How have we lost so many people to this wonderful game?

[ccvi]

 

The limits of the colored arenas weren't fixed. When they were evenly filled limits were set with free room in both. When things got lopsided the higher one was "full" but only until the lesser filled one caught up and both limits increased. This forced a balancing during low-power times. It was still more per arena than today, but a negative impact of halved numbers was noticeable. I doubt the limits visible during peak times were the hard limits, they would simply increase further with increasing player numbers.

[Vraciu]

The limits of the colored arenas weren't fixed. When they were evenly filled limits were set with free room in both. When things got lopsided the higher one was "full" but only until the lesser filled one caught up and both limits increased. This forced a balancing during low-power times. It was still more per arena than today, but a negative impact of halved numbers was noticeable. I doubt the limits visible during peak times were the hard limits, they would simply increase further with increasing player numbers.

For the life of me I do not understand the logic of this setup.  What would be wrong with one giant arena?   Was there no ENY back then?

[Wiley]

For the life of me I do not understand the logic of this setup.  What would be wrong with one giant arena?   Was there no ENY back then?

The stated reason at the time was HT was finding retention was better with the split and the relatively smaller numbers because people didn't feel as attached to the community when the numbers were too high in the arena, where split in half they weren't feeling quite as much just a cog in the machine.

I never understood it, but I realized long ago I am not like a lot of other people.  Also, I may have been a lot more used to being a faceless minion in an online game than most of the community here at the time.

Wiley.

[Max]

and now, a word from our sponsors..........


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5C6X9vOEkU&t=27s

[ccvi]

For the life of me I do not understand the logic of this setup.  What would be wrong with one giant arena?   Was there no ENY back then?

I do believe I remember that it was an attempt to create more dependencies between people. 500 players do not know eachother, lower numbers do. And when people do know eachother, they are probably going to stay longer. But due to the limits noone was flying always blue or always orange, so it didn't create a tighter coupling between fewer people.

It had nothing to do with country-balancing.

ENY would not balace different arenas. Unless the good stuff would have been available in the lower populated one only, which wasn't the case. I think at that time no ENY country-balancing was in place (except perk-modifiers), and rooks were always outnumbered except during RJO, and had slightly higher country k/d. Back than the stats page provided country specific data.

Differences between countries perceived today (bish hordes, rooks never below ISS orbit) were much more visible before the ENY limiter. Not related to split arenas.

[Lusche]

The limits of the colored arenas weren't fixed. When they were evenly filled limits were set with free room in both. When things got lopsided the higher one was "full" but only until the lesser filled one caught up and both limits increased. This forced a balancing during low-power times. It was still more per arena than today, but a negative impact of halved numbers was noticeable. I doubt the limits visible during peak times were the hard limits, they would simply increase further with increasing player numbers.

Supplement:

This balancing was active for about 12 hours of the day. During offpeak hours the balancing was not enforced, and everyone met up in LWO, with only like 5-15 players in LWB (mostly milkrunning for score).
When Euro prime time (19:00 CET) arrived, the arena caps set in, so you could not enter LWO anymore until LWB reached ~80 (100?) players at which point LWO limit was raised. A typical login screenshot would have looked like this: LWO 165/100 LWB 25/150.
Like many others, I always tried to get into LWO before 19:00 CET when the caps kicked in...

At first, it took like 45-60 minutes for LWO to gather momentum, but as player numbers went down in later years, that took longer and longer (2 hours+)

But while almost universally hated by those players affected by it, AH overall player numbers still increased for about 2 years after the multi arena setup was introduced.

[DmonSlyr]

Supplement:

This balancing was active for about 12 hours of the day. During offpeak hours the balancing was not enforced, and everyone met up in LWO, with only like 5-15 players in LWB (mostly milkrunning for score).
When Euro prime time (19:00 CET) arrived, the arena caps set in, so you could not enter LWO anymore until LWB reached ~80 (100?) players at which point LWO limit was raised. A typical login screenshot would have looked like this: LWO 165/100 LWB 25/150.
Like many others, I always tried to get into LWO before 19:00 CET when the caps kicked in...

At first, it took like 45-60 minutes for LWO to gather momentum, but as player numbers went down in later years, that took longer and longer (2 hours+)

But while almost universally hated by those players affected by it, AH overall player numbers still increased for about 2 years after the multi arena setup was introduced.

While it may have appeared that the #s increased. It was new names that entered. Many of the squads began to slowly die out as they couldn't fly with each other any longer. I thought it was an absolutely terrible decision at the time. I knew it wasn't going to end well. It absolutely amazes me that those squads have disappeared, never to return. Really makes you wonder...

I have nothing against the MNM.  I'm glad you guys enjoy it.  With the declining numbers, I support anything people have fun with.

I was just always confused how it fit into the AvA mission, as opposed to simply running it in an SEA.  Isn't it really just an Event?


