33, to promote the opposite is to nurture a generation of timid scared pilots that never fight.
It's not an either/or situation. It's a continuum. You have to have a good balance of both.
You can't just say "furballing is stupid" because without it most of you wouldn't find any fights.
Also, I think you're falling into the mentality that complains about "furballers" without really considering what it means and what it refers to.
Diving into a fight mindlessly is one thing. Finding the only fight in the entire arena and going in, getting too tied down to run, extend, or get ready for a "fresh" (i.e. newly reupped, newly arrived) con higher and faster is not furballing.
You entered into a localized fight. You had SA and you had a plan in mind. Whether other folks find your fight while it's in progress does not mean it's a "furball" (a term used far too much with negative connotations on this BBS). If you're the only fight in the arena, others will show up. You might call it a furball, but it's not. It's jus the natural flow of the gameplay to seek out the enemy. That will result in dogfights, clustering of friends and foe, in a localized area.
Nothing to do with dar at all, just debating the comment you've posted. You've made very clear your opinion on the matter, but consider that several members of my squadron have said that they went into the AvA (recently) and essentially clubbed baby seals for a long time before getting bored and leaving (my words, not theirs). After a certain point, playing timid so nobody knows where the fight is or where to go deteriorates flight skill more than actually mixing it up. Now we loop all the way back to my continuum comment, and you have to find the right balance between the 2.
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Krusty, let's first get ONE thing straight here. I'm not complaining about anything, I'm just laughing at the people who are complaining about the lack of fighting. There are fights in the AvA, believe it or not. So what if you can't find one precisely when you want to? The same "problem" exist in the MA, it's just that some people come here with a purposeful intent to complain about the gameplay in AvA. That, is distasteful and only reflect on their own lack of imagination to go where there are fights to be found.
Forgive me but I consider it rather immature to up, look for a fight and complain about not finding one. If I were that desperate for a fight, I'd go to the DA. Instead, I'm in the AvA, enjoying the gameplay, teamwork and comeraderie with my friends. It's up to each and everyone to decide what is most important to them, just don't come complaining about a problem that don't exist.
Now imagine a group of guys who just enjoy flying together, achieving a set goal (besides just fighting) together. If they find a fight along the way, that's great! But they don't expect it nor take it for granted. Their main interest is to fly and fight together, because that's what they consider the most fun regarless of what opposition they may run into. No opposition would be boring, yes. But there is equal, if not more, thrill in returning to base without damage having survived a dangerous mission deep into enemy airspace.