How many here are "long-timers".

[BaldEagl]

First this isn't meant to be a punt, just a final analysis on this thread after giving it plenty of time to be responded to.

We had 104 responses.  To make it easier I'll use 100 to eliminate a couple of duplicate entries.

If we assume there are somewhere just over 6000 people in the AH universe (probably a little low but close enough based on the lowest ranks seen in the arenas) and that 5% make up the vocal majority of the AH community that visit the BBs (according to many posts I've read) then there are 300 BBs users.  If we further assume that the BBs users represent a cross-section of the AH player base (a big assumption), then 1/3 of all players are "long-timers".

Lower than my initial 50% estimate and probably actually closer to 25% due to assumptions but still a substantial number.

Of course this isn't scientific by any means but should be directionally correct.  

I know that of my small 7 member squad at least 3 were former AWers and only 1 other than myself participates in the BBs.

[Raven3353]

You bunch of noobs are making me feel way too old. I was Rave ::IAF:: cpid 3353 late 93 on GEnie and paying the big bucks. I remember Vortex and especially (ready for a flashback bud?) his CO Athos and the rest of the Musketeers, as well as vaguely remembering Nobaddy, Grits and Lone Wolf.

Started with the old Microprose like some of the other "old timers" and did h2h on Falcon 3.0 quite a bit back then. Here's a short list for the Nostalgic... (Vortex actually took this Camp off so the rest of us could get some kills, and to thank him, I left his rank that camp off)

Nobaddy...were you cpid 5553? Lone Wolf...cpid 220?

Been off for a long while, but thinking to get going again...

FINAL SCORES - AIR WARRIOR

CAMPAIGN 102 - December 10, 1993 - January 7, 1994


Arena 1 Individual Scores:

Fighter Scores as of Fri Jan  7 14:35:55 1994
Rank   Score  Country  Ship  Handle                   Mail
   1   601745    B     4233 Greycap      JG 54          R.STATHAM
   2   578797    A     6540 ^ZYfly^ -AW-                R.FULTON2
   3   489117    A     3988 Splash ::IAF::                M.MCGOWEN
   4   478008    B     3488 Phantom      JG 54         G.SMITH14
   5   402224    C      565 Tarkus SL/FL-I **BS**   M.SPENCER3
   6   359863    A     4717 TOMCAT ::IAF::              T.BIFULCO
   7   359835    A     3822 +-}--Hell-----*XO*         S.SARKISIAN1
   8   350662    B     3422 Doom         JG 54           M.HOBUSS
   9   305829    A      937 IconoClast                      S.FORBEN
  10   272530    C     4989 ToMMnatr>FUBAR XO< T.CHRISTIE1
  11   227445    B     5769 Shark        JG 54           L.RABURN
  12   214049    C     4419 Rasta CO Black Sheep  C.MENDOZA
  13   207039    A     3353 Rave       ::IAF::            R.DURHAM
  14   203708    B     4276 COLORADO     JG 54      D.WILLIAMS4
  15   201549    A     4219 Hidalgo ::IAF::              R.CAVOLA
  16   185342    B     3683 Proteous     JG 54         D.VANDERWAL1
  17   179743    B     5826 Joker -UFO- BL              J.SAMACICIA
  18   173010    B     4243 BADER                          M.FALLON1
  19   168083    B     6422 maque                         G.MACDONALD7
  20   161005    A     2268 RamDog   *XO* JG26   P.HARGETT
  21   155554    B     6064 Rip          JG 54             T.BURMEISTER
  22   153263    C     6008 PropWash L/FL-B **BS**   R.SIMPSON11
  23   137309    B     5017 Gator        JG 54           J.KIMMERLY1
  24   137022    B     2819 Der Bubba    JG 54       J.KENNEDY15
  25   130264    A     5842 +-}--PRIMATE-------      M.MCMANUS1
  26   125880    C     5545 Buzzard                       F.GOSS
  27   124198    B     6687 Submission -UFO- A     G.SIEVERS
  28   123544    C     4781 BigJim LtCol FL-C**BS**  J.HARRISON32
  29   119921    A     6609 +-}--ATHOS------         VALHALLA
  30   113805    C     3843 Sabre                         R.TIMBLIN1

             6913    A     6533 -)-Vortex---            

Arena 1 - Team Scores:

