Im sorry. When I said Uber plane I meant EZ mode. Spits, NIKIS F4UC etc
Ive flown the 152, And like the D9 and while I agree to a certain degree those are "uber" rides. Mostly because of their speed and guns. But I dont consider them by any stretch of the imagination to be EZ mode. They are actually two of the most difficult planes to fly and be successful in with any regularity.
As far as the Scoring in the Newbie arena. I know what you mean. But thats why I am suggesting a mandatory side balance in it. Maybe make it two sided as opposed to 3. That way your assured that the numbers going against one another are relatively even and not a true representation of the MA. Maybe even take it a step further and have zone/base limits. That way you should always have say 10 players always going against 10 players most of the time. Scoring will have to be a formula of sorts. Possibly a combination of Hit%, kills (actual and not proxie) and K/D ratio. And maybe limit the actual time allowed in the Newb arena to be 30 days or a set number of hours plyed total. Im thinking that if you cant get at least a grasp of whats going on in 30 days. Then there isnt much hope for you lol
I dunno Dred.
The D9 and 152 are two sides of the "ultimate 190" coin. Successful D9 flying means very slippery flying with very quick reflexes and very accurate gunnery because of relatively low hitting power + high relative speeds. 152 means you have to be much more careful with your E (less acceleration and level top speed) but can afford to slow down if you can manage 2-3 snapshot oppy's thanks to the guns, and on the other hand E retention is much easier and flexible than D9 and stall departure is completely better.. In the MAs I find it much easier to rack up kills with the 152. I tested it a few nights in a row - flown in a pure killing mode with no regard for fun, ended up with a dozen kills per sortie and on avg 1 rearm before I died. Yes it's not a beginner plane, but IMO it's definitely uber in the sense that I can club baby seals like you were saying is arguably unfair.
Also the non-perk easymodes give up speed for their firepower (hurri2c, n1k..) or maneuverability (zero, spits...). Speed is a major card in your hand. Disengage at will, outpace the furball's movement, etc. So yeah, the D9 and K4, 152, etc, are less beginner planes but they IMO belong in 'uber'.
On the newbie arena-
The 30day limit hints at a similar shortcut. You might not have to have a perfectly reliable skill evaluation system. If by the time there's any ambiguity (as far as the skill-eval algorithm can tell), most players have already gotten enough practice from this special environment, you can just call it a day and ship em out. "Good enough"
