Author Topic: A suggesttion in regards to learning and the 2 week trial.. (Read 643 times)

Snoopi · « **on:** June 09, 2001, 09:46:00 AM »

Hello all !

Except maybe the last 5 months..
I've been flying AH since it was beta and I've always tried to help the newbies.

I unfortunately haven't been able to afford the $45 to fly in the MA for over 2 years, but I still fly H2H.

May guys i've met in H2H games had their 2 week trial run out before they knew what was going on.
Between the jargon and the actual game.. it takes them that long just to get comfortable.

I think if more of these people had 2 weeks of "flying" after they understood what was going on, everyone would benefit.

I gets to be a drag to continually get blown out of the sky while you struggle to figure out what's going on.

A better (less technical) manual would be great to help them.
(I usually point them to Lephturn's site)

IMO:
If they STARTED their 2 week trial AFTER they flew H2H for a while they would enjoy it more
and therefore be more likely to stay and pay.
I assume the code could be changed so that you register and fly H2H and then enter the MA for the 1st time which starts the free trial ?
I can't even count how may people missed their 2 week trial since they were practising in H2H before they entered the MA and didn't realize the "lock was ticking"
S!
Snoopi

BTW: A buddy of mine.."Panthr" is learning the game. I spent some time with him in H2H explaining the views/F10, convergence, radio etc. If you see him online give him a hand..he's a great guy and it seems he may get hooked on the game and stay.

Augie · « **Reply #1 on:** June 09, 2001, 01:14:00 PM »

Agreed Snoopi!

It is a fairly intimidating event the first time you takeoff in AH!

Combine a realistic Flight Model that includes torque, etc., a skimpy "manual" (the term MANUAL is a stretch IMO), the jargon and so on, mix in the fact that as a Newbie to AH you are going to DIE OVER AND OVER, probably without gettin a kill for an extended period of time and you have an experience that can turn folks off to AH!!

THere should be a smoother pathway for the greenest of Newbies. They MUST be encouraged to fly H2H more, to play OFFLINE to learn the Basics. I can still remember the first night I took off in AW 14 years ago... I was hooked, but spent a looong time learning!!

Is there a way that HTC can 1) set forth a path for Newbies to follow to get up to speed in the game; and 2) Recode the system to let people play H2H BEFORE the 2 week clock strats counting down. Now, being a bit of a dweeb myself, maybe the 2 week clock doesn't start right away...

More people are a PLUS for the game! New people, new ideas and so on!

Damned Augie

[ 06-09-2001: Message edited by: Augie ]

johnross11 · « **Reply #2 on:** June 09, 2001, 07:39:00 PM »

I think they should give people H2H free like they do offline. It's only two people in a fight, no big thing (Although I am just guessing, never joined yet cause i want some expeirence before i start paying).

grizz · « **Reply #3 on:** June 10, 2001, 12:07:00 AM »

Quote

Originally posted by the_bomb9234:
I think they should give people H2H free like they do offline. It's only two people in a fight, no big thing (Although I am just guessing, never joined yet cause i want some expeirence before i start paying).

H2H
isfree bomb.

Always.

Betown · « **Reply #4 on:** June 10, 2001, 04:24:00 AM »

Yes I think implementing a trigger for the first time they enter the arena is a good idea also.

Mark Luper · « **Reply #5 on:** June 10, 2001, 06:16:00 AM »

Quote

I think they should give people H2H free like they do offline. It's only two people in a fight, no big thing (Although I am just guessing, never joined yet cause i want some expeirence before i start paying).

One other thing, you can have up to 8 players in a H2H session so it becomes a much more intersting proposition than if you only had 2 in there.

[ 06-10-2001: Message edited by: Mark Luper ]

Augie · « **Reply #6 on:** June 11, 2001, 11:33:00 AM »

There seems to be some confusion regarding the Free H2H and the 2 week Free Trial Period... I was confused when I started as well.

The confusion seems to be when that when you get an account- and then log on to go to the H2H Arenas, is that when the clock starts running on the 2 weeks??

Damned Augie

Mark Luper · « **Reply #7 on:** June 11, 2001, 03:45:00 PM »

Good point there Augie,

You only have to register with HTC to fly H2H. Until you log in to one of the online arenas, be it the main arena, training arena or special events arena FOR THE FIRST TIME, you can fly H2H till the cows come home then try it out for two weeks online for free.

It is important to note, AS SOON AS YOU LOGIN ONLINE IN ANY OF THE ARENAS YOUR TWO WEEKS TIME STARTS COUNTING DOWN THEN.

I just called Yankee to verify that btw

.

Seeker · « **Reply #8 on:** June 12, 2001, 06:40:00 AM »

I'm flying a lot of H2H at the moment, and the most common question I see (to which I have no answer...) is how do people get rid of those "NewUxxx" handles?

Alpo · « **Reply #9 on:** June 12, 2001, 08:24:00 AM »

That would be the "Change User ID and Chat" arena (or something like that)

It's one of the worlds you can select in H2H mode.

I would like to add my $0.02 as a newbie. The two week trial is great, BUT (this is the voice of experience talking) if the clock starts ticking the minute you go into an arena it's over WAY before you are truly understanding what is going on

I for one, signed up and thought, "Hey, I'll jump right into the MA!" (A common mistake I'm sure) After some thorough butt whooping I decided that I better start out smaller in the H2H arenas. I learned enough in those arenas with the help of squadies, pouring over the writings from Lephturn and countless others that I felt comfortable enough to venture into the MA again. Oops... has it been two weeks already??

But I hardly used the MA!!

Oh well, lesson learned, signed up, loving it!

sax · « **Reply #10 on:** June 13, 2001, 02:34:00 PM »

As a one year player<just this month> I have only two suggestions.

Find a ride you like, and stick with it untill you can fly it without thinking.

Find a squad, the bigger the better.
Your squad mates can probably keep you alive a lot longer. This makes the learning curve a lot less frustrating.

Unfortunately you can't learn unless you die, and there is no mercy out there.

Sax

ispar · « **Reply #11 on:** June 13, 2001, 10:11:00 PM »

Me too, sax... and I have to agree.

My impression right now is that getting into the game is even harder than it was a year ago. There are more experienced pilots ready to kill you at any time, the interface has gotten deeper and more confusing, and the variety of planes is huge. I don't think the FM is really any easier to get into; I had a terrible time when 1.04 came out.

I would recommend strongly only venturing into the H2H arenas for awhile. Don't make my mistake and join the MA on your third day. Especially don't make the mistake of boosting your ego by shooting a bomber down on your first sortie (true!!! A B-26 :-D). It'll only get crushed later. In hindsight, I didn't do too badly. I got ~30 kills to ~90 deaths. I still should have waited to be more comfortable in the game, though.

And Snoopi, what times are you on? I haven't seen you online in months! S!

-ispar