i have to applaud HTC

[Rameusb5]

Hi guys.  I'm extremely new to the community, but perhaps my unbiased point of view might help...

It seems like the way it was, most of the people were forced to take late-war aircraft, which made the early war planes extremely rare and difficult to master.  The newer arenas make sense, from a "game design" perspective.  Why create a flight sim than spans the entire WWII history if you're not going to give the early rides a place to be free of the late war advanced fighers?

Who wants to fly around in a Spad when your enemy is flying a F22 Raptor?



The problem is, it looks like the community size of AH wasn't large enough to support this change, which is unfortunate.  It basically cut your arena sizes by 2/3, which apparently means a lot less fun for everyone.  The solution, of course, is to get new players into the game.


I have to say that I probably would not have signed up for AH under the old arena system.  I like flying ALL of the planes in a sim.  The old arena would FORCE new players to fly only late-war crates.  That, to me, is silly.

[DaPup]

Thats not true though, there already were multiple arenas. The AvA arena features a rotating planeset and seems to focus alot on early war.....yet it's always empty... In the new arenas you can't up a plane half the time anyway because of the eny limiter kicking in lol so it seems a moot point.

There was and is alot of planes available and this is a great game, once the bugs are worked out with the arena caps and eny limiter we will be G2G.

There were plenty of people who upped early war rides for the fun of it, once you get the burner late war craft low and slow early war owns them..some people just don't have the patience for it.

[Killjoy2]

When I log on (11pm California time) there are not enough players for the arenas to work.   Last night I just didn't bother.  I'd suggest combining arenas some way when the numbers get low.  Can anyone say Warbirds 3.0?

That said, I really enjoy the early arena.  It is interesting to see how the planes of this era interact without late war planes.  

Any chance of rotating plane sets each day?  Or rotating early and mid leaving the late war going all the time?  We could almost support 2 arenas late.

[lazs2]

rameus...  you are seeing things quite clearly.    dapup is being a little dishonest tho... there never were any other arenas for early planes... The AvA was not early war and used the very narrow and unpopular allied vs axis format.

You are quite correct and astute to realize that there was no way that AC and ACM aficianados could have any fun.   If you didn't like 1945 and whordes... you had nothing except the occassional CV battle that migh not even last 5 minutes before the griefers killed the CV.

A fighter town was put into place  but the late war crowd used it to cherry pick and the griefers did everything they could to shut it down...

Those who liked early and mid war were pretty much screwed with no way to fix it...  every fix just brought more determined efforts by the griefers to spoil it.   They had the whordes and they had the invincible planes and the long distances between fields...

they held all the cards.... you had fun only if they somehow didn't get wind of it.    

Pointing this out got derrisive laughter or defensive anger at calling em what they were....  

Now...  look how they cry...  so upset their "fingers tremble" as they type....  long relationships with the 90 significant others in their squads are smashed to dust and mass quitting is threatened (er... was threatened..).

and...da pup... you take up a spit one or a f4f and I will take up a la7 or spit 16 and you be far from home and low...  I will B&Z you till you are unable to dodge anymore... I will get one gun pass each time.... it may take one... it may take 5 but... I will hit you and you will die and I will have taken ZERO risk doing it.

lazs
Public Relations Officer for the BK's

[DaPup]

I wasn't trying or even intending to be dishonest in any way.

Of course you would Laz, just as I could do the same to you. But I don't think 50% of the players could do that to either of us without us getting them first  of course we could use p51d vs. 190d and have the same result

Laz, I respect your point about the map and MA not working for you. I truly do not want my happiness to get in the way of anyone else's. I have been playing here since the day AW folded and know exactly what you are talking about when you mention the hordes and some mentality in the MA but when you imply that anyone who doesn't like the change must have been in the horde you are mistaken.

I like this game as much as anyone and see positive change as good for all, but since it's not good for all I don't see it as positive ....yet.

[Clifra Jones]

DaPup, point is that the AvA never worked. It's plane set were at times to unbalanced and at times the "social" structure in there was broken.

As far as the DA you just cannot recreate the dynamic of the MA(s) in the DA. It's just not the same. Speaking of the DA, you may notice that it isn't the same as it was. The DA used to be a good place to train with your friends or just to have a good fight upping from the same field. That has changed now, and you know why? Griefers, that's why.

As far as I'm concerned they can up LWs player cap to 350/400 for all I care. I may even fly in there with my squad but I like the EW for just the reasons Lazs states. there really were no opportunities in the old MA to fight early planes against early planes.

Hitech has the numbers they based this decision on but I wonder what the ratio of 2 weekers to new subscribers was over the last year. If it was a steady decline then I know I would see that as a marker that something needed to change.

[DaPup]

point is that the AvA never worked. It's plane set were at times to unbalanced and at times the "social" structure in there was broken.

 

Are you saying it is unhealthy? Let's just break it up into 3 arenas, that should fix it  j/k  

Clifra, I've played long enough to realize that the AvA doesn't work (even with all the hard work that the AvA team puts into it) and the DA got polluted by the vulch squad. My point though was that there other options available but not used, we , the people who have played this game for a long time failed to make other options work but there were options....hell wasn't the backup main open to use for a long time? I never saw anyone in there either. I think that eventually this will become the same way.

I like the massive people online for when I feel like flying in it, it's why I first signed up (that and EA ...bastards lol) and told all my friends I recruited to try it....400 people worked for me. I don't begrudge anyone who likes the change, I just would like the cap upped in LW...I'm simple to please

I haven't whined, cried or even gotten "trembling fingers" in any of my posts. But I will say what I like and don't like.

