Consider making key TT bases uncapturable

[TDeacon]

Or, you might suggest that a few short-spawns be added for each of those areas.

I was hoping there was some sort of setting HTC could use for this OP.  Remaking a map is a major effort, and almost certainly won't happen. 

MH

[bustr]

Is TT completely taken by a single country just to do it, or is it the tipping point signal of wanting to get rid of the map? I've seen it taken late at night by happy energizer bored bunnies, then returned mostly to the defaults the next day by the time I login.

For the most part it creates a mini war that most of the GV'rs and pilots take part in for the action and not the win of taking the whole island. Almost any squad with about 10-12 guys can march through the island with carpet bombing unless anyone is interested in opposing them. I've watched that scenario play out 50:50. Depends on the whims of the players logged on. Rooks did it one night during prime time. The knights had the numbers to stop them but, were just too interested in hoarding the bish. The country text buffer was full of "we don't care" from the knights. Whuppin up on the bish was more enjoyable that night. Then other nights it's like kicking an ant hill with the response from the knights upping to slaughter the base takers.

Some care needs to be exercised in trying to identify systemic deficiencies in the game or map versus complaining about egregious actions by groups of other players that happen to take place on a map you enjoy some aspect of which gets spoiled by them.

It's been mentioned I believe by Hitech in the past he wished we would enumerate as many things that can go wrong as we enumerate all of the benefits we think our request will engender for all of the community. Not just our self.

[TDeacon]

Is TT completely taken by a single country just to do it, or is it the tipping point signal of wanting to get rid of the map? I've seen it taken late at night by happy energizer bored bunnies, then returned mostly to the defaults the next day by the time I login.

For the most part it creates a mini war that most of the GV'rs and pilots take part in for the action and not the win of taking the whole island. Almost any squad with about 10-12 guys can march through the island with carpet bombing unless anyone is interested in opposing them. I've watched that scenario play out 50:50. Depends on the whims of the players logged on. Rooks did it one night during prime time. The knights had the numbers to stop them but, were just too interested in hoarding the bish. The country text buffer was full of "we don't care" from the knights. Whuppin up on the bish was more enjoyable that night. Then other nights it's like kicking an ant hill with the response from the knights upping to slaughter the base takers.

Some care needs to be exercised in trying to identify systemic deficiencies in the game or map versus complaining about egregious actions by groups of other players that happen to take place on a map you enjoy some aspect of which gets spoiled by them.

It's been mentioned I believe by Hitech in the past he wished we would enumerate as many things that can go wrong as we enumerate all of the benefits we think our request will engender for all of the community. Not just our self.

Bustr,

AH should support all play styles on all maps at all times, as this maximizes collective player satisfaction, and thus presumably maximizes player retention.  

The suggestion in the OP that the Ozkansas TT (and others as well) be preserved from sweeps by hordes has no bearing on the overall progress of the “war”, as the uncaptureable bases would be removed from the calculations.  It is clearly a good thing to seek to preserve the unique play opportunities TT provides, so that more people will be able to play happily there. In the Ozkansas case, I suppose that the uncaptureable airbases at the “corners” might be viewed as a means to recapture neighboring islands, but given the distance involved, given the fact that you can do the same thing with CVs, and given that there will almost always be closer alternative airbases to invade from (or the map would have been reset already), I don’t think that is a significant cost to pay for preserving TT.  

MH

[TDeacon]

And it’s happening again…  Note once the central 6 OzKansas TT bases have been captured by a single country, the distance you have to drive your GV to fight is doubled.  Consequently, once this happens few people bother, except those who up Wirbles on the remaining bases.  The GV-on-GV “furballs” which characterize the center of the map require all bases to be uncapturable except for the central 3.  Also, for some unknown reason, it seems that once TT has been reduced to 2 countries, the ground attack planes become more focused, and upping perk tanks becomes more dangerous.  Less distraction for them, perhaps.  

Aces High has always been a great game if you fly, and for whatever reason, a lot of effort has been put in lately in enhancing the GV experience.  However, until obvious game play issues like this are addressed, I can’t recommend Aces High to people who prefer vehicles.  The opportunity to GV “furball” with acceptably low frustration levels is only there about half the time.  At other times, either the map isn’t GV-friendly, or a GV-friendly map like OzKansas has been allowed to deteriorate to the state shown in this image.  I actually have a friend who I want to subscribe (he likes modeling AFVs), but as it now stands, I can’t honestly tell him that he would enjoy the GV game.  

