The AH community

[StSanta]

Having read many posts from people I like ad respect, I've gotten the impression that something very foul is under way in the community.

But I just cannot see it. I see the occasional dweeb newbie/known dweeb starting off a flamewar in ch1 now and then. I see an occasional newbie not knowing the netiquette and then being corrected by more experienced people.

But the venomenous snides (apart from on this board now and then) aren't, to me, that prevalent. I still give an S! and a GK when I get shot down, unless I am in Ultra Competitive Mode in which case I'll squeak about the fight for two minutes before realizing that I did ok, and the other guy did better.

Overall, this community is what it was when I started flying three months back - I love the friendly quarrels, rude macho comments, cries of desperations and "you had E on me, only reasonmn you won, you dweeb!".

Whenever someone claims my kill is unfair, I actually SMILE. Because I did not bring them into the situation they're in.


Lately, my k/d has been utterly destroyed due to me taking a different approach, going into situations I know aren't very survivable. Just prior to 1.03, i started killing acks - TONS of fun. With 1.03, I die a lot doing this, but it's still amusing.

The key to having fun is leaving the ego in a place where the competitiveness can be used better - such as watching soccer  .

So, all the great guys in JG2, all the great guys in the niggit country - too many to mention, and all the great foes - SALUTE to you.

I still think this is a damned fine community, with the exception of a few bad apples which I just ignore.



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StSanta
II/JG2

[Torque]

egos and spedos...........

[Duckwing6]

Gotta say its a shame your a Knit Sanat otherwise i would love ya  

<S!>

DW6

[Badger]

Hi StSanta...<salute>

There's nothing more unusual happening here than the standard evolutionary dynamic of both the communication medium and the product itself.  All of these public on-line communities, whether they be the "no man's land" AGW, or the company owned BBS's such as this and Playnet's, eventually drive many posters to silence, or ultimately away from the entire venue.  It's simply a matter of a natural evolutionary electronic selection process of individuals and their cliques, who come to dominate these mediums by "shouting" down minority discussions or viewpoints.  The operative word is heresy if you step outside what becomes the established envelope of either acceptable opinions, content or topics.

In my opinion, this combines with a clear pattern that relates to the maturity of the flight sim product itself.  Think about this for a minute.  ALL products. flight sims, or otherwise, have a product life cycle which looks remarkably like a plane's power curve.  In simple terms a "bell curve" or a curve that rises to a peak, then falls off in some fashion.

Warbirds v2.76 is on the back end of the product life cycle.  Coinciding with this, lately we see the BBS's at AGW and iEN yielding an exceptional amount of personalized attacks, intolerance to others and negative messages about Warbirds and people within the respective communities.  Some species eat their young.  

Playnet has this outward appearance of vibrancy, youth and something new and fresh being announced regularly.  The product is on the very early front side of its life cycle and bluntly put, they have no product to criticize.  As a result, the BBS community surrounding WWIIOL is all "hugs and kisses" with everyone looking positively to the future as opposed to dwelling on the bugs, the player personas or the past.  Like sex, the anticipation element is often the most exciting part.  

That brings us to HTC's BBS.  Notice the difference in the community when the product was fresh and new several months ago?  Once again, it resembled Playnet's and in many ways still does, except now we're starting to see some stress cracks as the community gets larger, more members sign up and the product itself moves further up the product cycle curve.

Bottom line, there is a direct relationship between the stage of product evolution, the health of the company that markets the product and the customer BBS messages either amongst themselves, or directed towards the developer.

Just my opinion, but let the shouting begin.  

Regards,
Badger


Looking for a different kind of environment to discuss your favorite on-line flight simulator?
 http://www.egroups.com/group/flightsimsonline

[Ripsnort]

Hear Hear, agree with you Santa!

Torque hates speedo's cause  he'd look like a butterball turkey with the dressing hanging out if he wore one!   Just kidding!

[Dingy]

I cant put my finger on it either but something is amiss.  Im finding it harder and harder to enter the MA with all the talk about who killed who, whos cheating and the general adolescent yapping that a few individuals do online.  