When I was trying to come up with a list of interesting AvA matchups for the 4x4 missions I basically went  through a bunch of the past posts of AvA setups to steal their pairing.
In the process I got sucked in to reading the whole saga of the CT/AvA evolution over a decade.  All the drama, all the spectacle.   It was an interesting story arc.  Like a Shakespearean tragedy.

AvA is not really a mission based event. It's fly at your own will arena. It would be exactly like the MA with 2 sides, shorter bases, and more closely balanced planes. There's also shorter icon ranges as well, which makes it really cool. It would be such a fun arena to fly in if the #s would pick up in it every night. I think if there was a map like the old Smog 8 map of AH2. It might work out better. IMO it's a great arena that just can't get an average stream of players on it per day.

The MNM is an attempt to get people in there. It's a fight at your own pace, quick action, take off and fight, close quarters furballing arena. One of my fav furballing arenas of all time. Something to up the pace a bit from the MA. Something that AH is desperately missing.

[Ciaphas]

I decided to head over to the joke that is warbirds 2018 to have a look around. The only thing that game did almost right was the check ride at the very beginning. While the controls seemed archaic compared to AH3, the training was enough to get me in the air, shoot something down and then land again. I think that something like this is would be a value added update for AH3.

I would have a check ride for the three aircraft play types: 1. Fighter 2. Attack and 3. Bombers

After looking at the interface that warbirds 2018 uses, I felt like I was on a 3.5 machine. AH3's interface feels like a Ferrari compared to that game but it could still use some clean up.

I think this alone would help people stay in the game for at least the two week trial.

 

[Saxman]

I decided to head over to the joke that is warbirds 2018 to have a look around. The only thing that game did almost right was the check ride at the very beginning. While the controls seemed archaic compared to AH3, the training was enough to get me in the air, shoot something down and then land again. I think that something like this is would be a value added update for AH3.

I would have a check ride for the three aircraft play types: 1. Fighter 2. Attack and 3. Bombers

After looking at the interface that warbirds 2018 uses, I felt like I was on a 3.5 machine. AH3's interface feels like a Ferrari compared to that game but it could still use some clean up.

I think this alone would help people stay in the game for at least the two week trial.

 

There should be an "opt out" on any such thing, though. Flight sims are universal enough that there's no need to for an experienced player to sit through such a tutorial. When I was scoping out War Thunder last month that was one of the biggest annoyances. Accessing any mode for the first time requires you to complete a "training course," which was not only unnecessary because I've been flying flight sims of SOME sort for 30-odd years, but the implementation was AWFUL (every time the instructor chimed in it paused the screen, screwed with your controls, and it breaks the VR head position, and doesn't allow you to recenter).

[Ciaphas]

There should be an "opt out" on any such thing, though. Flight sims are universal enough that there's no need to for an experienced player to sit through such a tutorial. When I was scoping out War Thunder last month that was one of the biggest annoyances. Accessing any mode for the first time requires you to complete a "training course," which was not only unnecessary because I've been flying flight sims of SOME sort for 30-odd years, but the implementation was AWFUL (every time the instructor chimed in it paused the screen, screwed with your controls, and it breaks the VR head position, and doesn't allow you to recenter).

Flight sims are not universal in their implementation other than the flight stick.

For an opt out it would have have a min hour requirement from time of check ride implementation in to the game.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Saxman]

Flight sims are not universal in their implementation other than the flight stick.

For an opt out it would have have a min hour requirement from time of check ride implementation in to the game.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Other than the menu layouts and learning the out-of-flight interface I've yet to play a flight sim that I couldn't load up, set up my control mappings, deadbands, etc., and hop right into flying. Anything else is just learning the individual aircraft's instruments, power settings, etc. I don't need to sit through yet ANOTHER tutorial about how to take off, land, etc.

[Ciaphas]

Other than the menu layouts and learning the out-of-flight interface I've yet to play a flight sim that I couldn't load up, set up my control mappings, deadbands, etc., and hop right into flying. Anything else is just learning the individual aircraft's instruments, power settings, etc. I don't need to sit through yet ANOTHER tutorial about how to take off, land, etc.

You seem to forget that something like this wouldn't be for you anyway. This is about new players and retaining them. Why do you guys think everything is about you? Did you not read the rest of what I posted? let me word it better for the people in the back:

if you have x number of hours at the time of "check ride" implementation, you will have the option to opt out. If you do not have x number of hours at implementation, you will have to complete the "check ride" and after completion you wouldn't be asked to complete it again.


.... .

[CptTrips]

Flight sims are not universal in their implementation other than the flight stick.

For an opt out it would have have a min hour requirement from time of check ride implementation in to the game.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I agree that for the vast majority of players trying the game, going through a basic orientation is critical to getting enjoyment out of your 2-week trial.  If you are experienced, you ought to be able to whip through them quickly.  If you are not, there is no point spawning Melee until you can get through the check ride.


