The WWI arena today

[Rich46yo]

I remember when they took the WW1 poll and all the posts that supported the idea of a WW1 arena. I wonder if any of those same people actually fly it, if they are still around that is. This is what I said,

Most players wont take the performance step down of the EWA. What makes you think they will run to the WW 1 arena where the airplanes in it can be outraced by the slowest of WW-ll planes? How many 10 min climbs to 10,000' you think they will endure? Only to be HO'd and pilot wounded and forced to climb again.

No, I think 9 out of 10 might fly the arena once and never do so again. These airplanes were so slow theres really no way you could fight them on a regular map. Even worse AH will be spending all those man hours creating a different sim when their main sim needs so much more work. More updates, more airplanes, more vehicles. Mostly tho I just think almost all their players just wont like the performance step down of a WW-l sim. Especially if it was modeled realistically. I think Korea would get far, far more use.

And guess what?

I just left the LWMA, after being away from the game for 9mos. And I saw the same procession of LAs, Spixteens, 190s, P-51s, 163s, 262s, the player base simply doesnt want to go 100mph in a WW1 airplane. Heck they dont even want to go 300 mph tops in a WW2 one. It was a mistake modeling this arena and AH made a msitake listening to all the sycophants who told them they would love the arena and now never use it.

And the real tragedy is its a great arena and I think the modeling of the airplanes is lovely. Ive only tooled around in it cause I have no interest in WW1 flight, I'd say they exceded their promise of building a good arena. But then I think of the WW2 planes that could have been modeled instead, The Beau, the 111, the TU-2, Firefly,A-26,B-29,G4m Betty,ME-210. Its a long list.

[CptTrips]

I remember when they took the WW1 poll and all the posts that supported the idea of a WW1 arena. I wonder if any of those same people actually fly it, if they are still around that is. This is what I said,  And guess what?

I just left the LWMA, after being away from the game for 9mos. And I saw the same procession of LAs, Spixteens, 190s, P-51s, 163s, 262s, the player base simply doesnt want to go 100mph in a WW1 airplane. Heck they dont even want to go 300 mph tops in a WW2 one. It was a mistake modeling this arena and AH made a msitake listening to all the sycophants who told them they would love the arena and now never use it.

And the real tragedy is its a great arena and I think the modeling of the airplanes is lovely. Ive only tooled around in it cause I have no interest in WW1 flight, I'd say they exceded their promise of building a good arena. But then I think of the WW2 planes that could have been modeled instead, The Beau, the 111, the TU-2, Firefly,A-26,B-29,G4m Betty,ME-210. Its a long list.

Rich,

I fully accept that there are people who are not into the WWI air combat era.  WWI will always have a smaller fan base than WWII.  Just like Baseball will always have a smaller fanbase than Football.  However, there are people who are not into WWII era.  There are people who say “who wants to crawl around at 400mph?  I want jets!  Mach baby!”  There are people who are not into the jet era.  They prefer the open cockpits and wind in their face of WWI crates.  Different strokes for different folks.  

I think it is unfair for you to label anyone who expressed an interest in a WWI arena as a sycophant.  They may have merely had a different vision of what a WWI arena would look like than HTC did.  The survey question did not specify a 4 plane, strat-less H2H arena.  I suspect that most people who stated they would have an interest were envisioning a fully fleshed out arena with a variety of fighter, bombers, observation planes, balloons, zeppelins, tanks, and a reasonable strategic system.  At least that’s what I was thinking of when I expressed an interest.  I was expecting a an enhanced, improved version of what Dale and Doug built for DOA the same way they improved and enhanced their WWII sim over what they did with WB.

I still assert that RBII3d, DOA, and now ROF have built up a respectable WWI market that could be harvested by HTC with the correct offering the way they have largely gathered up the WWII market with AH.  However, the current WWI arena design just ain’t gonna get it done.

Regards,
Wab  

    

[dog1]

I remember when they took the WW1 poll and all the posts that supported the idea of a WW1 arena. I wonder if any of those same people actually fly it, if they are still around that is. This is what I said,  And guess what?

I just left the LWMA, after being away from the game for 9mos. And I saw the same procession of LAs, Spixteens, 190s, P-51s, 163s, 262s, the player base simply doesnt want to go 100mph in a WW1 airplane. Heck they dont even want to go 300 mph tops in a WW2 one. It was a mistake modeling this arena and AH made a msitake listening to all the sycophants who told them they would love the arena and now never use it.

And the real tragedy is its a great arena and I think the modeling of the airplanes is lovely. Ive only tooled around in it cause I have no interest in WW1 flight, I'd say they exceded their promise of building a good arena. But then I think of the WW2 planes that could have been modeled instead, The Beau, the 111, the TU-2, Firefly,A-26,B-29,G4m Betty,ME-210. Its a long list.

