Perceptions of fight quality

[Anaxogoras]

Last night above 214:

Screen shot taken after these guys finished competing for one low bandit.

You hear a lot complaints about fight quality these days in Aces High.  Too many players will only fight when they outnumber the enemy, take head-on shots as a matter of course, run away, and just generally suck.  Apparently, the game degraded to this state of affairs long before I arrived, but there used to be a "happy time" (to borrow the apt phrase) when people sought out fights with better pilots to learn something, didn't gang (as much), didn't fly Typhoons just for the sake of front quarter shots, etc.

If the above is true, then it was probably only true when AH was still very small and you knew all the people you were fighting.  Warbirds was a small venue, and I remember the same complaints that you hear now about Aces High.  The scarcity of good fights was one of my motivations for a long break from online flight sims; I remember the frustration.  After years away from the genre, I come back and have fun.  Recently, I sometimes find myself frustrated with what I can find in the arena, and I've only been back at it since November '07, though my learning curve was mostly a de-rusting process (last night was a fun exception, and FSO always holds my interest).  Too much flight time is partly responsible for that, but I'm pretty sure there is a psychological change that a virtual pilot undergoes after so many kills and so many deaths.  What was fun previously becomes tiresome.

I'm confident that a lot of you would say that the fights are worse now than they were in, say, 2006.  And last year a lot of you would've said the fights were worse than they were in 2005.  I hate to break it to ya, but it's most likely you.  You have improved and are no longer satiated with easy kills.  You no longer shrug off getting ganged because you were able to get one or two before you died: a good challenge is neither too easy nor impossible to overcome.  It's high time you start looking for fun in places you haven't looked before.  Recently I've had the pleasure to get clobbered by the likes of m00t and battfinkv in the DA, and it was fun.   If you know there are some people you like to fight in the arena, invite them to start a battle in a less populated area, or start a 2vs2 in the DA.  Take a look at yourself and how much you've changed and improved over the years.  The fights are probably the same, but you are not.

[Chalenge]

At the end of a good day in AH our squad switches to GVs or furballing defense of fields and when I see conga lines forming I usually start feeling my age and go to bed. 

[cobia38]

 come to MW the fights are more personal and ther is far less gangbanging

[gpwurzel]

Man, I know how that 87 feels - I keep diving into a mass of red lol.........

You may have a point actually Gav, then again, what the hell do I know, I'm just here to provide easy kills 


Wurzel

[5PointOh]

Anaxogoras,

Although my time in AH is less than 5yrs and I've recently came back from a short break, I'd be more than happy to meet up with you for some fights.  I may not be that good but I still enjoy a good fight, or trying to be a good fight.  

Just look me up some night,

Sincerely,

Coprhead

[Stang]

It all has to do with arena size.  Back in the day with less people you knew who you were fighting, and anyone who flew like a tard was generally called out and shamed for it.  I think that is what is missing these days, arenas get too big and the self policing by the community is hampered by the fact that sissies can hide in the crowd and get away with it, then cry about "bullies" on the occasions someone does take them to task.  I'd be all for a 3rd main arena to get the size down even further to undo the horde monkeys' effect.

Hence why Mid War generally has a much better fight atmosphere than Late War.

[klingan]

Man, I know how that 87 feels - I keep diving into a mass of red lol.........

I'm just here to provide easy kills 


Wurzel

Well i was banging my head against muppets with numbers yesterday. They kept shooting me down but it was fun fights 

[Chalenge]

You know a third LW arena might not be a bad idea as long as it isnt even harder for our squad to get together. The squad is the thing I think.  

[MjTalon]

simple, it's not enough squadron oriented tasks in the LW arenas to satisfy an entire squadron but at the same time they're alot of squadrons that like to do specific things ( Base cap, buff raids, fighter sweeps, etc. ) If the MA had it's scoring system deleted it would be more people concerned about fighting, good historical battles, high alt buff raids, high alt fighting, and squadron vs squadron face offs but currently the scoring system is making most of the LW into score potatos sadly. 

[Stang]

I agree Chalenge.  It might seem counter-intuitive, but having a 3rd arena might make that easier than just having two.  More choice might be the answer, not less.

[The Fugitive]

I've been flying here for over 7 years, and the fights have changed so much that it was a totally different game back then.

Back then the game was about "combat". Did you know that they use to reset the map once a week back then, ya know why? It was never "won". Not because it was hard to do, there just wasn't that much interest in it. Sure some bases were taken, then they were taken back and so on. The act of taking a base sometimes took all night because people fought over them. One single base, ALL NIGHT ! And no it wasn't because the numbers were so low because it was "new", we had close to what we have on a weeknight in one of the MAs.

