At this point the biggest single change in the fights in the WWI arena is more about numbers than anything else.
Dawn patrol mornings see 15-20 on, those who are here at this hour tend to be quite good.
The fights generally tend to be pretty good too. Sometimes too good for my limited skills.
(<S> Cattb, Revrand, and all those who regularly kill me in the morning)
Afternoons see 40 - 50 on, and to me this time is the best.
You have a mix of very good pilots, average pilots and some not so good.
Granted some of the average and not so good pilots will HO, will Collide on HO, and a few other things.
But this is more a matter of education and teaching than arena setup.
Evenings with 80 - 100 on is a meat grinder.
You either take your chances with the big furball, do a skuzzy and try to drag one out.
Or go to the center looking for a 1on1.
What I'd like to see change at this point, now the the first rush is past.
Lower the cap to 50- 60 so that we get 2 lower populated arena's in prime time.
Other than prime time it won't change much.
As to the acks, turn the tables. So your trying to take off, there are 5 at your field, and 15 guys at 3k waiting for someone to come out. You going to dive into that at less than 1k knowing that 12 of the 15 will be on your 6?
You don't want someone to hide in the ack, don't fly clear over to their field.
Stop and orbit no more than 2k up at the halfway point. Get your teammates to do the same.
Have a bit of patience. They will come out. Especially if the numbers are anywhere close to even.
If you want to sit 3k up and pick planes trying to get up, well don't expect me to fell sorry if the Ack gets ya.
The only way this is going to work long term, is if people lead by example, not by running their mouth.
Don't whine, complain, squeak and moan about HO's or collisions, teach by example.
You don't want to get ganged, then don't dive in on that 1 on 1. It will take time to get the majority educated.
But with a small group like this peer pressure works very very well.
You can't control what the other side does directly. However controlling what YOU do, will have an effect that will make itself felt over time. So if you fly with a bit of restraint, and patience, in time others will also.
Encourage your team mates to make the "right" choice. As you sow, so shall you reap.