Originally posted by DrDea
I personaly concider Air Warrior the pinnacle of online ww2 fighter sim community.Damn but that game had great community.How can we get that here or is it a hopeless task?
I think alot of people miss the real problem in this whole gamer/simmer debate. Its not a LACK of community, its different ideas on what that community is, and should be. We dont get a lot of the hardcore FPS gamers. Not that some of us here dont like to play them, but the hardcore guys are very much solo artists. They work together when they have to, but once the truce is up its every man for himself again. The "gamers" we see more here are the RPG type. And yes I include myself in that group, as much as I do a simmer. RPG gamers (the video game RPG gamers anyway) DO share one trait with other gamers. The willingness to hack, steal, cheat and do whatever else is necessary to rack up the score or get to the final level and "beat the bad guy". In AH, that means do what it takes to kill as many people as you can without being killed yourself. Whatever it takes.
Ever since the late 70s and early 80s playing Dungeons and Dragons around a buddy's dining room table after his parents went to bed on the weekends, I've been addicted to RPGs. I still participate today in a more modern version of RPG, not just the video game types but also a regular group that meets every week and still plays D&D (although with computers now, that roll your dice for you and keep track of your stats and do all the math and rule-work).
Ever since the late 80s, since I was first introduced to MS FS on a clone PC with 640k of RAM, a 20 MB HD and a 5.25" floppy, I've been addicted to sims. As a little boy I had pictures cut out of magazines on my wall of P-51 Mustangs and F-4 Phantoms, posters of F-15 Eagles and F-86 Sabres. I can remember the first time I saw a picture of an F/A-18 Hornet and thought it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen, or the first time I saw an A-10 Warthog and thought it was the meanest thing I'd ever seen. All I ever wanted was to fly a fighter. Anway, didnt happen, but the passion to fly has always been there. All I can afford to indulge is sims and (when I'm back home) the occasional trip up in an ultralight.
The one thing I see that unites both groups (or even all three groups really, since I split "gamers" into two groups), is IMAGINATION. We all like to imagine we are somebody else sometimes, and even though simmers are more into immersing themselves, as themselves, into a flight, there still is required a certain amount of imagination to make a PC sim feel real. I mean come on, theres no pressure on the stick (even FF isnt really REAL feeling), you cant feel the G forces in the turns, blackouts are an annoyance and not something that scares the pee out of you, there's a STALL HORN to tell you that "hey stupid, you are about to stall your plane out!", and while you may be able to hear the wind whistling past or the wings groaning in protest, can you feel it? Can you smell the oil? The gas? Do you feel the vibration off just a bit and cuss yourself for rushing when you gapped the spark plugs when you checked them, and swear to yourself PLEASE just let it be ok this time and I SWEAR I'll do it right from now on.........
No.
I think what we really need are 3 things. Ive said it before.
1. We need a way to really push the TA with new people, and get them an introduction that includes more than how to start the plane and get in the air, and start pulling a trigger. They get that and so much more from trainers. If they just pop in for a few seconds, dont see anyone or any easy way to get a trainer's assistance (meaning, there's no one there) they go to the MA and ask questions. The learning curve gets longer, and they get frustrated in the process. And they learn to despise newb's. Because thats how they were treated (not all, but enough).
2. We need to push scenarios, and other events in the SEA. Whether its KOTH, snapshots, scenarios, squad nights .......... whatever. We need events that bring people together who normally would only encounter each other as "so and so shot you down", or "you shot down so and so". Dok has expressed an interest in getting folks together who believe in scenarios to bring back a sense of community. I dont think we've lost it, I just think it lacks focus. That can change easier than inventing one.
3. Too many of us who remember what AW was like, or Warbirds, or whatever else, spend too much time griping AH isnt like that. We are the ones that should be setting the example. While TC may not be able to jog his memory enough to remember me (yet), I remember enough of flying with the great guys (and lady, cant leave out LadyAce) of the Eagles, and by extension the AWTC. The way they treated me, taught me, was no different than they did for everybody they came into contact with who had a desire to learn, even a few of us that came with a chip on the shoulder or felt like we had something to prove. What I took from them was that, as much as I like remembering what it was like to fly with them (and later against them even), keeping those lessons alive in how I treat people does far more good. WE have to be the ones that enforce a community. Well, thats a bad way to put it. You cant force people to behave a certain way. But we can encourage. Rules are mostly unwritten, and should stay that way. Rules only tell us what we CANT do, and if we have to have every tiny detail of what we aren't allowed to do spelled out, we are a pretty sad bunch.
