Question 1: What are your expectations from the CT staff?
Very little, actually. We need them to change the setup each week, and to make sure the arena keeps working for the whole week. I appreciate the work that goes into creating new setups and matching them with the maps, but I'd fly here if we just rotated among the ones we've already done over the past year or so.
I'm actually a little bit leery of the staff being too receptive to "suggestions" of the players. A comparatively small percentage of us regularly post here, and I fear their influence would be disproportionate. I'm all for staffers using their best judgment.
Question 2: Why do you fly in the Combat Theatre and not in the Main Arena?
Ah. I wish I had Arlo's poetic abilities. I fly the CT for three main reasons.
First, I value the Axis v. Allies nature of the CT. I've studied WWII air combat all my life, and I like to see how it works out here, within the limitations of AH. I can do the P-51 v. Spitfire of the MA, but I don't like it.
Second, I can't stand the landgrab that is the bread and butter of the MA. For me, this game should be about air combat, and actually duplicates it pretty well (I think...how would I know for sure?). The notion of winning a war by swarming bases and capturing them with a plane of paratroopers or an amtrack of Marines I find to be...um...highly abstract. Worse, it works against what AH does best, which is air-to-air combat on a more-or-less even basis. On most nights the CT does what this game is supposed to do. IMHO, that is.
Third, and most important: I really value the spirit and cameraderie of the CT. It draws a small subset of the populace of the MA. The people here tend to be friendlier, more mature (I know, I know, but it's generally true), and more sportsmanlike than the MA crowd. It's the closest thing to the old Airwarrior FR Fightertown that I think we'll ever see again. I miss it when I'm not able to get here.
- oldman