Why is there a WW1 Arena anyway?

[DREDIOCK]

We had been polled by HTC if we would like to fly WW1 planes


I don't see any reason a Korean War Arena would not go the same way as WW1 arena - Initial high usage, rapid loss of interest and long agony to follow.

The problem with the WWI arena IMO is that people saw what was being done in "Rise of flight" and expected to see something more in line with that. Then when it wasnt. People lost interest

If you remember correctly. How it went down was something like this. Someone put up a link to ROF and everyone was oooing and ahhing about it. then it was asked by the Gods of AH if there would be an interest in WWI planes. To which a lot of people including myself cheered and said yes!

When it finally came to be people went there expecting to see something more in line with ROF. Particularly visually. But also in overall gameplay. When it wasnt more in line with that. Folks quickly lost interest. There simply isnt enough to do.

For a WWI arena to ultimately succeed it has to be more then just a furball. Just not enough there to hold the interest of the masses.
On the flip side. WWI aircraft lends itself perfectly  to a story line or mission/scenario based game play. "attack/defend the observation balloons"
"Escort/shoot down bombers bombing the train depot/factory/artillery position).

It might be the perfect place to introduce AI bombing flights and let the players both defend and attack them.

The single WWi game i've had the most fun in was a game called "Wings" by Cinemaware for the Amiga. while some of the gameplay was cheesey It was story line based and the dogfights were great. there was immersion and a reason.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-W4cujggz8

[JOACH1M]

I think the issue is that not a lot of people found the idea of a stay to the death fight appealing 

this

[BaldEagl]

I love going to the WWI arena when there's several people in there but I agree that there need to be more options than furballing to sustain interest.  Look how many MA players are excluded simply by the fact that furballs aren't their preferred method of play.  What's an armchair general, GVer, field gunner, bomber or base taker among others to do?

[pervert]

Edit: That's why I disliked ww1 arena from day one...Korea I think would be fun. The fights I have has 262 vs 262 have been fun and working angles at those high speeds really is more complicated making it runner IMO

Not true, the slower planes are a lot harder to perceive movement in 3d space.

[Tank-Ace]

I'd say that the WWI arena creates the best fights in the game.

[715]

I am not a fan of the WWI arena because the fights are so limited.  There is basically no such thing as an altitude advantage as you can't dive without disintegrating your plane.  Also, there is no extending as the speeds are so low that the time it takes to gain separation is very long and you are taking hits all that time.  There is basically nothing to do but flit around in circles until everyone but one is dead.  That, and the planes float around like bobble heads.  On the plus side: they do have cool skins.

[guncrasher]

I'd say that the WWI arena creates the best fights in the game.

last few times I was there, there were a couple of guys 2 or 3k above me.  they had no interested in fighting other than the easy kills.  so I bailed out, they got a kill and I went to the ma.  


semp

[pervert]

I am not a fan of the WWI arena because the fights are so limited.  There is basically no such thing as an altitude advantage as you can't dive without disintegrating your plane.  Also, there is no extending as the speeds are so low that the time it takes to gain separation is very long and you are taking hits all that time.  There is basically nothing to do but flit around in circles until everyone but one is dead.  That, and the planes float around like bobble heads.  On the plus side: they do have cool skins.

Again completely untrue, you simply find it harder to perceive the movements because everything is slower, you can pull pretty much all the moves you can in the WW2 planeset.

In addition to that you also have a as yet completely unexplored envelope of manoeuvring with the gyro planes!

[ReVo]

WW1 arena is an absolute blast if we get people to actually follow us over from the MA. A couple times while the MA was pretty much dead some of us tried to get everyone sitting in the tower to go to the WW1 arena to have some fun. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but when we did get at least some people to come with it then it was some of the best fun I've ever had!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fX3lgUCAXi4
^^^^
The kind of fun you can get when you get people to join in the fun. 

We should set up a WW1 night at least once and see how that goes.

So how about next Friday or Saturday? 

[scott66]

So how about next Friday or Saturday? 

I'm in..someone has to die it might as well be me

[Karnak]

WWI arena?  I thought it was the DR1 dueling arena.

[Lusche]

WWI arena?  I thought it was the DR1 dueling arena.

Current arena stats say otherwise 

[Limbo0]

I love the ww1 arena and think there needs to be either AI or other objectives

[onerka]

During prime time...when the main rolls over, on those few occasions, there are sometimes 15 or 20 people in the wwi arena.

Initially a lot of people came to AH because of that arena, DOA was pretty much gone and most of the other wwi arenas are not very user friendly. A lot of those initial pilots were not historically AH folks.  Some just flew their free period and some stayed awhile longer, and a few are still around.  Since HT had designed the original DOA arena, which was popular for a number of years...there was hope he would work on this one.  When nothing happened to develop the arena, those folks who came over to fly there left.  

It's still great fun to fly those planes, and in fact you don't have to die.  The learning curve related to wwi planes is as steep as the curve related to wwii planes.  Flying with your wing mates, how you enter the fight and etc. etc. etc.. But without more people there and a more developed arena with diverse things to do it will be only what it is.  A lot of fun flying different planes once in awhile - when there are some others flying wwi planes.  

There is no reason to close the arena since it doesn't detract from the development of the game and most of the time doesn't even draw pilots away from the main.

There is an audience out there for these planes, but there isn't anything very satisfying available for many of them right now...so this old wwi guy remains ground-bound in a tank most of the time...which is also great fun.

One  

[Tank-Ace]

Current arena stats say otherwise 

Certainly seems like every other plane is a DrI. And I seriously doubt it's because "they use the engine torque to maneuver".

Imo just a variation on those lacking skill flocking to the easy plane.