Wasn't trying to badmouth MSFS200X or any such games, just pointing out that they're a different breed of animal than AH.
I consider "non-fighting stuff" to be...well....stuff you are doing when you're not fighting, or perhaps more accurately things which make it harder/more time-consuming on a global level to reach combat.
I'm not worried about limting action on a local level; indeed, this is required in order to capture bases and such. If you are going to have a moving front, then you HAVE to have some means of limiting the enemy's ability to fight on a local level in order to permit the capture of territory--or to slow an advance. As such, Tactical airstrikes (air-to-ground fighters) are an integral part of the game (so much for me hating the building battlers, huh?).
What I dislike is when something happens that makes it harder to operate anywhere in the entire arena, be it player-caused or environmental.
It's the difference between seeing one base at 25% fuel (you can take off somewhere else) and seeing EVERY base at 25% fuel (game breaker). Or it's the difference between losing Dot-radar (doesn't affect ability to find the fight) and losing sector counters (now you don't know if that horde of friendlies you're following is heading to a huge fight or an undefended base). Or it's even the difference between a 3-5 minute climbout after takeoff (check map and form a plan) or a 10-15 minute climbout (go afk and BBQ a steak).
None of these are "furball centric"....A2G guys need to know where the enemy is--It is useless to hit the FH of an empty base, and it is Equally useless to attempt a NOE capture run to a base with 30 enemies around it! It is also to their benefit to have shorter non-combat flight times because it means more ordnance delivered per hour. Night-time is probably the only one of the "combat inhibiting factors" which don't really affect the air-to-ground guys too much (it arguably benefits them) while massively affecting the air-to-air fighting. This is why night is probably the hardest to form a middle-ground between the different players. In all situations compromises are possible.
This is why I liked the local storms...it gave the A2G guys a certain level of cover to operate from in crowded airspace while having almost no negative effect on the air-to-air guys (you could simply fly over it or fly somewhere else). In other words, storms did the same thing as night, but were a local condition instead of an arena-wide condition. Allowing for clouds at different or lower altitudes would be even better--as long as framerates could handle it!
And yes, AH's strat system could use some signifigant tweaks. If nothing else at least we can agree on that.
J_A_B
