Two country arena revisited

[Lance]

I am starting to become a convert to the idea of only going with two countries in the arena if HTC would consider it.  Here is why:

Right now, the arena inevitably winds up in a 2 vs. 1 situation countrywise.  That means that at all times at least one country is getting their clock cleaned.  It seems to be pretty evenly distributed.  One day its the Bishops, the next its the Rooks, the day after it is Knights.  But whenever it is your day to get ganged up on, things can get frustrating for some people.  

Take the past couple of days for example.  It has been the Bishops turn for getting throttled in the U.S. afternoon/evenings.  We've been operating with about 4 bases and no dar.  You Crooks and Knitwits would love to have heard some of the conversation on the Bishop channel.  There was a lot of frustration voiced by some people, generally in the form of squeaking or finger pointing.

What I am worried of is that when we get the free 4-8 person arenas, people will simply leave the main arena in frustration for these fair, controlled fights when its their countries turn to get spanked.  Their countrymen that choose to stay would then be even more outnumbered.

Right now, I have fun regardless of whether my country is a screwer or the screwee, but if people begin fleeing the arena when the odds start turning against them, then my fun will be diminished.  I enjoy the high numbers and the big furballs.  I don't like 20 vs 1, irregardless of which side I am on.

I realize that some of this is speculative, but given the frustration level I've seen in the past few days, I don't think its an unrealistic possibility.  I never played WB or AW prior to this, so I don't know if they have free arenas or just free head to head play.  If they do, were there any problems similar to the one I outlined above?

Gordo

[This message has been edited by Lance (edited 02-01-2000).]

[dolomite]

It's time. Let's do it.  

[Pongo]

I cant think of the advantage of 3 over 2? I would like to try 2


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Pongo
Musketeer Escadrille

[HaHa]

Myself and others have mentioned that a 2 country arena is ideal.

- more realistic
- allows for easy transition to a HA arena (axis vs allies)
- provides "patriotic" loyalty to a side, you always know who your enemy is .. not this confusing knight, now rook, sigh knight again
- would make for some REAL COOL battles 40v40

[Gator]

I believe Dawn of Aces punted on the three country idea, and now Purple is inactive, folks are Red or Gold.  This may be due to limited numbers, but IMHO I agree that two countries are better than three.  

But, that's one of the reasons I'm wishing for "historical" events and then an HA.

[TT]

 I would be happier with 2 countrys. Just a word on 4 though. It would solve most of the objections pyro threw out the last time this came up. Ad make most of the players happier also. FWIW back in my ACA days. You could choose. The red/green war was a big furball. And the gold/purp war tended to be more spread out, and smaller furballs. so you could have what ever you were in the mood for. I think this would repeat itself in AH. Given time.

[Wardog]

Dont agree with the 2 country setup. Allthough its perfect for an HA arena,ultimately a 4 country setup would be much prefered.

[Hangtime]

Why; Wardog??

Just curious.. seen the 4 country stuff in WB's fer years... *yawn*

Hang

[Saintaw]

Hummm, Mind if I drop my stone in the pond ?

I thought about this yesterday evening, after spending 2 hours without dar as a bish (I tend to stick with the country I chose...)

In a 2 country situation, i would be affraid that it would end up strong Vs weaks, meaning how could a balance of forces be assured ?

I don't have any experience in WB or other sim "arena", so this is just a "blue" thought...

Maybe if the two countries would have different planes to choose from and/or make poeple stick to a side (ie: only the ability to switch sides once a week...)

Last night was fun with the knitwits though : one after the other were vulching the other's airbase  ...but then, I'm digressing...

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Saint
DCO 186th Wardogs (Falcon4 Squad)
 http://www.wardogs.org/
"Firepower Mate, that is what separates the men from the boys..."

[Granger]

I would love a 2 country system, especially when this puppy goes pay and Im betting it will be slim pickins to find a fight.
Also I would hope to disallow switching countries for say.. maybe 24 hours..the way it is now..I get on..and if its slow and nothings goin on, I jump to the side thats gettin beat up on. Not hardly fair after spending 20 minutes flying for country a, and know where there hitting, and where everyone is.
Am I a spy or somesuch? Not at all..I fly to fight..period..and if i cant find one in country a, I go to country b.
A 2 country map would eliminate this altogether..always be enough players to find a fight..and no gang bangin 2 countrys on 1 crap that weve all become accustomed to in here.

Just my nickels worth...or should I say $29.95

[Vermillion]

Are you guys playing the same game I am???  

I have been in the arena alot lately, and I almost never see a 2 v 1. I can only think of maybe two nights out of the last 10 or so I have been flying that it is like this.

In fact, lately the sides have been very balanced.  And the community has finally figured out what a three way war means, and how to exploit it.

4 Sides don't work at all, Warbirds shows that. The two large teams, each pick a small team and ignore each other, so it ends up two seperate wars with very uneven numbers.

2 Sides rarely work either in a MA setting, because most people just gravitate to the bigger team, and things get outta hand quickly. IMO the only reason it works in DOA is that its a small dedicated community with mature pilots.

Its finally working out very well here, and I honestly don't see where the complaints are coming from.

Oh yeah, and of those 2 nights of 2 v 1. One of them was last night. It was Rooks against both the Knights and Bishops.

And the Rooks, had both of them down to 2 or 3 bases each  

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Vermillion
**MOL**, Men of Leisure,
Dicta Verm: "Never give the suckers an even break!" or translated "Never engage without an advantage"

[dolomite]

WRT to DoA and the 3-side thingie:

I was there. We were experiencing exactly what is going on here, and it got to be very annoying to have the constant reset from behind on the weak team. The players complained (as we are) and it was switched. Very few people complained and it was considered an improvement.

Granger:

Switching to the weak side shows class as far as I'm concerned. There is no game if all the players are on one side. Of course I should say that I don't fly for anyone in particular myself (just can't buy into the imaginary country allegience thing). I too fly on the low side, though once I log in I stay put for the (K)night.  

[Westy]

 I could care less if there are 3, 4 or 5 countries. When I log on I look at the roster numbers and I go to the side that's the underdog. It means more of a challange for me and yet places more targets on my plate should I be having a decent flying night.
 But if there were 2 countries you'll soon find that Vermillion is right. Then again I DO wish HTC would try it out just so folks who want a two country arena can finally see it happen.
 It can be fun if the numbers stay balanced.  It can be a horrid bore too because they rarely ever are.

 -Westy

[MANDOBLE]

Check out my last post here. http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/Smileys/default/Forum9/HTML/000230.html

Tell me if you agree with that kind of two sides arena.

From my point of view, implementing the arena this way, makes very difficult to have a weak and a strong side.

Of course, this idea is there just to be improved.

[popeye]

Ultimately, balance and fairness in force distribution is up to the players.  This is true no matter how many "countries" there are on the map.  The only thing the game designers can do is provide a format that promotes balance.  (I think very few players want ENFORCED balance.)

I've seen 2, 3, and 4 country formats.  My experience is that the 3 country format works best, for the reasons Verm stated above.

popeye