a "beginners" arena

[Ack-Ack]

Fighter Ace had a beginners arena. Small island map with limited set of A/C from mid war, tanks and ships to attack. I can't remember if it was two sides or three.  Once your score reached the rank of LtC your guns went cold and most would move on to the MA's.  Veteran pilots would come in there and be drones for target practice and offer advice.

Sounds like FA took that idea from AW.

ack-ack

[The Fugitive]

Lifetime bullets is interesting limitation. 

Did the concept work well in your opinion?

I thought it did, but that's only my opinion.

It gave the newbies a place to get there feet wet with out all the"game" stuff getting in the way. The only pressure they had was what they put on themselves to stay in the air long enough to get a kill. In Aces High there is pressure of trying to beat your countrymen to the kill, not screw up enough to get your countrymen killed, not miss your target and screw up the capture on top of just trying to stay in the air.

It gave the newbies some fights that were thrilling because in most cases they fought again players of their own skill level and so could last longer and get their adrenalin going, which in the long run helped them in deciding to stay and play. Once that "adrenalin" high gets ahold of you it's tuff to do with out. Today the thrill is getting the "global" attaboys when the team rolls another base.

It gave squads a pool to recruit from. Working with the new guys was a good way to learn if a player fit, was a nice guy, willing to learn and put in the time to get better. You know, the type of player you'd LIKE to have on your squad, not just anyone with a pulse and can haul extra bombs to the target field and MAYBE hit something with them.

I don't remember how many points you got for a kill, but by the time you hit the limit you knew your way around the game, the controls, and the basics of flying fighters and bombers. When you got in the MAINS it wasn't such a shock and and the transition was much easier.

[bustr]

Thought the DA's Fighter Lake was Aces High's Kiddy Pool now. It has that pond furball flavor of the RR Small Europe from AW.

It seems to have a semi perminant population that eventualy graduates 2-3% into the MA over time while the rest are happy HOing each other in Tempests and F4U-4 all day long. They have their own game language, groups, villans and uber sticks they look up to. If you are fortunate to go knights, you are invited to channel 100 for a large support group of very helpful players pretty much having a nonstop party. Sort of like C-land in AW.

That for the most part is our beginners arena by the virtue of squatters rights and a very good 3-6 month Newbie fighter warmup for the LWMA shark pool. Yes very often their best move in the MA is the HO. But at least they can take off and not fly into the ground the first time they pull a turn. And they don't have to be told everthing from the Help file over local channel. That fits the definition of a beginers arena's job.

Sadly many in the MA and DA look down on the place as a garbage dump. Treat those who spend time there as garbage, and tell new players to go there as a personal insult to convey distaste for thier neophyte status in the game. But, it is a beginers arena with a constant population of players willing to fight you and help you through the learning process. It's just not a tamed down version of the MA with a full scale war going on like the RR arena in AW was.

[Orbitson]

sounds like FA took that idea from AW
ack-ack

Is that a good thing?  Was the AW concept of the beginners arena a success in any way?
I'm not promoting a noob arena.. just offering a reference to something that worked in another venue.
I'm very satisfied with the opportunities offered to improve game play knowledge and ACM skills in our TA.

[Bruv119]

I remember the old rank themed rooms on Microsoft's gaming zone  98-2002 ish.

Based on the level of points / score you had would dictate which room you were to fly in.   Once past Major you had to play in the big boys room unless you had a bad innings and lost too many planes to get demoted.  Killing Generals was big points!!!      

I remember being pretty nervous fighting the guys with the bigger ranks, I can't remember whether the people in the higher class rooms fought with any more character than the scrubs HO ramming one another.   I'm sure in AH the planes get more hate than the player flying them and that was the key difference.  

Imagine seeing the rank, ID and Aces rack of a fearsome brute,  would you engage him or run??    Here it is just   stupid  (insert plane) driver.

[Ack-Ack]

Is that a good thing?  Was the AW concept of the beginners arena a success in any way?

Yes, it was very successful.  The newbie arena in AW was also the training arena and there was also the "AW Training Academy" as a further resource that players could attend (I believe the Academy lasted 6 weeks) if they wanted the extra help.

Not to offend the trainers in AH, all of them volunteer their time and have been a great help to the community and new players but the training program in AW was leaps and bounds better than in AH.  

I've always been a big proponent of adding a newbie arena and a similar training program like the AW Training Academy to help new players ease into the game before they are sent off to the MA feeding frenzy.  The benefits outweigh the negatives in my opinion.

ack-ack

[bustr]

Ack-Ack,

We have established AH has a Trainers group, TA, Furball Lake and even Custom Arenas if the Trainers want to put up a mini beginers shooting war a few times a week with a Trainer referee.

Rolex periodicly holds his Basics Seminars. Many DA Monsters willing give freely of their personal time to teach ACM to anyone who asks. And the MA is not the place for a beginner to ask questions like how do I take off or castrai screech "m'aider" histericly as they crash and burn without an armor plated ego.

You do not point out a player's or the game's fault as a vehical to abuse someone for a sporting endevor as many on this forum. So how could Training in AH be handeled better measured directly with AW?

[matt]

despite how long ah has been around, the paltry numbers of players at any given time tells me ah is having trouble attracting and retaining new players.  so to help ease them into the game, i'm wondering if ah has ever had, or would consider having, a "beginners arena"?  i'm not asking ah to dumb down the game, just a place where beginners can learn the ropes for the first few months.

let's face it, combat flight sims have probably the steepest learning curve of any game genres out there.  so when you put newbies in the same arena as people who've been "flying" for a decade, it gets ugly and not so much fun for the noobs.  the new guys can go to the training arena all they want, but the fact is they just don't have the skills yet to be effective.  in air warrior, that wasn't so much of a problem because you had a constant and large influx of new guys so proportionally, you stood a good chance of meeting someone of similar skills in the sky.  in ah, my guess is the influx of new people is probably a trickle.  so for a noob like me, i'm probably flying with mostly vets.  while i like combat flight sims, i might not stick around too much longer because it's just not that fun getting waxed while i'm just trying not to stall.

with the introduction of world of warplanes, there'll probably be a resurgence of people interested in combat flight sims.  if wowp is anything like wot, emphasis on arcade rather than realism, i'm sure quite a few of those people would get bored and graduate up to ah.  i hope ah finds a way to attract them.

p.s. i posted in the help forum, too, but not sure which is more appropriate.

Just give 1 free month sub,  they use to got me hooked.

[bustr]

So Matt as a connoisseur of online game Free Play trial periods. Please rate the last 10 or 20 you have signed up for against Aces High's free two week trial.