Ways to Tweak EW, MW and WWI

[ImADot]

But the HTC changed it so score and standings were restricted to what ever arena you we playing in like EW,MW.LW. This killed the EW area because we no longer had the score hounds coming into the EW arena and soon there were about 3 guys on in there and it is a ghost town.

 
When did they change that?

[Tinkles]

I find it intriguing when people complain of the ENY. I fly 25+ ENY planes, I made sure to learn the higher ENY planes, once I figured out what the ENY did and what caused it. That way ENY doesn't effect me .

Which is why ENY should be on ords so we don't have those who outnumber others having hoard missions to steamroll bases and kill all the combat  

But.. that's just me.  

Tinkles

<<S>>

[Randy1]

You're reading what you want into that. The objection has nothing to do with people not wanting EW or MW setups. They want to be able to have the CHOICE of it.

First make sure you understand that if the majority wants the late war rides then it only makes since to offer that selection all of the time.  I dropped the discussion on the multi-era tours since it had so many critics.  I do bow to that and have no argument with the majority.

Keep in mind that the full "Choice" as you noted is dominated by horsepower increases in late war aircraft.  Early war and some mid war do have the restrictions of view, I will give your position that.

[Halo46]

First make sure you understand that if the majority wants the late war rides then it only makes since to offer that selection all of the time.  I dropped the discussion on the multi-era tours since it had so many critics.  I do bow to that and have no argument with the majority.

Keep in mind that the full "Choice" as you noted is dominated by horsepower increases in late war aircraft.  Early war and some mid war do have the restrictions of view, I will give your position that.

No matter how many times you repeat a faulty generalization it is always going to be false. You have absolutely no proof that everyone chooses "horsepower" as the determining factor in their choice of planes. Why do you care what another person likes flying or their reason for flying it? Get over it. Just accept that many players have different ideas of what is fun. Let it go.

Why is it so important to you to make people fly in the other arenas? Are you somehow gifted and just "know" that if they are forced to do it they will change their mind and suddenly find they have been "wrong" for so long? If it is because you like flying EW or MW planes and wish to fly only against similar era planes then accept the fact you will have smaller populations to fly against if most people do not share your idea of fun. Focus your message on convincing others to give it a try rather than trying to have HTC mandate they play the way you want the game to be played. In my opinion, forcing people to fly in an arena they do not want to fly in or forcing them to fly planes in some form of a "rolling plane set" will drive more people away rather than attracting more people to it. 

[gyrene81]

you might want to look around the retardnet a little Halo...some form of rolling plane sets is working elsewhere with a much bigger player base. if players here were forced to make choices and work their way up, fewer would be inclined to shy away from such an idea.

[Saxman]

Once again, Randy, you were advocating a Rolling Plane Set to force players to fly a particular environment.

That's NOTHING to do with what I'm suggesting. What I'm suggesting is finding what tweaks can be made to the other three arenas to draw people to them.

For example, almost from its inception the same main complaints about the WWI arenas have been made:

1) The Dr.I needs to be perked. BADLY. As I said in the OP, WWI may as well be the Dr.I arena.
2) The plane set in general. We have two British and two German aircraft. Where's the Nieuport and SPAD, both of which were significant aircraft, the latter of which in particular would be a WHOLLY different type of machine in this arena, being a true E-fighter/BnZer.
3) There's really nothing to do in it. People can talk all they want about just wanting to furball, but if that's the case, why don't we see 300+ people in Furball Lake in the Dueling Arena, rather than 300+ in LWMA? That strikes me as confirmation that people are wanting furballs that are DRIVEN by something, which the base capture mechanics provide.

Fix those three issues. Perk the Dr.I; add a German machine or two like one of the earlier Fokker biplanes and an Albatros along with one of the SPADs and Nieuports and maybe an Allied perk machine like the Snipe; add some sort of mechanic to generate fights (balloon busting, some sort of land grab mechanic, strategic targets and bombers, whatever) and you'll almost certainly see more players in WWI.

If fights take too long to get to in EW because of the lower aircraft speeds, allow smaller maps with closer bases. If airfield captures are troublesome because of the size of the towns, come up with a new mechanic (IE maproom right on the airfield itself rather than having to blow up the town).

This isn't about "making" anyone do something they don't want. It's about finding the right sort of cookie to encourage them to give it a try.

[The Fugitive]

you might want to look around the retardnet a little Halo...some form of rolling plane sets is working elsewhere with a much bigger player base. if players here were forced to make choices and work their way up, fewer would be inclined to shy away from such an idea.

....and they are only doing it to work their way up to the uber rides.

Once again, Randy, you were advocating a Rolling Plane Set to force players to fly a particular environment.

That's NOTHING to do with what I'm suggesting. What I'm suggesting is finding what tweaks can be made to the other three arenas to draw people to them.