Country   Missions    Kills   Fighter/Bomber Pnts   Planes Lost
   A       13206      6882    5379288/4594171         9322
   B       11893      6925    5727542/2612135         7917
   C       13085      6407    3927892/1322323         9839

Fighter Squadrons as of Fri Jan  7 14:35:55 1994
    Score       Squad       Name
 3021686  5910  JG 54 "The Green Hearts"
 1735641  4374  Imperial Air Force ::IAF::
  850554   4419  Black Sheep <>
  771716   6609  +-}--MUSKETEERS-----
  699230   5191  UFO
  555809   565   <>
  405776   1443  BLACK SHEEP <>
  405203   4937  JG26 (Abbeville Boys)
  345854   5894  FUBARS   13   207039    A     3353 Rave       ::IAF::            R.DURHAM

[StuB]

I started AW sometime in '92 or '93 on GEniE, I think. I remember thinking "cool, They lowered it to $6.00 an hour! I can afford that!".

Then CRS(?) offered it for $3.00 an hour which was totally awesome.

I also tried Delphi....wherever I could play cheapest.  Then AOL came along and you could play for "free" since it was included in the AOL subscription...BUT....it was separate from all the other arenas.  It sucked because it started fragmenting the AW community...and then you also had all of the new versions of AW coming out, further fragmenting the AW community because PC's and their accessories weren't as cheap as they are now.  

I was a member of The Damned back then and we were having a heck of a time dealing with who was here or there.....and then we also had people switching to WB and that promising new sim, AH,  that was in beta and you could fly for free.

It was crazy.  As a trainer in AW I was keeping multiple services so I could access the various versions on AW...plus I was keeping a WB's account so I could fly with my squad mates...as well as a AH beta account.  Then there was the squad message board flare up and finally EA killing AW.  I had visited Kesmai down in Charlottesville and made friends with the people there.  I hung out with them at the '96 Con and kept in touch with them.  How could this happen?!?!?!

AH went to the production version and it helped fill the void, so to speak, but I was getting burned out and I had alot of stuff going on and I decided that it would be better to put my family first and step away from it all.  

5 Years later I got sucked back in after my oldest asked me for a flight sim and I thought "I bet AH would be good for him....realistic....free to d/l and install....and we can do h2h if he likes it."  Then, like a crack head finding a rock in their carpet, I decided to activate the 2 week trial....

It's tough to be a "newb" again....but it's great to see all the old hands.  It's like being home again.

[Ack-Ack]

Originally posted by BaldEagl

Since Tour 12 ended 1/31/01 then tour 1 must have ended on 2/28/00.  Since the first tours were beta and other sim's were still alive then lets use tour 12 as the beginning so the question is, how many have played flight sims since 1/1/01 or earlier.  

Started in '93 with AWDOS until the bitter end before finally making the move to AH at the tail end of Tour 7.  


ack-ack

[Yeager]

Yeager -- currently taking a break from the game (break number 5).  Been playing since day one open beta.  I will return again.

[NoBaddy]

Originally posted by Raven3353


Nobaddy...were you cpid 5553? Lone Wolf...cpid 220?

Been off for a long while, but thinking to get going again...

[/B]

Yes and I believe yes, as well. LW is still around also. I have seen at least 1 old time Muskie here.....Kumori I believe. The Muskies were some of my favorite enemies. Guys like Athos, Rapier, Bman....those were fun fights with good folk. Of course, back in those days, the game had much more of a "small town" feel. I can remember Sunday evening Bland squad nights. The Warhawks would put up 20 guys, the Muskies 5 or 6. The Damned would put maybe 3 up in Cland to oppose (the arena limit was only 32 ). I used to get the crap kicked out of me...and love every minute of it.

[NoBaddy]

Originally posted by Lone Wolf
Hmmmmm...not sure one town can take SB, NB, LW, and the Chief Putz in Charge (not HT....but Heater) :>
LW

COD...I do love it when we put Heater in charge. He is always the first to die and everyone gets multi-kills off his 6.

[Raven3353]

Wanna know whats the worst for this old timer? I still have my CHPro Flightstick and CH Pro Pedals. Pedals need a new pot, but haven't had to upgrade that hardware since AWDos days...

