Bring Back The MA

[Oldman731]

Originally posted by B@tfinkV
i feel never ending sadness for those who can't be happy with multiple arenas filled with players.
i feel never ending joy that all i need to enjoy myself is one enemy plane to fight.
i totaly fail to see any reason why the conditions of the virtual air or virtual terrain should stop me enjoying finding one person to fight.

I sense that the people who most miss the old MA are the ones who enjoy missions and squad ops.

May be wrong, but that's my take.

- oldman

[JB88]

Originally posted by cbizkit

Simple fact is I'd rather HTC be able to focus their efforts on other gameplay features, plus they've already made it clear there were also technical reasons for splitting the arenas that no one cares to ever remember. You currently cannot have your cake and eat it too, please accept reality.

did they say that there are technical reasons?

i don't recall a bulliten being posted anywhere about the switch that one wouldnt have to dig for.

what are the reasons?

if there is one thing lacking in the relay between the mothership and the player base cbizkit, it is clearity.

[JB88]

Originally posted by B@tfinkV
i feel never ending sadness for those who can't be happy with multiple arenas filled with players.
i feel never ending joy that all i need to enjoy myself is one enemy plane to fight.
i totaly fail to see any reason why the conditions of the virtual air or virtual terrain should stop me enjoying finding one person to fight.

talk about drama.

[Guppy35]

Originally posted by Oldman731
I sense that the people who most miss the old MA are the ones who enjoy missions and squad ops.

May be wrong, but that's my take.

- oldman

I don't even think that's it.  I think it's much more of a conquer the map, roll em over with the mob bit.  I love going in a flight of 80th HH 38s and hunting.   SAPP nights with 10-20 38 drivers has been a ball.  I couldn't tell ya for one second which map we flew on any of those times.  We've run a couple of NOE missions and laughed the entire time while doing our best to make them work.  

It's gotta be something beyond flying with buddies and having fun.

[Mr No Name]

Dan, It is obvious you do not like the old MA scenario.  There are those of us who loved it.  I am all for trying to make everyone at least "somewhat happy" that to force them into arenas  with a handful of players.  100 players per side is (for me) where it STARTS to become interesting.  Frankly when I see arenas with 150 total players, it bores me.

Last night we only had 7 squad members online but due to the arena caps we had to wait until one arena was reset to fly together.  I do believe this should be addressed.  

This one reason was why I quit the game for 6 months.  I came back for the summer because my 12 yr. old nephew wanted help learning the game.  Am I telling HiTech & crew how to run their game?  Heck no!  I always have the option of leaving the game again when my nephew goes back to school!  I have also emailed HiTech & Pyro regarding other suggestions on this subject matter and received a friendly "This is one  thing we are looking at" responses. (TY Pyro)

I think that the ability to support large numbers of people in one arena is the greatest untapped resource this game has.  YES, at some point you will have a technical glass ceiling and there will need to be a split.  We have not reached that point yet.

What do I suggest as a viable option?  Have a capped LW arena for those who like tighter controls on the game.  Cap it at 200 or 250 players.  Give those of us who really want an MA an opportunity to see those massive numbers again.  I also say keep the EW and MW arenas... I venture into there now and then for a change of pace.  I really would like to see a pure furballers/TT type arena with no base captures, ords, etc.  I am sure I'd like that as a 'warm-up' when i first login.

I don't say that I have all of the answers but I do say that the popularity of an MA would astound you. Those of us who actually like a large number of flyers are not "The Mob" as you have described but we do like flying with our friends without jumping through hoops or fly in an empty arena like EW or MW.  I like the variety and SCALE of missions that are possible with larger numbers.  I still look at old screenshots I took when attacking a 45 bomber formation +escorts mission.  Yep, I got my tail chewed quickly but man, THAT was fun!  I think you will find that this ALONG with current ENY would help side balancing which has been one problem after another since that black day last September.

Don't look at people who have a differing opinion as lesser beings (That's how some of this comes across)  I would like to see some of these things worked out if possible but the current setup doesn't really work well for most of us.

[Guppy35]

It isn't meant as a look down on or talk down to.  What I don't understand is why folks can't put the energy into what we have and make it work.  

HTC expressed their reasons for the change at the time.  Clearly something is working as they've not gone back.

If there are so many people wanting it that way then why not get them together and go fill one of those empty arenas where you could intercept a big bomber raid etc.

As near as I can tell we need to adjust to the times.  And with what we have that seems quite easy.

What folks don't seem to recall is what the MA had evolved into prior to the change.  Again HTC expressed their reasons for the change and what they were seeing in the MA at the time was part of their reasoning.

[sgt203]

Not an attempt to Hijack but...

Is it really the old MA everyone really wants or could it be a result of all the stagnant maps..

I liked the old MA, I like the two arenas also as long as I can play its all good.

Could it be better YES!!!.

But is it really the old MA we need back or to just bring some of the things from the old MA (mainly maps.. FT Maps etc etc) into the newer areanas.

I have to cast a vote yes to the old MA simply because of the same old maps being used over and over and over.

As Gunner suggested a LW arena with the old Large Maps wouldnt be a bad thing in my opinion as you would still have LW arenas small maps, Mid War Arena Early War arena, AVA, Special Events and the DA.

