Originally posted by Grits
I need to give a little history for those that were not around in the AH1 days. The Combat Theater, as the AvA was called back then, had a normal nightly population of 20-30 with big squad nights pushing 50 or more. We had base captures, and JG3 was the best at it (and we hated them for it). They did it by coming in as an organized group and suppressing the base, IE vulching, porking, and that is OK that is what you do to capture a base. There was no structured reason for them to do it as there is now, they did it because one, it was an easy squad mission, and two, they were good at it. Sometimes HUGE fights erupted at bases they tried to capture that lasted hours. Sometimes they tried to sneak quiet bases.
At that time the CT also had other dedicated Axis squads, like DrEvil's Death Squad. The axis in general was out numbered, but not always. I, as a side switcher, spent probably 70% of my time flying Axis back then but even when numbers were low we would have 8-10 on each side. I dont remember exactly when it was, but some time before the introduction of AHII JG3 left the arena. Some core members, Storch, TK, N7, VWE, and a few others I forgot I'm sure, formed JG54. This was the heyday of the CT (now the AvA). Then came AHII.
With AHII, lots of people did not have the computer to run the game. Also, there were only a few maps, none of them our old Combat Theater maps, and they were not good for AvA use. The lack of proper AvA suitable maps at the startup of AHII really killed the AvA, those that were there at the time will remember. Between the higher requirements to run AHII and the bad map situation, the AvA population plummeted. Squads could no longer take bases because there just were not enough people to do it. Even the guys that came from JG3 and formed JG54 who were so good at base capture, stopped doing it and along with the arena morphed into primarily a furball squad. They had to, the low numbers would not really support anything else. I personally liked it, because thats all I wanted to do was furball, but it happened because the numbers were too low to do any organized squad missions, not because that is what the arena was designed for or that is what everyone in there wanted. Some of the best fights ever were over base captures that teetered in the balance.
So, all of you who think of the AvA as an "historic furball arena" that is what it became out of necessity from the low numbers, but that is not what it was in the AHI days. The AvA staff, it seems to me, has designed a way to reintroduce base capture, and organized squad participation, but in a focused and organized way instead of the random way it was back then.
you sum'ed it up quiet well Grits............
alot of other greenhorns got a mouth full to say about something they have no clue about, and only know of what they have experienced in the last year or less, including CM staff members........
Gremlin, Big Max, Wotan, Shane, JG3, Redd etc....... in the beginning of CT them were some great times......
quoting my self:
really is nothing more to say, it is what it is........the whiners were absolutely loud enough to cause or force the Avs A staff to make a change....the only thing is they did it to make a better arena , for getting more people to fly in the AvsA, they just did not take into account for all the side effects these new ideas would bring to this once "wonderful place to fly/participate"
I feel the AvsA Staff strive hard to find a balance of good gameplay & Fights....... as this venture proceeds to move forward, I am sure or least I hope Soda, Fork, and other AvsA Staff find better ways to tweak the campaigns to be better for all.
as for the following posters in this thread who keep hollering that this is not a place for 1vs1 fights, or Good fights, or whatever names of different types of "fights" you can come up with.
get a freaking clue about what once was, and evolved into and then evolved into what we have now.........
as for the lemmings who holler " This is not the DA, or "The DA is where you should go"
nobody ever said it was the DA, handsomehunkes and we go to the DA when we get the urge..........
This place ( the CT / AvsA ) was a place that had great batles, had great furballs, had great fights be it 5 on 4, or 2 vs 2, or 1 vs 1, or 8 vs 3. It had people who mostly cared about the way they fought and presented them selves to their opponent on the opposite side of the fight...
a small few everyone dispised, but most everyone showed a bit of courtesy, respect, ethics.......
I hope and pray very hard that this portion that I last described, somhow finds the way to the top of all the other BS, and this place can become a great place for all.........
and yes, at times people who are all about the points, or K/D or K/S or name in lights are the same people who bring the MA mentaility to the AvsA.......
so yes, at times it is like a mini MA
the only thing is it is that way now more so than it ever has been in 7 +/- years
I hope the AvsA Staff can pull it off........
