We are delaying the late war split.

[hubsonfire]

Toad's not the only person suggesting the Hurri be perked. The EW does lose some of it's charm when every other plane is a C Hurri, but I guess I was used to seeing only 4 plane types in the MA with everything enabled, so it's not that odd for me.

[FiLtH]

Good news!

[Rolex]

There's merit in Toad's idea. Kudos for posting it and in the way it was presented - logically and supported with his reasoning. There is a lesson in that.

I'm going to run with his idea (and what I believe is his basis for it - a fun and fair air-combat arena) and expand on it. Apologies in advance, Toad.

Let's start with a clean piece of paper and no pre-conceptions except these:

1. Gameplay fun is paramount.
2, Player preferences are many.
3. We all have an interest in a thriving HTC, unless you want to back to, or to, Brand WB or Brand FA. I'll say, "No thanks," to those options since I've been there and done that.

So here's a new 3-ring circus idea. Please read through it before you begin attacking my signature...

EW arena becomes the Early Air-Combat Arena. Subitled: "Men and Machines"

The arena attributes are:

- A plane set similar to what Toad posted. Opportunities for HTC to fill the plane set with interesting new aircraft that would not be used much, or competitive, in the old MA format.
- Perks for this arena are earned and spent only in this arena.
- Bombers, gvs, troops and ordnance are disabled.
- Field ack is turned up to maximum lethality to encourage air-to-air combat, not air-to-not-quite-in-the-air-yet combat.
- Maps with 0.0, 5.0 and 8.0 alt bases for higher fights. Sea level and mountainous terrains.
- Only 2 countries, but both have access to all planes, instead of AvA arena. This creates more fights and improves the off-peak gameplay. "Loyalty" to country has less meaning since no war is won.
- For those inclined, your incentive is to become "King of the Hill." Rank for the arena is fighter rank only. No perceived gaming of score.
- ENY side balancing would be in effect.


The MW arena becomes the Air Combat Arena. Subtitled: "Machines and Men"

The arena attributes are exactly the same (including scoring, sides, etc.. everything) as EAC except:

- A rolling plane set starting at current Mid War.

I never thought the rolling plane set was a bad idea. I liked it and it kept things from getting stale.

The squads that like to fly late-war aircraft have a chance to participate in pure A2A scenarios, and again, off-peak gameplay is improved.

The LW arena becomes the Strategic War Arena. Same as current LW setup except:

- Perks earned here are spent here only.
- Mid-size maps with more difficult capture requirements and more bombing/gv targets (i.e. 2-3 towns per field to be destroyed and 2-3 sets of troops to capture it.) Reduces the single-player captures of undefended fields and concentrates fights. I'm sure others have better ideas about this arena.
-----------------------------------------------------------

Well, there's another idea thrown onto the fire. My signature awaits your attack.

[ghi]

Originally posted by hitech


So untill that time, we will be raising the cap on the LW arena to 350, and posibly some what higher before we implement the new system.



HiTech

Was something  changed  in servers,  internet bandwidth or something ?!
I ussed to get over 80 fps on ground view mode , and higher on full view with same sistem/conection in old MA, with 600+players online, now i get 40-60 fps, in arena with 100-200 players,
and is not only me, cuz i asked the other players, they have same symthoms
 Why this lag?! this evening after clicking " end flight" in tower i could still hear the voices of the players that were around me before ending flight ,was about 8-10 seconds delay in voice:(

[rshubert]

the 190-A5 and P-38G and Spit IX as maybe a bit of a stretch for "early war" planes, I don't have much trouble with them tactically, and I don't think they unbalance the EW arena.  This opinion is subject to change, however, based on planeset.

What we need is more early planes for the EW arena.  We need a couple more italian birds, we need some (gasp) french stuff (dewoitine 520 would be interesting) and maybe a MiG 3 and a Rata for the Russian side, and...

the P-39!!!!

But when did we get the last truly new plane?  I mean, one that wasn't a rework of an existing model?  Was it really two years ago?

[hubsonfire]

Hmmm, B-24, or the Ki-84? That's been a while ago. I personally would like to see a lot of oddball rides modelled, but I don't think we'd see any more variety than we saw in the old MA. Many people, for whatever reasons (another discussion entirely) gravitate toward what they believe are the "uber" birds.

The more I think about this, the more I think that perking only results in more timidity, and more vulching/picking, and less actual engagements with airborne cons. Look at the 38s, 190s, and IXs. Half of my time this month (roughly 15 hours?) is in the EW exclusively. I've seen 1 of each actually engage another airborne plane in even odds since the change. The rest of the time... vulching, or cherrying 3 to 1 fights (actually, only
 twice picking. The rest were  all just vulching). I don't believe the goal of perking planes is to encourage that type of thing, but rather to limit  the numbers of such planes. It's a tough call. The end of ENY limits means a chance to earn ridiculous amounts of perks, so maybe those tactics will fade out after a bit.

And of course, a gratuitous plug for the P 39, on general principle.

[Waffle]

Originally posted by hubsonfire
Half of my time this month (roughly 15 hours?) is in the EW exclusively.  

