Until now I've never seen "Game breakers" here until now

[Zazen13]

Originally posted by Dead Man Flying
I don't see how you can say that the ENY "experiment" failed.  Except for Sunday nights, it has brought a much greater degree of arena balance to Aces High, which was its intention.  In that respect, it succeeded quite well.

Perhaps HTC views these sorts of things in the long-term.  Most of the whiners who took their balls and went home would have left anyway in the next year for one reason or another.  Soon they'll be replaced by players who have never known anything but the ENY limiter.  In a year, the numbers probably won't be much different than they were right before the ENY limiter -- except that the arena will enjoy a greater degree of side balancing.  Since we don't know things like the number of new users per day and the retention rate of those users over time, you cannot say that this "experiment" has failed at all.  If the retention rate increased as a result of side balancing, then HTC wins in the end.

-- Todd/Leviathn

Todd, you're missing the point, whether it's making the sides more even or not isn't the point. It's losing HTC customers and money. That is a business failure. There's many ways to enhance balance that don't lose you a hefty chunk of your customers, the ENY system is clearly NOT it.

[Zazen13]

Originally posted by SlapShot
Prove it ... show us your number samplings from across all time zones. Let's see the numbers ... post 'em if ya got 'em.

Furious ... you are a wise and insightful man.

I didn't take screen shots, I just wrote them down. If you don't believe me, track them yourself...

Zazen

[jpeg]

DREDIOCK: You have missplled Athlon in your sig.

[detch01]

nopoop, I agree completely. Add in the fact that AH has always lacked the sort of community involvement in the day2day of the game like the [AWAR] people in AirWarrior (may it rest in peace). No heavy-handed policing, no hidden monitors, just the old gals/guys looking after and out for the young gals/guys and keeping the arenas civil with the authority to fix/stop the minor things and set the standard of behaviour required.  A lot of the "behavioural problems" in the game is the result of a very fairly large and rapid increase in the game population with no systems or resources in place to handle the influx. Right now the population base in the game is dropping but I doubt that will be a permanent thing.

[Arlo]

Originally posted by dracon
....Just stand up for what I believe.  Try it it's soul clensing.  Makes ya feel good about yerself.
 

Seems he is. You can't tell?

[Arlo]

Originally posted by Zazen13
Todd, you're missing the point, whether it's making the sides more even or not isn't the point. It's losing HTC customers and money. That is a business failure. There's many ways to enhance balance that don't lose you a hefty chunk of your customers, the ENY system is clearly NOT it.

Well I don't think your business advice would benefit him nearly as much as you teaching him how to make a bundle playing 9 ball with a broomstick.

[Morpheus]

Originally posted by beet1e
...heard the drum roll, was waiting for the cymbal crash - it never came.

This coming from someone Nopoop that aught to tell someone something...

I'd hope.

People somewhere better wake up. Its not just a whine. Its the truth. Keep ignoring it and its going to hurt real bad.

[Arlo]

Originally posted by MoRphEuS
People somewhere better wake up. Its not just a whine. Its the truth. Keep ignoring it and its going to hurt real bad.

Sky .... falling ... bad. Gotcha.

[Morpheus]

yes

[dracon]

Originally posted by Arlo
Seems he is. You can't tell?

Odd then?  Why ever should he mock others for doing likewise?  Makes little sense here?

Fortunately, I have never forced him to play Aces High with me!  I promise I never will...Honest!

[Dead Man Flying]

Originally posted by Zazen13
It's losing HTC customers and money. That is a business failure. There's many ways to enhance balance that don't lose you a hefty chunk of your customers, the ENY system is clearly NOT it.

You cannot honestly state this with certainty, as you do not know upon which numbers HTC based its decision to change the game dynamics.  You cannot base your statements on anything said in the forums since the players here constitute a very small and unrepresentative sample of the arena population.  Even the complainers (or advocates) of the ENY policy on the open channels do not represent the actual game population.

It's possible that the ENY limiter was a catastrophic goof, but it's also possible that it was in response to more invisible trends such as the rate of retention for new players or the length of time that new subcribers stay in the game.  Those sorts of trends would ultimately make or break AH in the long run rather than some folks huffing off who will probably return anyway.

