Originally posted by Pongo
If there is a collision, it should always affect both or niether..no matter what.
If one guy avoids it..you both avoided it. Period.
HT has it backwards.
This is a distributed environment. There is never one completely correct "master" or synchronized database. There is always error. If we implement your policy and err on the side of more collisions (only one collides --> both collide), then you encourage ramming as a method of killing. If you err the other way (only one avoids --> both avoid), then you encourage staying on target without consideration of collision.
IOW, your policy sets up a prisoner's dilemma.
The best solution in light of the distributed database is to have each FE responsible for collisions on his own plane. That way there's no prisoner's dilemma. Ramming can still happen, but you can't know for sure that your ram will kill the other guy, so ramming is discouraged. Disregarding collisions is also discouraged, for the same reason.
Now if they could just fix the fact that planes are "colliding" when they are 50 feet away...we'd be set. There is error here too, of course--the collision bubble can be a bit too big or a bit too small. I say it should err on the small side. If the bubble is too big, you can't really tell when you are about to collide to avoid it. And a slightly too small collision bubble will work to detect "real" collisions (how often does your wing hit by 5" but not 10").
