First Night Likes/Dislikes

[TheBug]

Let's hear 'em, now is the chance to speak up.  Trying to build an arena with a historical flavor, but an ease of playability to keep people coming back.     

Downtimes too short??

Hardness too high?

Etc....??


Seemed to be mostly furballing tonight, so there might not be much input in regards to the capture aspect of the setup.  I really wanted to keep captures limited to concerted efforts, but if they are too difficult I am afraid people won't even try.  I think capture attempts can generate some of the best fights so I do want there to be a desire to attempt them.

Feedback appreciated. <S>

It is a beautiful map though.   

[Anaxogoras]

Hmmmm, the allies did a great job placing their rare fighters right next to the furball.  Consequently, they were not rare in the least.  Maybe have a restriction on side CO's about how close they can place their rare fighters to the nearest enemy base.  That way if you want to fly one, you have to ferry it over a significant distance.

But over all I love it!

[flatiron1]

did they not have spit I in North Africa? Hurri I sure is weak.

[Damionte]

I won't be able to give feedback on the difficulty of taking a base for another couple of days. Neither side has tried it yet.

No they didn't have spit I's in North Africa. The spitfires and hurri's stayed home for the BoB. The spit-V was the first to arrive in that theater.

[Anaxogoras]

Oh yeah, one more thing.  The sideswitching time should be longer than half an hour.

[Chilli]

I loved the hangar hardness for VHs.     One of my dislikes about base capture, in the past has been the amount of ordinance needed to prepare a base for capture.  Softer hangars are added incintive imho for the proper mixture of fighter and attacker cooperation.

Because of my hours of work, I still miss out on the battle portion and like some others log on to find some air to air combat, but hangar banging is a nice past time until someone is available.  In the off hours, it is important to leave the side change time short (just another side to the side balancing issue).

All in all I had fun.

[Trukk]

I like everything about it, except the huge radar coverage.  We seem to have gone from one extreme to another, where for awhile (back in the early BoA I think) radar was MA style and there was no BarDar which really did make it hard to find the fight, or even tell that there was anything going on at all.  Now on the front line, as soon as you lift you are on radar which pretty much restricts the gameplay to furballing.

MA range radar with BarDar IMO is the right balance.  You can see where the action is and where it's going, but there's enough leeway to encourage realistic missions (which is what I loved about the BoA).

The second thing, which isn't really an issue with the current radar but on the odd time you are out of radar coverage is to set the icons to 3k.

[Shifty]

So far so good Bug

[TheBug]

I like everything about it, except the huge radar coverage.  We seem to have gone from one extreme to another, where for awhile (back in the early BoA I think) radar was MA style and there was no BarDar which really did make it hard to find the fight, or even tell that there was anything going on at all.  Now on the front line, as soon as you lift you are on radar which pretty much restricts the gameplay to furballing.

MA range radar with BarDar IMO is the right balance.  You can see where the action is and where it's going, but there's enough leeway to encourage realistic missions (which is what I loved about the BoA).

The second thing, which isn't really an issue with the current radar but on the odd time you are out of radar coverage is to set the icons to 3k.

I like the reduced icons and at this point am of the opinion that the majority of players do also.  I think the radar may be a bit extreme though.  What is the MA range for radar.  Currently AvA is at 20 miles thinking about chopping that in half to 10 miles.   I was shooting for a MA feel, with a limited plane set, and a need for coordinated strikes to achieve captures.  I have no doubts my first attempt at the settings will need adjustment due to my limited experience.  But knowing what I am shooting for, I look to the AvA players to help me solve this puzzle. <S>

[TheBug]

Oh yeah, one more thing.  The sideswitching time should be longer than half an hour.

People will be people.    I am currently trying to overlook any people that may exploit the limited side changing time and focus on allowing the respectable people the opportunity to keep the arena balanced.  Time will tell if I'm a fool or not.   


Numbers stayed well balanced last night once things got underway. <S>

[TheBug]

Hmmmm, the allies did a great job placing their rare fighters right next to the furball.  Consequently, they were not rare in the least.  Maybe have a restriction on side CO's about how close they can place their rare fighters to the nearest enemy base.  That way if you want to fly one, you have to ferry it over a significant distance.

But over all I love it!

This one will take a bit more time to feel out.  I like having COs and giving them the opportunity for input and also the opportunity for mistakes to be made.  This player engagement (the COs, the side forums etc..) really helps give the arena some energy.  So back to your point, I don't like the idea of handcuffing too much.  Last night was mostly furballing, which just happened to be in the sector area of the Allied Spitfires.  They did not use this advantage to capture any terrain, so it really didn't have an impact on the arena out side of the furball.  So moving them back only would seem to alter the furball conditions.  I am hoping to have these wars be something more than furballs.  So I would rather see the Spitfire base that happens to be close to the front, get captured.  That would be the risk the Allied CO chose to make.  At this point I still consider it the responsibility of the Axis to not allow the Allies to exploit this advantage.  Currently I am thinking the issue lies more in the hardness, downtime and amount of troops than the placement of rare planes.  But like I said I would like to see this play out a bit more and would like more input/opinions regarding the rare planes.

[Damionte]

I don't like to critique or advise the other side while we're actively fighting. I feel it tips my hand.

What really held off the Axis was their choice of targets and the hardness. You guys spread bombs all over our front line.

Hardness is a factor. Combined with the down times we have. Everything is tougher to kill but it only stays down 30 minutes. With the exception of the extreme front lie in the north where there are a couple bases right on top of each other, it's about a 20 minute flight or drive to get anywhere. So unless you take transports with you on the first strike you're going to find it hard to take a base. Having transports hanging around though means they run the risk of getting shot up. If you don't have them around or they get shot up, then by the time they get back the stuff you blew up will be back active again. Just in time for your initial strike craft to be low on fuel.

At least that is my concern. My craft all have just a 1 hour fuel load. You guys all have 2 hours so I guess that part is less of a concern for you.

As far as attacking those Allied fields in the middle, perhaps you should attack somewhere else. The important craft are there for a reason, it's the easiest place on our side to defend.

[captain1ma]

had a great time last night. didnt try taking base, due to distance to travel. no spawn points. love side switching time for purely ballance reasons. if theres a question, i got killed by my own squaddie several times last night. at this point no complaints.

[Damionte]

I'm not a huge fan of sidebalancing in general. I can understand others love of it though.

[TheBug]

I'm not a huge fan of sidebalancing in general. I can understand others love of it though.

Huh??  I don't follow you, sorry.