Improving the ground war to help the air war

[tuton25]

I think that improving the ground war will drastically improve the game all around. I mean "improve" by adding more tanks, artillery, and infantry options, as well as make battles between them more common (apart form the crater MA). Here is why I think it will help:

1) Shorter learning curve. To learn a tank well enough to get a few kills only takes a few minutes, rather than the hours for aircraft. This will keep new players interested long enough to where when they get frustrated with flying they have something easier to fall back on.

2) More ground attack aircraft. This should also help with the learning curve. With more tanks and infantry options people will up ground attack aircraft. While I don't think the A20 or Il2 will become more popular than spits and ponies, it should pull people down to the deck. With an altitude advantage it will give the new guy a slight advantage if they learn to keep it.

3) More players. If the game was more rounded and didn't cater to a niche market more people would try it out. With the popularity of other tank games on the market Aces High has the opportunity to compete with them.

This is more of a discussion on philosophy than a discussion on what should or shouldn't be implemented.

[FLS]

You must be new if you don't know that this is what HTC has been doing the last few years.
If you look you'll even find complaints about it. 

[SirNuke]

I still believe that the ground war did much to kill the action we had in the air.

[Citabria]

the techno barrier (stick pedals throttle etc) was always lower for the ground vehicles in that a mouse and keyboard would render no disadvantage while in the air most players have found full flight controls to be necessary to be on equal footing.

so depending on your point of view the ground war is populated by players that would not be in the air war anyway?

then there's players that like all facets of the game and find any new additions and variety to be good things.

[WWhiskey]

the techno barrier (stick pedals throttle etc) was always lower for the ground vehicles in that a mouse and keyboard would render no disadvantage while in the air most players have found full flight controls to be necessary to be on equal footing.

so depending on your point of view the ground war is populated by players that would not be in the air war anyway?

then there's players that like all facets of the game and find any new additions and variety to be good things.

this!!
And not everyone is or will be, "a great pilot". The ground war helps keep players around,, hopefully at some point, the high seas will bring in or help retain more and more players as well!

[The Fugitive]

this!!
And not everyone is or will be, "a great pilot". The ground war helps keep players around,, hopefully at some point, the high seas will bring in or help retain more and more players as well!

ahhhh but that can become a slippery slope. If player population increases by 20% and its all tankers how does that help the "fighter" guys? They still don't have anyone to fight and so they start logging off and soon quit the game all together. So all you do is turn Aces HIGH in to a tank game.

Personally I'd rather see players who while not now nor ever will be great pilots continue to fly and try. Heck I've been in that boat for 13 years now.

Catering to one type of player isn't going to help, be it pilots or tankers. What is needed is better game play so more people can get enjoyment out of a single game.

[gpwurzel]

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< will never be a great pilot - not because of the planes I choose (biggest personal favourite is the Spit V and the 38G), but because I just dont have the skill/coordination/time required.

That said, this game provides me with the ability to have fun on my terms - win or lose (I generally lose). If I can get a grin plastered on my face in a sortie or 2, I'm happy. If I manage to get a couple of kills in that sortie, I'm happy.

If I lose a fight, meh, nothing unusual there - I enjoy pretty much all the different things I can do in game, whether its dying in a plane, gv, manned gun, cant think of many places I can make friends, then go and hunt them down and try to kill them (apparently its really frowned on in real life  )

Wurz

[Lusche]

Some facts


November 2005 compared to November 2014



The over all GV quote has risen from about 20% to about 24% over the past 9 years. "Most of the players in GV now" is often quoted, but is not even correct on CraterMa.

FYI, the GV set in tour 70 had 3 tanks, by tour 178 this had increased to 14 tanks and tank destroyers

[FLS]

ahhhh but that can become a slippery slope. If player population increases by 20% and its all tankers how does that help the "fighter" guys? They still don't have anyone to fight ...

It helps the fighter guys if the game is still online.  BTW how can more than 1 "fighter" not have anyone to fight and how do more ground targets change that?

[The Fugitive]

It helps the fighter guys if the game is still online. 

ahh but that is the slippery slop I mentioned. How long will the game be on line if flying guys keep leaving?

BTW how can more than 1 "fighter" not have anyone to fight and how do more ground targets change that?

ahh yes mister specific, technically if there is more than one guy flying you "should" have someone to fight. Heck mid-day there are 90 folks on line and there is no one to fight because a percentage are sitting in the tower, a percentage are in GVs, and a percentage are hiding from any kind of contact while doing their milk runs.

Spin it how you want FLS, but as the numbers drop there are less players in the sir and so it gets harder and harder to find a fight. Cater to GVs only and that is all you'll have in the game. Of course the same goes for catering only to the flyers. A balance must be maintained

[FLS]

ahh but that is the slippery slop I mentioned. How long will the game be on line if flying guys keep leaving?

As long as flying guys keep arriving and aren't run off by all the complaining.   

[WWhiskey]

I still fly almost every time I log on, but,,  I'm a tank guy,, I've stayed because of the tanks,, you get to shoot me down every so often because you have tanks in this game.   There are no GV only players that I know of!
I've seen DR7 in planes recently even and he was as close as any I know to being GV only?

[Lusche]

 There are no GV only players that I know of!

last tour we had 3 pilot ID's who spent 100% of their game time in GV mode and logged a considerable mount of hours:

killbox            59:48
Gavilan            35:28
Kobi2014            22:10

[DmonSlyr]

I like the fact that we have tanks in this game. The ground game is just another faucet of fun that AH has to offer, as well as another strategy used to win wars and take bases, while also getting new people to join for the battle aspect of tank fighting in an open map. It makes the "war" sense a little more realistic. I hope that even one day we could encorporate ground troops and play as soldiers, to have the whole war game.

That being said, I have never been a tank guy. I really only play this game for the fighter/plane aspect of it. GVs are just boring to me.  I fear that GV players are taking over. I fear that fights are diminishing because of the amount of GVs players. Instead of huge furballs, most grab tanks which lessons the amount of planes in the sky and makes it easier for the opposing team to cap bases.

Things like TT take a huge amount of players out of the "war" aspect of the game and puts them in their own section, which I think contradicts the point of the game.

I'd like to see more people back in planes and utilize this game for the air combat. I've always thought the air combat was the main point of this game. Tanking was kind of secondary and it was good that way. But more and more players get in tanks and it is kind of making the air aspect of it lame, especially because of the diminishing players. 

I like the tank aspect but I also hate it because it takes away from the aircombat fun of the game. I hope that it doesn't turn into a GV game because air combaters get bored ( which I think is what is happening.)

In my personal opinion I'd rather see new players learn the air game than the tank game. I hope that more air enthusiest will pick up this game in the future so that air fights and furballs will be prosperous once again. That is the main concept of the game if you ask me.

Just my opinion and 2 cents worth from a guy whose played for a while.

[Lusche]

I'd like to see more people back in planes and utilize this game for the air combat. I've always thought the air combat was the main point of this game. Tanking was kind of secondary and it was good that way. But more and more players get in tanks and it is kind of making the air aspect of it lame, especially because of the diminishing players.

It still is secondary, see my chart (and explanation) above.