For example, almost from its inception the same main complaints about the WWI arenas have been made:

1) The Dr.I needs to be perked. BADLY. As I said in the OP, WWI may as well be the Dr.I arena.
2) The plane set in general. We have two British and two German aircraft. Where's the Nieuport and SPAD, both of which were significant aircraft, the latter of which in particular would be a WHOLLY different type of machine in this arena, being a true E-fighter/BnZer.
3) There's really nothing to do in it. People can talk all they want about just wanting to furball, but if that's the case, why don't we see 300+ people in Furball Lake in the Dueling Arena, rather than 300+ in LWMA? That strikes me as confirmation that people are wanting furballs that are DRIVEN by something, which the base capture mechanics provide.

Fix those three issues. Perk the Dr.I; add a German machine or two like one of the earlier Fokker biplanes and an Albatros along with one of the SPADs and Nieuports and maybe an Allied perk machine like the Snipe; add some sort of mechanic to generate fights (balloon busting, some sort of land grab mechanic, strategic targets and bombers, whatever) and you'll almost certainly see more players in WWI.

If fights take too long to get to in EW because of the lower aircraft speeds, allow smaller maps with closer bases. If airfield captures are troublesome because of the size of the towns, come up with a new mechanic (IE maproom right on the airfield itself rather than having to blow up the town).

This isn't about "making" anyone do something they don't want. It's about finding the right sort of cookie to encourage them to give it a try.

I understand what you "trying" to do, I just don't see anything short or making them a "free" arena to drag anyone in any of the other arenas.

WWII flight sim is a small group as it is. Even now its impossible to keep the LW arena over 300 players all 24 hours a day. If there were another 1000 players logging in then yes I could see the other arenas start to see some action, but with the numbers we have now I just see it.

[RotBaron]

Wrong, that will just make people log if the arena they want to play in is full, or sit in the Arena Selection until it opens up again.

I'm not going to sit there and watch a screen telling me when I could log into the LW. I'd go into any other arena instead, I speak for myself, but I'm not logging because LW is (would be) full. 

Also, when we get 600 in there and this starts happening then we should worry about it.

[Randy1]

Once again, Randy, you were advocating a Rolling Plane Set to force players to fly a particular environment.

 

No, I am not.  I agree with you.  Rolling plane sets is a bad idea based on every ones replies.

Lets let the OP have his thread back.

[Lusche]

But the HTC changed it so score and standings were restricted to what ever arena you we playing in like EW,MW.LW.

When did they change that?

October 2007, Tour 93.

[ImADot]

October 2007, Tour 93.

DOH! I thought the comment was about perks, not score. Goes to show you how little I pay attention to either. 

[Arlo]

DOH! I thought the comment was about perks, not score. Goes to show you how little I pay attention to either.  

I was thinkin' you was thinkin' that.  

[Aspen]

Wrong, that will just make people log if the arena they want to play in is full, or sit in the Arena Selection until it opens up again.

Maybe arena caps are wrong (I think there is/was a technical issue that required them) but my point about 800-1000 players is not wrong.  If we want usage in all arenas we need people.  Taking 60 players from LW to fly in the cool new MW arena is robbing Peter to pay Paul.  Double the subscriber revenue and suddenly spending $ on WWI or other enhancments is an easier decision.  Spending it to shuffle 300 players around probably won't get much traction.

Everyone has their own take on whats fun, mine is (was) Titanic Tuesday.  Give me full arena and I'll fly whatever plane set is turned on.  Split the 120 players that are on at 10pm up so theres only 30 in 4 arenas and that is what makes me log. 

[The Fugitive]

Maybe arena caps are wrong (I think there is/was a technical issue that required them) but my point about 800-1000 players is not wrong.  If we want usage in all arenas we need people.  Taking 60 players from LW to fly in the cool new MW arena is robbing Peter to pay Paul.  Double the subscriber revenue and suddenly spending $ on WWI or other enhancments is an easier decision.  Spending it to shuffle 300 players around probably won't get much traction.

Everyone has their own take on whats fun, mine is (was) Titanic Tuesday.  Give me full arena and I'll fly whatever plane set is turned on.  Split the 120 players that are on at 10pm up so theres only 30 in 4 arenas and that is what makes me log. 

No there wasn't a technical issue. HTC posted once that each arena could handle 1000 players with no problem. The issue was a social one were having too many players in an arena it was easy for players to feel left out. There was also a lot of comments on how over crowding also had turn the arena into a sewer for social interaction.

[trap78]

....and they are only doing it to work their way up to the uber rides.

Flown in there much lately? Didn't think so or you'd know the players enjoy starting with the early war rides and working their way through the plane set to the late war aircraft.

Merging the EW and MW into one arena with a different angle than the LW main (like an RPS) is viable alternative to running two stand alone arenas with a combined head count of around 16 players during US primetime.