Bullethead's post does bring back some thoughts for me. I didn't see the AW community as being full of griefers the way people use the term. There were strong rivalries and grudges, but also very strong commeraderie and a very strong community. I must admit, though, it was nice to be able to hunt people down repeatedly. You could generally tell which few airfields were likely places for people to take off from; and if you flew a lot, you would know people's preferred aircraft and flying styles (preferred alt, preferred style of engagement and moves, etc.). Thus, if someone got under your skin, or if they had been repeatedly kicking your butt and you wanted to go after them until you got some satisfaction, you had a decent chance of coming up, nosing around some, finding the likely person, and going for another fight.
I forgot how much I liked that aspect until Bullethead brought it up. In Aces High, things are so big, and there are so many aircraft around of the same type, that it doesn't seem as easy to do.
Also, as the community was smaller, people knew all knew each other, and everyone knew everyone else's reputation (such as who was good in which plane, personality types, etc.). That was fun.
