How do manned acks make the air game 'stale'? If anything, it cuts down a bit on vulching...
I wouldn't say 'stale' partictularly, as the air game doesn't seem to have changed materially much since 2000. However, what
subjectively, unscientifically seems to me to happen at times is that the majority of people are GVing or gunning, not flying.
Last night I logged in for a bit around 10:00 EST and on all fronts, there was almost nothing in the air. I watched the dar for around 15 minutes, couldn't find a single decent sized fight, my rough estimation of planes in the air showing on dar would be at best 15-20 per front, spread out over many, many sectors, generally. ~300 people on, I'd guesstimate no more than 100 planes in the air.
Maybe there was a vast NOE horde going somewhere during that time period, but I don't think it likely.
I've noticed something else happen a fair bit lately, now whether it happens more lately or I just
noticed it happen more lately is up for debate.
A bunch of aircraft take a run at a base. The stars align, and enough people up to defend that the air attack gets stopped. Some damage to the town, some damage to the field. About 10% of the number of attacking aircraft reup, and a bunch of GVs appear to press the attack.
*shrug* It's not a terrible idea, but it kind of feels like another evolution of avoiding combat because not that many people who want to defend in the air are all that interested in bombing GVs or GVing.
Wiley.