All comments welcomed, including the inevitable "Its been discussed before", "Use search next time", "Learn to fly" etc...
The style of game play, as many long time pilots are aware, has degenerated into a Quake style mele' fur-fest where players are constantly either unconcerned with strategic play, or looking for ways to 'game' the game.
There are many ex-AW and long time AH players who would like to see a shift in the style of play in such a way as to put more emphasis on strategy and team work; no matter how subtle that shift might be. At the very least we would hope to see the present trend arrested.
CT (Combat Tour) was an effort by HT to address this. The greatest benefit of the CT experiment was the acknowledgment by HT that something needs to be done. HT stated in their press release upon the shelving of CT, that they were returning to the core business model that had served them so well in the past.
Further, HT included this in their press release concerning the cessation of the CT effort:
The reason for this is that we have decided that it is better to steer
our development in a way that allows us to implement our CT developments
first as part of the regular game.
I applaud HT that they continue to acknowledge that some effort needs to be made.
CT would never have worked, it would have split the community and assumes that other avenues of modifying game play would fail. We don't need an AI overlord to shape game play. I for one, encourage HT to continue to pursue elements of CT for deployment in the MA, however there are other avenues to explore and would require far less coding.
Humans by nature, are greedy, self-centered and egotistical, and never more so than in this game. Look at the demographic. The average player today is probably a 22 year old male, and we older players remember just how cocky and self-assured we were back then, always looking for an angle. Most of the younger guys will always want to fly through the skies with their hair burning and dominate everyone around them.
If we want the game play to change slightly, we need to exploit human characteristics; the same characteristics that have brought the style of play to the place it is.
The following would borrow from the theme of the old AW model, and I would propose they be considered and discussed:
- Regionalize Radar: The larger maps we play need radar to be regionalized. Keep a main HQ that allows country wide radar loss, but add regional hardened command centers that control radar in that zone.
- Regional Perk Plane Factory: Create regional perk plane factories that when destroyed take out perk planes for 15 minutes.
- Change Fuel Strat: Damaging regional fuel strat should have a direct and proportional effect on all aircraft performance that launch from the region.
The only way to curb the Quake style of play is to leverage the self-interests of the players. By gradually phasing in these sorts of changes, players will begin to realize that by both attacking and defending strategic targets, their style of play is both preserved and enhanced.
Vulchers will be more inclined to join a strike on a fuel factory if they believe that the effect will be easier vulching. Furballers will think along the same lines, and begin to see the value in denying perk planes to their adversaries. Niether of these groups will want to have poor engine performance or be denied high-performance aircraft.
One of the most interesting complaints these days is that when a squad or group rolls a field or two, that a perfectly good fight was ruined. These comments are more typical from your own countrymen. Under the present situation, strategic players are ridiculed by their own; this has a negative effect in terms of strategic emphasis.
Considering the entire game structure from a macro perspective is designed to allow one country to take land from the other country, I find these comments both amusing and telling. Their is a significant portion of players who could care less about the war and in fact resent those that do.
At the risk of alienating these players, it is incumbent upon those of us who feel the present style of play should change to remember why these other players enjoy the game. They are a significant source of income for HT and must be respected and considered.
Perhaps maps should always include a Tank Town set of bases that only have fighter hangers and vehicle hangers and radar. These bases could be set in the center of the map, not able to be captured, and be of no strategic value; a durable furball/vulch town if you will.
A word on perks: as it stands now, the perk system only enhances the Quake style of play. It puts an emphasis on racking up perks by vulching, and in fact is more likely a negative effect on arena balancing. Under the present perk system, the better pilots get the better planes. What possible goal does this model hope to achieve?
Perhaps the changes in the game are evolutionary and a sign of the times and our culture. As much as I cling to the notion that a sense of sanity can be returned to MA, perhaps its time to abandon the premise that this is still a thinking mans game.
I havn't given up of course...
Respectfully,
1Way
