Just answer this simple question- How is it exactly that no icons changes your opponent's behavior if not by making him less able to see the other aircraft around him?
Wiley.
As much as the settings allow, it changes it for everyone. I only see through my eyes, so I don't know what everyone else sees.
For me, it's more satisfying to ID a plane model by sight, not billboard. I think it makes the game look cooler.
Equipment advantages occur throughout this game. I don't know who has a giant monitor and I don't know who has custom rudder pedals and the top of the line hotas.
This game isn't like IL2/Hyperlobby. I can't create a custom arena without a lot of limitations.
We never had two AvA's to offer, one icon, one no icon, so we took a little used arena and gave it a different twist. We found at the time, there was a market for it.
If what you say about the game play is accurate, it is a byproduct, not the main impetus.
At least for me it is, and you are not qualified to determine what my motives are.