If you are complaining about people who do Head-Ons, you do not know how to merge.The above is a
hasty generalization subject to many exceptions, but in the majority of cases it needs to be said. The OP post describing this "Jumper's" engagement style- where he noses down and sprays if you try to dodge- indicates that he is flying "piper-on-target," all the way through the merge. The excellent ACM primer for online air combat, "In Pursuit," (which I'm sure most of us are aware of,) demonstrated neatly why an enemy that flies head-on, piper-on-target is nothing more then a
very easy kill waiting to happen:
(I posted this fullsize to make sure everybody saw it; if a mod feels a thumbnail link is better, PM me and I'll fix it.)I first tested this in IL-2 offline, where the AI on "Veteran" ALWAYS goes for a piper-on-approach, and it works flawlessly. On-line it does nearly as well. And remember what WMLute said:
You get to dictate your opponents 1st and 2nd move if you are smart about it and by doing so get to start the fight with a huge advantage. Not only do you control their moves but by doing so you are putting them in a terrible position for the rest of the fight and pretty much starting the fight 1/2 way to their 6.
This man is right. Read his post again. In fact, I think he just summarized the strategy shown in the above pic.
HO's are just as much your fault as the HO'er, for rewarding such behavior. The only reason people get away with it is because so many others who had the fortune to go up against smart pilots who avoid HO shots learned to furball before they really learned to merge. If you're not punishing people for foolishly flying piper-on-target, it's your fault for not knowing how to merge.
This does not mean you're a bad pilot, or stupid, because:1. The merge is
hard, because it's highly dependent on timing; which cannot be taught, only learned through instinct and practice.
2. The merge is arguably the
most crucial part of proper ACM, but your ignorance of this, while it
is your problem, it
isn't because you're lazy or lax. In case you didn't remember, look down- you're sitting at a computer playing a game with cartoon planes where no lives are in danger either from bullets or pissed off crew chiefs. It's not the Air Force academy; you had no way of expecting this much nuance. I learned to love these games starting with Aces Over Europe and Red Baron and I was quite the HURR LEFT-HAND-TURN = DOGFIGHTAN for longer then I'd care to admit. This brings me to my third point:
HOers only learn not to HO when you blow their tails off.The best way for HOers to
appreciate that HOing is not where it's at is for you to show them- with your first yard or two of ammo. After it happens the fourth or fifth time, they'll start to get the picture. And then
they'll learn the value of the merge- and start to appreciate that they're getting into a game which is
far more interesting then either JOUSTING TOURNAMENT or MERRY-GO-ROUND. Even 14 year olds who just want to hop on for twenty minutes of mindless BLAMMO BLAMMO can quickly appreciate this. They'll then go on to use their new trick against their fellow n00bs.
If a n00b can get away with an HO 9 times out of 10, then it's a valid tactic for him. It works, doesn't it? What else do you want from a tactic? You change that, and you'll remove any incentive for HOs in the first place.
Naturally, all my above ranting is fine and good ONLY if the arena isn't so full of new guys that it ends up being newbie vs. newbie jousting in most areas, with the more experienced sticks too outnumbered to make a difference. I personally don't think the game has been irrevocably lost to squeakers on their 2 week trials; but if that's really the case, then stick to the Dueling Arena, skirmishes between squadmates, or the like.
There are many "griefer" tricks in this game (as with all online games) that you have relatively little control over. HO's are not one of them.