[Clifra Jones]

As I said, It wouldn't bother me if they upped the cap on LW. I thnk it would appease most.

There would have to be a cap though from what we have read from HTC. 5-600 player arenas are just not going to work.

I also think that some of the Ack suggestion posted here should be implemented in the MW and LW. It shouldn't that easy to dive in an pork/vulch a field with one plane.  The sky should be full of tracers and puffy when you get close to a base. Plus, all guns man-able.

[DaPup]

I would love for ack to be turned up, make more field guns accessible.

If you upped the LW cap back to 700 or whatever it was  then 75% would be in there and 25% would be spread between EW and MW. I know that can't happen but a 400 cap would be cool, it might happen down the road or not...I am not nor do I want to be any part of their decision making process, all I do is play it.

I have logged on 2 nights in a row and LW1 is full and 2 has 24 people on, not much joy there for me. I've gone into the other 2 and had some fun (like I said, I'm simple to please) but would rather fly any plane I want in the arena that I want. I like taking the early rides into furballs, who doesn't, but I might want to do it against la's and spits....who knows ?

[Mugzeee]

Originally posted by Clifra Jones
As I said, It wouldn't bother me if they upped the cap on LW. I thnk it would appease most.

There would have to be a cap though from what we have read from HTC. 5-600 player arenas are just not going to work.

I also think that some of the Ack suggestion posted here should be implemented in the MW and LW. It shouldn't that easy to dive in an pork/vulch a field with one plane.  The sky should be full of tracers and puffy when you get close to a base. Plus, all guns man-able.

"Plus, all guns man-able." I have romanced this idea many many times.  I suppose you have to have planty of auto ack...but maybe it is auto only if a player isnt in it? Especially think the FLAK (PUFF) guns should be plenty and man-able. Perhaps along the hillsides and such?

[TheCage]

Originally posted by lazs2
so cage.... making the problems smaller is not acceptable to you?

You want the problems to be huge again with no opportunity to fly 3/4 or more of the planeset in a comparitively fair environment?

lazs
Public Relations Officer for the BK's

Sorry Laz you are missing my point.  It doesn't matter if you have 100 people or  20 people in the same place.   It's still the same thing only on a smaller scale.  Only now it's usually only two bases that are fighting.   There are claims of 1 vs 1, haven't had that pleasure yet.  It may start out as one, but soon it's a 3:1 fight.   Why?  Mini Horde.   The new setup is nothing more then a DA furball arenas.   No strats, nada, just plain old furballing.   While I enjoy a good furball from time to time, it just looses it's luster after a short while, and becomes boring.   Is that all we have to look forward to, just mindless endless furballing?   Laz you and I have been around in this game for a long time, it’s diversity that IMHO makes this game fun.  Although it might work for me if they would loose the airborne radar.   Then it would be the hunt for the enemy that would make it fun, much like the FSOs.   As it is, you know where they are, how many there are, and that I feel creates the hordes.   It’s just a newer version of Air Quake.   Just my 2 cents, and no disrespect to you Laz.

[Bruv119]

At first I thought  OMG  they have just ruined the game.

They still have a long way to go to refine the planesets and which planes should be perked and how much by etc...  add some more planes to fill each arenas planeset.  

I play GMT hours and some would say that "its boring" "not enough players etc"  

To start a fight in the main arena it needs what 5 guys defending 5 guys attacking.  Without the late war rides this can be quite intense and fun.  The ENY limiter really does work now if one team has 50 players and the other 20 each youll be allowed to fly REALLY basic planes thus killing the horde.

The late war arena was the only mistake by enabling all planes obviously this just makes it like the old MA and most ppl will go fly there and not try EW or MW.

In my opinion the Mid war arena is fantastic.

All we need now is the community to evenly space itself between the three and not going late war out of pure number superiority.  Many new players to fill up the arenas and new planes to go with them.


Bruv
~S~

[Schatzi]

Well... if you cant find a fight, PICK ONE!

So far, i mostly had luck using that tactic. Just up somewhere and fly to enemy base, loudly proclaming on 200 youre going to "take it with a huge strike force" . But then again, im a comedian that loves to fight against odds.


Yes, the system still needs lots of tweaking, but i have faith that HTC and the community will adapt. We were thrown out of our old, set ways and have to refind our place in the game. So far i have found better fights then in a long time (in ALL Arenas) and logged in frustration. That happened with the old system as well, so not much change there. I do see a very positive change in the arenas though... a lot less smack and bovine excrements on channel 200. More of friendly ribbing and chat.


Just my 2ct after a week of new layout.

[Rameusb5]

lazs2 and DaPup,
Thank you BOTH for your replies.  I didn't realize that the AvA arena in some ways provided a place to avoid the issues I mentioned in my post.  I actually went there last night to check it out.  There's apparently a BoB scenario going on there right now...  which is very cool.

Unfortunately, though, nobody was on.  WTF?  It seems like 75% of the playerbase wants to fly the late war rides, 25% wants to fly early or mid war, and 0% wants to fly a historical setup where their rides are restricted to a specific country.

Perhaps there's more to it than that, but I must admit that I'm pretty disappointed that the AvA arena is a ghost town.  It's also extremely disappointing that the only arena where it's likely to find a massive coordinated attack is the LW arena, which I have absolutely NO interest in flying since I'm really a bomber pilot (and don't feel like getting swarmed by 163's and 262's).

Meh...

[BTW]

Originally posted by Major Biggles
lots of people complained and all, but AH has become a lot more fun, i have to say, it's definitely been a change for the better, can't wait till we fill these ones up and have to create some more (WW1 hint )

Yea, the euphoria of something new. But I wonder how great it will be after everyone has sniffed and peed on the new turf.