Enough Is Enough

[dedalos]

Soda, you got my vote

[dedalos]

Originally posted by ALF
Just when did the La7 become manueverable?  

I guess anything that can outturn brick is considered manuverable now days

[gnubee]

Compared to the flight model in Warbirds 2.77 real-mode most of these birds feel manuverable...but that's just if you ask me.

I agree with the people that say if the La-7 gets "over-perked" the balance of power will shift and we will start seeing "Perk the XXXX" threads too.  But I'll also say that the lala is modeled to be quite the machine in this game... I won't go so far as to say it's UBER, but it's pretty wicked.  So a reasonable perk cost seems like a smart way to at least stem its usage.  

I think part of the reason the Lala hasn't been perked yet is the limited choice we have in flying VVS fighters.  Last I checked, we have 2 La's, and 2 Yaks.  My guess is that if we get 1 or 2 other VVS Fighter options made avaliable to us the LaLa would quickly be perked.  

So the real question here is, why don't we have the Mig-3 yet?

[Big G]

I think the spit 14 should be unperked asap, guys like lynx, darkish, sundownr, kev367th, pellick etc would eat the la's alive in this plane, then the guys who know enough to be dangerous (like me, although I avoid the La 7 as it doesn't teach you anything except how to get out of dodge) would have to learn, would have to think about what they are flying and how best to survive etc, thus making them better pilots.

DEATH TO ALL LA 7's !!

[AmRaaM]

when will the perking end? perk one plane to limit it the the next fastest plane will be the new free  "lala" ect....

only way to correct this would be to use a rolling planeset.

[Urchin]

Well, it depends.  There will always be a next "best" plane, and there will always be a next "fastest" plane, but the two don't have to be the same.  With the La-7 unperked, they are.  

As far as the P-51 mauling the La-7 in a "turn-fight" (which I'll assume is any fight other than straight bore N zoom)... it depends.  The La-7 has the acceleration to go vertical after taking the fight slow enough that the P-51 has to drop flaps to be as manueverable as the La-7... and when the La-7 does that the P-51 is toast.  

If you take two pilots that are both skilled, the La-7 should win about 75% of them.  If the P-51 pilot is better, he will probably find a way to kill an agressive but unskilled opponent.  The La-7 can always leave though, the same can't be said of the P-51.

[AmRaaM]

la7 has 2 outstanding characteristics, speed and climb at lower alt coupled with descent turning during both.
For a newb its definitely the bird of choice.

Next plane to be perked if la7 is will probably be the 51 or 190

[1K3]

another rehash...

Next on the guillotine after La-7...

motive, to move the time frame back to late-43 early-44 gamepley.

P-51D
Fw-190D
Bf-109G-10
1944 Typhoon
P-47D-40
P-38L
Ki-84
N1K2-J (assuming it is remodeled with automatic extending flaps)
F4U-1D
Yak-9U

[Loddar]

HT should give us more LA variants
like the
LaGG 3
La 5
La 5F

We have the La5FN wich differs little
from the La7 in speed, then perk La7 !

[Magoo]

Perking the entire late war fighters section at low, manageable prices of (3~4 points), is what is needed.

Kweesa, is the P51D considered a late war ride? If so, it ain't gonna happen. But I like the idea none the less. HT on the other hand is trying to run a business and can't perk the plane that brings in the guys who watch the commercial on the history channel that was running right smack in the middle of a documentary on the P51D (arguably the most recognizable and popular plane in the world).

Maybe, and I said maybe, the noobs could get a perk allowance. But we don't know what other problems might arise. As HT pointed out, we can't have the MA changed willy-nilly because very often fixing one problem causes another. Very often the new problem was not predicted...kind of a chaos theory thing:D

Solutions:

Get in an La7 and run the bastards down.

La7s have short flight times. Find a fight that requires them to burn most of their precious gas to get there. If you think about it, base defense, low alt fights, and short hops is what the La7 was designed for...

Whenever you enter a fight purposely pick on the La7s, gang them if you have to. FLy the D9s and Typhoons as necessary. Make choosing an La7 a painful choice.

Bribe HT to install airplane factories, specifically including an La7 factory, and bomb the bejeezuz out of it (for my part this is the one thing that would get me into a bomber)

Bribe everyone you know to fly an La7 to hit the magic C-hog trigger point and force a perk penalty.

Start a nasty rumor that the only squad that flew them on the eastern front was  comprised entirely of Homosexuals that wet their pants at the first sign of a Hun, turned tail and ran back to base for a group hug.

Quit...if HT loses enough business over this he'll remove the plane entirely! On the other hand you are probably addicted as I am and would just take up something infinitely more expensive - like golf.

Startup a copycat operation to compete with AcesHigh, but don't include the La7 in the plane set.

