Ways of reading skill

[Vraciu]

I'll add another,

if half a thread about reading skill is discussing one player in particular then you have skill. 

Guess he would have got a big kick out of this one.  Hopefully he managed to read all the posts lauding his abilities through some proxy VPN,     

Burn.      So true.

[JunkyII]

Controllers and their setup can help translate the pilots thoughts into actions but they must have that thought in the first place.  I can buy the same golf clubs as Tiger Woods but that does not mean I would be able to play like him.

With regards to skill, we all know who the good pilots are in the MA.  It is usually noticeable immediately after the merge and certainly by the time the 2nd turn is initiated.  Within the MA there are so many variables in play that whilst it is easy to identify a good skill level it is very hard to benchmark that skill against yourself.

For instance, I have always had very good fights with Flippz, my 51 against his Yak3.  I have usually had an E advantage and I work hard to be aggressive but always strive to keep that E advantage because my plane simply cannot compete in an outright turning duel with the Yak. I know he is a good pilot, can I beat him 1 on 1, same plane, co alt, co E?  I have no idea.  So, I can read his skill level I just cannot benchmark it against my own very easily.

You can beat Flippz 1v1 easily. Either you are giving him too much credit, not giving yourself enough or a combination of both.

[thrila]

As Gman mentioned, my problem with the Thrustmaster is the 'stiction'- the inability to make small, precise movements because the joystick sticks. This leads to over applying pressure to move the stick; causing jerky movements.  The stick I own is unusable for making small movements. 

I paid a lot of money for the stick and spent another £100 trying to fix and alleviate it's faults. I've bought grease, sand paper, springs, a stick extension and a table mount.  Since when is it acceptable to expect a customer to take apart a stick to modify it (straight of the box) in order to make it work?  I will never recommend this stick to anyone.

I also do not like the resistance force of the stick, nor the force required for buttons- I started to develop RSI from using them 8-way thumb. This combined with the stiction led me to go back to the CH fighterstick.

CH has it's own problems- poor quality control (I've had 2 whose bases weren't even level, I returned one and  glued a bit of card to the corner of the other to make it level), spiking will develop, poor resolution, and generally an old and dated design.

What sort of features would you be looking for Thrila?

Stick: A stick's throw should be light enough to move using the thumb and index finger.  It should have a some resistance- but not an excessive amount. Resistance between CH and thrustmaster- adjustable resistance would be better.  The ability to attach stick to a height adjustable table mount should be considered as should the ability to extend the stick length (would not be a deal breaker for me). I shouldn't have to mention that a stick should be smooth and precise

Buttons/hats/switches: 8-way hat, and at least two 4-way hats, a trigger, a button in reach of my index finger and another for my index finger.

Throttle: A slide throttle (also not a deal braker for me).

Thrilla hearts Ewoks.

By the way ever since Ep.I I have been in love with Gungans. Liam Neeson certainly feels the same way.

[thrila]

I will consider buying a VKB base and attaching the Warthog stick when that becomes an option.

I have also own MSG crosswind pedals which I rate highly, and CH pedals which do the job.

[ccvi]

Is there any stick with... how to describe... with a centering force function that is differentiable at the center? In less mathematical terms, where the centering force difference of a tiny push and pull doesn't differ much from the difference of a tiny push/pull and a slightly harder push/pull?

Sometimes it seems to be better to fly out-of-trim to do tiny corrections by purely pushing/pulling, instead of flying fully trimmed and doing tiny corrections by a mixture of pushing and pulling. Easier to hit in a high-G turn, than dead-6 with a fully trimmed plane.

Obviously, the consequence of a stick like that would be that it doesn't center as nicely as normal sticks. And if it has some nice mass (a stick with inertia feels better than a stick with resistance/friction), it will tip over when left alone. At least if its just sitting on the desk, and has no counter weight below the desk.

[nrshida]

As Gman mentioned, my problem with the Thrustmaster is the 'stiction'-

Don't really remember experiencing stiction with the Sidewinder - it should have it but it's not perceivable. Still using my CH stick. What I don't like about that is the centring 'flappers', so you also don't get what ccvi mentions around the neutral point. I removed the centring mechanism of my CH pedals because I decided twisty sticks might have an advantage here.

Since when is it acceptable to expect a customer to take apart a stick to modify it (straight of the box) in order to make it work? 

Is a very good point and a bit of a poor show.

Is there any stick with... how to describe... with a centering force function that is differentiable at the center?

Not yet. 

[Shuffler]

If in the middle of your fight they say they just got back from the bathroom............     

[bozon]

If in the middle of your fight they say they just got back from the bathroom............     

I once got a kill while AFK. The system message said that the other guy collided with me. I assure you that no skill was involved - neither mine nor the other player's....