I feel like my soapbox is getting worn out lately but here I go again.
In my mind it's a matter of perception and how someone goes about approaching the game, in the end it's going to be a lot more easy to change your (generic you, typical AH player) approach to the game and find the fun than it is to try and change an entire game and social system/structure? Can't fly your favorite P-51D because of ENY? Give the P-51B a try (ENY 20), P-47M too high? What about the D-11 (ENY 25)? No Spit XVI? Try the Mk. V (ENY 25), you get the idea. Look at it as a challenge or a chance to try something new a victory scored in early or midwar fighter can be immensely satisfying. It also may mean a chance to try something different, something that is not your usual shtick in the MA's.
Waaaaaaay back in AH1 the first (IIRC) player submitted MA map was the original pizza/desert terrain map. At first I didn't care for it, the bases were too far apart IMHO for good furballing, the map was also the first "large" map and I though it was too easy to horde and/or sneak undefended bases and there wasn't a lot of water for CV ops (I'm a recovering F6F dweeb). I would piss, moan, and gnash my teeth when I logged on saw it was up. That us until my friend asked me if I ever tried GV-ing, "GV? You mean those little green things that drive around on wheels? Bah! This is Aces HIGH, not Tankers Low!" etc. etc. Well one day I relented and gave it a whirl and you know what? it was damned fun. That map had great GV battles in these really deep canyons and a ring of fields at the map edge with great hills that offered reverse slope ambushes and little valleys that let you do end runs into the flanks of the defenders in your little M8. I still wasn't a die-hard GV fan but when that map was up I did a lot of GV driving and started to look at that map's turn in the rotation as a nice little change of pace.
Of course there's always the option to just switch countries as well, I know that makes some folks uncomfortable but the other way to think of it is a chance to fly with some different people, make new friends, is an hour or two away from your "home" country a couple times a month really going to be the end of the world? Have you tried it?
Ok that's it I promise to put the soapbox away for a while, the point I'm trying to make is that it's going to be a lot easier to for the individual player to adapt to the situation at hand and "find the fun" than to try and change the system, is all the angst and frustration really worth it? Try something new and you may be surprised how quickly you get back to having fun and how easier it can be if you just let yourself try something different.
(once again this is not aimed any any player or group in particular, just some unsolicited but well intentioned advice from someone who's been around for a few years.)
