OK, heres the old days.....
In AH1 I was in a "mega-squad" we had two wings, but niether was full. On squad night we would get 10-12 guys on. With those 10-12 guys we would attack bases, or defend bases as the country needed when we were on. 2 guys here to pork troops, 4 guys to cap a base for defense, the rest to intercept the "bad guys" heading in.
Meanwhile, a couple sectors away the same enemy is trying a "sweep around" move, but they were met by and equall number of "furballers". Both battels rage on for over an hour. Sometime we won and pushed them back, sometimes we lose a base and the whole operation would start again, just 20 miles back. On our other front, similar battles are raging.
On non-squad nights it was easy to join up with a few of the mission guys. See each country had its "planners" they had a bunch of missions saved, and would load one up at a moments notice... GV attack, base defense, what ever was needed, team play, to counteract the other counrties team play.
Some of the "furball" guys always circling over the fights....picking guys who weren't paying attention for that one second while they spent too long on the bogie in front of them
Sure there was cooperation, "pride" for your chess piece, the "trill" of a mission completed, the landing of a couple of scalps, but it was an on going, constant battle, where everyone had fun.
Then came the change. It started out slow. The country that was the "underdog" that week, or month as it was, started having "numbers". Even tho they were still out numbered some squads figured out that if they banded together they could become a bigger more organised attack group and could have an effect on the game! And so was born the "Country squad night" All the countries did it, they would have one leader and he would direct all the fighting..... this squad attack such and such a base, that squad this one and so on. You would see bases fall every 3-5 minutes sometimes ! There were almost as many goons flying as fighters !!
You couldn't stop these attacks. If you defended against them they would just send in another squad to mop upthe area. Mean while, your still fighting a couple of battles on the other front, reducing your effective numbers against..... you guessed it, the HORDE !!
So now we have hordes, the new guys only see hordes and of course join up with them, heck it must be where the action is if everyones going there !! You would think that the best defence against a horde is to up your own horde and hit it back right?? Nawwww, by now most of those flying in the hordes couldn't fight there way out of a bag, and get "discouraged" when they get shot down repeatedly. Heck it was one of the reasons they joined the horde... safty in numbers. So instead of fighting on the horde moves on to another undefended area of the map hoping to grab a base or two before those "nasty" defenders show up to shoot them down again.
So now HTC has decided to add the arenas, and institute "caps" all in an effort to improve game play. I'm sure it will work, but it will take time. Old habits are hard to break, especially when its the only way you've know how to play. The hordes are smaller now, which gives the "fighter" guys a chance. Some of these "hot sticks" love to fight 1 on 4-5, its a challange to them. The "old" big hordes were 1 on 9-10, and just too over balanced. Thats why the "fighter" guys like the change. They get to fight, and have half a chance at winning.... unless your me in which case, your still getting your head handed to ya
The strat guys, or "toolshedders" will catch on sooner or later. They will figure out that if they launch a few buffs, and 5 minutes later a few fighters to hook up with them to escort them in they will still be able to drop a town in a pass or two, cap a field long enough to get a goon or M3 in. Missions don't need 30+ guys to get the job done, thats just overkill, using skill and 10 guys works just as good, and you don't have to share the "glory" with as many people
The GV crew will be ok too, new maps are in the works and Im sure the GVers will be taken care of. The "old" game was a blast, there was a "war" going on at all times of the day, and no matter what your type of "thrill" was, there was room for it. If HTC made a mistake, it was letting the arenas get too big in the first place. I think they have learned from that mistake and won't let it happen again.
Give it time, the fun is still there, you just don't know what it looks like yet !!
