The problem with AH aircraft labels

[Winger1]

The highest scoring ace in history freely acknowledged that the vast majority of his 350+ kills were against people that he completely snuck up on. I feel like that element of WW2 air combat is completely missing from AH with perfect SA being so easy.

[Shuffler]

I wish they'd also put the pilot's name and fighter rank on the label so I could avoid those that are better than me. Oh, wait, no! That would mean that those even less skilled than I would turn around their ponies and tempests and run when seeing my 109-G6 with gondolas, taking away the few kills I otherwise might get.

Discussion is a good way to weigh arguments. 

I like to add onions, bell peppers, and spices to my argument to make it more palatable. I always offer a frozen margarita from the blender I have in my P38j too.

[Winger1]

I like to add onions, bell peppers, and spices to my argument to make it more palatable. I always offer a frozen margarita from the blender I have in my P38j too.

I like mine animal style.

[Ramesis]

I like to add onions, bell peppers, and spices to my argument to make it more palatable. I always offer a frozen margarita from the blender I have in my P38j too.

Don't forget Tabasco 

[caldera]

The highest scoring ace in history freely acknowledged that the vast majority of his 350+ kills were against people that he completely snuck up on. I feel like that element of WW2 air combat is completely missing from AH with perfect SA being so easy.

Turn off your icons and tell us how good your SA is.

[DmonSlyr]

The highest scoring ace in history freely acknowledged that the vast majority of his 350+ kills were against people that he completely snuck up on. I feel like that element of WW2 air combat is completely missing from AH with perfect SA being so easy.

I actually some what agree with you about this topic.

Because of this.

Don't listen to a bomber pilot.  (Scowls at Shuffler.) 

The AvA ran no-enemy-icons, 24-7, for years.  May still, so far as I know.  It took about four hours of flight time to get used to it, but once you did, it made a colossal difference in how you flew and fought.  Real world tactics, that don't matter much with icons, suddenly made sense. 

It also engendered years of arguing on these boards, always heated, sometimes ugly.  In the end, neither side was convinced that the other side knew what it was talking about. 

I mention this so that you will be prepared for the tirade that you have brought down upon yourself.

- oldman

I enjoy the level of difficulty in not having Icons. It's just a shame more people don't fly in the AvA. That being said, the AvA is different than the MA in the since that you know the other side will be in axis or allied plane. I can completely see where you are coming from regarding knowing the type of plane and distance. I too make decisions based on these 2 things. It also makes it easier to get ganged and to dogpile the enemy when you can see them 5K away. In some cases I can tell who is flying in that plane because I can see the icon and determine who it might be. When the icons are 3K in the FSO, it makes ganging a lot more difficult.

If the Icon just said ENMY with no distance. It would probably spark much better fights in the since that you could not judge the plane until it was near you. Therefore, you could not as easily predict the fighting capability of that plane from a far distance.

Secondly, I'd say you probably do need more experience in the game. The key to being successful in any plane is to really understand it, and to understand how players fight against you in that plane. 2 years seems like a long time, but there is so much to learn about each plane. If you fly a 190a5. You've gotta be more patient and keep your alt when mutliple yaks and la7s are around. You've gotta be more aggressive off the gun in your emmilmans to throw them off guard. Don't get too low and slow around multiple enemies. Use your roll rate, throttle and flaps for quicker maneuvers. Understand that you cant outurn some planes, and must keep your alt and E energy against some planes. Take the time to get alt. Take the time to 1v1 players in Match play. Learn how to perfect roping, 190s love roping. If you want to fly a Mid War plane against late war planes. Get alt, be patient, but be quick, study  and perfect defensive counterpunch maneuvers, and really take your ACM seriously.

[FESS67]

I agree with the sentiment of the OP.  I consider myself to be a competent stick however I readily get owned by many 1 v 1.  I am above average at reading the fight and that keeps me out of trouble 

When I approach a con, I 100% adjust my approach based on the tag that appears.  The fact it appears at 6k just gives me more time to do that adjustment. 

