The Perk incentive did work

[Grimm]

I believe the Perk incentive put in place awhile back did have some effect on game play.   Maybe it didnt balance numbers but it did seem to have an effect on what the underdog team would do.

With that system in place,  when 262s are cheap,  You will see many of them zooming around.  They Goon hunt,  Buff hunt,  Cherry pick, etc...      I didnt see nearly as much of this in the past before the perk incentive.  

Maybe HT feels it didnt work to balance numbers,  but it did some positive things for the underdog team.     I believe even with other game play changes on the horizon,  I hope this system will still be used.

[Zazen13]

If nothing else it created alot more variety. While I doubt the raw numbers will change too much I do think the combination of cheaper perk planes for the lower country and the oversized country's inability to use the "Big 4" completely changes the subtle 'balance of power' dynamic of MA gameplay.

Zazen

[Soda]

One just has to go back and search the BBS for C-Hog threads to see what the perk system did.  Once perking was introduced the threads talking about uncontrolled C-Hog use basically died.  That said, the C-Hog is still pretty common, it seems to me that the perk system worked perfectly for that purpose.  No special C-Hog icon, a cheap cost that anyone can afford, but people don't tend to "throw them away" quite as easily even though it only costs a couple of points.

I don't know if it fundimentally changed how the side balancing worked.  Most people flew low perk earners anyway so the "earning-penalty/bonus" method of enticing people to switch sides didn't make a whole lot of difference in the long term.  People just waited out the cycles and stayed put.  Most "high-perk-earners" came out in vulch situations anyway, most Ki61's/C202/Yak9T showed up when the table was heavily slanted in favor for them.

[Toad]

Yeah, it worked. It took people out of the F4U-1C and put them in Nik's and La-7's.

[Soulyss]

Somthing I find interesting is the effect of the perk on gameplay.  Sometimes it had a huge impact... think of the F4U-1C it was getting nearly 20% of the total arena kills before it became a cheap perk plane... soon as it did it's #'s immediately dropped of significantly.  

On the other hand the perk incentives for country balance had a much more subtle, or as some may say insufficeint impact on gameplay.

[Charon]

As I posted in another tread (which was so dynamic it didn't get any responses ), I don't think the perk costs were ever low enough to really do much of anything. If the C-hog data is any indication, even 8 points is "too much" for most people and that's without a tag. I think if the outnumberd side could get a free perk plane, or one for 2-4 points (and I think it would have to be this low), it would change some usage patterns without having to go the opposite way and take other planes away.

http://www.hitechcreations.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=127203&referrerid=5405

Charon