Minimum Number of Sorties Required for score?

[BaldEagl]

Most of us know the dweebery these guys do to get ranked month after month, Its usually the same ones.  
Yet its proudly displayed as some contest or badge of honor that they have achieved against all odds or some awesome ability, yet most of them are there not for any of these reasons, they consistently are there for learning how to manipulate their scores by exploiting the game irregularities. Nothing more.  
Dont get me wrong, some are decent sticks, timid, but decent sticks.  They just know how to: and by the term "game the game".

I've been ranked in the top 10 overall on several occasions and I did nothing other than play the game.  I didn't "exploit game irregularities".  I also didn't fly attack planes unless I was flying heavy and bombing something.  Nor did I fly timidly or get my kills by vulching (I used to get 2-4 kills/camp that way out of hundreds).

I will concede that I went so far as to bomb strats though and spawn camp on occasion.  Pretty gamey stuff huh?  Like no "legitimate" player does the same things.

Frankly, if you're at all above average ranking in the top 10 isn't that hard without gaming anything.  It seems to me that those who whine about it either don't care enough to try or aren't good enough to get there.

[dedalos]

Must be the reason eagle. Do you understand that if you do what you say you do, a min number of shorties will not effect you?  Maybe you end up #3 instead of 10?

Seems to me people dont get what the request is or . . .

[Yeager]

What I mean to say is: to get ranked in the overall catagory people should be required to generate a minimum number of sorties per catagory that washes out the one sortie luck streaks.  15-20 sorties should give a more rounded expression of how well people manage their skill sets.   Im not looking at the best fighter, or best GVr, if people only fly one fighter sortie or one bomber sortie then let those stats stand alone, just for the combined rank, the one the allows control of the naval assets.....require a factored average .

[TwinBoom]

remove score just have general stats

[Ack-Ack]

Must be the reason eagle. Do you understand that if you do what you say you do, a min number of shorties will not effect you?  Maybe you end up #3 instead of 10?

Seems to me people dont get what the request is or . . .

I think he's responding to Dadsgun's assertion that if you end up on the main page at the end of each tour it's because you got there by gaming the game.  While it may be true for some players, there are some that end up on the list by doing nothing other than just flying.  I usually end up somewhere in the top 3 each tour in the MW arena without even trying to play for any sort of rank or score.  Out of the 18 deaths I have in fighters this tour, only 6 of those were the result of being shot down by another player.  The other 12 were from augering because I either augered to up somewhere else for a fight or didn't feel like flying all the way back to base.  Hardly something someone does if they are playing for score.  

As for the OP's idea, having a mimimum required amount of sorties?  While I do not play for rank, I know that some do and a few of those players will do whatever it takes to get their name in lights.  There are quite a few in the MW arena that will fly a sortie or two and go either buff hunting or vulching to get as many kills as possible in those first few sorties.  Afterwards they then switch to attack mode and fly the rest of the tour under that scoring so they don't 'ruin' their fighter rank.  Having a miminum number of sorties required before the scoring kicks in will help eliminate gaming the ranking system in such a manner.


ack-ack

[BaldEagl]

Must be the reason eagle. Do you understand that if you do what you say you do, a min number of shorties will not effect you?  Maybe you end up #3 instead of 10?

Seems to me people dont get what the request is or . . .

I totally get what the request is for.  The problem I have with it is that when I was ranking high I was flying/playing 60-120 hours per month.  If I was still doing that I might be more willing to go along with the idea but the fact is that for months now I'm lucky if I crack 10 hours.  That means I'm not going to hit any kind of minimums, therefore, I will be an unranked player even though I might actually be flying/playing better than the vast majority of those in the arenas.

As for Ghosth's idea regarding making it a percentage, with my limited play time as of late, I rarely fly bombers or attack and spend my time doing the two things I enjoy the most, flying fighters and playing in GV's so the end result is the same.  I'm an unranked player.

The problem is that whatever you do in this regard penalizes those who don't play much and, as I said earlier, would give me at least, one less reason to play.

[grizz441]

The problem is that whatever you do in this regard penalizes those who don't play much and, as I said earlier, would give me at least, one less reason to play.

Why would a player who doesn't play much even care if he is ranked?  Do you really expect/care to get a good rank while not attaining a reasonable minimum number of sorties per month?

I used to think some sort of minimum was needed too but the guys who care about putting up inflated stats in one category would still do the same thing to meet the minimum requirements whatever HTC put it as.  If the min # of sorties in Fighter Mode to attain rank was for example, 30, pacerr and gang would have 30 sorties in Fighter Mode all coming from vulches and soft fights.

