oboe said:
Well now it is starting to sound like the anti-Ki.84/Spit XIV people want them excluded from the game because they may/will out-perform their favorite or usual ride.
You're missing the point. The point is that there SHOULD NOT BE A "TOP PLANE" in the arena. The problem we have today is that we have freely available crutch planes that do too many things too well, at least in the environment of the MA. In the real war, things might have been different but this isn't the real war, it's a game and games require balance to be fun and interesting over the long haul.
So yeah, the crutch planes we already have and the new ones other people want to add DO out-perform my favorite rides, at least in ways important in the MA. But they also out-perform EVERYBODY's favorite ride, unless you happen to be a dweeb and are in love with a crutch plane BECAUSE it's a crutch. Given their dominance, I cannot believe more than a handful of people care what particular type of plane their crutch is, just as long as it does its job as a crutch.
People are always saying AH needs more new planes. But when they offer specifics, it's always "we need uberplane X to give country Y a plane to counter existing uberplane Z." Like now with the Frank. Seems to me like the people who want things like spit14s and Franks do so because they really just want a crutch for their other arm now. My guess at their thought process is as follows:
Damn, I'm sick of N1s and La7s, but I'm such a dweeb that I need something similar to compete. Something better if possible. Hmmm, I know, I'll find some plane at least as uber as the best we already have, that might even be superior in the context of the MA. Then I'll pretend like it's my most favoritest plane in the whole wide world, that my wittle heart will break if I don't get it, and I'll whine and hold my breath until HTC gives it to me (unperked of course) and then I'll kick bellybutton all over those damn N1 and La7 dweebs. And if anybody complains that now my "most favoritest plane" is dominating the arena, I'll tell them they're just jealouse because their favorite plane isn't as good. Or that they're racists and don't want good planes from non-US countries to kick ass, or that they're being mean to me, or otherwise wrap myself in a flag sewn of politically correct BS that none dare gainsay. What do I care if no other planes fly? I have my own wittle crutch now, I'm happy.
This is such a great attitude
. Keep this up and pretty soon AH will be all Korean War planes, with the F-104 perked
.
Certainly you guys must see the illogic in arguing to exclude from a game that is fundamentally about WWII air-to-air combat, the two finest fighters produced by Japan and Great Britain in WWII because they are too good? How bad a business decision for HTC can that be?
Certainly you must see the illogic in demanding planes whose presence in the game will even further imbalance an already skewed plane set.
You want to talk business decisions? How about considering the huge investment HTC has already put into all the dozens of perfectly good planes in the game that, because they're not "uber" in MA terms, never get flown? Planes that attracted many of their customers in the first place. Remember, it's the existing planes that people come to fly, not those that might or might not appear in the future.
Well, as it stands now, HTC's investment in those planes is money down the rat hole, and the hopes of all the customers who want to see them flying are unfulfilled. So customers are unhappy, except the dweebs whose only concern is having the biggest airial Johnson to make up for their own inadequacies.
So what's a good decision for HTC in this context? Introduce more uberplanes to counter the existing uberplanes? I don't think so. That's just writing off the investment in all the other planes not flown now and further alienating those who want to fly or fight against something other than the crutch du jour. Besides, this method requires a further investment in the new crutches.
Or HTC can take away the existing crutches and severely restrict the availability of any new crutches introduced. Guess what? Suddenly AH's effective plane will at least effectively double, if not quadruple, as more planes come into common use. Now all that investment in existing planes is paying off. Now the customers who came to fly and fight them are happy. And it requires no further expense--just flip a switch on the host.
This isn't ABOUT WW2. This isn't even a sim of WW2. It's an air-combat GAME that only bears a resemblance to WW2 because the planes are from WW2--how they are used here is in no way historical. As such, arguments based on WW2 historical context should have no bearing at all on the business decisions of HTC, except for things necessary to get scenarios to work.
AH is a game. HTC has the highest possible interest in keeping this game fresh, interesting, and fun, because that's what keeps its customers paying. If the unlimited availability of an existing plane threatens these goals, or if adding a new plane would do so, then HTC should get rid of the existing plane and perhaps not even add the new plane.