Frankly, I find the MA an annoyance now  

Good fights are hard to comeby and the gangbang is now commonplace.  Had to log this morning cause I just didnt have the patience for it anymore.  

I think what we need are some historical battles which I know are looming on the horizon.  Once these come alive, I think alot of us will find renewed enjoyment in the arena.

For now, we just got to grit our teeth and put up with alot of the nonsense that goes on.  

-Ding

[Swager]

Everytime I read one of Badger's post, I just sit back and ponder on the moment.

Badger, your writing and communication skills are incredible!  I always enjoy reading your post, regardless of the subject!

[Fatty]

Nothing's quite as amusing for me as picturing the kid (used loosely) screaming at his monitor, literally melting down.

So, if you lose your temper on channel one, and I tend to jab at you, know that I'm not laughing with you, I'm laughing at you.

------------------
Fatty
Fat Drunk Bastards
"Never before in the field of human conflict was so little owed to so few that weighed and drank so much."

[Ripsnort]

2-week free accounts tends to help business for HTC but also tends  to draw in...ummm..interesting people.    Wonder what WW2 online is going to be like in regards to free accounts.

[AKSeaWulfe]

I agree with all of your points Badger and I believe for the most part you are correct. Well, you are absolutely correct, but I believe there's just a little bit more depth than the life-cycle of a product, or it's new groundbreaking/awe-inspiring techonology that keeps people pinned in their seats having more fun watching pretty colors and testing their skills at a new more difficult venture.

I noticed when 1.03 came out, at first there was LOTS of complaints. That was mostly due to the bugs, which are sorted out. Well, they are sorted out for me anyway. I haven't had the "must be stopped..." message since the 1st patch. The big problem for me at the beginning were the red beacons which would somehow cause my entire internet connection to go into a blackhole. Had to relog to correct it. Then I setup BlackIce on the highest security level and trusted HTC main and secondary router and any of my buddies on RW. I'm getting off topic here, so I will do a 360 and get back on....

The big thing that I think is a downer for the community is the fact that internet itself is old now. The truth of it all, Aces High is nothing "new". AW set it off, CK/WB followed suite and broke the ground with their revolutionary flight model and damage model. Graphics were good for it's day too. Everyone was stunned with it's playability and the community wasn't so ridden ego-pilots or the dirges of society that log on to escape real life, or just to annoy other people. These games over all follow a pattern identical to what you pointed out Badger. There were the occasional pinheads in CK/WB and in AW, but overall most people kept to themselves or to their very few squadmates(by comparison many squads were fairly small- comprised of 4 to 18 players). However, when you look at Aces High or WarBirds or Fighter Ace or EAW or AW, you will see the same type of people in each customer base. People who's only intent is to be obnoxious, people who keep quiet and fly, etc. "Once upon a time in a land far far away..." we were all neophyte cyber pilots. Many are right now, many more will come in the future. THe only difference is, depending how long ago you started, everyone was a newbie at the same time. Which is perhaps the biggest difference between playing a game today and playing one "yesterday". Our skills have grown amazingly. Fighting has become a lot harder and a lot faster than what it use to be. Before it would take many of us a few minutes to secure an advantage over their foe in a level dogfight. Now, it takes a matter of seconds.

I'm not nearly as clear cut and to the point as you Badger, simply because I throw in too much babble! In conclusion, however, I believe it's that we have all become so good(atleast in our own minds) to lose a fight is demeaning to ourselves and we get frustrated at that fact. Hence we throw around excuses, lame at that, and just annoy our opposition/fellow gamer. I do it a lot and I realize this. I usually make amends, depending on the fellow I offended. This has been my observation, and it may be completely incorrect. I agree with you Badger, I just think it's a little more in depth to what you stated.
-SW
AKSeaWulfe+

**REMOVED BADGER'S TEXT AND QUOTE IN EDIT, WAS WASTE OF SPACE AS YOU CAN READ IT A FEW POSTS UP**

[This message has been edited by AKSeaWulfe (edited 06-27-2000).]