MH

[Tilt]

I was hoping there was some sort of setting HTC could use for this OP.  Remaking a map is a major effort, and almost certainly won't happen.  

MH

It's a very easy change to the terrain to link one field ( per country) in tank town to the uncapturable s nearer the HQ.

I guess 92, 85 & 106 would permit some land grab but retain each nation a presence and preserving the furball aspect of the island.

[TDeacon]

It's a very easy change to the terrain to link one field ( per country) in tank town to the uncapturable s nearer the HQ.

I guess 92, 85 & 106 would permit some land grab but retain each nation a presence and preserving the furball aspect of the island.

Thanks for the info, Tilt.  The bases you suggest would be the minimum, but the ideal would be to make all OzKansas bases uncapturable except for the center 3, where the most interesting terrain is, and which allow for relatively quick drives back into combat once you are killed.  Still, it's a hell of a lot easier to recapture the TT VBases if you retain the airfield, so that change would be acceptable as well.   

MH

[LCADolby]

Capturing all TT is gay, and I will swap sides to shoot those responsible 

[bustr]

ozKansas has gotten worse in the last 9 months as the game's current evolution is playing out. The knights are down to mostly short bus students and window lickers, while squads have been bailing from them to the bish and rooks. Last night TT island was owned by the rook. Bish and rook had the knights down to 50% of their own fields but, neither country felt like finishing off the map.

Until a few squads migrate back to enjoy riding the short bus and fighting back against bish and rooks. It's more fun swinging the whip than receiving. Round about 02-03 it was the same way for the bish.

At least it's been awhile since I saw in country text someone announcing they were switching out of the knights because the game play was so lame the player couldn't take it anymore on the short bus. Maybe a tipping point has been reached and the pendulum will swing back. Right now the LWMA is in a state of group force imbalance and the knights are the least populated in coherent force ability or even interest in being a force by most of those remaining. Granted a few die hard squads hang in there.

A good indication of this. A well known muppet last night put up a mission for the knights that if he had gotten a good showing would have easly taken a field. No one rallied to the idea of following muppets into combat like once would have happened, and the few who showed, failed due to not having enough bodies to achieve the objective. Across the map the bish and rook were projecting force at each other with the rooks having enough excess to furball against the knights that were interested in air combat.

As long as this force imbalance holds, ozKansas TT will continue to be taken by the bish or rook. Why not? They know they have the excess force to express their will. This is a more stealth version of the old JSO where sunday nights 300+ players would login to the rooks and shut down the game. With the current state of affairs, if you make parts of TT uncapturable. Just like CraterMA's TT, when the knights give up on fighting back in the air, most of them will be in tanks at TT ignoring the airwar.

Guess Hitech needs to come up with an ENY specifically for squads to balance force expression. It's too much fun being with large groups of players as competent as you perceive yourself. Along with all knowing they are whipping up on the kids from the short bus side they just got away from. Who wants to be on the short bus with window lickers? After all, the window lickers seem happy staying on the short bus, and it's easier beating them up than taking their side and having to put up with them.

It might not be a bad thing for game evolution for the rook squads to quietly see if they can get the remaining knights squads to come rooks and imbalance the arena down to effectively two countries. Management won't let that stand for very long and would initiate reactive evolution right or wrong like JSO caused ENY. Since we enjoy our comfortable expectations once we get the game managed where we like it. As it stands the MA is two teams and a short bus of window lickers being used to pad score by those two teams.

Who wants to play for the knights for very long when at times it seems like the knights don't play for themselves? Or, now that you convinced all of your friends to come to your side with all of their friends. It's just too much fun to go back to having to fight for everything when the knights are so willing and stupid.

[donna43]

I agree with what you're saying buster, the squad I'm in used to fly bish and we switched to knits and there have been times when we put together a bombing mission to close down a rrok or bish base we cannot get any cooperation in getting knits to try to capture all they are interested in doing is furballing and to my squaddies IMO it's a waste of time.  I've tried to get squad to switch sides in the past for this reason and what you mentioned above bustr.  IMO rooks or bish take TT just to be AH.

[donna43]

y

[rpm]

I wouldn't mind a No Fly Zone over Tank Towns to keep the bomb****s away. 35K mountain ring or 150mph updraft would work.