Another way to limit the horde

[Traveler]

The problem for most of us in Prime Time is when most of us play. That's why it's called Prime Time. The two late war arenas put forth by HT to help control the horde has not worked. The horde will always exist.

The Changes to the rules of the game have done more to make it an even playing field then anything else. According to HT splitting the players into multiple arenas for the largest number of players (late war) was not done to manage the load on the servers. According to HT they could go well over 1000 players in an arena with no problem with the servers. It was done to control the Horde, Well it made it hard for squads during prime time and has not controlled the horde. Time for a change, one late war arena, no caps, but make a few more changes to the rules of the game.

The addition of AAA at airfields and Towns helped to harden those targets and make fields more defensible from the horde. Perhaps another way to help balance the sides would be to increase the accuracy of the automatic defenses based on the numbers of people in a country. If your country is out numbered the accuracy of all your field ack go up by that percentage and / or starting with a base number of 10 troops for a field capture that number goes up or down depending on your over all percentage of players. Or a combination of both.

I know that AI has been kicked around a bit, why not have AI available to the outnumbered sides.  The rules for reset have done much to balance play and have had the most impact on game play in my opinion.  Building on that adjusted the reset rules so that sides that outnumber other sides by a large percentage must capture more fields and hold or retain more of their own fields.  

Make factories so they can be captured.  If you’re Ordinance factory is down or captured the ord available at each field is limited.  Same for fuel and troops, aircraft types, become limited.  Allow for the fuel at an airfield to be limited to 25% if the fuel factory is captured and the fuel bunkers at taken down at that airfield.  Same for Ordinance factory and Ammo bunker are down, you only get 50% of a full ammo load out with limited bombs.  It would give really meaning to strat targets and provide for some interesting bombing missions with meaningful results.  I’d image some interesting high altitude fur balls with bombers and escorts trying to get on target.


Again a limiting factor on a country that has a very large percentage of players over the other two countries could be supply distribution.  Supplies would be limited because the more players you have the fewer supplies you have between them. So they can’t get 100% fuel and 100% ammo with 2 1000 lbs of bombs.

[hitech]

Traveler: The arena change was not to control the horde.

Also I never said we could go well over 1000 in an arena. I said the absolute limit is 1000.

[tedrbr]

While I agree that two LW arenas with caps have not stopped hordes from forming, and I'd like to see just 1 LW arena, no caps, with some of the larger maps brought back in to facilitate more squad interaction and hopefully increase the number of missions run in game......,
........implementing those kinds of scalar changes you suggest would mean extensive coding and testing be done.

Factories are capturable, on larger maps via zone bases.
Your suggestion would mean a complete change to the strat targets in game, and would mean strategic bombing of those strats no longer necessary or effective, just sneak capture a factory.

AI would be a major addition, and as AI's are not all that good in general, pilots would seek out AI's to pad their scores.

Ack is a hard setting in the game, not scalar.  Possibly adding more manned guns at vehicle bases and ports.  Maybe a few more auto ack at vehicle bases.

ENY is probably the best side leveling device the game has.  Bring back 1 LW arena, no population caps, some larger maps, and maybe tweek the ENY a little in regards to population  and the low ENY planes, but set a hard basement so there is *something* to fly even if there is a horde.  
As 1/4 of all the planes flown are La-La's, Splixteens, Runstangs, and Nikis, with C-hawgs coming up a close fifth, have ENY kick them out of the low ENY planes will force some to switch countries.

It's a three-sided war, someone will always have a horde, someone will be the small population getting hit by the other two.


I'd also like to see maps where you have to capture adjacent bases, or territory, to move the fronts back and forth.  Not the follow-the-ratline-maze that was experimented with, but territories with a base or field in each, and only able to capture adjacent territories.  No deep strikes on large maps, like we used to see.  But, that is a long term hope, not a short term solution. Bonus would be "front line" eye candy.... armies, trenches, artillery, smoke, and so forth where two country territories meet.

[Traveler]

Originally posted by tedrbr
While I agree that two LW arenas with caps have not stopped hordes from forming, and I'd like to see just 1 LW arena, no caps, with some of the larger maps brought back in to facilitate more squad interaction and hopefully increase the number of missions run in game......,
........implementing those kinds of scalar changes you suggest would mean extensive coding and testing be done.

