Quite frankly, I for one desire to do nothing other than shoot down a few "enemy" planes. And the more skill my opponents possess, the more fun and interesting I find the fight.
I'm also basically a "lone wolf". I fight alone, as does my (only) squadie. We may be flying near each other, but we don't jump into each others fight unless multiples are on one of us. Even then, generally one of us needs to have 3 on him before we consider it troubling. My squad consists of two members. We could see letting it grow to 4 members, maybe. Personally, after that I'd tune off the channel. Too much chatter. I have loads of friends. I'm not anti-social. I just don't like a bunch of chatter. I turned down many invites, and left my old squad (327th Steel Talons, another large multi-wing squad) because I didn't like the chatter.
I don't care what size squad you belong to. Not a bit. I don't even know which squad you belong to. I kind of figured Falconwing was a fitting name for a BoP member (but I honestly didn't know for sure until a few posts ago. A top dog in that squad? I wasn't even aware he was still around...), and I knew previously that humble and a few others belonged to the 71st, and a few that belonged to the muppets. Who really cares? And believe it on not I'll forget what squad you guys belong to within a week, unless you remind me. Not because I have a bad memory, but because your squad affiliation means no more to me than what the temperature was 3 Tuesdays ago at 3:17am in the shed behind some broken down car.
An individual will be much more memorable to me. Not just from a skill standpoint, but from a "value to the community/game" standpoint. Is that person contributing to the overall fun of the game for the majority of the participants? Or being a detriment?
Someone mentioned earlier that this game takes no skill. That's a true statement for many people. All you need to do is surround yourself with enough others and it makes it true. Can't shoot anyone down? Gang 'em with 11 other planes, and you'll get lucky eventually (I was actually in a 12v1 the other day). You might even live through the "fight". Can't drop a bomb on a target? That's ok, someone in the horde will hit it. As a matter of fact, lack of skill in a situation like that may be a benefit, since it may keep you from getting discouraged with your mob. You'll look at the occasional kill as a bonus, rather than be upset when 9 of your friends swarm the one enemy plane in the sector. Does that mean that all in a mob are skill-less? No. But what's the point in possessing any skill in that situation? Slamming into the ground accidentally might even help your swarm; you can bring another C47.
I don't even care if you're in a horde. I just can't see the point in swarming over an area without an opposing horde. Horde vs horde can be fun. How is it fun to be in a 3v1, if you possess even basic skill and mental accuity? More than a 3v1 is cause for flat-out embarassment, at least in my eyes. Especially since I can't remember a single time a fight like that consisted of anything other than 3 individuals racing each other for the kill. Teamwork?? LMAO!
And I say that from a game/entertainment standpoint. What fun is a game without equal opposition? Last night was a great football game, and I don't even like football. Had it been 20 players vs 3 it would have sucked. What's the point? Could we have seen the "winners" as anything but "losers"? How ridiculous would it be had they cheered themselves on and proclaimed it an outstanding victory? How could they expect their peers to view them with respect? This is a game, not a war. As such, it relies on equal opposition.
It's not that the horde-mongers are necessarily skill-less knobs, it's that they come across as such.
I'm a furballer I guess, since I don't give a hoot who owns which field. But if this was purely a furball game I'd get bored and leave. To me it's the wide variety and the resulting unpredictabilty that makes the game fun. I like the fact that some want to play the capture game. Or the GV game. Whatever! Do it with a squad, big or small, I don't care. But at least make it interesting...
