What I miss

[Schatzi]

I dont think it has anything to to with what people fly. I dont even think it has much to do with how old people are or how long theyve played this game. It has everything to do with attitude.

People want to *beat* each other, want to be 'better', the greatest... i 'pwnd' this or that guys in the DA, aint i the BEST???? For most, its not about the fight anymore, only about the kill, hence the get-the-kill-no-matter-how.



Im by no means one of the 'old guys', heck, im still a newbie at this game. But i found that those 'good days' you always talk about are still there. You just have to go look for them. Ive had many chats on PM with the 'enemy' (YESSSSS im a SPY!!!), setting up fights, sending back and forth, helping each other out or just saying 'hello, howdy'. And ive had many good fights (win or, mostly, loose).

Side note: I immensly enjoy channel 200. Its hilarious. Best soap opera ever! Just dont take anything said there serious.

And yes, ive been HOd, and yes ive been cherrypicked, and yes, ive been gangbanged by 5 LA7 (HO of course). But hey, if it gets too bad, i do something else for a while, grab a GV, supply runs, buffs.... or i just go DA or TA to fool around.


Dave: Dont stop training people. If you only helped one guy that doesnt turn into an A*****, it was already worth it.



Edit: I forgot something very important: .....



*Mine's* BIGGER!!    

[Furball]

Stats, ranks and perks.

[Westy]

Perks had nothing to do with it.  AH now has exactly the same "gameplay" as AW did during it's last three years.  AH's "ma" is a twin to AW's "BigPORK" all over again and with an unrestrained, jeuvinile  "RR" atmosphere.
 I suggest YOU (any person who thinks "perks" were the cause) truly "think" about why AH gameplay is the way it is today.



"What the hell happened?"


  Several things IMO.  Mainly the influx of AW players, the change in price to $15/mo, the lack of online "gameops"  and the age old "melee" arena design being the only item on the menu while new competition from more online multiplayer games came about.

[Tilt]

Originally posted by lasersailor184
I think it has something to do with the average age of the Online Gamer.

Agreed

[Bronk]

Originally posted by Schatzi


Dave: Dont stop training people. If you only helped one guy that doesnt turn into an A*****, it was already worth it.

Let me second that thought .


Bronk

[Hajo]

Westy!  How are you?  Neglected to put your name on the "list" of gentlemen I've winged with in Betas'  Sorry...getting old LOL.  Toad too!


Note:  The people I listed I consider gentlemen.  Maybe some in the game should find the word gentleman in their Websters if they have one.

Well ....Cit would go nuts once in awhile......but he matured greatly as his stay in the game lengthed.  Miss his high 38 above me.......knew I would be toast in a few minutes.  But the fight was the key.  How many white knuckle one on ones have you been in lately?

Anyone heard from Moss?

[Pooface]

Originally posted by Nomak
Oh yeah..... for the record.  It has nothing to do with what people fly.....Its how they fly it.

Dave

smack, there it is.

hes right, we all argue over hos and stuff, and then the little 10 yr old seem to think that talking smack'll get you noticed. i think nomak has the right idea, we have to lead by example. who's up for a good old fashioned pact???

we all have to agree that this week will be 'no smack week':lol

[EagleEyes]

Originally posted by Nomak
For a long time I thought it was essentially the same game as when I started.  I started in late summer of 2001.

Just now I went back to some old BB posts.  Real old.... like 99-2001.  Yeah its different.  Alot different.  Alot of those old posts were derived from a true passion for the game.  Not derived from a need to elevate ones self or knock another down.

I have seen HT say in the past that most players only play for a set amount of time.  In other words.... Most players follow a set pattern.... i.e. Birth, Life, Then death.  Its a cycle.  Old players leave and new players join.  

Has the player base simply gatherd a bunch of "Bad apples"?  Is it our (the veterans) fault for not teaching the new players how to become at least some what respectfull while dealing with other players?  Does that responsibility even fall on us?  Heck I dunno.  Geeze..... are the "New" players even the problem here?  

I wonder if flight sims have a shelf life just like players do?  

Here is a something that happend to me the other night.....  

As many of you know I have taken time to do some training in the Dueling arena from time to time.  It goes in spurts.  I will train like crazy for a month or so then chill for a few months..... then start training again.  I was doing alot of training early this year.  I wana say around Febuary or so.  At that time before each training session I would tell the perspective trainees that I didnt want to train jerks and that if/when they became badass pile-its I expected them to not become chitt talkers or turn into A-holes.  