Thinking out loud....

Perhaps there is a "Check Ride" separate from the "Training Missions".  The "Check-Ride" is like an advanced placement test.  It has no instruction, just a set of gated tasks and a time limit.  Like maybe:

1. Goto Hangar
2. Select a P-51D, 50% fuel, 2x100lb GP
3.  Take off on N runway.
4.  Xmit "launched" on help channel.
5.  Navigate to ground target marked on map.
6.  Hit target with bombs.  (A nice big building or something easy.)
7.  Xmit "target destroyed" on country channel.
8.  Locate nearby patrolling AI drone fighter with map and radar.
9.  Engage and kill target.
10. Xmit "target destroyed" on range channel.
8.  Return to base and land successfully.
9.  End flight.
10.  Time limit  = 6 min from tower start to back in tower (just making up a number)
 
If you are a returning player and can blow through that in the time limit, you are good to go.
If you can't complete that in the time allotted, there are a set of training missions you can go through to get you up to speed.

To sweeten the deal, new players are no longer given any perk points by default.  However they can earn wads of perk points for each of the training missions they successfully complete. 

Pull, not push.


$0.02,
CptTrips

[Wiley]

I agree that for the vast majority of players trying the game, going through a basic orientation is critical to getting enjoyment out of your 2-week trial.  If you are experienced, you ought to be able to whip through them quickly.  If you are not, there is no point spawning Melee until you can get through the check ride.


Thinking out loud....

Perhaps there is a "Check Ride" separate from the "Training Missions".  The "Check-Ride" is like an advanced placement test.  It has no instruction, just a set of gated tasks and a time limit.  Like maybe:

1. Goto Hangar
2. Select a P-51D, 50% fuel, 2x100lb GP
3.  Take off on N runway.
4.  Xmit "launched" on help channel.
5.  Navigate to ground target marked on map.
6.  Hit target with bombs.  (A nice big building or something easy.)
7.  Xmit "target destroyed" on country channel.
8.  Locate nearby patrolling AI drone fighter with map and radar.
9.  Engage and kill target.
10. Xmit "target destroyed" on range channel.
8.  Return to base and land successfully.
9.  End flight.
10.  Time limit  = 6 min from tower start to back in tower (just making up a number)
 
If you are a returning player and can blow through that in the time limit, you are good to go.
If you can't complete that in the time allotted, there are a set of training missions you can go through to get you up to speed.

To sweeten the deal, new players are no longer given any perk points by default.  However they can earn wads of perk points for each of the training missions they successfully complete. 

Pull, not push.


$0.02,
CptTrips

Rather than gate it that way, why not do all of that, and show them the buttons to press to accomplish those tasks as they're doing them rather than making them go through the missions?  That's exactly what I think would work best to get people up to speed.  It's short, it gives them the info they need and gets them into the MA action fast.  Also have a button on the interface or pause menu that lets you redo it if you forget.

Wiley.

[Ciaphas]

I agree that for the vast majority of players trying the game, going through a basic orientation is critical to getting enjoyment out of your 2-week trial.  If you are experienced, you ought to be able to whip through them quickly.  If you are not, there is no point spawning Melee until you can get through the check ride.


Thinking out loud....

Perhaps there is a "Check Ride" separate from the "Training Missions".  The "Check-Ride" is like an advanced placement test.  It has no instruction, just a set of gated tasks and a time limit.  Like maybe:

1. Goto Hangar
2. Select a P-51D, 50% fuel, 2x100lb GP
3.  Take off on N runway.
4.  Xmit "launched" on help channel.
5.  Navigate to ground target marked on map.
6.  Hit target with bombs.  (A nice big building or something easy.)
7.  Xmit "target destroyed" on country channel.
8.  Locate nearby patrolling AI drone fighter with map and radar.
9.  Engage and kill target.
10. Xmit "target destroyed" on range channel.
8.  Return to base and land successfully.
9.  End flight.
10.  Time limit  = 6 min from tower start to back in tower (just making up a number)
 
If you are a returning player and can blow through that in the time limit, you are good to go.
If you can't complete that in the time allotted, there are a set of training missions you can go through to get you up to speed.

To sweeten the deal, new players are no longer given any perk points by default.  However they can earn wads of perk points for each of the training missions they successfully complete. 

Pull, not push.


$0.02,
CptTrips

There should only be one training/check ride. Give them essential training by implementing the old "monkey see, monkey do" process and that's it. I like the number list items that you have and I also agree that there should be a reward for finishing the training. Perhaps, for new players, unlock a couple of perk rides for a week. New accounts that have not finished their two week trial should be forced to complete the training/check ride regardless of how many years they have playing flight sims. if their two week trial is over, make it a list item on the landing menu of the game.