Author Topic: Life for AH beyond the Late War Arena?  (Read 1078 times)

Offline transatlanticflight

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Life for AH beyond the Late War Arena?
« on: November 10, 2012, 12:10:44 AM »
I have started this post to generate a dialogue about the MA.

It's funny....AH has 8 arenas: EW, MW, LW, AvA, training, DA  and 2 SEA's. If you set aside training and the DA as special purpose and acknowledge that SEA's are not 24/7, that leaves 4 fulltime "main" arenas. And, yet, everyone gravitates to the LW. Even many of the best designed SEA's have marginal attendance.

Everyone has a different theory... for me it has to do with one simple thing...momentum. Like the local hotspot nightclub, everyone is there simply because everyone is there. After all, AH is about massive multi-player action in a WWII setting...there's nothing massively multi-player about 5 guys flying around a ginormous map. Many people claim the popularity of the LW has to do with access to the best planes, but that can't be the only reason since even when there were two LW's everyone gravitated to one first before spilling over into the other. Also many of the best attended SEA's involve non-perk planes.

I have an idea for an alternative arena that could blend the best aspects of the LW, MW, EW and SEA's into a single exciting powerhouse 24/7 arena. Just an alternative to current offerings not a replacement. One that could potentially resolve many of the complaints I see here in the forums and hear in chat regarding the LW. Unlike many of the "wishlist" posts I've read, I believe this concept could be implemented tomorrow, tried and tested without requiring any major programming or development.

But before I elaborate, I would like to do some research and gather player input specifically with the goal of identifying the top reasons the majority of players end up in the LW. So please feel free to submit a post listing the things you like most and the things you like least about the LW. Or if you are partial to MW, EW, or SEA you may comment on those. All I ask is that your comments be directed towards identifying why everyone seems to gravitate to the LW by drawing on your own personal reasons for being there.

Thanks in advance.

Offline Plawranc

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Re: Life for AH beyond the Late War Arena?
« Reply #1 on: November 10, 2012, 12:38:37 AM »
Three aircraft primarily draw the new players to this game, specifically younger ones.

P-51D
Spitfire
ME-262

2 of those are only available in LW, and the Spitfire's truly successful variants are only in MW-LW. And as the majority are in LW, its to LW they go. 51D's and Spit 16's are the two most common sights in AH2. Along with the F4U and the 109.
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Offline Kweassa

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Re: Life for AH beyond the Late War Arena?
« Reply #2 on: November 10, 2012, 02:13:43 AM »
In the end, it all takes us back to the beginning, where we have faced THE question.

"Rolling planeset, or no?"

People have already answered. Thus, the consequences we face, some good, some bad.



(ps) Personally, I support the RPS.

Offline Zoney

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Re: Life for AH beyond the Late War Arena?
« Reply #3 on: November 10, 2012, 10:48:21 AM »
I have started this post to generate a dialogue about the MA.

It's funny....AH has 8 arenas: EW, MW, LW, AvA, training, DA  and 2 SEA's. If you set aside training and the DA as special purpose and acknowledge that SEA's are not 24/7, that leaves 4 fulltime "main" arenas. And, yet, everyone gravitates to the LW. Even many of the best designed SEA's have marginal attendance.

Everyone has a different theory... for me it has to do with one simple thing...momentum. Like the local hotspot nightclub, everyone is there simply because everyone is there. After all, AH is about massive multi-player action in a WWII setting...there's nothing massively multi-player about 5 guys flying around a ginormous map. Many people claim the popularity of the LW has to do with access to the best planes, but that can't be the only reason since even when there were two LW's everyone gravitated to one first before spilling over into the other. Also many of the best attended SEA's involve non-perk planes.

I have an idea for an alternative arena that could blend the best aspects of the LW, MW, EW and SEA's into a single exciting powerhouse 24/7 arena. Just an alternative to current offerings not a replacement. One that could potentially resolve many of the complaints I see here in the forums and hear in chat regarding the LW. Unlike many of the "wishlist" posts I've read, I believe this concept could be implemented tomorrow, tried and tested without requiring any major programming or development.

But before I elaborate, I would like to do some research and gather player input specifically with the goal of identifying the top reasons the majority of players end up in the LW. So please feel free to submit a post listing the things you like most and the things you like least about the LW. Or if you are partial to MW, EW, or SEA you may comment on those. All I ask is that your comments be directed towards identifying why everyone seems to gravitate to the LW by drawing on your own personal reasons for being there.

Thanks in advance.

First, if I may what is your in-game handle, second why don't you just tell us what your idea is instead of beating around the bush ?  If you want to do some "research" , read the 6 billion threads that came before yours about this same subject.
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Offline waystin2

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Re: Life for AH beyond the Late War Arena?
« Reply #4 on: November 10, 2012, 11:03:43 AM »
It's because that is where everyone is most of time.
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Offline The Fugitive

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Re: Life for AH beyond the Late War Arena?
« Reply #5 on: November 10, 2012, 11:11:25 AM »
It's because that is where everyone is most of time.

I hate it when I agree with Waystin !   :neener:

Offline bustr

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Re: Life for AH beyond the Late War Arena?
« Reply #6 on: November 10, 2012, 04:18:23 PM »
Since general foot traffic in the EW and MW arenas is much less than the LW, create several super small maps like the AvASummr map but, with 3 small countries. 10-12 feilds at most of all kinds. Keep all airfeilds strictly within 1 sector or closer of each other.

