Kill the huge maps in off hours . . . PLEASE

[Megalodon]

If anything drives away players, it is not being able to find a place to engage other human-controlled aircraft in combat during off hours. I've heard lots of complaints about that..

Another reason to make a few planes available at GV bases... engage a human controlled Tank in the off hours 

[Randy1]

This weekend we had CraterMA (Greebos small map), which on which GV vs GV usually have a 60%+  share of all arena kills (tour average is ~33%)
However, this is a bit misleading, as there are far from being 60% of all players in GVs. The crater spawn battle is extremely intensive, resulting in very high GV kills per hour. This is also supported by having not much less than the usual amount air to air kills in the same time.
My own estimation would be that the number of players in GV's is only somewhat higher than the standard average of 25% of all players in a sortie, maybe in the 30-35% range? When I logged in during off hours, there were times with nothing happening in the crater at all (at a total arena population of 50-80). During peak, I checked the numbers in TT by film, finding about 20% of the players on my side (rooks) being in GV in the crater itself.

Thanks Lusche for putting that together.

[bustr]

BnZ,

You just got back. Notice the numbers are smaller and more players than ever avoiding each other by flying high, flying in groups and just leaving the area the moment things are not in their favor?

Or you and your small circle of acquaintances wouldn't be observing the same issues to each other. When numbers were higher, the proportional numbers of players who wanted to fight in the manner you wish AH operated, was high enough to have an excess, and make it appear like everyone was looking to tear it up. During the past high numbers glory days, hoards were the hiding place of choice by the majority, who didn't want to risk much during their few short hours a week, or spend any time learning acm and air combat. Their idea of fun is not yours. The inability to accept this is called intolerance in it's real sense.

Times have changed, and changing the game is best left up to Hitech who has a 50,000 foot perspective to the needs of the whole game. The forum community making noises all the time, is a small minority to the overall subscription base paying Hitech to play his game. And most of them don't play the game your way.

[kvuo75]

And you don't have to be leet to kill as much as you die in furballs

I'm pretty sure the average k/d is below 1.0

snailman?

[BnZs]

No one first signs up for a game called "Aces High" with the intent of shooting hangars. They sign up for air combat maneuvering, which does not take a huge amount of time to learn.

The problem is one of herding cats-If there are twenty people on a side, twenty on another and twenty enemy bases each side can possibly attack, well lo and behold its no wonder you get tiny attacks on 15 different bases. It makes it difficult for a furball to grow.

[BnZs]

I'm pretty sure the average k/d is below 1.0

snailman?

There are lots of ways to die that don't involve being shot down by another player, such as jabo runs and acks. Anyway, just checked my stats and it looks like I had a K/D pretty close to 1 in my *first tour* back in 2006, hardly a time of leet flying on my part.

Oh, and I think the forum has a pretty decent cross-section of the actual player base.

[Gemini]

I agree with everything bustr says, in this and other threads

Just do nothing and let Aces High continue to die

[Vortex]

Had small map when I logged in. Fights everywhere, close, lots of action. Fun!

Map conquered.

New map massive. Log in, no fights, 1 gang bang. Same old, same old on the big maps.

Really wanted to keep an account going this time. Tough to do.

[USRanger]

    I guess you all better download the terrain editor and start making some smaller terrains then to replace the large ones you dislike so much.  Oh wait, that's right, 99% of you are either too lazy, too good, or blame the horrible terrain editor (that works just fine for the rest of us) to do it.  Funny, all of you same people that whine about the same thing over & over in thread after thread about how you are "looking for a fight" and "don't fly with the dreaded horde" and are so much better than everyone else are nowhere to be found "looking for a fight" in-game.  I don't see any of you putting up or joining missions that would start a fight (oh wait, a mission is a horde).  Pot meet kettle.  You people do the exact same thing you come in here and whine about and expect HTC to "change things" for you.  Shame on all of you.  I have never seen a bigger group of outright hypocrites as I have over the years on this BBS.  A bunch of grown men wanting to be spoon fed their entertainment.  If you dislike the game so much then change your ways (again, hyp-o-crites) or quit.  Your whining and pot-meet-kettle won't be missed.  I guarantee none of you "superior" players are going to do anything different, just continue to come here & whine like you always have.  No one forces you to stay.  There's the door--->

[Vortex]

