Suggestions regarding next Scenario (October, 2016)

[TheBug]

I'll think about helping with the squad recruitment if still interested when you get back to doing scenarios as they should be along with ideas to increase attendance if you still need it. This 12 hour gimmick should be its own event.

[Frodo]

We did listen to other players, we did try something different, and we didn't ignore the actual results.    When we ran 4-frame events on Saturday at 8 pm Eastern, we got N+M American players, 0 European players, and N+M total players.  Those were the results -- to think differently is to ignore what actually happened.



So -- other than time (because we already tried that and found it not to be the solution) -- what are some suggestions?

The Sat. night scenario was run 1 time if I remember correctly. And it was a very poor set up that caused a lot of people to ditch the later frames. Again going from memory. 

[KCDitto]

Fly the last frame of the 12 hour event...........

It would start 8 PM EST  ish

Problem solved

NEXT....   

[Brooke]

And it was a very poor set up that caused a lot of people to ditch the later frames. Again going from memory. 

It was one of the most-highly rated Scenarios of all time.

[Brooke]

I'll think about helping with the squad recruitment if still interested when you get back to doing scenarios as they should be along with ideas to increase attendance if you still need it. This 12 hour gimmick should be its own event.

I will take you up on that, and the Scenario after this one will be 4-frame.

Please start planning!   

[Devil 505]

It was one of the most-highly rated Scenarios of all time.

I'm pretty sure he was referring to Winter Sky, Death Ground, which was very average.

[Brooke]

I'm pretty sure he was referring to Winter Sky, Death Ground, which was very average.

Ah, yes.  That one ran at 9:30 pm Eastern, too.

It has a rating of 2.5 and the same attendance as the nearby non-8th-AF Scenarios (some having higher and some lower ratings).

These experiments resulted in no attendance boost from it being 9:30 pm.

[Lab Rat 3947]

I don't know if it matters to others like it does to me,but the fastest way to kill any immersion is to bounce from plane to plane.  Part of what separates or used to separate scenarios from everything else was the chance to dive into the history and connect to a historical group. 

That part is as much fun as the flying for me

Same here. I enjoy the the history. The pilots stories, their pictures, the music they listened to, etc.

Did all 12 hours of TFT. I'm in for all 12 hours, in a P38. Its the only plane I fly.

LtngRydr

[puller]

Fly the last frame of the 12 hour event...........

It would start 8 PM EST  ish

Problem solved

NEXT....

 

[Brooke]

Guys, what do you think of the idea -- that registered pilots fly the planes they registered for and walkons get the following aircraft:
For fighters:  P-40's, C.202's.
For Attack:  A-20's, Bf 110's
For bombers:  B-25's, Ju 88's

This way, I don't have to deal with people moving around in aircraft all the time, and it is an incentive to register.

[TheBug]

How do we do that?

If it was me, admittedly not having much experience, I would first off ask all the FSO COs to ask all their guys why they don't fly scenarios.  They really aren't that different from FSO so you would figure they would find them just as enjoyable. There has to be something that is putting them off.  Maybe it just is that Friday night 11pm EDT time slot is the magic ticket, but I doubt it is just that.  If it is because FSO is squad based, design in the ability for squads to register as a unit instead of individually to guarantee they fly together.

As for the 3pm time slot.  There is no way you are going to convince me that is a good idea.  Just use the MA population as an indicator.  What ever pilots you may gain from Europe doesn't justify it.  Anyhow if you started at 7pm it wouldn't be a much later start for GB than FSO for all the eastern time zone participants, who seem to do just fine.  A later start will give you a much bigger pool to draw from after that you will need to solve whatever other problem it may be that is just not getting people to participate in scenarios.  Which may be that there just isn't an interest in them anymore.  Which I am starting to think is the case by how this 12hr gimmick was able to get traction.  10-15 years ago the scenario crowd would of got a good laugh at that idea.

[Zoney]

I'm not sure where the current negativity regarding the 12 hour set up came from.  I recall very clearly that those that participated enjoyed it thoroughly, because they said they did.  Frankly I do not remember one person that said anything like, "It would have been better to be 3 hours each, 4 consecutive Saturday's".

It was the most fun I have ever had in Aces High and that includes FSO's which are near and dear to me and I always have a whole lot of fun on Friday's.

I must assume the 12 hour negativity is from players that did not actually play in it.  Maybe they didn't play because they were just so sure they wouldn't like it, never tried it, and are stuck with their original negative opinion because they don't want to be wrong.

[fudgums]

I agree with Zoney on this, the 12 hour scenario was unbelievable. Out of the scenarios I have flown, it was hands down the most fun I've had in AH.

[TheBug]

The negativity is contained solely within the format itself.  It is the frustration in the direction that scenarios have taken and the desire to see them return to the bigger events that they once were.  Nobody is saying that this 12hr event may or may not be fun.  All the planning and prep of a scenario to be blown on one big shoot'em up day. No post mission briefing, in between frame planning, anticipation, etc..  Maybe I'm a dinosaur when it comes to this game and the quick fix crowd has just taken over.  Or should I say that's all that is left.  The 12hr event should its own separate event and be in addition to a standard scenario not instead of. 

[Frodo]

Guys, what do you think of the idea -- that registered pilots fly the planes they registered for and walkons get the following aircraft:
For fighters:  P-40's, C.202's.
For Attack:  A-20's, Bf 110's
For bombers:  B-25's, Ju 88's

This way, I don't have to deal with people moving around in aircraft all the time, and it is an incentive to register.

I understand it would be much easier for you and that is a good thing.

But from a new guy trying scenarios for the first time I worry they wouldn't have much fun if forced to fly something like these planes in a scenario with experienced sticks. How you get around this though is a tough one. If you get them to try a scenario you want them back. If you hook them you want to land them. 

Agree the negativity is the format itself and I am in the dinosaur category. The historical aspect as Guppy,Bug and others have pointed out is what brought most of us here in the beginning and is the underlying driver still for some of us. I have flown almost every scenario from the beginning of the game, up until a couple years ago. They were the best part of the game. It may be that the current player base is just not interested in that aspect. But I see a lot of old names posting and looking for what scenarios used to be, so I think the interest is still there.

I don't see the 12 hr. event drawing anymore players than the last time it was tried. If A/H 3 comes out before the event then you might get a boost in numbers from that though, but it may be short-lived. And for the guys telling me to fly the last hour or two, it might happen we will see. But with little historical immersion and as a walk on with few options and an arena with 30-50 enemy to fight, it will have to be a slow day here.

Good luck with it though.