I can't remember if perks earned in each arena are only good for that arena. If not, then change perks to being arena specific so the only thing you can milk late nights is the ideiocy of flipping a tiny map adfinitum or just don't have perked rides. Then let the community label the map flippers "Tiny Mouse Map Boys". Or, if the maps did become smaller then change the war win to include a percentage of the strats destroyed.

The reason for tiny maps is so players cannot hide from individuals who drop in to find a few fights in a less uber plane or GV matchups. Look at the WW1 arena, the small number of feilds and how few are in there. But, at least they fight each other in there.

Much of the time in the EW and MW players use the standard size maps to hide from combat.

Over the years of reading the reoccuring posts about the EW and MW action\culture. Most players are turned off by not being able to simply "drop in" and find fights with random unknown players. As the constant criticism goes, you drop in, drop a few red guys, and they move off to a part of the map you cannot get to, then resume their milk runs. If players wanted to drop in with freinds and have to go oopsies, the red guys have run away again, half of us have to switch sides. They would have dropped in to the AvA or the DA.

The attraction to the LWMA is being able to "drop in", find your freinds, and most of the red guys want to find you and your freinds as bad as you want to find them. Create maps that make hiding in those 2 arenas harder than it's worth. Other wise the DA furball lake will continue to host consistantly larger numbers and more drop in-able action.

Games like this are not unlike running a sports bar or a night spot that targets a younger crowd. Customers will try out new things for the novelty, then go back to what feeds their needs. But, there are tried and true formulas that keep them coming back. WW1, AvA and the DA are niche spots with small groups of dedicated customers with environments generaly taylored to the obvious. The EW and MW are niches but, are not setup to reflect that fact. They are setup trying to be clones of the "Big Show LW" with offerings not proportionate to the scale of the expected combat, foot traffic, or followings of the rides.
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Offline waystin2

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Re: Life for AH beyond the Late War Arena?
« Reply #7 on: November 10, 2012, 04:48:42 PM »
I hate it when I agree with Waystin !   :neener:

Gah!  Imagine how I feel reading it...LOL   Seriously though, it's not a good thing it's not a bad thing.  Folks just go where the most people are logged in.
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Offline MrKrabs

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Re: Life for AH beyond the Late War Arena?
« Reply #8 on: November 10, 2012, 11:04:19 PM »
If you really want a rolling plane-set - spend some time in AvA  :angel:
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Offline BaldEagl

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Re: Life for AH beyond the Late War Arena?
« Reply #9 on: November 10, 2012, 11:14:50 PM »
I hate it when I agree with Waystin !   :neener:

I hate it when I actually agree with bustr but this time I do.
I edit a lot of my posts.  Get used to it.

Offline Lusche

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Re: Life for AH beyond the Late War Arena?
« Reply #10 on: November 11, 2012, 12:53:35 AM »
Everyone has a different theory... for me it has to do with one simple thing...momentum.


Momentum is very important, but not that simple. It's not becasue of momentum alone that the (overwhelming) majority of action happens in LW. Because if momentum were the only reason, we would still play in EW all the time, because that was for some time the hot place to be when the arena split happened. But in the end, the huge majority migrated back to LW. Or see a few days ago when LW went down for about 24h: Almost everybody went to MW. But when LW came back up it took only about 1h to get the usual distribution of numbers. Despite seeing about 100 players in MW and next to none in LW, players chose to log into LW...
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Offline AKKuya

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Re: Life for AH beyond the Late War Arena?
« Reply #11 on: November 11, 2012, 04:43:11 AM »
Uhh...  Guys.   

Re: Life for AH beyond the Late War Arena?

Without massive infusion of new blood into this game from the marketing department of HiTech Creations, LW Arena will be the last battlefield of the aerial warfare in the virtual skies.

With that new blood, many dedicated players must be brought forth to augment existing squads and form new squads plus participation in Special Events for Aces High to continue.
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Offline transatlanticflight

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Re: Life for AH beyond the Late War Arena?
« Reply #12 on: November 11, 2012, 07:32:37 AM »
Thank you for your responses so far, especially those that stay on topic...

What I am looking for here is direct confirmation of my hypothesis about what works and what doesn't work in the creation of an arena. I developed the hypothesis by reading the posts, playing the game for 6+ years, and really listening to the chat buffers. My idea for an arena is really "your ideas" combined in a unique way. I'm not trying to be mysterious...just scientific.

Yes, this information can be gleaned from reading 6 million posts before me...I'm trying to enlist your help in concentrating it into 1 post and gathering the current feelings of all of you experienced AH players and forum participants (who I believe are the most passionate and potentially knowledgeable and creatively-minded players).

So far we seem to have two factors and by your own posts they rank like this:

1. Everyone is there.
2. Access to the high performance planes.

Please continue to chime in and especially if you can think of other factors...even if they are lesser factors. I'd like to know what everyone enjoys about game play in the MA - LW. I would also like to know your greatest complaints.

Thanks

« Last Edit: November 11, 2012, 08:16:08 AM by transatlanticflight »

Offline Traveler

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Re: Life for AH beyond the Late War Arena?
« Reply #13 on: November 12, 2012, 12:40:41 PM »
we are done, so give up your idea.
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Offline Wiley

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Re: Life for AH beyond the Late War Arena?
« Reply #14 on: November 12, 2012, 12:46:19 PM »
A) Numbers are there.
B) You have the least restricted access to all the planes in the set.

It's that simple.

So can we look forward to another 'No really, this time the RPS will work guys!' thread?

Wiley.
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