Isn't that what HiTechCreation does, code that is?  Or are you saying that no more code is done on the game.  I seem to remember when the change was made from AH to AHII that one of the reasons was that of new coding standards and tools that would make future coding changes easier for them to accomplish.

Factories are capturable, on larger maps via zone bases.
Your suggestion would mean a complete change to the strat targets in game, and would mean strategic bombing of those strats no longer necessary or effective, just sneak capture a factory.

Factories are not capturable in the late war arena and I'm only addressing the late war arena.  Yes, I am suggesting change.  I'm suggesting that the factories be harden, with additional AAA and accurate puffy Ack.

AI would be a major addition, and as AI's are not all that good in general, pilots would seek out AI's to pad their scores.

Not sure if AI's are a major addition or not, they will  be used in CT and I understand that a few players have flown against them.  It was a suggestion as a way to blance against a country that outnumbers the other two combined.  If the purpose was to get balanced game play with the two late war arena and cap system as it now stands.  As for score pading, I guess no one can pad there score in the current environment.  but I think they can and do.

Ack is a hard setting in the game, not scalar.  Possibly adding more manned guns at vehicle bases and ports.  Maybe a few more auto ack at vehicle bases.  

I have no idea how ack works in the game.  I suggested a change to help balance sides.  Ack would be more accurate at an airfield that is defended by the side that is outnumbered on a country wide basis.

ENY is probably the best side leveling device the game has.  Bring back 1 LW arena, no population caps, some larger maps, and maybe tweek the ENY a little in regards to population  and the low ENY planes, but set a hard basement so there is *something* to fly even if there is a horde.  
As 1/4 of all the planes flown are La-La's, Splixteens, Runstangs, and Nikis, with C-hawgs coming up a close fifth, have ENY kick them out of the low ENY planes will force some to switch countries.

I agree with you, good suggestion for a change.

It's a three-sided war, someone will always have a horde, someone will be the small population getting hit by the other two.

I acutally think that aside from the horde the changes made in the reset rules have changed and helped balanced game play already.  


I'd also like to see maps where you have to capture adjacent bases, or territory, to move the fronts back and forth.  Not the follow-the-ratline-maze that was experimented with, but territories with a base or field in each, and only able to capture adjacent territories.  No deep strikes on large maps, like we used to see.  But, that is a long term hope, not a short term solution. Bonus would be "front line" eye candy.... armies, trenches, artillery, smoke, and so forth where two country territories meet.

large mape would be nice, I'm pretty sick of the two or three that I see week after week.  I disagree with your notion that the attack route be pre-defined.  If I can get a group to strike and hold a field 100 miles in, so be it, it's call a second front.

[Pieper]

plain and simple......HiTech told you he dosen't care about the horde.....in not so many words....the arena split was to get new people into the game...more money.....no offence HT....Skuz pretty much told me that on the phone 30 mins ago:)

i think fighting against a horde of unexperienced people is fun anyway.....just watch out for the gangbang

[hitech]

Pieper: Do not take my words for more than what I said. I said the arena split was Not do to hords. That is completly different than saying I do not care about hords.

2nd Of course the arena spit is about money. But you are looking at the tail not the head. More fun for people, = more people = more money.

So once again it is just a balance of what I believe makes the most people happy.

HiTech

[Pieper]

rgr that HT....I understand completly....

the hording issue cannot be solved in my opinion...I don't mind the split as long as both MW arenas are open and I can fly with my squadies....usually they are....but I do miss the big maps where it wasn't arcade style furballing everywhere you went

what do you think about my post on side ballencing?......probably should have just put it in here but I wanted to know if other people felt the same

[Ghastly]

Hitech, all that I'd add to this discussion is to suggest respectfully that the biggest "issue" I see to the 2 arenas is that as it is now it limits the ability to fly with squadmates at times.  

Like when my CO discos and can't get back in where the rest of the squad is in the air.

And I don't mean the mega-horde squads, I mean the 5 - 15 guy sized squads.  

While it's common for squads and players to come and go, my fear is that it will cause some of the better ones to fade out, which works against the bettering of the community that you seem to be striving for.  It's no secret that the "best players to have" are often those that rarely complain, and I'm afraid that it will be similar to WB's where a lot of the best squads simply died out due to attrition before anyone really realized how much of an impact some of the changes were having.  

I have no doubt you are aware of this, but I can't help but voice my concern anyway.