WWII and WWI Strat and Furball Arenas

[CptTrips]

I.E.  "Telling HTC how to run their business..."


Yes, that’s what I’m doing, I know.  But I mean well.

 I’m beginning to think  (as some other have already suggested)  that both WWI and WWII need both a “Strat Arena” and  a “Furball Only  Arena” each.

I think the argument between furballers and strat dweebs has gone on forever for the very fact that each side has good, legitimate arguments.    They are both right, and both wrong.  It seems maybe the best answer is to have one flavour for  each genre.  

WWII has the current MA with strat enabled.  That has its place.  It should also have a Furball Arena similar to WWI but with a 3 field arrangement like DA furball lake.  Take the furball lake out of the DA, as that was a kludge, and give it its own proper furball arena.  Then the DA will be for, well, duelling.

Similarly, WWI should have a strat  (in some form) enabled arena.   Many players are losing interest because diving into the same meat-grinder over and over and over with no purpose, goal, or mission or variety gets old eventually.     However, the WWI furball arena has its uses and should still be kept as well.  There are some who find that all they need, or who are short on time and just need a quick hop or two.

The WWI planes, sounds, flight model, damage model all fully exceed my original expectations.  I just feel like the current arena design tragically fails to show them off to their fullest potential.   It’s like giving someone a Porche but them telling them they are only allowed to drive it around in the school parking lot and never take it out on the road.  I mean, it’s still a Porche, but its not being allowed to be the Porche it has the potential to be.  There are so many times you can go around a circle in a parking lot before even a Porche becomes boring.

If the argument is that all the WWI flyers should want is a simple furball arena and be satisfied with that and nothing more, then the same argument should be made for the WWII MA arenas.  Remove the current WWII strat arenas and only provide an early, mid, and late ware furball arena.  If that type of game play should be sufficient to satisfy the WWI crowd, it should sure be enough to satisfy the WWII players as well.  
If anyone feels the WWII population would not be satisfied with that limited type of game play for long, then you should question why the WWI players should.
These comments are offered in good faith to help HTC get a feel for what their customers would like to see.  They are made with the utmost respect for the effort and work they have put into the WWI toys we already have.

Regards,
Wab

[Miska]

I just feel like the current arena design tragically fails to show them off to their fullest potential.   It’s like giving someone a Porche but them telling them they are only allowed to drive it around in the school parking lot and never take it out on the road.

I really couldn't have said it better.  But for some reason, I get an error message when trying to reply to the thread directly.

Vlas

[FLS]

Vlas you just have to shorten the title. Remove the "RE:" or otherwise edit it.

[CptTrips]

My bad Vlas.  I didn't realize my long title would cause BBS trouble.  I truncated it.

Salute,
Wab

[FLS]

Keep in mind that the WW1 arena is a test bed. Perhaps one of the things being tested is the notion that a furball only arena is a good idea. It's more likely that we got what we have because with a strat element added we'd still be waiting for it to debut. You've been here long enough to know that development never ends and there is no reason to believe that the WW1 arena is anywhere near finished.

The DA has furball lake as you noted. I hope we maintain that little pond for all the little frogs that can feel big there. I don't see how moving them to another furball arena would add anything unless you're thinking about scores.  Furball lake gives you something to shoot at while you wait for somebody to duel with.

You say that the WW1 furball only arena is getting old already and yet you still want a WW2 furball only arena, which we already have in the DA. This makes no sense to me.

The reason there is friction between furballers and war winners is because they have different goals which they want to accomplish in the same place at the same time. I used to think this was a bad idea but now I'm inclined to think that Hitech and Pyro are wiser then we are and that this friction is a good thing.

[CptTrips]

You say that the WW1 furball only arena is getting old already and yet you still want a WW2 furball only arena, which we already have in the DA. This makes no sense to me.

Let me clarify that a bit.  What is getting old is having nothing more than a furball arena for WWI.  That doesn't mean I would never want to fly there.  I just don't want to be limited only to that user experience.