More choices to satisfy the consumers cant be that bad  

[sgt203]

This was posted by HT a while back and this probably still stands so most likely this thread is going to make no diofference whatsoever. This was in response to another post.

Originally posted by hitech
1 question. And one statement.

We now commonly cross 820 people online, and we are continuing to grow at a rapid pace. How do you see 1000 ,2000,5000 people in 1 arena playing let alone the tech problems in doing that.

Since we have made the split arena, every piece of data has been better.

# of deletes per month has been down.
# of new accounts has been up
% of players converting from free accounts to paying is substantial up.
average number of hours player per person is up.

So the answer to your question did the arena split work, I can absolutly state
it has worked exceeding well.

Finally.
In all your long winded post, no where do you even begin to touch upon the real issue of community / peer pressure/ meeting new people.

So is the current system perfect. Nope nothing is , always looking for ways to do it better.

But you might as well forget about the idea of going back, because it isn't going to happen.

[Flayed1]

Well I have to say that part about average # of hours per player going up don't apply to me..  I went from over 100 hours a month to next to nothing.. I tried to make the new system work but something about it is just off... I find the biggest problem for me beyond missing the old MA is the lack of an update to the strat syatem..  I'm not a furballer though I do like to do it some times but I really liked a good bomber mission.  The way some parts of the strat system have been tweeked and at the same time most of it ignored has made any real attempt at strat play pointless...

 The other day my brother and I made an hour and a half long bomb run deep behind NME lines and almost compleatly smashed rooks grunt training but it had been resuped befor we were even 3/4 of the way back to base..  I have to ask shouldn't it take longer to rebuild an entire factory than it takes to blow it up? Not to mention the joke that the HQ is sence it was Ahmm "FIXED"  as far as HQ go's it went from one extream (get bombed part way and can't fix it) to the other of (Bomb the crap out of it and is fixed in 5 to 10 minuits)....

  I've actually started paying $15 a month to play EVE online for my strat play and was just about to let my account expire here, even put a post on the squad site saying I was leaving but just couldn't quite do it because of them and the fact that I've played this great game for years.  But even when I log on because I want to shoot at someone I sit in the tower looking at the map wondering what I want to do that would actually be meaniingfull to my side and always coming up with the same answer, not much other than go join a furball some where and that to me get's boring real fast..

I've tried to be suportive and make the changes work but there is something missing.

 More planes and GV's are great but I feel AH just needs a big face lift in the strat play department.

[Anyone]

Originally posted by BaldEagl


 

1.  All of the large maps accomodated all types of play, be it vehicle battles, CV battles, buffing or furballing.  Many of the smaller maps do not.  Try to find a good GV battle on NDIsles outside of tank town, try high alt buffing in Beta, try CVing in Mid-Mesa.  You can't, therefore when those maps are in play those styles of play are out.  Other cases exist and when the same map is up in all arenas and doesn't support your preferred style of play it can be frustrating.

2.  Avoid the over-crowding/ganging.  On the big maps people were able to spread out.  You could fly to specific areas for the furball or others for some good one-on-ones.  With the overcrowded small maps a good one-on-one is a true rarity.  Being ganged is the norm.  Similarily, milkrunners didn't get their own arenas.  They had to co-exist with the rest of the player base, therefore there were others out spoiling the milk.

3.  The maps were generally more diverse.  We've lost fighter town, the protected tank town, those long runs of VB's away from from most airfields, multiple CV task groups, in-land rivers and many other features that added to the game.  Few of these features can be accomodated on the smaller maps due to size/space considerations.

4.  NOE missions.  I never do them but others enjoyed this aspect of the game.  It's a near impossibility now with the overcrowding.  There is rarely an element of surprise in the existing arenas.

There's a few and I'm sure I'll think of a few more.

well said... HTC just doesnt get it.

[Kazaa]

Feel the love

[Larry]

I like the main arenas because it makes playing on dialup alot better.

[Kazaa]

Originally posted by Larry
I like the main arenas because it makes playing on dialup alot better.

lol

[storch]

I love the whine posts from players in the many flock of seagulls squads (BoPs).  the one by flayed above is a good example, heartwarming stuff that.

there are strat squads in the game that do what you guys do, do it with far fewer players, create an atmosphere of competition and often accomplish their goals.

the first one that comes to mind are the blind bats with perhaps 30 players who consistently drive the strat game for the rook team.  the second would be the 9thGIAP which do the same for which ever country they play for.  these squads are proficient strat GV and furball players individually as opposed to the FoSGs or the 68th guys which are merely a gaggle unskilled gangers and runners.

if it takes dividing the arena even further to prevent the game from sliding downhill I'm for it.

what we had in the past with 90+ FoSGs running from undefended base to undefended base taking out all means of effective resistence from the opposing team prior to steam rolling towns was only fun for the mindless shed killers and not for the majority of the players.  

I'm glad HTC did something about that unhealthy and unsportsman like behavior.  now the FoSGs and those of their ilk are limited to two dozen or so players and those players seem to simply lack the skill to cope with three or four skilled and determined players.

continue the whines please, it's music to my eyes.

[Larry]

Originally posted by Kazaa
lol

What did I say that was so funny? Was it the dialup part because I bet playing on sat. would be alot more "fun".

I have dial up I have to deal with it. 300 people in one room is alot better then 800. There is alot less lag in the new MA and I like it.