Hit the Z key on your keyboard with maximum zoom and that thing you're focusing on 15000 feet (3000 yards) away has more definition on your 19 inch monitor than a human eyeball can actually see in real life at that distance. The arcade world and all of its excuses are fine for the main arenas but it's been my impression that FSO was supposed to be a big step up from the main arenas...just judging from some of the responses to this thread (and I'm sure there will be many pages more), perhaps it's more like, simply an organized once a week gathering of AvA players who prefer the arcade settings found in the other arenas...if that is the case, may as well just stay in the main arenas and setup missions, then get frustrated because no one wants to participate.
Think about it, in the MA's you rely on the 5000 yard visual cue that says friend or foe...you don't even have to really think, just look at your screen...as you're closing in, the distance markers showing the number of yards between you and the target tell you when you're at the optimum distance for the weapons convergence you set in the hangar and you know when you open fire, you're going to hit the target...as the distance closes it's easy to compensate because of the visual cues...and you can almost shoot down your foe without even focusing on the gunsight. But without those visual cues...now you have to rely on the things you normally take for granted...what does a Spit 8 look like from 5000 yards if it's co alt and coming at you? What does it look like at 300 yards in the gunsight or on your tail? How much lead do you need to hit the target when it's turning? Without the visual cues found in the main arenas, you have to do things you may not normally do...like use the zoom function and adjust it for maximum functionlity just like a tank gun sight...or wait until you get closer to take the shot...don't make that radical stick stirring move that will cause a blackout knowing that when the screen clears it will be easy to find your foe because of the big red letters...use teamwork and communication to help a team mate shoot down a foe...and dropping down into an ongoing fight to get an "easy pick" is a lot more risky.
For those who missed it, the settings last night were challenging but not overly so...situational awareness and communications were more important than usual...if it had been single life instead of the unlimited lives we had, the fights would have been much more intense...and I know there are hundreds who participate in the FSO who constantly talk smack saying "it's about the fight"...well, the settings from last night made those fights much more intense...it's one thing to see a dot in the distance and race toward it relying on identifying marks to appear on your screen eventually telling you whether it's friend or foe...it's a different story to do so then suddenly realize you're less than 1000 yards away from an enemy who is now coming at you full throttle and now you have little time to prepare for a fight...and now the fight isn't so easy.
+Salute+ Daddog and the people who stuck around to make it fun.
This is 100% spot on.
I had no trouble at all last night distinguishing friend from foe far beyond friendly icon range despite the fact that the 109 and the Spitfire are very similar in size and fairly similar in shape, save when I was trailing someone from the dead six position. Using zoom (which I use all the time anyway), as gyrene said, it's not difficult at all and probably easier than trying to identify in real life.
The only things that it changed were SA and shooting... I didn't hit anything beside the ground outside of 300 yards (I'm a poor shot anyway).
I never realized how much I relied on the icon, not just for things that you'd think of, but things that you wouldn't... judging range for shooting, obviously, judging friendly or foe instantaneously, obviously (it takes a second to look at the plane shape and identify), but also things like judging my own speed... I must use the closing speed on icons to judge my speed when I'm diving because several times I was going a lot faster than I thought I was and couldn't pull up for the shot.
So many times I thought I was in the clear, and heard 'check six bubi!', and yanked on the stick and turned my head just in time to see a Spitfire shoot by me (or I was simply parted with my aircraft). It was unreal.
It was fantastic, easily the most fun I've had in AH. A more FSO environment (one life, objectives etc.) with these settings would be....