Again, I don't know if that's the case, but I suspect that more than just whining by the "minority" led to the plane limiter.

-- Todd/Leviathn

[SlapShot]

Originally posted by Zazen13
I didn't take screen shots, I just wrote them down. If you don't believe me, track them yourself...

Zazen

I didn't ask for screen shots ... I asked to see your numbers.

Again ... if ya got'em ... show'em ... for all to see.

Originally posted by Zazen13
Todd, you're missing the point, whether it's making the sides more even or not isn't the point. It's losing HTC customers and money. That is a business failure. There's many ways to enhance balance that don't lose you a hefty chunk of your customers, the ENY system is clearly NOT it.

Originally posted by detch01
... Right now the population base in the game is dropping but I doubt that will be a permanent thing.

Is there some sort of data that the two of you have access to that the rest of the world doesn't, or are you basing these assumption on the amount of "I quit" post that we have seen recently.

If it is on the latter ... nice try ... if not, then tell us where you are getting the numbers to back up your claims of "business failure" and "population dropping".

[SunKing]

here comes your curve ball.

Some of us actually enjoy the game these days. I'm having a blast. I find the new FM challenging ( especially the 190 gunnery) ,the new terrrian refreshing and these whines comical. Since I fly mostly early war I am unaffected by the Eny rules. But I don't see how some players have to only fly the best late war plane or have a fit. There are a ton of planes that bring so much variety to the game. Change is good. Just grab another ride, how hard is that. No I don't want a rabbit.

[beet1e]

Originally posted by nopoop
Everyone has a "Game breaker". I've got mine. I left a game after 5 years because of it. For me it was Axis/Allied and an RPS.

But Poopie, there was a reason for that RPS. It gave the early war aficionados the chance to fight with their early war planes without getting jumped by planes like the P51/Spit9 etc. (Thank Cod there was no LA7) The RPS was three weeks long, and I personally favoured the middle week. Remember how it was on that last day? A full 60% of the planes in the MA would be Me262. Were it not for the AH perk system, it would be the same here. As it is, planes like the 109E and Spit1a are all but useless in an arena dominated by ponies and lalas.

As for Axis/Allied, it was a good idea but was flawed because not all planes that existed in WW2 were modelled. There was no Heinkel 111 for example. The RPS supposedly did its best but it was impossible to provide balance throughout the tour. As I recall, there were about 3 days when the Spit9 came out to counter the 190A4, and at all other times one side had an advantage over the other. So guess what happened? People switched sides to get the best plane available.

But I agree with you. That particular RPS (peril's RPS) was bad news, and played no small part in why I left shortly before you did.

[DuBe]

I gotta agree with Zazen, DREDIOCK, and some of the others. For me personally, and from a pure "desire to play an online flightsim" perspective the initial concept of "fly whatever you want, whenever you want" is a major hook. What I found to be the major appeal of this game (and, at least one of it's predecessors) was the fact that there were very few rules, and that the gameplay situation used to evolve almost organically. Sometimes the chips were down, but hey, sometimes they were up. They challenge of gameplay was constantly evolving. What didn't change was the ability to do whatever the heck you wanted in whatever ride to wanted in response to the situation.

This is the 1st time I've chimed in on this topic, and probably will be the last. Usually when I'm dissatisfied with a product, I simply cease buying it. However, I also derive tremendous satisfaction from things that are peripheral to the on-line flying here. Things like working with the squad I'm involved with. So here I remain. If not for the squad, and the friendships that have come with that, I might be more inclined to cancel. Judging from Zazen's numbers it seems many others are struggling with the same descision. (I've seen in a general way the decrease in participation he alludes to) The danger here for HTC is a lot more cut and dry than many have eluded to here. For alot of pilots in AH, it's likely to be a very simple consumer descision: "If I like the product, I'll buy it. If I don't, I won't anymore." Forget about the whining, It can be very misleading as to the success or failure of any of Dale's decisions. Arena participation and cancelled subscriptions are the litmus test.

Good luck to all.

!
DuBe