a large number of situations.
3. LBT can be swapped out for a minigun that lets it shred most benos.
4. LBT can instantly gib T1s, most T2s, and maybe some T3s with a direct hit.
5. Can be equipped for long-range combat, allowing it to serve as a sniper.
6. Able to flatten most xenos to stun them.
7. Can clear resin structures by ramming into them at the cost of some armor durability.
8. Can serve as cover for marines to hide behind.
9. Can use a flamethrower for area-denial.
10. Superior to CAS for direct support of marine squads.

General Cons:
1. Slow. Marine advances have to slow down to stick with the tank.
2. Massive. The tank is large enough that it can't fit into most doorways and caves without wasting LBT ammo or having Engineers use their explosives to remove walls. This is a major downside for it on Prison (where it can take half a dozen charges to get the tank anywhere useful, which is expensive) and Ice underground, but is a general problem with any caves.
3. More dangerous to marines than xenos if in the wrong hands. I've seen tankers get the speed boost and "twitch" (entering random movement commands for no reason and with no warning) that threw off the gunner's shots/made them hit marines that weren't in the initial line of fire, prevent the gunner from firing at all, cause them to hit a wall next to the tank and vaporize its armor/gun/treads, or even running over marines without warning. It was one of those things that some tank drivers demanded are on the tank and then insist on moving whenever they can to show off how fast the tank is with it and because they can.
4. Requires an MT or the CE to repair/get in working order. If they lack someone to get the tank up and running, TCs are basically under-armed marines.
5. Low survival odds of TCs if destroyed/caught outside the tank.
6. Expensive to repair and rearm.

Map-Specific Cons:
1. Has difficulty transitioning between to two levels on Ice due to its size, having to either do a dropship transfer, rely on another marine to get the elevator, or risk being attacked outside their tank.
2. Lack of easy access to Coifs means tankers cannot safely leave their tank on Ice unless Marines donate a pair to them.

[Jonesome]

>when the handful of salty players was pretty much the entirety of the xeno main group who were criticising the fact that the tank was just completely unfun to play against and totally adjusted how rounds worked as all marine strategies quickly began to revolve around it, causing dozens upon dozens of queens to get massacred when they are inevitably run over by the speed demon or sniped at long range by the LTB, which has now caused most of them to leave to go play marine or on alternative servers and we now have a severe shortage of actually competent xeno mains, resulting in inconsistent round results as the new greatly decreased minority struggles to carry a team full of complete baldies

So a handful of excessively salty xenos complained, and tank was removed. Thanks for proving my point. Kek

[MattAtlas]

So a handful of excessively salty xenos complained, and tank was removed. Thanks for proving my point. Kek

tfw dismiss other people's arguments based on "They're salty"

brain too large for skull

[GenericUsername]

Or add APC which is a mobile and better version of M56D and have ability to overwatch lol

Nicboone made APC sprites, they could be implemented anytime

[Jonesome]

tfw dismiss other people's arguments based on "They're salty"

brain too large for skull

twf one realizes it's not a black or white issue, that there are equally viable arguments for keeping and balancing tank rather than total removal, but crux of the issue is that xeno mains are salty from losing

[Simo94]

So a handful of excessively salty xenos complained, and tank was removed. Thanks for proving my point. Kek

even marine mains hated it, because the tank did all the work, sometimes killing 15+ xenos, PFCs just stood there and watched, didnt even fire cuz they could damage it, ppl stopped charging as they learned/were ordered to just stay behind the tank, when it stopped at cave entrances the round just pauses, the only use I felt my weapon had on some tank rounds is taking down walls/resin structures for it to advance, not to mention all the extra works engineers need to do to make a tank friendly FOB and C4s, it was fun for the two TCs but quite boring for everyone else involved.

[Jonesome]

even marine mains hated it, because the tank did all the work, sometimes killing 15+ xenos, PFCs just stood there and watched, didnt even fire cuz they could damage it, ppl stopped charging as they learned/were ordered to just stay behind the tank, when it stopped at cave entrances the round just pauses, the only use I felt my weapon had on some tank rounds is taking down walls/resin structures for it to advance, not to mention all the extra works engineers need to do to make a tank friendly FOB and C4s, it was fun for the two TCs but quite boring for everyone else involved.

Cool anecdote. There were just as many marines that liked the tank and didn't have any of these issues. But there's a vocal minority present that claim otherwise, which is how it always goes on forums.