Gentlemen,
Somewhere, somehow, a bunch of people have missed the point about the LCA.
What is 'new' about this concept is the order of magnitude of cooperation and teamplay, and how finally, a venue has been established for mission-oriented players to find some of their kind of fun.
Experience
I began playing Aces High many years ago. Maybe 5 years ago. I have come and gone from the game a couple of times due to boredom with the unfulfilling and one-dimensional nature of gameplay. Sure, I was in a squad (113th Lucky Strikes) and I enjoyed real teamwork once a week but it didn't satisfy my yearning for something more organized, something bigger. The fact was that during squad night you could only be marginally successful in fulfilling the objective of the game: base capture. It wasn't enough. Even with a couple of squads working together there wasn't enough to get many base captures...especially not with the numbers in the MA now. A greater force is needed.
Posting Missions
Naturally, I experimented with posting missions...only to advertise..and advertise some more only to get a mere handful of takers. That exercise in frustration just added to my sense of burnout and dissatisfaction so I left the game twice over the years. I rejoined the game 3 months ago to see if gameplay had become more multifaceted and developed more depth ... only to be disappointed once again.
Filling the Void
This time though, I became convinced that it wasn't the gameplay that needed work. A great many players enjoyed missions...there just wasn't a quick and easy structure for them to participate in them. We've remedied that (at least for the ROOKS at the moment). Its now as easy to get into a mission as it is for the furballers to find a dogfight in fightertown. Shouldn't the mission-oriented players be treated to a frictionless path to enjoy their preferred style of gameplay as the dogfighters and treadheads have with fightertown and tank town? Sure they are.
Perception is Reality
Its not surprising to me that many furballers are having a hard time grasping why this is something new. Their perception is based on their particular style of gameplay which rarely, if ever, involves organizing or participating in missions. They just want to take off, get into a dogfight...rinse, repeat. They want no part of the complexities and challenges associated with organizing and executing missions. They haven't experienced the frustration of wanting to be in missions only to find none. But to those of us who love mission style play something has been missing for many, many years.
New Life for Mission Players
Now, with the advent of the LCA, mission-oriented players have seen new life infused into their preferred gaming style. They now have missions available for them on a continual basis. Teamplay, indeed, mission play, is now easy for them to find. They only have to tune their vox to 111. No more setting up missions with no takers, no more begging people to participate in group efforts, no more struggle to get people to join posted missions. No gentlemen, the worm has turned.
A New Dimension...A New life
I can't tell you how many people have come to channel 111 only to share with us that 'this' (the LCA) is exactly what they were looking for. Some of them were burned out and considering canceling their sub or not purchasing a subscription beyond the trial period when they found us. Once they stumbled upon us and started to have some fun they found a new Aces High, one that they had heard about but hadn't fully experienced. An Aces High that featured missions, and teamplay. No longer was that style of play something to be experienced occasionally. No, now they can experience a new dimension in Aces High gameplay anytime just by tuning their vox to 111. We offer them mission-style play but perhaps more importantly, we offer them a sense of community, another thing that brings mission-oriented players together.
Another element of 'newness' that seems so difficult for some to grasp is the number of players that coalesce together to play in a coordinated fashion on a regular basis. We're not talking about a 'squad night' where there are 12 or 20 squad members who get online together and play as a team. And we're not talking about an occasional posted mission either. The LCA runs missions every day and in larger numbers than single squads...and none of it is compulsory.
The Alliance
And here's yet another point of distinction regarding the LCA. The LCA doesn't limit themselves to a 'squad' but is composed of many different squads and individuals who enjoy joining together to achieve common objectives and, in the context of how this game is designed, that means taking bases. Cooperative effort is what the LCA is all about. We are a true alliance within the ROOK community.
The LCA Impact
I think that all of these factors is why their presence is being felt so acutely. Because this is a new idea that has been considered and dreamed about by many for years: squads and players joining together to capture bases and reset maps. Only this time, it has come to fruition....quite by accident, I might add. If someone is convinced that they have seen it before...please direct me to the post or some other reference so we can learn from their experience.
Opposing Gameplay Concepts
The concept behind the LCA is diametrically opposed to the style of gameplay championed by furballers who, in most respects, are of the lone wolf variety. And that is their Achilles heel. In order to confront the LCA, they need to join forces and work as a team and not alone. But, in doing so they will invariably become what they abhor...a horde. So they're stuck scratching their heads and waiting for us to 'burn out'.
The Future
I don't know how long the LCA will last. I'll be the first to tell you that it might be a fad. But as long as there are players who enjoy missions and don't want to struggle with organizing them on their own, there will be an LCA. Maybe not in its current form, but present nonetheless. And we are growing everyday so if the bubble is going to burst the end isn't in sight yet. If it does collapse, I believe it will be because of the weight of its own success, not becaue there wasn't a demand for it.
We think the idea of an alliance of this type has finally come of age. We think its new. You may disagree, but its new to me and to those who participate in the Loose Cannons Alliance...and that should be enough. I'm not looking at what was, I'm looking forward and for alot of players, the LCA is a harbinger of things to come.
all!
