Originally posted by rpm371
Dok, I don't see anything about preventing a side imbalance. That was the whole point of HT implementing the ENY adjustment. How would you prevent 1 side from continually running roughshod thru the arena simply by using overwhelming numbers? You know, the problem AH suffered for more than 6 months on a daily basis (not just Sunday nights as Rooks like to claim).
Well, here's where I may have a fundamental difference of opinion with HT. I don't presume to speak for him, but I'm guessing from what I've read that he put in ENY because the arena wasn't auto-leveling as it usually has. That was his approach.
I think ENY can provide some barrier to The Horde but, as we've seen, it sure ain't foolproof (uh ... read that any way you like ... hehe). By leaving ENY in for captured fields only, that makes it harder for The Horde to steam roll as once they start taking ground they start being reduced to high-ENY ships - if they only took ground by shear weight of overall numbers. If you're retaking ground, you do so with the best planes - meaning you can kick the Horde out of your backyard easier when your reinforcements arrive. I think this is closer to what HT really wanted ... but, again, I'm guessing.
As for the rest, I'm more or less convinced that a lot of the bad behavior in the MA - including the reliance on numbers - is due to boredom and apathy. There's no need to learn special skills - like torpedo boming. The environment never really changes, so you get stuck in ruts of what you do each night. The fights usually end up right over a field so then it degrades into one side half in GV's and the other side hovering above them. Base capture is a pretty linear affair - and you can get away with really crappy execution and still pull it off. And recognition is all for the individual - there's nothing really driving people to demonstrate prowess as a team - and that too gets dull. Yadda, yadda, yadda ...
Now hold on to your seats for this next bit.
I have always maintained that online gamers - especially sim-gamers who must work within real phsyical constraints - are the most cunning bastards on the planet. If you leave these people with a small set of things to do, they'll spend their time optimizing to get this done as efficiently as possible - even if the end result is complete dweebery.
If you challenge them, though, they'll spend more time learning how to do new things, rather than how to do the same old things with the least amount of effort. From what I've seen running scenarios, I know that 90% of the player base is fully capable of either leading flights, getting 3:1 kill ratios, doing precision bombing, or all of the above. I can't tell you how many times in events I've had CO's tell me what I expect them to do to win is "impossible" ... and a week later they do it.
We've each seen that whatever country we fly for is fully capable of coordinated, skillfully executed operations - be they base defense, base capture, whatever. And when you're doing those things the game is awesome - you post in the BBS the next morning about it, right? No horde was needed - or even thought about - you didn't need any more people.
So my theory is that if you provide more things to do and raise the complexity and/or difficulty of some of these tasks, reward achievement of these tasks for groups working together, then gameplay will revert to what we know it can be.
Shaking up the plane set once in a month is the same thing - when you don't have big level bombers and the uber-Jabo fighters - how do you get the job done? The tasks are the same, how you do them completely changes. Bombers need more escort, fighters are slower and turn better - a different kind of fighting. It provides variety - people will ***** and whine about any change, but watch how the play the game at the same time.
Hardening barracks reduces a common pork-based tactic - you want to hurt a base, do it as a group of 2 or 3. What's the difference? Well, 2 or 3 Tiffy's can do a hell of a lot more than just dive bomb. You don't have to run from the first fighter you see and head for the weeds. You don't have to make your 2.0 passes and then run away. This means CAP fighters can't go up alone either as 3 Tiffy's with any kind of skill will dice any solo plane.
Providing a lot of specialties to learn (torpedo bombing, nailing cities with an A-20, tank-busting, etc.) which MAKE A DIFFERENCE means newer players can master skills offline which make them valuable in the MA instead of cannon fodder. Right now you can solve a world of air-to-ground problems with a B17 at 500 feet. It lets new players feel like they're accomplishing something and part of something - and then they can move on to other things.
In other words, treat The Horde as an effect rather than a cause. Put in some safeguards to limit it's effectiveness, but my belief if that if you focus on improving the overall quality and diversity of the MA then the players will follow suit.
I know this isn't what a lot of you expect to hear from me.
-DoK
