Ideas

[Platano]

ya I agree with the part that if a plane has been phased out due to the time period of the war it shouldnt be removed from the RPS, just leave it there and just add the newer planes..Just my opinion...

[E25280]

Originally posted by Oldman731
I suspect that folks like Kev and Bronk would go apoplectic if we shifted the historical availability of planes in order to balance any particular day of the RPS.

In all seriousness, since Kev doesn't fly in the AvA, and Bronk does so for less than an hour per month (for last three months, anyway), who really cares what they think?  Don't get me wrong, both are fine gentlemen, but if nothing you do will please them anyway, why bother?

I recall you asked Kev in particular to come up with an acceptable scenario set not to long ago.  IIRC, all you got in return was more whining about "wrong version of this spit" and "should be modeled like that", etc.

So, IMHO, let the dogs bark, and move this caravan along.  If they get nasty, politely point out that you appreciate their historic knowledge, but ultimately your goal is to see that those who fly the AvA get maximum enjoyment.  Period.

Throw the pasta on the wall and see if it sticks!:aok

[Oldman731]

Originally posted by E25280
In all seriousness, since Kev doesn't fly in the AvA, and Bronk does so for less than an hour per month (for last three months, anyway), who really cares what they think?  

I'm assuming that they probably represent the thoughts of others (possibly to an extreme).  The debate goes back to the founding of AvA - some of the early staff people were real diehards about exact matches.

- oldman

[Yeager]

some of the early staff people were real diehards about exact matches.
====
Thats why they arent around much any longer, I would assume.

Look, capture the flavor of the times.  This IS NOT science, these ARE NOT airplanes.  They are simulated approximations of such.  Just speed changes up on this RPS thing, make every day interesting.  Last time I played the Spit5 and the FW190 were the only planes available for DAYS...was it a WEEK?  man, speed things up, make people want to come in and play daily, not monthly.

I really enjoyed the Japanese vs Russian setup.  I would have enjoyed this Euro RPS set up if it hadnt been stuck in concrete for the first week and had more planes  removed from play than entered into it.  Capture the flavor of the times and give more people a reason to participate.

[Oldman731]

Originally posted by Yeager
Look, capture the flavor of the times.  

Well, of course, having just the Spit 5 against just the FW 190 DOES capture the spirit of that particular time.  Those were the planes fighting each other across the channel then, and not any others.

I appreciate the notion that the 1941-42 period ought to be compressed in the RPS.  It does give you a sense of how long the British were fighting all by themselves, though, and, really, it isn't any different from having a one-week Summer of 42 setup.  My bet is that no one really would want to play that particular setup, I guess.

Anyway, the Americans have arrived, and we're into almost daily plane changes now.  

- oldman

[Guppy35]

Originally posted by Oldman731
Heh.  Thanks for illustrating one of the conundrums of AvA.  I suspect that folks like Kev and Bronk would go apoplectic if we shifted the historical availability of planes in order to balance any particular day of the RPS.

That said, I'm scratching my head wondering if the core history people actually stick around for long.  We could almost chart the attendance to this RPS over the several times it's been run, and it would draw fewer people each time.  Now that the novelty has worn off, the message may be that it's better to run a one-week setup illustrating a given period of the war, rather than a continuous unfolding of history.  Viewed another way, it would be a return to the AvA weekly setup standard.

Thoughts?

- oldman

One of those history folks who shows up rarely

Just a thought that jumped in while I was reading this.  What if you took the limited plane set down even further and did individual plane match ups on certain nights or for certain hours of a night.

Numbers never really get that big so the maps don't have to be as big and could be geared towards the air to air.  

Generally it seems in whatever arena, the majority of folks will take the highest performing ride they can find.  So what birds historically are matched up most evenly?

Maybe it's F4Us vs Ki84s.  P38Gs vs Tonies, Spit IXs vs 190A5s, Spit Vs and 109Fs.  Emils vs Spit Is.  K4s vs Temps.  D9s vs Spit XIVs.  G14s vs 51Ds.  Tiffies vs 190A8s.  51Bs vs G6s.  F6Fs vs N1Ks, P40s and Zeros.   G14s and LA5s, K4s vs LA7s.  It goes on and on.  Mossies and 110s maybe.

So on a given night for a certain time it's those two birds so you don't get those guys in the more uber ride always looking for the lesser bird to pick.

As a history guy, the immersive factor is always a draw.  I'm partial to 38s and Spits.  When I fly MA with my 80th guys, it's looking out and seeing a flight of 38s with me that helps give it that immersion.  Problem is when you are in a flight of 38Gs in a Pacific based squad, the immersion gets lost diving in on P51s.  I find myself looking for N1Ks or Ki84s just because of the history.

I imagine the ideal for me in the AvA would be times where a flight of Spit IXs as an example, ran into a flight of 190A5s and the fight was on.

That would be the immersive factor in the game coming into play bigtime.

I know that Snapshots do this but it's one or two flights and you are done.  Might be kind of fun just to know I'm a (as an example) a Spit IX driver tonight and I'll be testing my ability against the best of the A5 drivers on the other side.

Food for thought anyway

Make it more of a who is best in this ride tonite kind of deal.

[Oldman731]

Originally posted by Guppy35
Just a thought that jumped in while I was reading this.  What if you took the limited plane set down even further and did individual plane match ups on certain nights or for certain hours of a night.

Heh.  Well, we DO that occasionally.  And, if you read through this thread, you'll see that frequently the RPS ends up this way, particularly in the 1941-42 period.  As you can see, there are those who enjoy this, and those who prefer to have more aircraft choices on any given night.

Having said that, where have you been these past weeks, dude?  Spits v. FWs and 109s, right up your alley.

- oldman

[red26]

I would like to see a Pearl Harbor set up that would be nice or Rubal  maybe the battle for Berlin or a good bomber mission with lot's of escourts and interceptors, Um or even like a some what if battle's:aok