I'm not sure if this whole thread is some sort of not-so-subtle-response to my thread a few below or what.
But, I'll pretend it's not and respond on its own merits.
I don't think anyone, including me, is wading into the MA soupbowl expecting to have fun 1v1's all night.
But, I think any vet, someone with some decent amount of time in the MA's, has experienced that series of events that somehow leads to an intense fight with just one other opponent.
I'm not talking about wading into a furball and 'ending up' as a 1v1. And I'm not talking about picking some dude at the fringes and having it work out that way.
I'm talking about the times when you were, for whatever reason, in a sector and along comes a single other con. And you get wrapped up in a fight. Why were you in that sector alone? Were you looking for a dogfight? Were you Buff hunting? Were you RTB? Were you AFK for a beer or head call? Does it matter?
You end up there, with your opponent. You roll and dive and climb and weave. You scissor. You blow your E, speed, alt...you have your flaps hanging out, you're a baby seal waiting to be clubbed...except your opponent is in the same position as you.
Then, out of the corner of your eye, deep in some turn with the stall horn blowing in your ear, you see a red flash. Another enemy con...somewhere...out there on the periphery. Where? Well, to find that out you'd have to take your eyes off your opponent, or maneuver to see the other guy. Either move, in this fight that you've invested several hard moments of your virtual life into, will give your opponent that small advantage that will end the fight badly for you.
You have a choice. 1. Stick with the fight your in. Best case: the opponent calls his friendly off and you haven't wasted the last few minutes of you life. 2. Maneuver to fight 2v1.
It's your choice. The plane is free. Your virtual life is free. In fact, the only thing you lose in this scenario is time. Well, time and the pleasure you have from finding out just how that fight would have turned out. Sort of like watching half a movie and having someone tell you how it ends. Or maybe TiVo'ing your favorite show/movie and then the TiVo quits 10 minutes before the end. Like the part you saw was awesome, but without that ending, all that watching is somehow unfullfilling.
That's the scenario I'm talking about. I've had it go both ways. I've had it start in unusual ways. But the thing is, when you have those fights that leave you physically shaking and tired afterwards, you really want another. And you tend to remember them...or at least I do. I haven't had alot, but I remember alot of the ones I've had. More importantly to me, I remember alot more that were interrupted by some chump that just couldn't stay out.
I'm not talking about the time you're about to wax some dude's bellybutton and his squaddie clears you off. I'm talking about the time where you're fully engaged and some knucklehead comes and just feels like he has to do his part because you're a red dot.
Then again, it's the MA. You've either had this happen to you or not. It either pisses you off when it happens or not. I've sort of figured out that the only thing that costs anything in this game, beyond the $15 I pay per month, is the time I invest in it. If time invested is not equal to a certain amount of fun, then the investment is poor. Sort of like, if I invest 2 hours to watch a movie but miss the last 5 minutes, perhaps that was a poor investment of 2 hours of my time.
I'm sure 1v1s exist everyday in the DA. That's not the point. The point is that you wade into the soupbowl, circumstance tosses you a great deal of fun, and then somebody snatches it away for whatever glory a kill carries. It used to be that you didn't have to look hard for those circumstances for fun. It has gotten harder. People say 'game play hasn't changed in 10 years! not since the dawn of flight sims!'. I gave you 3 concrete examples of how play has changed in Aces High 2 in the last year and a half. Concrete, quantifiable examples:
1. Large maps in the MA
2. DA furball lake
3. AvA war concept
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Toonces