If there was a big dot but no tag until say 3k and then it simply identified as a plane type not the variant I think that could encourage better fights in that the commitment phase has already developed at that range.  I am sure we would see more true bounces also.

The runners will still run,  the pickers will fly higher and faster because they do not want to be surprised.  The guys that fight will still fight.  So whilst I agree with the sentiment I am not sure what the benefit will be to change the setting.

The other point is about losing to the ‘better’ planes.  Yep, that is one of the issues with us playing with such a diverse plane set.  We get into very mismatched fights and there is not much you can do about it once you are in the fight.  I may be able to beat a certain player in identical planes but with the other player in a ‘better’ plane I can lose every time.

Nature of the beast I am afraid.  2 bits of advice. 

• Fly those planes to see how you mess up in them and then when fighting against them try to engineer that same environment to make the opponent mess up
• If you do see those planes just take a second more to set your position and engage to your planes strength

Example.  I like to fly the P51D.  If I get into a fight with a Brew I will be much less aggressive and keep much more E than when against most other opponents. They turn and climb so well that I feel I cannot compete any other way.

[save]

Warbirds is still kicking, even if it's a weak kick.

If my memory serves me, only the scenarios had the vertical bar above the plane indicating friendly or enemy aircraft red/green, but  range only showed below 1k distance.

They also had a radar arrow pointing to the nearest enemy aircraft, but no radar bar (we talking long time ago, I left WB 7 years ago)

Maybe later development of WB tried the no icon feature

Best icons imho was/is the ww2online circle.

Warbirds tried this.  It killed the game overnight.

[Vraciu]

Warbirds is still kicking, even if it's a weak kick.

That’s a stretch.   Warbirds is done by any rational metric.  10 players. 

If my memory serves me, only the scenarios had the vertical bar above the plane indicating friendly or enemy aircraft red/green, but  range only showed below 1k distance.

My recollection was they were similar to in here.  Then Dawger tried his infamous reduced icon range idea to be “more realistic” and buried the game once and for all.

[AAIK]

I like it when people say its all about the pilot, then you suddenly pitch a d3A vs a set of b29s and the inevitable end. Kinda ruins the whole skill premise.

There is no absolute when it comes to skill, there are alot of relatives and situations that result in victory. Even being a few k over the enemy might mitigate the difference in skill.

The only suggestion you can tell a new pilot is to focus on aiming skill, the moves can be adjusted to adapt for the level of skill later. Once he gets confidence from a few good solid kills he will be willing to play more with the plane.

[The Fugitive]

I like it when people say its all about the pilot, then you suddenly pitch a d3A vs a set of b29s and the inevitable end. Kinda ruins the whole skill premise.

There is no absolute when it comes to skill, there are alot of relatives and situations that result in victory. Even being a few k over the enemy might mitigate the difference in skill.

The only suggestion you can tell a new pilot is to focus on aiming skill, the moves can be adjusted to adapt for the level of skill later. Once he gets confidence from a few good solid kills he will be willing to play more with the plane.

So basically your saying that once a player learns some skills and practices those skills the plane doesnt matter as much. 

[scott66]

I know this is a bit off topic but I'm really surprised that our active player base isn't at least 10k plus.. Considering everything this game has to offer we can't be the only ones that can afford to pay and play a game that many have admitted can be extremely addictive? Especially considering it is global

[save]

The language barrier is a killer in the global perspective, I know of only a handful Japanese players as an example. To have the money to own a premium computer, internet, etc does not make it easier.

To find the game it's all about marketing.

There is also a competition from other flying sims, DGS, WB, Il2 series etc.

[ImADot]

I know this is a bit off topic but I'm really surprised that our active player base isn't at least 10k plus.. Considering everything this game has to offer we can't be the only ones that can afford to pay and play a game that many have admitted can be extremely addictive? Especially considering it is global

Most gamers these days wont pay a monthly subscription. Most gamers these days are twitch players who need instant action and simple controls where they don't have to think much past jiggling the stick and mashing down the fire button.

[flippz]

Turn off your icons and tell us how good your SA is.

He’s not saying turn them off. Just shorten them and maybe dumb them down a bit. And I agree.