I told you that so I could tell you this.....

In the MA a few nights ago.  I see some Jerk-off spewing on ch200 about his greatness.  How "he can take anyone to the DA"  and how "he is just that good"  I dont recognize the cpid.  Being a bit annoyed I throw out a comment or two on 200 basicly saying "yeah right, u are the greatest <--eye roll>"  A minute or two passes and I get a PM.  "hey are you the same Nomak that use to train me?"  (cause we all know there is a six-pack of Nomak's running riot around AH   )  I say Yes.  He then procedes,  "I used to be so and so"......he then tells me how great he is and how he could "beat me" in the DA.  This is one of the guys I had a talk with about not getting a 'tude before his training ever began back in feb.  At the time I of course got the "oh yeah man.....Im not like that....." crap.

Unreal.  Mabye this punk could wipe the floor with me in the DA and mabye not.  The point is though...... I took my time to train this guy..... teach him the things that were never taught to me and then 6 months later hes telling me how he can "Kick my arse"  How disrespectfull can someone be?  Makes me sick really.  Makes me not want to help people.  Hes not the only one either.  There have been others who devolop egos that are astounding.  Anymore I dont even bother telling my trainees not to be A-Holes as I know most of them will be and my asking them not to be wont change anything.

None the less now a days I am trying to be a "Glass half full" kinda guy.  I am refusing to talk smak on 200.  Its time to lead by example.  If we can get a good base of players who fly and die with respect then who knows one day soon we just might be the majority.

Those are my thoughts not yours..... lol

Dave

Nomake, if i were you, id take him into the DA and smack him around!  I had only been in the MA around 4 months before i left, and when i did leave, i had gotten a lot of compliments about how respectful i was to people in all 3 countries!  Not trying to sound like a arse, just saying that if you repsect people, you will get respect back.  You dont gain respect by shooting down 10 planes and landing it, NO, on the contrary!  You gain respect by someone for an excellent fight, and not talk trash to them about how they cheated and such.  My weapon to fighting bashers on channel 200, is, i dont even bother going on channel 200.  Why waste my time listening to people say how good they are, when id rather SHOW them, how really good they arent by taking bases or something!

Was never trained by you Nomake, but i have a lot of respect for you sir! <>




Egle31

[wrag]

I haven't been with AH all that long really.  What maybe 3 years now?  Flew in WB before that.  And MSCFS arenas before that (the cheats and such in that place were BAD).  Looked at Fighter Ace but declined it.  Never upped in AW.

Smack talking IMHO is a big part of the problem.  Many of the OLDER players do it from time to time.  Most of us don't have a problem with em cause we KNOW em.  And sometimes it's funny, perhaps silly, and fun.  Thing is some of the younger set in the MA see it and then take it too far.  A one up thing?

Not saying everyone should be nicey nice mind you.  But i've seen stuff come out on 200 that IMHO INVITES the "attitude".

Lately when they start I've thanked them for noticing me.  Not anywhere sure such is the right thing to do, but so far it has shut em up.  Pretty sure at some point someone will leap all over the thank you though.

Possible fix?  When you see that attitude displayed and know where that person is, UP MANY MANY AND HUNT THEM DOWN.

If that person is flying within your country you might wanna relate that on PM to someone you know as to that location and when that person gets jumped and starts screamin for help a possible reply is "HUH? why DUDE you're all THAT! RIGHT? so handle it  I'll just watch and learn from what I see

Possible fix but ????????   Sort of a self policeing thing?  

hmmmm.............Might be a totaly bad idea.  Not sure there is a GOOD answer.

But it could create so really intense furballs?

[Max]

Originally posted by Hajo
 Fllying against the Damned in Beta and having a blast.

What the hell happened?

Nowadays it's increasingly difficult to fly with The Damned.

DmdMax

[ahgod69]

I think I might chime in on this one.  Being one of the older members having returned to the game (2+ years absent).  First thing I did when I logged in was see the peeps I knew from way back when.  I started AH on tour 5, and flew consistenly for 2 years.  Back when AH was in its infancy if the MA had 80 peeps on that was a huge night.  The figths win or lose usually followed with nice fight or GK.  Trash talking around?  Sure there was, but I also think the average age of an AH'er back then was a lot higher.  

I came back Saturday night, and had to get re-adjusted to the game physics.  Last night, one lone fellow decided he didn't like me and started to spout off (apparently killing him 18 times to 1 death wasn't fun).  But it was the simple juvenile claims by him that have changed the aspect of good sportsmanship.  