Hack the AH servers and make all La7 skins bright pink. On all the runways spray paint "La7s are GAY and only a skilless, faceshooting weiner would fly one" in big bold letters that can be read from 30K.

Did I forget anything?

Magoo

[Magoo]

Soda, that idea has merit but what of the code to implement it? especially if it doesn't quite work out (see my comment on chaos theory)

Your comment on the MA arms race is right on!

It would certainly slow the AH arms-race we have now. As it stands if HTC doesn't add uber-aircraft then they typically become hanger-queens. Even if they add something "Better" doesn't it just attract all the attention and push everything else down a bit, not actually spread anything out that much.

Magoo

[Urchin]

Well, the other thing that HT has to look at is his bottom line.  Generally, people don't play these games for a long time.  Most people (so I've heard) put in a year and a half, maybe two years tops before they burn out and move on.  I went about double that, but I suffered several pretty bad cases of burnout that got worse (and closer together) as time went on.  

There is a very vocal minority that would like to see the MA become less of a '45 arena.  It is also a very small minority.  The vast majority of people are happy with the MA the way it is.  Remember, HTs goal isn't to keep people here for eternity, it is to bring in more new people faster than the old people quit (or at least as fast anyway).  

Would "newbies" be satisfied with a '43ish arena with the '44-'45 rides perked?  Probably, unless they just had to have the P-51D.  You really can't throw out the argument that "OMG, I love the LA-7 / Niki SOOOOO much that I found this game and just had to play it because of it" because if you are honest... nobody ever heard of those planes anyway, until they started playing this game and asked what the "best" planes were.  It does work for the 109/190, P-51 (and the other P-XX's for those with a little more knowledge), A6M, and the Spitfire, and thats just about it.  

But the question that you have to ask is... are newbies happy enough with the setup now that they'll give HTC money for 1.5-2 years?  And the answer is yes.  So if it ain't broke, why fix it?

[Soda]

Magoo,
  There would be nothing to it, HT has already shown all the pieces in one form or another.  You use a 30 day rolling window to level of spikes in use.  Then you add a 30 second delay to a sortie being counter to stop vulch deaths from being a penalty and to stop people from trying to monkey with the sortie rates to over-price something.  You then just set a target use percentage and let the community dictate what actual use is.  Set it slightly under what you think you want, I'd say in the 3% type range, so that the current top 10 would still all be over that but on typically not too far over lest their prices be driven up quickly.

The real thing is, does HTC even think there is a problem and or feel any change would better their business?  I doubt it, it's mostly old-hands bringing up these topics from time to time.  I disagree though.  I think it might hold some of their longer term customers.  I also think it would make it easier for newer players who struggle with the lethality of the current "average" aircraft.  Things simply happen too quickly with too much speed, firepower, etc for new players.  Controlling the high end aircraft slows things down a bit and makes it less lethal.  It also probably saves them 100 threads a month talking about "perk X ride because it's too good".

It might be something to try at some point though.  I remember the early CT days, hblair set up a perk ladder setup that I remember a lot of good comments about.

-Soda

[Hoarach]

The la7 needs to be perked.  It can outrun most unperked aircraft let alone some perked aircraft.  It can turn with many planes especially in the hands of a veteran pilot and has the guns that can rip planes apart.  However I do not fear la7s because they can be outturned by my 38 however when there are at least 2 la7s I begin to worry because it takes more to be able to kill them and with their speed it is near impossible to get away.  

I would be more afriad though of the la5 because it has relatively good speed but it turns much better than the la7.  

If the la7 gets perked, I can guarantee pilots will complain on the boards how they cant fly any other planes and will complain to get the only plane they can fly to be unperked.

When seeing d9s, 51Ds, and other fast planes.  I have seen those planes actually willing to fight and once they make a turn on me they are pretty much dead when it comes to my 38 unless they are in a plane that moves fairly well like the G2.  But when I encounter la7s all they end up doing is running like hell after I get on their 6 and dont even bother to fight until I end up fighting someone else and cherry picking me.  With its turning capability the la7 should be able to be a good match for turning planes suchas the spit 9 or someone who knows how to turn well in other planes such as me in my 38.  However I find very few la7 pilots that are willing to fight in the turn rather than just run like hell.  One pilot that I do respect the most in the la7 is Sundownr because he doesnt run like hell when its 1v1 and is willing to fight in the turn.

What Kweassa said above about seeing less 38Ls flying and more 38Js and Gs.  There are already more Js flying than any other 38.  G is flown the least becuase I think most just hate that armour glass and say how they cant see out of it.  Most feel that the J out performs the other 38s but I believe wrong because the G can outturn the other 38s and the L and J are comparative except at high speeds.

[killnu]

Canaris, most fly J or L because they need the crutch of wep