Dawger, in your opinion, how far in advance do you think it should be scheduled?
Keep in mind, we are having some maps made and such and we want to get them into the rotation as quickly as they are finished.
We also want to try some new things, campaigns that haven't been written yet etc.
The Aces High events calendar only goes out one month. The next month usually doesn't get published until the last ten days of the month. Right now only the September schedule is published.
So to answer your questions, one month.
Internally, the staff should be operating at least a few months in advance.
A good example of the frustration that comes without scheduling is this week's setup. The new map is keep up and called Okinawa and the plane set published is ridiculous. P38G in 1945 Pacific? Yet the setup is announced and implemented basically simultaneously. Of course, there are easily obtainable Okinawa plane sets. It is a pretty simple matter to use one of the existing Okinawa sets in the new terrain.
So one wonders why an existing set wasn't used.
I am holding the position that the lack of planning is what is causing such gross plane set errors. Of course it could be other factors but lack of planning is the most generous that comes to mind.
I am pushing for a schedule out of a desire to see the AvA succeed and become a popular alternative for players.
Without a published schedule the AvA is a place players either play in daily or not at all. Lacking the ability to easily discover if they have interest in the current setup, the AvA is easily forgotten.
There are some who want the AvA to be this way. They believe that in order to be a "true" AvA citizen you have to play there everyday no matter the setup. This ignores the reality of the game. People have their own interests. Even the FSO, an event that demands squadrons participation as a condition of enrollment allows for the preferences of the squadrons involved to be considered.
Publishing a schedule and then posting a forum post linking to the setup weekly will build the habit of folks checking the AvA schedule and planning online activities around the schedule. This is especially true for squadrons. I use the AH events calendar to plan squadron meets.
I see a few negative comments about my asking for a published schedule. One has to wonder why the opposition to the idea? What possible negative impact would a published schedule have?
The AvA better get moving. The new H2H is coming. It is supposed to be 32 player. When the average player has the ability to create exactly what the AvA is now, the AvA is done.