I enjoyed flying with the guys I knew and flew with before I left and has brought me back to a game that I loved and enjoyed.  I am pleased with the graphics upgrade Hitech has done, oh and added rockets to my beloved 190 F8.  You take what is given to you and try and make the best of it.  Bad apples or not, you will always have one that sits behind the computer and spouts off because he/she feels empowered by something they can't have in real life.  

My 2 pesos worth.

[Westy]

Hajo   No problem. Never thought of myself as much of an online gentleman - boardswise anyway

To be serious that was an honorable title shared by the likes of you, MarkAT, good ole Mossback, Indian,  Lephturn, most of the 13TAS/357th (even though I HATED seeing them above me when online and discussing things with them in the OT pHoRuM) and so many more.

Back to your original post? Even if the MA had not changed so dramatically I personally grew bored (to tears!) with the fantasy MA environment. I'd started off in the early 90's with the "Aces of..." series pc games and then joined up with AW during the "Bigweek" tests and stayed on thru the dawn of the AW autoscenarios (ancestor to the AH "TOD").  When bigweek petered out and the autoscenarios tanked from lack of development and resources the  AW "ma" style of gameplay (and later AH's) could only satisfy myself for a few years. Now my interest is rekindled all a new with HTC's "TOD."  

Also, to be fair to all there was smack talk in AH from the beginning. However, IMO, as the AH population grew and new influences on the MA atmopshere were introduced (see below*) the arena atmosphere and gameplay dropped out like it had fallen off a cliff.

Anyway.... there's no going back.  hope to see you in TOD!!



(*O'where, o'where did all those ex-RR arena denizens, with thier pork'n auger "prowess" and now unrestrained verbal diahrea, go play? I wonder. Was it WB's? No. Jay Littman saw to that . Was it FA? Nope. WWIIO? A few did but that game was (and is again) in such a sorry state in 2001 and it's performance so horrendous that AW's with thier PII's couldn' swing it. Could it have been .......)

[Aubrey]

Originally posted by wrag


Possible fix?  When you see that attitude displayed and know where that person is, UP MANY MANY AND HUNT THEM DOWN.

If that person is flying within your country you might wanna relate that on PM to someone you know as to that location and when that person gets jumped and starts screamin for help a possible reply is "HUH? why DUDE you're all THAT! RIGHT? so handle it  I'll just watch and learn from what I see

Possible fix but ????????   Sort of a self policeing thing?  

hmmmm.............Might be a totaly bad idea.  Not sure there is a GOOD answer.

But it could create so really intense furballs?

We did something like this in my last game, for folks that got out of hand. It fixes things pretty fast.

[Darkish]

What I miss:

The overpowering sense of wonder that I'm as close to flying a WWII bird as I'll get in a hostile world populated by likeminded people who want to kill me.

AH was my first true multiplayer experience and I still get tingles when I think about it; this new world I discovered. After 5 years it became hard not to take it for granted and to be honest the onset of burn-out was rapidly approaching.

I just want to thank those who replied to my post, I took your advice and spent some time away from the game.  After 2 months or so absent the game feels fresh again.

As regards the current state of play in the MA, I've got a feeling it's to do with the numbers. Basically there's a lot of cons about; kinda like the difference between wwi and wwii. In one you shoot a guy down, get him picked up and chat over tea and crumpets: the other, well, kill him till he's dead then kill him again.  Smack talk's always been here as far as I can recall but I've got a feeling that some of the guys today actually mean what they type, which is saddening. Pizza guy should be a sticky I reckon.

[ArtLaw]

I want  AH1 back.  To us nonskilled players who like to just play regardless of the realism.  AH1 was MUCH more fun and thats why I played now it is a chore and I really ONLY come out for the PEOPLE but the game has suffered so much because of all the changes that made it harder to get kills.  Here are a couple things that come to mind.

1) The tracers used to be VERY Visable now they disappear instantly.

2) The HIT SPRITS were ez to see and you used to be able to see them on the dash of the plane.  I used to be able to make deflection shots but not anymore.  I have only 1 eye and my 3D perception is zero.

3) The enemy plane icon was ON TOP of the plane.  And 1 eyeed people like me could use it to help with deflection shots. But not any more.

4) Icons low in GV and enemys plane were almost alwas visable.  Now if I take my eye off that dot down there for even a second to check 6 or whatever, I seem to lose all my E looking for that little dot and trying to reaccuire the target.

5) Kills equals fun.  AH1 was fun.