Well I'm glad they made this "mistake", as you so put it....... And the B-29?? really? Every thing I've ever read here on the boards is HT will never put the B-29 in the game.A long list? So what.Go start your own game and fill it with every plane. Why do you feel the need to tell HT how to run his game? If you don't like flying the WW1 planes don't. If you feel the HT has wasted your $15 a month on "tragedy's" and "mistakes" well then go away.

 So a lot of people who said they wanted a WW1 arena changed their minds.So people said it would never work.Not many fly in there and now all you  say is HA! see... what a waste of time!!  Real constructive bro....

[Yeager]

And I saw the same procession of LAs, Spixteens, 190s, P-51s, 163s, 262s, the player base simply doesnt want to go 100mph

But then I think of the WW2 planes that could have been modeled instead, The Beau, the 111, the TU-2, Firefly,A-26,B-29,G4m Betty,ME-210. Its a long list.

Do you see the fallacy of your own argument?  The vast majority of players in AH play the LW arena.  and the vast majority of those players fly four plane types so why on earth is wasting time on four WW1 planes any greater than wasting time on all the other rides you mentioned that no one will ever fly?   Using the logic of your qoute above HTC has already finished the game with LAs Spixteens 190s and 51Ds.  Thats all anyone flys and will ever fly, right?

The WW1 arena has suffered because of the DR1.  Most people will tell you that.  Its a single plane arena for the most part and the novelty wore off real fast for most people.  If HTC does nothing more with the WW1 arena, well they at least got 9 players on the rolls who otherwise wouldnt be.  Lot of us are hoping they expand the gameplay in there with new features and new rides.  I mean why not give us some new WW1 toys since the LW arenas are already finished, right?  Remember?  LAs, Spixteens, 190s, 51s.

[Rich46yo]

Well Im glad there are some defenders and users of the arena. As Ive said I admire the work done there. Just cause I dont use it much doesnt mean I dont admire it. But I stick to my guns that the interest to make it viable was never really there in the first place.

But that doesnt mean I "want" it to fail. Who knows maybe I'll be wrong.

Yeags my answer to you would be for them to model competative aircraft. Like the Mossie XVl . That or fill out plane sets of the era. Doing both should be priority. Like the TU-2, the Fairey, the Yak-3, the 111, the A-26, the ME-210 or 410. Heck even a slow plane like the brewster can be a big hit cause the interest was there. That and due to its importance in actual WW-ll history.

Wabs Ive been in that arena and i think it was a terrific job on AHs part. So I stick to my opinion.

[Lusche]

I just left the LWMA, after being away from the game for 9mos. And I saw the same procession of LAs, Spixteens, 190s, P-51s, 163s, 262s, the player base simply doesnt want to go 100mph in a WW1 airplane. Heck they dont even want to go 300 mph tops in a WW2 one. It was a mistake modeling this arena and AH made a msitake listening to all the sycophants who told them they would love the arena and now never use it.

I am one of those sycophants who do not fly WWI any more.

And I still claim I like WWI planes more than WWII planes. If there was a game similar to AHII MA's, but with WWI planes, I would be there in a heartbeat.
What is keeping me from flying WWI is not the lack of speed, but simply the arena setup and the extremily limited gameplay and combat options. After about 2 initially very fun weeks I quickly burned out. And I guess I'm not alone. Many players did had a lot of fun in those planes, so it could not only have been a general aversion vs slow biplanes that lead to the decline.

[Yeager]

for them to model competative aircraft. Like the Mossie XVl . That or fill out plane sets of the era. Doing both should be priority.

Like the TU-2, the Fairey, the Yak-3, the 111, the A-26, the ME-210 or 410. Heck even a slow plane like the brewster can be a big hit cause the interest was there. That and due to its importance in actual WW-ll history.

Wabs Ive been in that arena and i think it was a terrific job on AHs part. So I stick to my opinion.

Thats the problem with WW1.  There is a single very superior plane and three inferior (to the DR1 at least) planes.  The arena didnt take off because there was no filled out competative planeset.  It is basically a very limited single plane game at the moment and thats why all those people who expressed interest have simply walked away.  Bad planning and implimentation AFAIC, sorry to say.

The late war planeset is a monster and is almost complete with the major planes already represented (and a few that should never have been added). Also, I would never fly any of those planes you suggested so thats a waste of HTCs time far as Im concerned 

What I need is a SE5a, Albatross, Nieuport and SPAD.  That is HTCs time well spent in order to fix that WW1 arena so more people are brought back to the fold  Remember that.  The WW1 arena isnt a bad idea, it was just not implimented in the best way it could have been.

