At least in bombers the player has a goal and is working towards something. There would be no goal for sitting on a hillside other than the very minor switch of a capture to a bailed out. It is also probably not in the game's best interest to add an incentive to make players sit on a hillside rather than reup and join the fight again.
For some people that minor switch would be enough of a goal and a great opportunity to use the bathroom and grab another beer.
(this is for the abova and below quote) As far as the games best interst goes you are probably right on that one when considering the main arenas and the fact that most of HTC subscriptions come from players who spend most of their time in the MAs
Arguing the merits of a wish is what the forum is for. "Why not" was answered in that it would take HiTech effort to create a system that wouldn't be used, effort that could better be put to other improvements. In addition, should somebody suggest it, modifications to the game to encourage people to use the rescue feature would, from most people's perspective, be bad for the game as it would take players out of the game for extended periods of time, players who would otherwise be involved in the fight.
I agree that that arguing the merits of a wish is part of what this forum is for, I was just pointing out that your original post on the first page was little more than a "why would someone want this?" used in such a way as to try to discredit the OPs idea quickly. I wouldn't have made this point if the original argument against this thread was more of a "this is a bad idea and here are several reasons I think so" I have no problem with argument or debate.
I disagree. I don't think that scenarios would add a "Everybody who didn't get shot down sit in the tower and wait while those that did get rescued" stage. I could be wrong, but I just don't see it happening.
I wasn't clear enough. I wasn't suggesting that people who land safely would have to wait around while the others tried to rescue or be rescued. The way I see it working is like this: Squad alpha has 5 people flying in FSO tonight, during alphas mission 3 of their pilots are gunned down. One of these downed pilots in alpha squad or one of the pilots who safely rtb in alpha squade can reup in a storch or a c47 or a jeep (if close enough to a GV spawn point) and perform rescue duties. If the rescue pilot is shot down or killed then thats it for squad alpha, no more reups. Now the downed pilots of squad alpha can log off and take the capture or they can put out a call to another squad who still has a rescue bird/gv up. Any other pilots who land safely (friendly or enemy) are free to log off at anytime just like they can now. pilots also have the option of protecting the score they earned for their side by hunting the rescue birds down, and conversly the other side can rearm planes that safely rtb and try to protect the rescue ops. As far as run time goes I wouldn't change the run time for any of the FSOs or scenarios (at least in the begining) unless it became obviouse that more time was needed for some reason. Log books on the event would still close at whatever time listed by the event CMs and any planes still in the air at that time would be treated just like they are now (even rescue birds) when the log books are closed. In short, if you did rtb safely and have no desire to, or are not able to assist with rescue ops feel free to log off if you are done playing; just like it is now. Rescue ops would be optional and wouldn't have an effect on those players who don't want to participate in them, beyond maybe altering their earned score if a pilot they shot down is successfully rescued.
As far as MA use for pilot rescue goes. too much would have to be changed to make it a usable feature; including core game rules (scoring/perks); and these I think are the real reasons pilot rescue wont be included in the game.