Either good hardware or lack of stress

[Hamish]

I started Warbirds in 97 or 98, flew there for a while, and then came here during beta sometime. I flew under a couple of different handles, finally settling on Hamish for a long time. took a 3 or so year break, and am now flying again, under ElHeffe, and i'm too lazy to get my old handle back, and don't want to lose what few perks i've finally saved up after flying a few weeks.

regards,

[Dutchie]

Started playing AH mid 2000 (tour 6). Had several handles:

airecoil
remie
apar
dutchie

[NoBaddy]

Originally posted by Raven3353
Wanna know whats the worst for this old timer? I still have my CHPro Flightstick and CH Pro Pedals. Pedals need a new pot, but haven't had to upgrade that hardware since AWDos days...

Either good hardware or lack of stress

Good hardware? Yes. But....

Sounds like your fights must be kinda wimpy.

[COndor06]

Now we are going to find out what old guys means. My first sim was F-18 Interceptor On the Commodore Amiga 500 in 1987.

It produced 640 x 400 (using interlacing) graphics if you had a monitor instead of a TV. The Amiga did have some great sound capabilities. It used digital sound, through 4 separate channels.

(Sound Blaster doesn’t have 4 separate digital channels.) The sound was pumped through two audio outputs, with 2 channels assigned to each one. This let the Amiga produce true stereo sound.




Aaaahhh  the good ole days

[NoBaddy]

Originally posted by COndor06
Now we are going to find out what old guys means. My first sim was...

Early '80s...Spitfire Ace on the Atari 800. Looking back...really sad.

[HomeBoy]

Been here since there were about four airplanes and it was free.  There were some B17's flying around with no guns.

[shamroc]

Started with DOS Airwarrior in 92.  Switched to Confirmed Kill in 95
(which became Warbirds 9x),then switched to AH1 in 2000.  Quit the online
stuff for 2 years then flew sporadically in Warbirds for the next couple
of years.  Came back to AH2 in 2004,and have been here ever since.  

Aside from the above Airwarrior (and sons of Airwarrior) type games,
I have played these extensively over the past 15 years

Arcade Game Red Baron (circa 1980 - hooked me for life)
MS Flight Simulator 4-10
Flight Unlimited I/II
Falcon 3.0/4.0/Allied Force
Microprose B-17
Aces over the Pacific/Europe/1946
Fighter Duel
MS Combat Flight Simulator 1/2
SU-27 Flanker/2.0/2.5
Jane's ATF, IAF, WWII, Marine Fighters, Longbow I/II, F-15 and F-18
Rowan's Mig Alley
F/A 18 Hornet
Lock On Modern Air Combat
IL-2/Forgotten Battles/Aces/1946

Nowadays, I mainly play AH2, but on the side ,I play LOMAC,
Falcon AF, IL-2 1946 and MS FS 2004/X


Worst Flight Sim Ever ? My vote has to go with Rowan's Flying Corps
(aka "Flying Corpse")

I think the most promising (but overhyped/fell flat on it's face) combat
flight sim of all time was Phillips Fighter Duel - that one is the
biggest letdown I've ever seen.  Honorable Mention: Janes' WWII.

If I had a one-lifetime-request to ask HTC, it would be to make a
Korean War Arena - even if it only had a small handful of Jets (perked)
mixed with the late WWII prop planes that made it into conflict.

I very much miss the F-86 and Mig-15 of old Airwarrior, and would really
like to see them again along with old classics like the Meteor,
P-80, F9F, Banshee, and of course, the incomparable A-26 Invader :-)

On being an oldtimer equating with skill : I find there's little corrolation
between years spent online and being a Great Stick.  It just seems to click with
some people early on, and others never at all.  I've seen some guys play 10+
years and they never really get great with fighters - seen others become uber
aces after 6 months of play.  I have also found that there is a heavy
corrolation between heavy online alcohol use and inhibited learning curve :-)

You also have to mix-it-up constantly to get really good - if you do nothing
but milk runs and sneak bases, you'll stagnate fast.  You also have to
film your battles and analyze what you did wrong, and change tactics accordingly.
Reading up on the subject (especially Shaw's book) greatly helps.

In the end, being around a long time gives you a certain indescribable depth,
and more often than not, makes you a real fun character online (regardless of
how Good a Stick you are).  I've been at it +/- 15 years now, and I'm really
only half decent at best I think.

Shamroc