Jaeger nice touch on no icons.

[Ghosth]

I think last night was the most fun I've had in the AvA since it started, hands down.

Good clean fights, lots of action, not much complaining, lots of salutes.

What has kept me out of the AvA for several years was a certain group of people telling other people how to fly, etc.
To me nothing is a bigger immersion killer.

I didn't see any of that at all. Personally I suck at no icons, and I'm rusty at arena flying.
But as long as the arena stays like this I'll keep coming back.

<S>

[Shifty]

I think last night was the most fun I've had in the AvA since it started, hands down.

Good clean fights, lots of action, not much complaining, lots of salutes.

What has kept me out of the AvA for several years was a certain group of people telling other people how to fly, etc.
To me nothing is a bigger immersion killer.

I didn't see any of that at all. Personally I suck at no icons, and I'm rusty at arena flying.
But as long as the arena stays like this I'll keep coming back.

<S>

Yes it's been a blast. I've had great fights with JG-11, JG-54, Gunfighters, Daybreakers, Mongrels, and people from a few other squads. The new settings and new tone of the place has been a blast the last two days. Keep it up guys.

[Dawger]

I'd open my account again if there was a permanent no icon arena.

[captain1ma]

Last night was by far one of the best nights in there, I've ever seen. the match-up was just about perfect. there was no excessive killing of one side going on. it was pretty awesome and i didnt see much in the way of complaints.

the fights are relatively clean, Ho'ing is at a minimum and its all about fun! We will try out the "No Enemy Icons" for awhile and see where it goes. I've also reduced friendly icons to about 1.8k so this will make it even more interesting.

Keep it up and let us know your thoughts In the AVA arena. we can tweak each setup as necessary!!

See you tonight in the Deadly skies over midway!

[Easyscor]

Having the IJN carriers so close to Midway was a big factor in the fun last night. You knew you had to start your SA as soon as wheels up and a fight couldn't be far off. So long as the bases on the terrain are close together, this will be great, but I worry how it will play on most of our terrains, even if you enable flight at the V-bases.

  

[gyrene81]

I don't think most terrains would be a big issue once we all get used to the settings...medium to small maps will most likely work best...people with smaller (15inch) screens may have a little issue seeing dots 4k to 6k out but, if you are used to what you see on whatever size screen you use, the settings won't affect you.


Has anyone else noticed how much easier it is in the other arenas with icons on after being in the AvA for a few hours these last couple of days?


I'd like to see a BoB setup using these settings...maybe 3 or 4 bases along the coast for both sides? Maybe an early Russian campaign setup?


Thanks again Jaeger...I'll be in the AvA every chance I get.

[dhyran]

LD sqdn will take a look tonight at the AvA

<S>

[DktrEvil]

What I really like about this whole deal is the fact it was tried at all.  I have been asking for a "No Icon" setup for years and all I got was flack.

Now that is has been tried, some people are getting excited.  Who knows, maybe we can have a "No Icon" or "Reality Arena" some day.

Herr Fork,
Mustafa and I are enjoying the setup this week.  I was informed that only Buffs, Goons and Vehicles set the base to flashing, that is nice too!

I appreciate your flexibility at trying truly different radar settings. 

Maybe someday we could try a "no-icon" setup to get a feel for what pilots really had to go through in WWII.  Aircraft identification was a big factor in living or dying. If nothing else, just for a few hours or a day or so, just for ****z and giggles.

I tried to set a no icon setup in a Head to Head game but could not do it.

Keep up the good woik !

[Dawger]

Last night was by far one of the best nights in there, I've ever seen. the match-up was just about perfect. there was no excessive killing of one side going on. it was pretty awesome and i didnt see much in the way of complaints.

the fights are relatively clean, Ho'ing is at a minimum and its all about fun! We will try out the "No Enemy Icons" for awhile and see where it goes. I've also reduced friendly icons to about 1.8k so this will make it even more interesting.

Keep it up and let us know your thoughts In the AVA arena. we can tweak each setup as necessary!!

See you tonight in the Deadly skies over midway!

If you are interested in some realism in friendly icons settings years ago I painted a letter in white on a dark green background to match the dimensions of the tail identification on a B-17. The letter was an M or W depending on how it was held.

It was reliably identifiable from 1100 feet away. Further away got iffy. 1100 feet is easily rounded up to 400 yards and would be a reasonable friendly icon distance from a reality standpoint.

If you are interested......

I also did a bunch of other tests along these lines back when I was crazy.

[Big Rat]

  I went in there Sunday night not knowing enemy icons were off   That was a short sortie .  I've been in there the last two nights and enjoyed it , had to leave early last night for meeting with a student.  By the way the blue wildcats are hard to track at close range on a small moniter, I lost one more then once last night.  Never happens to me with billboards above them

 
BigRat

[Slash27]

Flew Zekes last night and Kittys tonight. Had a blast both nights

[bacon8tr]

Just a proposed thouht, but I would be interested in what the response is.  IMO the current AVA setup with no icons, has been a hit by AVA standards.  Or at least by the standards that I have seen as far as player population in the AVA goes.  Would the "no icons" warrant that this be the norm rather than the exception in the AVA from this point forward?  Or is it to be considered a novelty that soon will lose it's intrigue and attraction?  Personally, I think it is something that should be considered on a frequent basis.  I do realize that the idea may only appeal to a small section of the player base, but it does lean strongly to a higher quality of fighting.  I.E.  SA, ACM, and the good 'ol buddy system.  Just my two cents.   

[captain1ma]

right now its under discussion, but its probably not going away any time soon. its also up to the CM that has the setup for the week, but for right now, it will be here for awhile.

someone made the comment about making the MA's like this. that really wouldnt work. think about when you were new and you were trying to learn the game. when you're learning and someone comes up behind you and blasts you, it was very frustrating.

now imagine you dont even see the guy coming up behind you and blasting you. thats really going to discourage you from playing. no, i dont see it in the MA's.

but in here, as a enhancement to the AVA playing arena, i think its perfect. it makes the good guys better and the mediocre guys learn what teamwork and radio communications is all about.

its fun to have No Icons in the AVA and eventually people might get tired of this too. for right now its gonna stay and we can have fun with it. I'm curious to see if we get the same turnout with a new map and different planes.

[bacon8tr]

I am in total agreement with your assesment.  I think it is the perfect storm for the AVA.  IMO the icons in the MA are a necessity.  Just in the mere fact that you are not tied to a particular country, such as IJN, Luftwaffe, USAAF, etc.  There is not way to disect who the enemy is in the MA and would result in kill shooting yourself more times than not.  However, if you take the use of the icons and plug it in for use in the AVA then you are faced with a situation(good or bad) where the icon becomes more of a crutch.  It's kinda like being a PGA pro playing in a Pro AM with a guy that has a strokes handicap.  It's intended to level the playing field.  It's already been mentioned in these threads quite a bit that with icons off, your SA becomes even more crtical, having to take it into a fight with guns cold and holding guns cold longer to accuire positive ID on a bandit.  The end result is what most of us this week in the AVA have come to realize......... that the immersion is much greater, the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat  .  So a major Kudos on this one gents, you may have just hit one outta the park