Suggestion to Make Stats More Meaningful

[Zazen13]

That's a nice appeal to authority.   On the flip side, I used to gamble to supplement my income, and I promise you that random chance does not mean probable future outcomes cannot be anticipated.

Gambling on games of chance is nothing like betting on games of skill where you are one of the active participants...They have totally different expectations and degrees of direct control over outcomes.

[Zazen13]

That's a nice appeal to authority.   On the flip side, I used to gamble to supplement my income, and I promise you that random chance does not mean probable future outcomes cannot be anticipated.
Yes, it is very likely they will repeat their past performance.  But if we are assuming a probabilistic approach in our decision over whether or not to rearm, then we don't change k/d probabilities simply because we landed one kill; we are not talking about large deviations.  Moreover, we both know that games of skill are not immune to probabilistic analysis, e.g. Baseball, so I don't quite understand the relevance of AH being a game of skill.  I'm not saying that whether or not a pilot lands a kill or dies is a matter of random chance.  I'm saying that just because you landed a kill and you average 1:1 K/D, that doesn't mean you're worse than 50/50 to kill or die when you take off.  Small deviations in performance happen all of the time in this game, and sometimes in ways that are totally out of our control (like the tail-less Niki that fell into my windscreen last night ).

It is only if landing one and only one kill takes priority over K/S that there is no benefit to rearming when your aircraft is undamaged and you landed a kill.

In games of skill, all factors "out of your control" aka good/bad "luck" even out over time. Leaving only the element of skill as the sole variable that determines outcomes. While it may not necessarily be statistically harmful to rearm in that situation it is also almost certainly not going to be helpful by the same token. Therefore, it would be better to just land and be guarenteed to improve or, at the very least not make worse, your K/T, since your K/D and the K/S are going to wash in the end.

[JETBLST]

Stats will never mean anything.

LOL  I would add to this...  They mean EVERYTHING and NOTHING at the same time.  Depends on the player.

As for lil ol me, I have worked hard in every dicipline (Fighter, Attack, Bomber, GVs), to get fairly good at them all.  (under 1000).  Points and Score for me has been, as stated above, a sort of, how low can I get this score.  It's fun.  Score potato though?  Nah.  Too much gaming the game and too many chores to do.  Again as stated above.

At the end of the day though, with so many individuals with individual schedules and such a variance in ability to spend time on the game, I don't think you could ever get an accurate stat or a meaningful stat. 

I would say meaningful stats has to be in the eye of the beholder.

[WarTooth]

Zazen,

>> my joy comes from "perfect" hops

Your concept of a perfect hop has stuck with me deeply over the last few days.  I think you are right on concerning peoples various motivations.

In observing those pilots that have "good" stats I am beginning to be able to read into them how "expert" they are in getting potent stats but perhaps are much to be desired in the piloting skills area.  One "good" pilot for instance is rated as:

-	Score	Rank
Kills per Death + 1	23.00	4
Kills per Sortie	1.28	477
Kills Hit Percentage	12.98	69

To interpret and compare a bit: So you have been playing this game years and only get 23 kills in a month yet are ranked 4th?  I have 125+ kills, avg. about 1 kill\sortie, hit% .047 and have a fighter rank of 1304.

I tried mouthing off a bit, trash talking trying to get some of these "pilots" to engage me but was completely unsuccessful.  As Mr. T says, enough of that Jibber Jabber! :-)

Zazen, really your concept of "the perfect sortie or hop" for me I think is the most satisfying stat.


Thanks for posting,

WT

[WarTooth]

I should add the obvious before being flamed...

For a time I kept an Excel spreadsheet and tracked every aspect of every flight and the results.  I gave this up as it made the game a chore.

What I found is that if anyone wanted to fly sterile flights they can mass the stats as the player I indicated or better.  Easily.  With little skill...I did.  This goes back to Zazen's comment on all the differing reasons people play this game.

WT

[BaldEagl]

Wartooth, to be honest you will never be able to make the stats more meaningful.  I used to fly alone into 10 on 1's and fight till I died (I still do sometimes).  My K/D and K/S weren't that good, as you can imagine.  On the other hand, controlling myself and the engagements I accept I've been able to get as high as 12 K/D and 3 K/S.  Does that mean I suddenly turned into a better a pilot?  Nope.

This camp I started over 6 K/D and 2 K/S mostly flying my beloved Spit.  Now I'm barely over 2 K/D and under 1.5 K/S as I've been flying all sorts of planes (30+ so far this camp) into all types of situations.  Does that mean I lost all my skills (the few I have)?  Nope.

My point is that the only stat that's worthwhile is the fun stat, and that's not posted on the scores page.

[WarTooth]

BaldEgl,

>> My point is that the only stat that's worthwhile is the fun stat, and that's not posted on the scores page.

I think I am coming to agree with this more and more. 

WT

[Anaxogoras]

To interpret and compare a bit: So you have been playing this game years and only get 23 kills in a month yet are ranked 4th?  I have 125+ kills, avg. about 1 kill\sortie, hit% .047 and have a fighter rank of 1304.

Sounds like that player doesn't have much time to fly.  He's only ranked 4th in K/D, not in the general fighter category.  You have to do a lot better than ~1 K/S to be ranked 4th over all in fighters.

You, on the other hand, have already spent ~60 hours in fighter sorties this tour!
Your stats:
Kills per Death + 1     1.00     1352
Kills per Sortie             0.57     1641
Kills per Hour of Flight     2.34     2970
Kills Hit Percentage     4.85     1421
Kill Points               26182.24  169

Most of your kills are in the P-39Q, which is impressive in itself.  It's sad to say, but the easiest way to improve your rank would be to fly a more uber plane.   Glad you're having fun.