Chases High

[Sandman]

Originally posted by DoKGonZo
AH is a game, yes. But anyone who thinks it's "just a game" hasn't been paying attention. This community has been around since 1987. It has its lore, its patriarchs, its fallen, its lineage, its lingo, and its sense of value.

    -DoK

Maybe it's just nostalgia, but I think the community has seen better days.

[DoKGonZo]

Assists should be broadcast along with kills. Been saying that for a while. Promotes teamwork.

Shame messages won't do much but promote more running.

[Shane]

Originally posted by DoKGonZo
Assists should be broadcast along with kills. Been saying that for a while. Promotes teamwork.

oh i see.  you want to give the lesser hordemonkey gangbangers their day in the sun.

[DoKGonZo]

Originally posted by Shane
oh i see.  you want to give the lesser hordemonkey gangbangers their day in the sun.

Believe it or not, some players actually help each other set up kills. This usually results in a higher assist-to-kill ratio.

But I see your point - it could possibly promote more slobberdonkeys.

But if there was a more draconian threshhold for kills and assists, then maybe.

[Zazen13]

Originally posted by DoKGonZo
Assists should be broadcast along with kills. Been saying that for a while. Promotes teamwork.

Shame messages won't do much but promote more running.

I liked what AW had, I forget the actual name, it was the combat log or something, you could access it from the ready rooms. But it had every combat occurence in the arena for the past hour or two. It was exactly like what we have for historical scenarios AAR analysis.

So and So shot down player X assisted by player Y and Z etc.

Was very interesting to dissect an engagement sometimes and did not clog up the text buffer.

Zazen

[Sandman]

Originally posted by DoKGonZo
Assists should be broadcast along with kills. Been saying that for a while. Promotes teamwork.

Absolutely. In addition, I'd like to see shared points for designated wingmen.

[AKFokerFoder+]

Originally posted by Tilt
1) Nominate a range based cross country channel

 put "shame" messages on this channel (keeping down total arena traffic)

Goober crashed
Goober bailed
Goober shot down
Goober captured


2) Tie system kill tally reports to Perks earned.

eg  a threshold of 2 kills and 2 perks (or 3 or 4 to be decided) before the announcement is made

This will encourage wannabe aces to fly planes that have higher ENY values or at least pick fights with ac of similar ENY.



3) Reward 30% plus damage assists with minor perks and only give full kills when 65% plus damage is down to one player.

Gang bangers collect assists where as duelers tend to collect kills......shorter daisy chains


4) when qualifying under 2 above ........ list kills and assists in the report.


"Goober" (Spit IX) awarded 3 kills and 2 assists.

I think that a kill buffer message that only comes out when you have earned so many perks may be beneficial.

But kill messages are neither here nor there.  I like to see my name in lights of course, but I don't fly to see my name in the system messages.  Some of my finest sorties I have only landed one kill, or I've been killed.  Most of my high kill sorties have been mindless vulching or cherry picking sprees, and the kills don't mean a thing.  Except of course that we took a base, which is of course also meaningless

You know that many of the pilots whose names you see XXXX landed 5 kills in a Spit  we just vulches.  And you also know when a pilot lands a bunch of kills and he has fought well like "Fester landed 8 kills in a Spit 1." or something like that.  We know who the good pilots are

[DoKGonZo]

Perks aren't really that true a measure of anything given the rate of vultching and number of low-alt bombers around.

I know we've had prior discussions about the fact that the only visible reward is the WTG's after landing a multiple kills. I think assists should be broadcast. But I do see the point of maybe it encouraging more dog piles. Maybe we need a kind of "third man in" rule like the NHL (you know, like, Hockey ... remember that sport?) has. Maybe only the first two planes who tag an enema stand a chance of getting the kill and assist. Everyone else is just being a good samaritan.

Heheh ... boy you watch yourself get stranded in a hurry with a rule like that, huh?

    -DoK

[Guppy35]

Why not just take the kills landed message out of the  game completely.  You'd still see who you shot down or who shot you down, but there would not be any sort of arena wide 'attaboy'.  

No point then in avoiding the fight if you aren't worried about getting your 'attaboy' fix by landing those 15 vulches.  Might just decide to fight it out then or attempt to learn to get better at ACM if the reward has to be found within yourself.

[Charge]

"No point then in avoiding the fight if you aren't worried about getting your 'attaboy' fix by landing those 15 vulches."

What is the point? They surely would vulch you that 15 times even without the landed kills -message and after that kind of vulch fest it is kinda pointless to engage with little fuel and even less ammo?  

I think it is fine as it is now.

I rarely get to land my kills anyway as the 190 is not that fast and I come to my senses always a bit too late...

Then again, flying certain planes I'd rather ditch that let others see what I have been flying.

-C+

[Dead Man Flying]

I'm not so sure that the "attaboy" landing message changed the way people play very much.  Before that, the game would broadcast each individual kill number (something like "Kill #12 by Leviathn").  While that didn't encourage flying to live necessarily, it certainly didn't dissuade horde-like behavior or vulching.  Of course, you could always tell who was vulching by the frequency of the kill announcement.  Such a system in today's crowded arena would be completely unworkable, nor would many find it desirable.

Maybe a route more like ship guns is in order?  If you die with more than two kills, it also announces your kill total to the arena.  Something like "Leviathn died with 4 kills in a Spitfire Mk. V of +++ The Blue Knights +++" would work.  That would still give "attaboys" to those who kill a lot, and while it would not necessarily stop hording or vulching, it could encourage some players to fly more aggressively.

-- Todd/Leviathn

[DoKGonZo]

Experienced players have graduated from caring about perks and kill messages. But the newer players ... that's all they have, and that's what molds their style of play.

...

And giving the kill total messages upon death would likely promote more aggressive vultching and porkrunning. Assume the worst in people and save yourself the disappointment.

[Dead Man Flying]

Originally posted by DoKGonZo
Experienced players have graduated from caring about perks and kill messages. But the newer players ... that's all they have, and that's what molds their style of play.

[/b]

I agree, but I also think that the arena has hit a critical mass as far as numbers go.  Back when I first started flying AH in very late beta, far fewer people played the game.  That meant a tighter-knit community, and it also meant that reputations were easier to earn (or be stuck with).  We knew who the vulchers were, who the timid cherrypickers were, and who the furballers were; the labels came easily, and you couldn't hide what you did from anyone.  Respect was the commodity, not perks or "attaboys."

Now the effort required to make a name for oneself has increased dramatically with the ten or twenty-fold increase in arena numbers.  Since players invariably attempt to find the easiest way toward a goal, and since the arena now renders most players anonymous and unable to carve out a reputation, things like hording, vulching, and the like become the easiest ways to gain recognition.  With so many people in the arena, it also becomes the only really feasible way to measure players against one another when you have so many different names.  Plus the ease of gaining perks and vulch/horde kills means that perks and "attaboys" have become the new commodity.  This drives behavior accordingly.

-- Todd/Leviathn

[storch]

some of you fellows really need to find real life.  it's a cartoon game, you.

[Dead Man Flying]

Who said it wasn't, stork?

-- Todd/Leviathn