A note on manual calibration "is it fair?"

[Tarstar]

I have spent some time reading both sides of the"manual calibration" argument.. The bottom line is: The 'fighters pilots' seem to feel this is more "fair"..

In this game, Bomber pilots are required to man their planes and preform flight, nav, gunnery and bomb sight calibration all at once..

In reality this would have been done with a 6-10 man crew (appx) for each aircraft.. I would argue that this extra step over taxes the bomber pilots to the point of making the event almost unenjoyable.. Not to mention that it is not something that can be used in the MA.. Realistic? Not so much.. Any aircraft in the war would have had one man dedicated to the aiming of the bomb sight..

The use of manual calibration basically consumes our ability to have any situational awareness, especially in an FSO situation..

My apologies to 68Falcon for the PM I sent during the last frame.. That was not the way to handle the disagreement that I have with this..

For these reasons I strongly disagree with it being a requirement.. Adding wind or detracting numbers should suffice..

If the bombers are so over taxed I feel we will soon have a lack of pilots willing to even fly them

I know the fighter guys are going to jump all over this post but I would also argue that it takes a lot more to being a good bomber pilot than what has been stated by folks who fly mostly fighters! I resent these comments.. It is an insult to many of us who have embraced the bombing aspect of the game.. Any 'two weeker' can certainly not do what many of us have worked on for months and years in some cases..

I hope this will be given some consideration in future FSO's.. Thanks for reading..

And for what it's worth I would like to salute the Axis on a fine job of defense last frame..   Tarstar LCA

                                                     

[Motherland]

If the bombers are so over taxed I feel we will soon have a lack of pilots willing to even fly them                                                  

I believe that the manual calibration sight has always been used in FSO, and FSO has only grown.... greatly.





Actually I rather like the manual calibration sight. It adds something to the drop. Pressing two buttons and then having a pinpoint bomb drop is boring IMO.

[Tarstar]

Well, I've been playing and flying FSO for a year now and this was the first I have had to use it...

I am only throwing the argument out there and feel the points I've made are valid..

[ImADot]

While I feel for ya, I'm on the other side of the fence on this one.  I would rather have the manual calibration.  You still have to hold the calibrate button for a few seconds either way, so why not have to work a little while you do it?  You can't jump to a gunner while calibrating the MA way, so what difference does it make if you also have to keep a spot lined up under the crosshairs?

You make some good points for your argument, but I believe the FSO has (to me at least) become something "special" to look forward to all week and the differences from the MA is what makes it so.

[68falcon]

My apologies to 68Falcon for the PM I sent during the last frame.. That was not the way to handle the disagreement that I have with this..
                                                     

Thank you 

Manual Calibration has been used many times in FSO. Yes it takes more time and more effort to use but it is also a step above the norm. The Special Events arena uses many different tools to make the events harder and in turn better then just flying and dieing. Killshooter is off, load outs are regulated by the Admins, visibility changes, hardness of targets fluctuate and on and on.  The CM team takes extra efforts to let the CiC know what it is being used. It is then up to the CiC to make sure all registered squad contacts are aware that it will be part of the event. Events are posted on ahevents.org > FSO a week, sometimes longer, before frame 1. In the write up it will also state "manual calibration" or any other changes from the norm when it is used. The Training Team will on request enable manual calibration in the Training Arena. Practice offline is also available.

The CM team is striving for an event that is both enjoyable and challenging. Making these changes and others to come are done to bring a different and more rewarding skill set to Friday Night Squad Ops. Your frustration shows your enthusiasm for this event. We welcome you and anyone else to express their opinion, offer ideas and thoughts.

A foot note would be.

Manual calibration was the only means of bombing for many, many years in any arena.

[Tarstar]

Thanks 68 and the others above,

Thanks for taking the time to respond and read.. To me... this was my first exp. with man cal. And yes, you are correct in what you say about FSO being "a step above". I am new to the game.. (less than a year).. Looking at it that way.. You are correct..

Since then, I've logged into the SE forums so I can get more detail in advance... Just wanted to throw it out there.. Man. cal. can be mastered, as can any aspect of the game that one wishes to pursue.. (still think the bombers have 'too much to do).. LOL... Of course, we do get two extra planes with ords.. And that is quite an advantage..

Perhaps, If the duties in the bomber could be better divided between two people..(each capable of turning the aircraft).. That would be a welcome capability.. Just a thought..

Thanks for managing the FSO, Sir   

                                                                                                                  Tar

[Anaxogoras]

I'm sympathetic to the one-man-workload perspective: trying to manually calibrate while your bombers are being attacked is a no-win situation.  That said, bombsites did not calibrate themselves.  In order to manually calibrate and defend at the same time you need two players in the aircraft, there's no doubt about that.