If I am a WWII flyer, I can go jump into the DA Furball lake for a couple of quickies.  Thats what I will want to do many times.  I may only have 30 mins to play or may just not have the mental energy to attempt anything more complicated.  Its simple, reliable, I can get in, get a quick fight, and get out quickly.

If I feel I need a little more depth on a particular evening, I have 3 (4 if you caount the AVA) rich, strat enabled main arenas I can go play in.  I have access to a dynamic, complex gaming environment with a huge range of missions contexts.  Its like going from checkers to chess.


In WWI I don't have any such variety.  No matter my mood, there is only one option.  On many days thats fine.  Thats all I want.  On many days thats not enough.  I want access to as rich a stategic world as WWII players get in the MA.


If the argument is, that is all that should be necessary, then the same argument should apply to WWII.  We should try an experiment and remove the current MA arenas and replace them with a scaled up version of the current WWI arena maps.  No more strat arenas.  The WWII flyers should be perfectly satisfied with that.  If they want a different kind of fight, they can fly out into the no-mans land and maybe someone will join them.  Think of the amount of time and effort HTC could save by never having to provide all that strat logic to the WWII MA.  Do you think that would be enough to keep the WWII player base permenently satisfied?  If not, why would that be enough for the WWI players forever?


But true, the WWI arena is in its early days.  And very often the current WWI arena is a lot of fun.  I'm sure HTC is considering many possible paths going further.  I'm just giving them some feedback on how at least one customer sees it.


Regards,
Wab

[Miska]

FLS,  HT has clearly stated on several occasions that the WWI would remain furball only. I hope he changes his mind. I really don't see the downside of making a historically configured arena available for those who would enjoy it.

[FLS]

I think it's too early to worry about it but there's no reason not to wish for it. 

[Ghosth]

My biggest concern is not strat or no strat for WWI. Its if enough people are going to be in there to be able to find a good fight and have some fun.

Really seeing the numbers dropping off way faster than I expected.

[Lusche]

Really seeing the numbers dropping off way faster than I expected.

I was more pessimistic and was almost a bit surprised when the numbers stayed quite high the second week.

But nevertheless, WWI arena is now where I was expecting it to end up... numbers wise.

Though I love WW1 planes & combat at least as much (or maybe even more) than WW2 (Red Baron I + II have left their marks in my gamer's heart forever), I left the WWI arena after about 2 weeks and hundreds of fights, even before the numbers went really low.

[thndregg]

Really seeing the numbers dropping off way faster than I expected.

WW1 did just what I thought it would. Looking back, the exact same thing happened with the introduction of the Early and Mid-war arenas (Early-war especially). The "new" has gone very quickly. You would swear by all the giddiness demonstrated in this BBS earlier before the WW1 release that that particular era of dogfighting would be packed with players indefinitely.

Didn't take long for it to get old.

[CptTrips]

Though I love WW1 planes & combat at least as much (or maybe even more) than WW2 (Red Baron I + II have left their marks in my gamer's heart forever), I left the WWI arena after about 2 weeks and hundreds of fights, even before the numbers went really low.

May I ask why you didn't feel motivated to stay?

Regards,
Wab

[Lusche]

May I ask why you didn't feel motivated to stay?

Lack of combat variety. After 1 week, always the same on the deck furball with an occasional nice 1on1 was getting very boring and even tiring at times.

[CptTrips]

Lack of combat variety. After 1 week, always the same on the deck furball with an occasional nice 1on1 was getting very boring and even tiring at times.

May I ask what you feel is the root cause to the lack of variety?

,
Wab

[Miska]

Lack of combat variety. After 1 week, always the same on the deck furball with an occasional nice 1on1 was getting very boring and even tiring at times.

Exactly. Your typical WWI simmer is historically oriented.  I can see how this arena is driving or keeping them away.  I'll give it a while longer and try to build something. Who knows?