To all the friends I've made, as well as those who don't care for me, or who just don't care what follows is my opinion and only mine.... After more than 3 years playing this online game, I am thinking about leaving. Not that this is any great loss to HTC or the community but I'd like to express the reasons as to why I may leave. Some of you may be thinking this as well. I know from reading past posts that others have. The reason is twofold. One, the constant BS, not only on Ch1, but other channels as well, is just getting me down. Seems ya can’t go five minutes w/out someone accusing someone of “BS! That shouldn’t have happened!” implying that the person was cheating. Things being what they are, there's no such thing as a perfect situation. These people probably don't cheat, ***** happens is all. There's no sense of community left. I do see the occasional " good kill on me" but by far it's not. All the flames and other garbage that goes on in the MA is extremely demoralizing to me. Smack talk is inevitable in any MMOG but it's gotten way outta hand. I am guilty of doing it myself. Another factor of why I may leave... I'm not like that, being in that kind of environment is what does it to me.
If there were an actual military fighter squadron flying here, they’d be untouchable. Any one of the three sides, if organized similar to the military would be as well. This will NEVER happen in a game where people insist on doing their own thing and everyone is equal and free to do as they please. Such is the nature of pay per play online gaming. This aggravates me to no end. Everyone wants to win but in order to do that, ya gotta be enmasse. Strategy, planning and tactics mean absolutely nothing any longer. Before the demise of AW, this game was unbeatable for playability, and etiquette. Some of you weren’t around back then but those who were, can testify that AH was a different world entirely.
Secondly, the moderator/HTC censorship issue is still lurking in the back of my mind. Recently, CrzHrs posted on the HTC bulletin boards about this subject and I still don’t know the outcome of that. Those that have been “moderated” for trivial offenses, like myself, Anton and a few others…No Bodhi, they had legitimate reasons for moderating you ya foul mouthed SOB…LOL, know that something is amiss here. Even though they retort that the HTC arena is a private forum, and the first amendment doesn’t apply; I still feel that if I’m paying for a service, I should have access to know exactly what types of violations that will cause someone to be moderated/muted/banned. It just doesn’t seem to have any kind of consistency in application. I'd like to know that if I type certain words or phrases, I will be first warned, then muted if I do it again. I've seen some topics of discussion go way to far with no limit on one side but ten minutes later, up pops someone who responded with "I just got fluff'n muted for saying.." from the other end of the discussion. I personally got moderated (not muted mind you) for calling someone an idiot. That’s all, an idiot. No other adjectives were used or implied. I've seen HT post about host side language filters and even though there are several clever ways around it, it is a great idea. Moderators must be, by virtue of being human, subjective. But, shouldn't moderators moderate and not play? HT in one post states that by implementing filters that he's trying to change the atmosphere of gameplay. That's a good thing in and of itself. Tempers flare when national, politcal, sexual, racial, ethnic issues are hit upon. I think that the moderators should moderate the topics of discussion in addition to individual offenses. That, in my opinion, will change the atmosphere of gameplay. Smak talk is part of the game and although it is, it should be held at an lower level than it is at this time. Again, I admit doing this and although I try hard to stay away from it, it gets the better of me sometimes.
When was the last time you saw HT himself online in blue or even online for that matter? I play regularly and I can't remember the last time I saw any of the HTC staff online in blue or otherwize. In my opinion, I think the folks at HTC have all but forgotten the people that pay their salaries and pay for their toys…i.e: homebuilt airplanes and such. My $14.95 won't mean that much and I'm quite sure that HTC couldn't care less, I just need to vent. $14.95 won't even buy a spark plug for the engine in an RV8 I don't think. I've watched this game grow and become "overgrown" if you will. There are people from all over the world who play this game and for the most part I enjoy the experience right along with them. Something drastic needs to done with respect to gameplay, equity of censorship, and implementation of standards for said censorship.
Here endth the last whine and testament of a potentially "out the door" AH veteran.
Flame on McDuff! I can hear the lighters flicking now......