May I point you to this thread...  (BTW: it took me searching through 11 pages ((within 17 days)) of post by you to find this one......)

http://www.hitechcreations.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=186093


Dude - if you're gonna quit...quit...dont drag it out....lol

[volvo744]

I can't believe Toads' sig derailed the entire thread.
My .02-way to go on upping arenas to 350. Now there are more people to shoot me down. I like variety. I do agree with Toad, and his well thought out dissertation on the subject. And I agree the IIC has become the LA7 of EW, and have stated that more than once. They're like fleas in EW some of the time. Harder to duck the HO 'cause they move so slow, too.
I am okay with the arenas, still get overpopulated in LW, MW is my favorite because of planeset and Panzer. I despise driving the T-34. No pintle.
HiTech. Continuous improvement is where it's at. AH goes lean.

Bob

[Toad]

Originally posted by 4510
I have no problem with discussing the content of your posts.

But apparently you are unable to do so.

Cya.

[Toad]

Originally posted by Rolex
Well, there's another idea thrown onto the fire. My signature awaits your attack.

Too funny!


As to your post, I think it has great merit. It's a much more significant change in gameplay than the arena split but I certainly would like to give that a try. It more clearly defines the differences in gameplay styles which appeals to me.

And it pretty much gives the old MA back to those that desire that.

[bj229r]

Originally posted by Toad
My request is for a reasonably balanced arena, one that promotes the style of fighting prevalent during the stage of the war the particular arena represents.

Not a very difficult concept is it? Early War planes in an Early War arena? Sort of makes sense, don't you think?


As for the sig, I probably ought to change it and I probably will. I think I've had that one since the early part of beta almost.

That was written way back in the days when guys played this game to fight. Didn't matter to me what you flew as long as you were there for the fight.

It's not as applicable in these days of guys that play to avoid the fight.

Toad the whole arena is nothing but SpitV's and H2C's now---limiting those perk rides won't affect much, as they are a small % of total sorties--with just the perked V left, nothing will be able to escape the horde--P40 outdives it, but spit catches up real fast. (that being said, good idea on perking the V---as it has been some 3 weeks now, everyone seems to have concluded that the V is the most surviveable plane, and many others are again being relegated to hangar queens.)


Back to thread--Good idea HT--I saw a guy ranked 6000+ last night--- It MUST have occured to someone here that if there are 6000+ paying subscribers, a way MUST be found to allow more of them to play simultaneously, or HT's account growth would stagnate (mebbe that is what prompted all this?) At some point in time, I think the game had to become a multi-arena affair, else noobs would be scared off by the 700 plane hordes. I must admit, I liked it better before, but this new thing is growing on me, and I see the need for the change.

[4510]

Originally posted by Toad
But apparently you are unable to do so.

Cya.

No, apparently you refuse to provide historical sources to back up your position on why the plane set should be adjusted to provide a certain style of combat that you THINK is historical.

You can make a personal attack and try to brush it off, but you aren't addressing the apparently underlying premise of your post.  You want a certain type of flying experience and want to have changes made to the arena to in effect legislate what you want.  (plane set and ENY).

So.. prove your historical premise... or, as you say....

CYA

[Fencer51]

Thanks HTC, the locking out of squadmates was becoming a problem and this will definately help.

[4510]

Originally posted by Toad


Too funny!


As to your post, I think it has great merit. It's a much more significant change in gameplay than the arena split but I certainly would like to give that a try. It more clearly defines the differences in gameplay styles which appeals to me.

And it pretty much gives the old MA back to those that desire that.

There we go... FINALLY.   No unsupported references to history, just a plain statement.  "It more clearly defines the differences in gameplay styles which appeals to me. "

That wasn't so difficult was it?

For what it's worth, I'd like to see the same changes, but I'm not going to stump for them.  One thing I learned years ago in Air Warrior, something that the old hands back then had to drum into my head.  The GAME is what each player decides to make of it.  One has no right to tell them how to fly, be it turn and burn, BnZ, fly for K/D, shoot and auger, etc.  Took me a long time to accept that, but I believe it.

So I don't support changes that are made to in effect legislate a flying style.  Different arenas as described in this thread?  Very interesting!  However, remove the cap from LW1 and let the customer choose.  If the alternative products being offered are what the customer base wants, the customers will support them.  Putting the caps on the LW arenas only forces people to inhabit the other arenas and drag the LW mentality with them.  If we open up the caps, birds of a feather will flock together!  THEN we will have a chance to develop a "norm" for each arena.  The community that regularly inhabits EW will be able to peer influence people who fly there and perhaps Toad will have the experience he wants.   Otherwise, with a low LW cap we risk the chance of forcing an unhappy customer into a different arena, and they aren't particularly open to joining the collective but rather all they want to do at that point is make someone else unhappy.

I also would like to see more planes in the set and actually favor a rolling plane set!  I am not fond of the use of ENY and if the community dynamic we are trying to develop matures, it won't be as necessary anyway.  When it comes to perking rides... that is a slippery slope there.

[Oldman731]

Originally posted by rshubert
What we need is more early planes for the EW arena.  

I agree with this, too.  Given the One Main Arena of the past, though, it's understandable that the early war plane set was ignored.  As a practical matter, we have to assume that HTC will be devoting most of its resources to bringing CT on line, so we probably won't see any new early war planes in the near future.  Toad's ideas about adjusting the current EW arena are good ones, but they aren't the only ones, certainly, and folks should keep talking about the tweaking that HTC has said it will do.

- oldman