Overall, peeking into what Pyro hinted us so far, it seems it would require certain discipline and devotion to team play, so I think indeed in some parts, the general quality of the pilots would be better than the MA.
Also, structured environment requires a certain 'role-playing' mentality. So it definately won't be as popular as the MA - at least, in terms of player numbers.
However, I don't think it would mean the player quality is different, or one arena would be more fun than the other. If ToD is everything we expect it to be, I think there will be a lot of people who fly in both arenas at a given time. Run 2~3 intense missions in the ToD, and then come to the MA for non-stop action fun.. and etc.
Like Fariz said,
If there's constantly 50~80 people online in the ToD, that's enough to offer a very convincing and fun fight. The rest of the gaps can be filled by AIs and some imagination
Imagine a 12~20 man USAAF squadron, flying with 20~30 bombers in escort duties, meeting 10~15 Luftwaffe fighters..
The fights won't be "to the death" as in the MA. A lot of people will fly to survive.. but they also have duties and missions to fulfill, so they can't just run away at first sight of bad odds. The leaders of each of the 4~5 man rottes or wings would be hard pressed to keep track of where their wingmen are, give orders... and all in all, large numbers of people will collide in a single area in a much more orderly fashion than the MA furball.
The fight won't be non-stop as in the MA, but even 20~30 minutes of such missions can provide deep immersion and great satisfaction. About 30~40 people with AI support can bring that about.