Back then it was more history buffs playing out a fantasy role playing game.

Today we have the "I want it now!" generation. Nobody has the will, or patience to put the time and effort in becoming good at which ever type of combat they like. To most people they need it now, that means diving head on into every fight to get the kill first, carpet bombing a single GV because they don't know how to use a single bomb, or hunt with another gv, spawn camping is the only way gvs are used these days, even the Ltars are a shadow of what they were. Nobody takes pride in how they play, its all about wining getting the war won no matter what it takes, including having someone switch countries to occupy a shore battery so their friends can bring the CV in close with out fear of it getting shelled 

Have I changed? Sure! I fly a lot smarter. I know the planes I fly a lot better, I know where to find fights by reading the map. Even my aim is getting better after I spent some time in the TA with Ghosth for a little training. ( yes even us old timers still look for training!) My expectations for this game however have not changed over all these years. I expect to login and find a few fights, have some fun, get caught up with whats going on with a few of my friends. These days however, the fights are harder to find, so the fun. Its hard to catch-up with some of my old friends because they got tired of the poor game play and don't play as much if they haven't canceled their accounts.

Even the old tricks for starting a fight don't work as well any more. I flew over to an enemy base at about 8-10k had the base flashing for a while. Finally a 109 ups. I let him climb to 5-6k and I start attack. I'm in a C-hog, but I don't fire on the HO  or front quarter passes. I burn "E" recklessly until we are close in "E" but co alt at about 3k. I see a tiffy up so now I start to push the fight a bit harder figuring the tiffs going to get some alt while the 109 keeps me busy. Wrong, as I finish off the 109 I look over and the tiffy is on final for a landing. No he's not dragging me to the ack, he is slow and dropping gear and I'm not even in auto ack range yet ! He didn't even bother to try and fight. That is what this game is coming to. Fight even up? heck no I'm landing !!!

I circled for a bit until fuel became an issue and headed home with my one fight. In the old days that would have turned into a huge furball. Why, first off the second guy wouldn't have run away. He would have been someone looking to fight either for the "thrill" or the learning experience it could be. The first guy would have come back figuring his odds might be better with 2 against 1 and it could be time for some payback!  either way he might learn something about fighting. Had they prevailed in the 2 on 1 I would have come back due to it being a fun fight, and they would he realized that the CV was just 5 miles out. Defenders and attackers would have showed up because a fight was at hand and it would have raged on until some dork sank the CV    Instead it was one fight, a coward running away with out even engaging ( thats what really blows my mind, if you don't want to fight why are you PAYING to play a COMBAT GAME?) , and the guy that got shot down dishearten because he doesn't think he stands a chance. Had he asked me to give him some room and alt to reset the fight ( like in the old days) I would have just to have another good little fight.

The game is still the same, but how it's played has changed immensely. Too many people not willing to give it the time you need to LEARN how to play, too many "I want it NOW!" types   

[MjTalon]

Me personally. I enjoy fighting anything my 109 comes up against, it helps me assest my skill as a jagdflieger and if I lose I know I had the thrill of the fight and I still have a long way to go.

Only time ill run from a fight is when im severly outnumbered, low on fuel, or ammo. Other than that I love engaging from disadvantages because it teaches you how to fight at a weakness and you're better to adapt to situations if you constanly fight from a disadvantage.

[gpwurzel]

Anyone who knows me knows I'll fight anyone in anything lol.......or at least try. I'm by far not a good stick, have really bad aim, and lose way more than I win,
but hell, I'll try my hardest - no point in trying to find an easy way to get better, only going to get that by fighting with whats at hand.


Wurzel

[Boxboy]

Amen Fugitive

[BnZs]

Here's the problem: Alot of people consider the game to be about "winning the war". And it is not necessary to have combat to take bases.

That's IT, the entire thing, right there. But you know what? Every suggestion to make it obligatory to have combat (dar all the way to the ground, smaller maps) to take bases is ignored or poo-pooed. Every suggestion to make spawn camping less viable and every suggestion to make map-moving less about toolshedding with high buffs is treated the same way, nipped in the bud by naysayers. So please, with all due respect, get behind a couple of the good ideas to make air/ground superiority necessary for map moving, or shut up.

Oh, and Fugi, get off your high horse for Pete's sake. If you want people to willingly fight you, try NOT being higher than them in a fast plane that dives well, rolls well, turns extremely well, and packs 4xHispanos. You know the outcome of Typhoon getting into it with a F4U-1C with superior E as well as I do. Interesting thing I've discovered, MAers almost never run from a Jug or a D9.