I remember the day that HT implemented the single gunner firing all weapons that could be brought to bear on the target.
I was one of his alpha testers and had visited HTC just a few days earlier. I live in the area.
From what I remember, HT was trying to strike a balance between the uber "Oto" A.I. gunner in WB and no gunner at all. He came up with this plan to allow the pilot to fire all weapons that would come to bear on the opponent as replacement for the dreaded Oto.
I was online at the time and he asked me to call him via land line and he told me of his plan and wondered if I thought it would be a good compromise. I was then,and to a certain degree still am,primarily a buff jockey. I thought it was a grand idea so I can be held partly responsible for how it turned out.
What I don't remeber though is if "carry on" gunners were available at first.
That is part of the history of why we have the gunner situation on buffs we do now. As to how much of a programing "thingy" was involved I havn't a clue.
