No..not rooks vs bish vs knights...the other war. The guys who want to furball vs the guys who want to attack bases. There has been endless argument over who is right. Who should do what if they are cool, should they bomb and capture, or should each team have just 3 bases, uncapturable, and just furball all the time.
Ive found that fellow countrymen, not the enemy, complain more about their own bomber guys ruining their fun, more than the enemy doing it. There is a serious rift in the teams right now. There are too many fragments involved to make happy, cohesive teams.
The way I see it, there are 4 groups.
1. Fighter guys. These guys usually if not always, go to a base wihout bombs looking to shoot down other fighters. They arent concerned with "the war", and their fun is based on dogfighting, regardlesss where they are on the map, its cool with them as long as they can up.
2. Bomber guys. These guys like to bomb anything. Some guys bomb the big factory areas for points, others bomb bases, FHs, towns whatever. Ifs its a bldg that can blow up, they are on it. Some want to help capture bases, while some just want to go hit something...anything. Will usually goon bases if needed.
3. Mixed guys. These guys fly a little bomber, a little fighter, rarely but sometimes use GVs, and more often than not try to capture fields, either in a bombing role, or fighter support, and goon bases for capture. These guys usually find eachother in the game and make small units to capture a base.
4. GVs etc . These guys primarily use GVs, or guns and are content with just tanking or protecting fleets. Often they are part of one of the groups above, but quite happy doing tank on tank stuff.
Why dont we see how this would work. Make each team a specific flying style. Knights can get all the fighter types, Rooks all the bomber types, and Bish could be the mixed type. GVs could go wherever among the 3.
Let it play out awhile. See what team can do more, and if they are happier that way, or if they are better off the way it is now and appreciate each guys role that makes up their team.
In my opinion, segregation wouldnt work well. Organization is the answer. Instead of 100 different bomber squads, running all over the place, make them part of an AF Group. Could be 5 squads in a group. Get the COs together to structure it. Chose leaders. Fighter squads could chose plane types they want to use as their rides. They could start a campaign with an early war and "upgrade" 1/2 way thru to add some fun to it. Flying missions together, instead of all these single LA7s you see.
Bomber groups would be just that...big groups. Not single formation bombers at various alts every 2 minutes. Those are no fun to even try to defend against. I know I know...TOD is coming. So is Christmas. Lets do something until then, to make the game less a game and more of a sim.
I suggest each side nominates potential leaders, for different times of the day.
8am-noon
noon-4pm
4pm-8pm
8pm-midnight
midnight-4am
4am-8am
These guys could direct the battle, selecting targets. All squads would follow his direction. Missions could be created and large missions would be the norm.
I know Im fantasizing here, but it would be alot more fun. The trouble is, no one has the patience to do it that way. Few would wait the 15 minutes for a mission to role.
Missions dont have to be about capturing bases either. They can be fighter sweeps, or escort, or bombing a town or strat. Anything to get fights up high, and somewhat realistic is size and intensity. I think what each player needs to do is ask himself what he likes best from the game. Would waiting for a mission to form, going out and getting a few kills, or maybe no kills, and RTB to complete the mission be ok with you. Or would you prefer a quick flight on the deck to the nearest base, furball as long as you can and try to rtb every mission.
The former is more realistic, and maybe not as much fun filled all the time, the latter is less realistic, but has more action, faster.
Now the question...if you preferred the latter, what do you plan to do when TOD does become a reality?
