This was posted in another thread meant to be a response to Grits regarding setups but as I was writing it, it morphed more into an epiphany, of sorts. So, without further ado:
I've traditionally supported additions to the IJ planeset to bring in more opposition players in a Pac setup. But, to be honest, if an F4U fan, like me, is to see his ride featured in the AvA on more than a rare occurance, HTC would have to model the rarest of late war IJ aircraft (if what I hear most often cited by the playerbase is correct). That's something HT and co are loathe to do for two reasons. First, the smaller player base of Pac war oriented players and secondly their stated desire (with some exceptions, now and again) to model the more commonly used equipment from the war over the more "exotic" and rare.
I think the closest we ever came to having a pure Pac setup that provided something for all fans of that theater was one where we set the Axis side to have pretty much access to every IJ plane modeled off of every island they had a base on and with one additional IJ fleet (cruiser flagship, I believe) and the Allies side to have nothing but the earlier planeset (both US and British - USN, RAAF, USAAC) from the islands closest and the CVs and left the late-war set in a few limited fields further back This made encounters between IJ planes and late war Allied planes more rare and forced Allied players who preferred certain late-war rides to ferry their planes in and practice traditional tactics in their planes to survive.
The complaint that preceded the exodus of Axis pilots that week was that Allied players were doing just that. Ferrying F4Us to the battle, BnZing and ... omg *gasp* ... even refueling and rearming at Allied bases and ships to keep their late war ride in the fight! Eventually VF-17 had to fill in the gaps, switching to fly IJ on one of the most enjoyable and creative, if difficult, setups the arena had seen to date for an F4U jockey. And even then, one or two persistant complainers from the Axis side had the F4U removed from play. IIRC, the staffer who designed and oversaw that setup and who gave in to Axis player demands to remove the F4U cited "Allied player abuse of the design." VF-17 flew the rest of the sutup that week, in spite of what once was considered by them to be actually a preferred enviroment to the MA (even with the pain of ferrying F4Us to the fight) having been turned into yet one more AvA battle with no real place for VF-17.
I tried to be realistic. Hell, I served as staff in the CT. I *know* the playerbase, the planeset and the game design would make a VF-17 friendly setup in the AvA a rare occurance. And rarer it got. So rare you really never see it now. And I doubt the re-formed squad would get behind making the AvA the exception to their persona and flip VF-17 to become a dedicated Sentai for all pure pac sets (like we once even considered - way back). Members of AH's virtual VF-17 squadron joined it because they were fans of either/both the Corsair and/or the historical squadron.
So my frustration with many player created difficulties in the AvA is a long and ... frankly ... tiresome one. There's always been potential there but, unfortunately, I discovered that players who really feel the desire to experience historical immersion in AH (like me) are actually rarer than I previously imagined. Even the ones who claim to like it until it presents too much of a personal challenge or presents too much of a threat to what surfaces as their true main concern - winning the boardgame or having admirable gaming scores, are the exception to the overall community example. (Those who read anything personal into that probably have reason to take it that way, even though it's really a blanket statement covering the entire AvA community.)
I've decided to stop spending a great deal of my time fostering the AvA for now. I wish the current group of staffers and the current dedicated player base the best of luck and I will be stopping in to play from time to time. But VF-17 is (and always was meant to be) a dedicated AHII F4Ua1 Navy squadron created for players who want to enjoy, as much as the game allows, a virtual version of it's namesake. Ironically, the AvA (and it's predecessor the CT) hasn't provided but three memorable instances of that in the five (broken) years of experience I've had there. Sadly (and, honestly it blows my mind to admit this), the MA actually gives my squadron a better chance to enjoy this game ... as VF-17 "The Jolly Rogers" ... even if it's over a map shaped like a uterus and against Russian LA7s and US P-51s (well more P-39s this month). This isn't a protest, it's an awakening. Like I said, I'm a realist. There will never be a practical method of making the AvA a home for VF-17. I think I'd have better luck trying to convince HiTech that TOD/CT needs a Pacific version.
