Ok... here we are again.
First off... lets clear one thing up. "Perk farming" as Skuzzy was referring to it is using two accounts in such a way that you are online with both at the same time. Using one as a "target" and the other to shoot the planes the first is flying over and over again, earning perks and kills with no effort or chance of being shot down... since you are shooting at a plane controlled by you. This can also be applied to players who do this by working together by flying on different teams but who work together to "give" each other free and easy kills.
Logging into the low numbered side and taking a bomber to hit strats or towns, and choosing not to join in the fights that are going on in other areas of the map... is often referred to as "perk farming" but is not the same thing, and is completely within the rules, and is an intended feature of the game as it is currently set up. This is what WWhiskey was referring to as perk farming. I have flown with WWhiskey for 3 years... and I can say with total certainty that he has never cheated, or manipulated the game unfairly. He doesnt need to. He is an outstanding player... one of the best pilots and tankers I have ever seen in this game. Not to mention, he doesnt care about his score.
Second... the continual whining and complaining on the boards about "how midwar is dead... dying... has a cancer" or whatever by those who are unwilling to do anything about it is solving nothing. In fact... it hurts the arena more. Pointing fingers at individuals, or squads for not playing the game in a manner that someone else thinks they should is solving nothing. Trying to get special features added to, or changed in the midwar arena isnt going to help it in my opinion either.
Everything that happens in MW... happens in LW too. It's just that in MW, since the number of players is much smaller, there are a couple of things that happen that are different.
1) Almost everyone knows each other... this either develops close bonds (even between opposing sides) or strong hatreds (even on the same sides). In MW there arent 15 fights going on that you can go do something else and still find action with. Most of the time, there are 1 or 2 fights you have to choose from if you want to be a part of the action.
2) The sides get unbalanced quickly and without notice. Our squad took it upon ourselves to see if switching sides would help balance out the arena some. At first... it does. But when there are 7 players on each side... and 3 bish (just for arguments sake) log off to go eat, wife ack or whatever... the unbalance is back. Also... people like flying on the same side with the friends and squadmates. If the sides go out of balance, I know I am not just going to change sides and not be able to talk with my friends just to make someone who is whining about being outnumbered happy. In those cases... I usually just go to LW if I feel like we are overpowering a side that has no chance... and fly with my friends and squadmates there.
Midwar is never... and has never... had the numbers that late war is going to have. 10 on a side at any given time is a high number of players there, and is fairly rare. Why? Well its not because one side dominates the others. It not because there are people whining and crying on all channel that drives people away. Its because the "hot" planes and tanks are all in LW. You cant fly a Spit16 in MW. You cant fly a PonyD in MW. You cant drive an M18 or a Tiger2 in MW. More people are attracted to the "better" planes... and that in turns attracts more people because that is where the crowd is.
Grumpy... when I first came to AH... I felt the same way you do about LW. I hated it. I settled down into MW. But a year or so ago when VF-15 moved to LW to get away from the drama going on in MW... I learned that I was wrong. LW isnt "bad"... its just different. Yes... there are massive fights of 30 and 40 planes in giant furballs. There are tank fights where sometimes you are dead before you can even see who is around you. But there are also some epic battles that occur. Its just different... and often times I enjoy that just as much or more than being in MW. Im not telling you that you are wrong... maybe LW isnt your cup of tea... and that's cool. It wasnt mine for a long time either, but after being in it for awhile, I changed my mind and its just another place to fly and have fun with my friends.
OK OK lets get back on topic LOL so how about keeping points to the arena they are earned in? IMHO anyone that doesnt like this idea is probably one of the perk farmers we have been talking about.
Now... your question. And before I get accused of being "one of those perk farmers" by someone...
Thats 3 years of perkies. If I am a perk farmer I am a damn crappy one. What it really boils down to is I dont CARE about perk points. I also dont care about score (feel free to check it if you are bored). If I get perks for something... thats cool. If I lose an ME-262 and the perks that goes with it... oh well. I used to have a lot more bomber perks, but I lost a whole flight of B-29's because I was stupid. One of these days I may get enough to be stupid with them again... if I dont... oh well.
But Grumpy... I am on the fence about keeping perks in the arena you earn them in. Sometimes I think its a good idea. Yes... it would keep people from coming into an arena and making strat runs to earn perks they are going to use somewhere else. But that cuts both ways. It removes an incentive for people to come to MW... and if you want the numbers in MW to go up, it needs all the incentive it can get.
The numbers in MW arent going to go up overnight no matter what anyone does. No matter how much people gripe here. People that want to fly in MW are going to fly there because they want to. In days past, there were 4 or 5 squads that were on opposing sides that kept the arena in balance... and we all loved to hate each other. Now there are only a couple. MW needs dedicated squads again to keep the sides balanced, and the action going.
So... after a long and drawn out post... that no one is going to care about anyway... that's what I think.