    I guess you all better download the terrain editor and start making some smaller terrains then to replace the large ones you dislike so much.  Oh wait, that's right, 99% of you are either too lazy, too good, or blame the horrible terrain editor (that works just fine for the rest of us) to do it.  Funny, all of you same people that whine about the same thing over & over in thread after thread about how you are "looking for a fight" and "don't fly with the dreaded horde" and are so much better than everyone else are nowhere to be found "looking for a fight" in-game.  I don't see any of you putting up or joining missions that would start a fight (oh wait, a mission is a horde).  Pot meet kettle.  You people do the exact same thing you come in here and whine about and expect HTC to "change things" for you.  Shame on all of you.  I have never seen a bigger group of outright hypocrites as I have over the years on this BBS.  A bunch of grown men wanting to be spoon fed their entertainment.  If you dislike the game so much then change your ways (again, hyp-o-crites) or quit.  Your whining and pot-meet-kettle won't be missed.  I guarantee none of you "superior" players are going to do anything different, just continue to come here & whine like you always have.  No one forces you to stay.  There's the door--->

psst, I'm not paying for a game to code for it as well. Besides, I don't know the first thing about building a map and certainly am not about to learn as a requirement to give a company money for a monthly service. Lastly, as has been noted up thread numerous times, you don't need new maps, and more smaller ones thrown into the current rotation changes little. The large, hard-to-conquer maps will still dominate.

The entirety of your post has nothing of merit or value, which itself is quite the accomplishment for such a rant.

[BnZs]

    I guess you all better download the terrain editor and start making some smaller terrains then to replace the large ones you dislike so much. 

The problem is not the non-existence of smaller terrains, they already exist. The problem is using them at the right time, times of low numbers.

[Wiley]

The problem is not the non-existence of smaller terrains, they already exist. The problem is using them at the right time, times of low numbers.

And that brings its own set of problems because if you switch to smaller maps during off hours there will be a substantial portion of people who will whine because they were working toward winning the other map and now they can't.  Gameplay be damned.

Wiley.

[Vortex]

And that brings its own set of problems because if you switch to smaller maps during off hours there will be a substantial portion of people who will whine because they were working toward winning the other map and now they can't.  Gameplay be damned.

Wiley.

Bare in mind the very large maps should have a very limited (if any) roll to play in the rotation with current population levels. 300+ people online and they are often a wasteland of activity. However they are allowed to dominate the rotation due to the difficulty in conquering them.

I don't think an off-hours rotation works. I just think that the extremely large maps are not condusive to a game that hosts 50-300 people.

[Puma44]

    I guess you all better download the terrain editor and start making some smaller terrains then to replace the large ones you dislike so much.  Oh wait, that's right, 99% of you are either too lazy, too good, or blame the horrible terrain editor (that works just fine for the rest of us) to do it.  Funny, all of you same people that whine about the same thing over & over in thread after thread about how you are "looking for a fight" and "don't fly with the dreaded horde" and are so much better than everyone else are nowhere to be found "looking for a fight" in-game.  I don't see any of you putting up or joining missions that would start a fight (oh wait, a mission is a horde).  Pot meet kettle.  You people do the exact same thing you come in here and whine about and expect HTC to "change things" for you.  Shame on all of you.  I have never seen a bigger group of outright hypocrites as I have over the years on this BBS.  A bunch of grown men wanting to be spoon fed their entertainment.  If you dislike the game so much then change your ways (again, hyp-o-crites) or quit.  Your whining and pot-meet-kettle won't be missed.  I guarantee none of you "superior" players are going to do anything different, just continue to come here & whine like you always have.  No one forces you to stay.  There's the door--->

[captain1ma]

The problem is not the non-existence of smaller terrains, they already exist. The problem is using them at the right time, times of low numbers.

so do you just switch maps, and have no winner? then go on to a new map? all the perk farmers would go ballistic. unless they recode something, theres no way to save points and settings and then come back to it. so to end the fight, to switch to a smaller map, then switch back in the morning when there are "more players on"? it would be alot of coding. not that i even have a clue how to do something like that.

assuming that you can just tell a game to do something and it will do it, just isn't realistic. it takes hours of code changes, testing and more testing, to get it right.

or do you change map, and winners are based on the highest percentage of bases captured at the time of the switch?? ok its 12am EST, sorry folks, time for a map change to a smaller one. you guys flying the b-29's for 45 minutes to get to a target, dont worry, we'll save your spot, but oh, if you dont come back, you lose all those perkies. ok carry on and by all means, have fun!!

the variables are endless...