[715]

...The vast majority of players in AH play the LW arena, and the vast majority of those players fly four plane types...

I thought I'd check that statement (even though doing so adds nothing to the original discussion).  Going by K+D (the stats don't list sorties) the "vast majority" of LW players don't fly just 4 planes.  In fact 3 of the 4 most popular rides are tanks so they don't fly at all.  The 4 most popular planes (P51D, Spit XVI, N1K2, and La7) are only 14% of total rides or 22% counting only fighters.  22% isn't exactly a "vast majority"   The LW arena is remarkably diverse and "everybody is flying Spit 16s" is observational bias.

Now to something slightly more relevant: in my opinion adding more WWI planes won't really change the game play.  All WWI planes are very slow.  The differences are going to be in the 20 mph range.  With a differential speed of 20 mph trying to extend out of a turning battle is like trying to get away from a machine gun nest by riding a bicycle.  The speed of the WWI planes is so much slower than the speed of bullets that you can't do anything but commit to a tight turning battle- one that the DrI will usually win.  Add to that the fact that just keeping your plane in the air and not ripping off wings is difficult, and you end up with pretty limiting game play.

Now, does that mean that more speed leads to more diverse game play?  Not necessarily.  The WWII planes are the optimum I suspect.  In Air Warrior I found the Korean arena (Mig15 vs F86) to be pretty boring.  Your target was a single pixel most of the time and you had spit second firing solutions.

[Lusche]

Now, does that mean that more speed leads to more diverse game play?  Not necessarily.  

The gameplay/fights get more diverse by creating different combat situations. Right now we basically have the treetop duelling dogfight only. With more diverse situations, other plane's strengths might shine a bit more.

[Rich46yo]

Thats the problem with WW1.  There is a single very superior plane and three inferior (to the DR1 at least) planes.  The arena didn't take off because there was no filled out competative planeset.  It is basically a very limited single plane game at the moment and thats why all those people who expressed interest have simply walked away.  Bad planning and implimentation AFAIC, sorry to say.

The late war planeset is a monster and is almost complete with the major planes already represented (and a few that should never have been added). Also, I would never fly any of those planes you suggested so thats a waste of HTCs time far as Im concerned 

What I need is a SE5a, Albatross, Nieuport and SPAD.  That is HTCs time well spent in order to fix that WW1 arena so more people are brought back to the fold  Remember that.  The WW1 arena isnt a bad idea, it was just not implimented in the best way it could have been.

Yeags I know you for a honest man. If you were running the show would you pour more resources into what turned out to be a failed gamble? I was just there, at 1600 hrs on a Sat., and it had 2 people in it. Theres always going to be a DR1 airplane in any arena of any war. You control it with eny and/or perks. Further when "lesser" WW2 airplanes are modeled they can always find a home in MW or EW. You cant do that with WW1. That lack of participation breeds even less participation should surprise nobody. Lastly I must say that anyone who thought a large contingant of WW1 airframes would have been provided in the first year simply wasnt living in reality.

Its a monster job getting new airframes modeled and I think they have done a fine job getting five out that fly so nicely. I mean it. I like the artwork, the airplanes, the history. I hope they keep it going and it gains some steam. 

[BGB the 3RD]

The dr1 is not superior

Any one want to Test?  I am giving out free beat downs

Most pilot s can't fight,  so they bail back to the comfort of horde. BNZ MA

[dog1]

The dr1 is not superior

Any one want to Test?  I am giving out free beat downs

Most pilot s can't fight,  so they bail back to the comfort of horde. BNZ MA

LMAO   

[Yeager]

Thanks Rich.

I seriously hope HTC doesnt let the WW1 whither away and die off.  I just think they could have put a much better planeset into the initial release.  Those late war kites very well may have generated a better experience.  The DR1 is a odd little flyer anyway.  Should have been left on the "do last" list, in my opinion.

Im going to go in there tonight a play a few rounds.  It wont last long though.  My frustration in there has already been well documented in these forums but I will have some fun for a few minutes before heading off to my beloved MW.

[715]

The dr1 is not superior

Really?  Then I suspect your explanation of this should be entertaining:

Plane  Kill/Death Ratio
D.VII  0.75
Dr.I   1.34
F.1    1.02
F.2B   0.83

[715]

The gameplay/fights get more diverse by creating different combat situations. Right now we basically have the treetop duelling dogfight only. With more diverse situations, other plane's strengths might shine a bit more.

Yeah.. I know, that's what I was saying.  I was trying to point out that going even faster than WWII doesn't make things even better; i.e. Korea could turn out boring.