After 9 years...

[humble]

here in AH I'm very surprised to realize that the game overall is markedly worse then it was when it started. That isn't an "I'm quitting" or "back in the good old days" comment. It also doesn't mean that I have any (let alone all) the answers. I know that everything the powers that be do is with the intent to make the game "better", that doesn't mean it is. The simple reality is that the game was never better then the original beta is every aspect that counted. The player base was elite, the flight model complex subtle and unforgiving and game play wasn't hampered with all the add on garbage.

I realize that "back to the future" is impossible but I wonder if small map fighter (and tank) {no ords} only arena is possible. No buffs, no base capture no "score" system. Just a place for the guys who want to actually fight without anything to attract the lesser elements (and yes I'm an elitist snob).

[Bruv119]

you elitist scumbag   


Think its called the DA   

[AKHog]

The player base was elite, the flight model complex subtle and unforgiving and game play wasn't hampered with all the add on garbage.

You said it all right there. Back in beta almost every flight was a learning experience, going up against pilots who actually studied ACM. Now you have to look for good fights.

I think Aces High was once just an air combat simulator that only rewarded good ACM and skill. Now it has become a WW2 game that attracts all kinds of gamers and people who could care less about real ACM. The original probably had a very limited appeal to most online gamers.

My best memories are getting spanked over and over again by citabria and learning something on every flight. I would even go as far to say that the really good ACM 1v1 fights I've had over the years has helped my real life flying skills. Nowadays its just a lot more work to find that good fight.

[BaldEagl]

I realize that "back to the future" is impossible but I wonder if small map fighter (and tank) {no ords} only arena is possible. No buffs, no base capture no "score" system. Just a place for the guys who want to actually fight without anything to attract the lesser elements (and yes I'm an elitist snob).

Good luck with that whatever the idea.  Just look at todays DA for a clue.

[CAP1]

You said it all right there. Back in beta almost every flight was a learning experience, going up against pilots who actually studied ACM. Now you have to look for good fights.

I think Aces High was once just an air combat simulator that only rewarded good ACM and skill. Now it has become a WW2 game that attracts all kinds of gamers and people who could care less about real ACM. The original probably had a very limited appeal to most online gamers.

My best memories are getting spanked over and over again by citabria and learning something on every flight. I would even go as far to say that the really good ACM 1v1 fights I've had over the years has helped my real life flying skills. Nowadays its just a lot more work to find that good fight.

MY EXPERIENCE HAS been, that when you're looking for decent/good fights.......find those guys in the p38 that fly down low. look for the guy in the p40, or the spit1 or hurri1. sometimes, even the zekes, and f6f's.
 most i've run into in these planes fight like there;s no tomorrow.

 i'm still learning, and have only been here for about 3 years now, and even in that short time, i see things going downhill..........but i try to not let it affect me.......

[1pLUs44]

I find that if you bait them, spit pilots will usually give you a good fight. You just gotta avoid the HO's.

[pluck]

I think getting rid of large maps would be a step in the right direction.  If large maps kept, possibly making some form of chain order in which bases can be taking might be something as well.  I think what AH needs now more than ever is a stronger mechanism that encourages people to fight, rather than to look for undefended empty fields to pork.

 I think if AH were to move towards more of a war based them, then fights should be over towns or cities, which are apart from airfields.  This might set a better stage for bombers, having a larger targets to destroy, and might help to reduce some of the vulch fests.  Of course if it were to move more towards a war game, I would think there would also have to be some form of attrition or supply line features.

[Lusche]

I think getting rid of large maps would be a step in the right direction.  If large maps kept, possibly making some form of chain order in which bases can be taking might be something as well.

You don't remember that this approach was tried and failed?

[mensa180]

I still think that making start targets worth while is the key to promoting good fights.  Make things so important that they are worth defending, and fighters will come.

[Fulmar]

Remember 18 months ago when all you saw were threads wanting the large maps back like the old days?

[SunBat]

The DA would be closer to this if the perk system was implemented (even multiplied to where the better planes are even harder to get) and there were no externals.  As it is now, it is a place to give the less skilled players something to do that can't hang in the MA or have too short of an attention span.  I am not sayng that good sticks don't make appearances in the DA and some are there quite a bit it seems, but for the most part it is a draw to keep the weaker players happy.  It is certainly not what snaphook is describing.  Of course there will always be the picking and the whining in any open room, even if it only had P40B's.  The only way to fix that (that I can see) is to have a paid H2H option that have hosts who stay logged in and actively watch what is happening.  Then rules can be established and griefers can be booted.  When that happens, I think many older players and better sticks will have a place to go for refuge.

[humble]

A couple of comments....

1) The DA isn't a comparable environment at all....
2) You can't dictate game play artificially

I'm not against the "digital dirt" win the war approach and dont want to deprive those who are so inclined. I simply would like an alternative that more closely matches the game I grew up in. I believe that there is a large minority that feel the same way. I'd like to see an arena focused on combat with no "winnable" map, no base capture and no "score". where the ack is tuned to instant death (but carrier puffy ack is tuned to cotton candy). I think it would draw 200-300 a night during peak time...

[The Fugitive]

The problem is with the players, and I can't really see a way to set it up to change the way players play. No I'm not saying "play my way", but the player mentality has gone more towards the "Quake" type. Even back in the "old days" the buffs and GV fights where fun. Today too many bomb and bail, GV is strictly a spawn camp deal now with no real battles.....Mindano had that one base in the middle thats ALWAYS had a good battle going on. Also when there was a big GV battle, no buffs came in to shut it down, or a furball, buffs didn't kill FHs to kill that either.

Todays player mentality of running in screaming LEROY JENKINS !!!! is shows no style, nothing towards a battle, just going blasting until you need to reup and do it again. The quality of the fights are gone due to people just spraying and praying till dead and repeat.

How to fix it, I have no idea, but I sure do miss those battles, in the air and on the ground.

[shreck]

I can't say much about 9 years ago and played very little airwarrior for about two months, been in AH for 3 years i think! from what I remember about air warrior it seemed the same as this! The old timers seem to reminice about some GRAND chivalrous time in the digital skies, that in reality wasn't true then as it is not now!! The proof is in the DA and AvA pudding as if it was straight fighting with no score or "name in lights" desire that some wanted, they could get it in either of these arenas!! It's very easy to ask a good pilot to DA you and most likely, they will oblige! 

[zes]

I wonder if winning sectors through number of team kills per, rather than through base taking, would make a diff.  Has anything like that been tried?