It ain't the graphics that are bad, its the way the game is made

[Lusche]

I read BnZ as meaning average k/d is very low

Just FYI, the "average" AH fighter pilot K/D is 0.30-0.35 in most tours. 50% of all players are below that line.
Usually only about 20% of all players get 1.0 or better. Less than 10% get 2.0 or better.

Of course this includes all those players doing just a hop or two during their trial before deleting the game again.

[shiv]

You can change player behavior very easily.  Make some sort of penalty for getting killed.  Then you'd have players running from co-e 1-v-1's, dragging 1-v-1s to friendlies and ack, no-one would ever fly alone, players would be reluctant to take on a set of a buffs, and etc.

And of course the game would die too.

[toonces3]

Moot, I agree with you for the most part I think.

I keep trying to compose this post, but it comes out as a ramble.  I'll leave it like this:

Edit...I just can't keep this short.  Ok, here's the bottom line.

To me, this game is one big hamster wheel.  You run and run, but you don't get anywhere.  At some point that's what I realized; and if you're not in it for the run itself, it is ultimately unfulfilling.

A CT based arena would have been an interesting experiment in my hypothesis.

Sorry, I just can't say it better than that and keep it short. 

The fact that AvA is virtually empty while DA Lake has 20+ times more players at any given time really says plenty about what the average customer "wants".

[moot]

No argument there.. IMO CT was a vital development for gameplay in AH.  I know what you mean with the run.  I do think there's more to it with the AvA vs DA though.

[Yeager]

The fact that AvA is virtually empty while DA Lake has 20+ times more players at any given time really says plenty about what the average customer "wants".

Stop thinking so much, just enjoy the damned ride while it lasts 

[BnZs]

, players would be reluctant to take on a set of a buffs,

  Bad part is, Shiv is probably correct when he says that. The silly penny hath been dropped in the stupid machine...

[The Fugitive]

Well of course the average K/D is less than 1, it is impossible to be greater than 1.

For every Kill there must be a death. but for ever death there does not need to be a kill (I.E crash into the ground like me), Hence # of deaths must be >= number of kills. So K/D must always be <= 1.

HiTech

If the average skill level increased then so would the k/d. yes there would still be the tree kills, but the skill level going up would have more players landing 5 kill runs more often. The trick is to lead the newer, less skilled players toward learning how to do combat, not just gaming the game.

[gyrene81]

The trick is to lead the newer, less skilled players toward learning how to do combat, not just gaming the game.

You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. <---that holds true for games as much as anything, and "gamers" rarely change.

[hitech]

If the average skill level increased then so would the k/d. yes there would still be the tree kills, but the skill level going up would have more players landing 5 kill runs more often. The trick is to lead the newer, less skilled players toward learning how to do combat, not just gaming the game.

Not true at all, the only thing that changes average K/D is if more people crash. Take as simple case of 2 people fighting.

after 20 fights one person one 19 times the other 1.

So we have a k/d of 19 and 1/19. Average would be 20/20 I.E. one.

Average K/D of all players can not be used as a method of measuring average  skill of the arena.
One of the fundamentals of this game is for every kill, some one died.

HiTEch

[The Fugitive]

Not true at all, the only thing that changes average K/D is if more people crash. Take as simple case of 2 people fighting.

after 20 fights one person one 19 times the other 1.

So we have a k/d of 19 and 1/19. Average would be 20/20 I.E. one.

Average K/D of all players can not be used as a method of measuring average  skill of the arena.
One of the fundamentals of this game is for every kill, some one died.

HiTEch

Your right, math doesn't work right after a couple of beers and a full bottle of Merlot   

[Masherbrum]

Your right, math doesn't work right after a couple of beers and a full bottle of Merlot   

Nice!   You're feeling no pain after that.   

[Xasthur]

Your right, math doesn't work right after a couple of beers and a full bottle of Merlot   

Real men drink shiraz ; )
 

[Delirium]

I'm not sure how complaining helps the situation any, considering the forums only represent a small number of the community.

If the community decided what was poor gameplay and ostrasized those that peformed it, Hitech wouldn't need to alter the game at all. Instead of ripping each others throats out, we should have an open dialog, we need to realize that most of us are here for the same reason; the love of aviation and history.

Instead, too many log on and strut so much they should be screwing chickens.

[waystin2]

Instead, too many log on and strut so much they should be screwing chickens.

Too funny and a viewpoint I can sympathize with!

[Citabria]

Clutz: I have no idea if you know my credentials or not. A very brief list.

I Started playing online flight sims about 1990.

I published my first online flight sim in 1995.

I coined the term Massively multilayer online game  ie MMOG in May 1995 at E3.

I Created my 2nd Online flight sim AH in 1999 and proceed to re take the market with it.

Now things have not really changed since the days I have first started playing online games, and are very much the same for almost all genera of games.

The is one very very simple fact. People will eventually get board with any game they play. 95% of the people leave quietly and find a new game or hobby to enjoy.
5% of the people are board like yourself and begin to blame the game for there boredom. The reality is they are just not having, the adventure and learning they used to enjoy is gone for them, and there really is not much that can be done to ever make them happy.

Then these 5% wish to state things like it cost much less to keep an existing customer than find a new one, in reality nothing could be farther from the truth. There is another flight sim company would tried to please there old time customers with many game play changes, in the end each change they made chased more and more of the normal cycle game players away. Started limited how much fun a new person had, and destroyed the game using the simple thought that they should listen to the whines of old time players who really are nothing more than burnt out on the game because they have been playing to long.


P.S. Today's patch should be out in an hour or so.

HiTech

Hmm I wrote a flight sim with 4 sides allread.  Wonder why I changed to 3, maybe because I had found out it is better?

HiTech

I would like to put my two cents in as being both a grumpy old burnout longtime player who kinda moved on but resurfaces now and again..

This game is special in the fact that its creators stay true to the realities of the gaming subscription cycle and also acquiesce to reasonable requests from their minority grumpy old player constituency.

If you make the effort they will meet you halfway. You must be specific in your requests for changes or things you would view as improvements.

during my long stint as a hardcore AH player I was always in the art departments hair for precision accuracy of 3d models and texturemaps. I am sure natedog and superfly would have loved to strangle me many times as i picked apart their creations with a magnifying glass.

In fact I was occasionally banned from the BBS for my nit picking ranting and raving

long story short... I had the privledge of making a few terrains for AH, got to help on the B17G 3d model by providing 2d profile drawings I customized and calibrated for higher accuracy and fidelity for natedog's excellent 3d model. Got to make the default skin for it too. Turns out all the publicly available b17 profile drawings had glaring innacuracies LOL. AH2 currently has the only accurately modeled b17G because all other games use the innacurate plans   Even got to make the default texture maps for a few other of AH2's aircraft (B25,P39) and some alternate skins for others.

And my wife is quite tired of hearing me proudly remind her every time the AH2 commercial is on and I point out every plane in it that I skinned and the B17G at the end.

but enough of me bragging. My point is if you make the effort so will they if your interests have merit.

But regardless the law of diminishing returns will always take effect when you find new hobbies which entertain you for a time... and then you rediscover your old past time when the itch to dogfight hits you.

and when you take a peak back into that crazy little imaginary world you left behind you see it has improved just fine in your absence without your meddling.