Helm: You're absolutely right about plane selection. The same planes, all the time. Do you know how rarely I even see a Spit8 or Spit9 anymore??? EVERY spit is a 16. EVERY 190 is a D9.
A classic example how perception (and opinion) can differ from actual LW MA gameplay
Plane selection hasn't become worse over the last 3 years (since I started to play),
au contraire: The once so ever dominant La-7 has become much more rare than it once had been.
Every Spit a Spit 16? Hardly:
Spitfire Mk I 162 kills 593 deaths
Spitfire Mk IX 3883 kills 3733 deaths
Spitfire Mk V 597 kills 1086 deaths
Spitfire Mk VIII 3771 kills 3906 deaths
Spitfire Mk XIV 565 kills 360 deaths
Spitfire Mk XVI 11864 kills 11041 deaths
Spit 16 does have ~56% of all Spitfire kills and ~53% of all Spitfire deaths.
Every 190 a D-9? Fw 190A-5 1659 kills 1606 deaths
Fw 190A-8 3973 kills 3742 deaths
Fw 190D-9 3776 kills 2816 deaths
Fw 190F-8 550 kills 866 deaths
190D-9 has ~ 38% of all 190 kills and ~ 31% of all 190 deaths - and that is even with the TA 152 excluded.
Note that the A8 has actually more kills & deaths than the D9...(all data current LW tour)
Sometimes I just wonder why I rarely see complains about the increasing number of P-51's - more kills & deaths than any other plane by far, and with a K/D not worse than Spit 16
EDIT:
I might also add that the type of plane you usually encounter is also very much depending on your
own playing style.
Someone taking part in mostly offensive actions (be it for "fun" or the landgrab) or merrily furballing between two close airfields will see a lot more Spit 16's and La-7s than someone mostly defending airbases. I'm doing mostly the latter one, and that' why I see much less 16's and La's than their actual share in total arena play is.