As long as players have the option to choose their type of fight on the global map, there's no way to eliminate gaming the game.  In the tower you get to choose what you want to do, fly outnumbered or fly with the numbers?  The hard fight where you have to work for each kill or the soft fight where you can cherry pick surrounded by green?  It's obviously not always cut and dry and fights do change rather quickly sometimes, but the score guys gravitate towards soft fights and will always move to the other side of the map if the fight they are involved in gets tough or turns defensive.  The only time I've ever killed a guy like pacerr was when I was flying through a sea of red in a jet or ta152 and popped an unsuspecting pacerr lining up for a vulch.  Never will you fight your way to an enemy base and kill a pacerr-type player defending in the trenches.  It just doesn't happen.  He will be in the tower sipping on coffee watching the carnage from the window while planning his 3:1 advantage-based pick fest on the other side of the map.  Fight selection from the tower is the single most gamey fair scoring hindrance.

[KayBayRay]

Well I thought I would chime in on this. It is a good question IMHO.

One observation. When I fly a lot or only just a bit over various camps I seem to always end up in about the same region of the pack. Regardless of the total number of Sorties I flew.

But I do realize that Score and Ranking within the community does mean something to many palyers. For me, it doesnt really matter that much but at best it does give me some level of a feel of where I might be within the scope of the overall community. But I fly for fun and for a distraction from Real Life. So my Ranking or Score are not my primary motivation.

However that being said, and considering my observations as to what Score / Ranking I end up with each camp I dont really care if this game goes to a Minimum Number of Sorties Flown for your scores to be registered on the official score board. I am pretty sure HiTech has the stats to back up if it would make a difference overall or not.

And yeah I do see that somebody could jump in grab several fast kills, land em and bail for the rest of the camp for the purpose of elevating their rank. But I dont see that happening on a regular basis so I dont really see a need to move in that direction. But if HiTech did.... wouldnt mean much to me. Just my opinion.

Later,
KayBay   

[1Boner]

Why don't they combine the fighter/attack catagories into one?

I'm bettin that most of the top scoring "attack" boiz haven't really flown that many true (heavy) attack sorties.

Just have one catagory, "Plane".

[dedalos]

I totally get what the request is for.  The problem I have with it is that when I was ranking high I was flying/playing 60-120 hours per month.  If I was still doing that I might be more willing to go along with the idea but the fact is that for months now I'm lucky if I crack 10 hours.  That means I'm not going to hit any kind of minimums, therefore, I will be an unranked player even though I might actually be flying/playing better than the vast majority of those in the arenas.

As for Ghosth's idea regarding making it a percentage, with my limited play time as of late, I rarely fly bombers or attack and spend my time doing the two things I enjoy the most, flying fighters and playing in GV's so the end result is the same.  I'm an unranked player.

The problem is that whatever you do in this regard penalizes those who don't play much and, as I said earlier, would give me at least, one less reason to play.

I guess if you look at it like that you are right.  However, not exactly what I am suggesting. I should have said not to qualify for the #1 or #2 spot in the front page.  I think with only 10 hours you could not occupy that spot anyway unless you were gaming it somehow.  I also think it is not fair to you, if you are trying to get a rank, to have to compete with these guys.

I am not saying or even implying that every one with a good score does that.  I used a specific example (dotcomi) in MW that was ranked #1 for 3 weeks until the bomber dweeb beat him.  I think it would make it more fair to anyone trying.  And really, what does ranked #10 mean when you know half the guys ahead of you should not be there?

[Shuffler]

I guess if you look at it like that you are right.  However, not exactly what I am suggesting. I should have said not to qualify for the #1 or #2 spot in the front page.  I think with only 10 hours you could not occupy that spot anyway unless you were gaming it somehow.  I also think it is not fair to you, if you are trying to get a rank, to have to compete with these guys.

I am not saying or even implying that every one with a good score does that.  I used a specific example (dotcomi) in MW that was ranked #1 for 3 weeks until the bomber dweeb beat him.  I think it would make it more fair to anyone trying.  And really, what does ranked #10 mean when you know half the guys ahead of you should not be there?

True all true 

[Yeager]

remove score just have general stats

I would agree but what about allowing player control of the naval component?

Warbirds used to have a great feature that did exactly that but it was seperate from the game, maintained by a player.  I forget the guys name, but it was very useful to players and enjoyable to read the way it displayed the data, graphical. 

[Shuffler]

The naval side could be related to another thread awhile back. Whoever had control was reponsible for it's health or demise. They also had to be in close proximity, either on or near in a plane. If your in control and any ships meet their end, points would be subtracted.

You would not be able to take command and sail it into harms way and bail right before it is destroyed. Either the last person in control is penalized or there could be some time frame after release that the individual would still be accountable or until a new comander stepped in.

Good question Yeager.

[Ack-Ack]

I used a specific example (dotcomi) in MW that was ranked #1 for 3 weeks until the bomber dweeb beat him.  I think it would make it more fair to anyone trying.  And really, what does ranked #10 mean when you know half the guys ahead of you should not be there?

Dotcommi is a perfect example of someone that will fly a sortie or two under attack trying to get as many kills as possible by either vulching or buff hunting.  After they get those one or two sorties under 'fighter', they switch to 'attack' and fly all of their fighter sorties under that category. 

Text book example of score/rank system being manipulated.


ack-ack

[dedalos]

remove score just have general stats

there is that too, but it will never happen.  Everything competitive needs some kind of ranking.  So, lets try to make it more meaningful