The bolded section is what I think covers the whole score system. Your hit% suffers because you use taters to drop bombers. So to "score/rank" better you have to dump a bunch of machine gun rounds in them to bring that % up. Thats one of the biggest issues with the scoring system, it can be manipulated. If you add more categories it will just open it up to more areas for manipulation.
Is the scoring system perfect, hell no. It does give someone who cant fly 400 hours a month a chance to rank up there with those that do. It "evens out" over the long run and number of categories so that it seems more "fair". I dont think there is any way to make it so you could have the top pilot always ranked there. How would you rank yourself against someone like Yucca? You fly a tater tosser, he flies with 50's. I dont know what style you fly, but I know Yucca is always turning and burn down low in a fat old jug. Is he a top 10 stick or is he really in the 80s like he is ranked?
There is too many ways to "tweak" your score for it to be a true measuring stick of rank. Some people go for rank and do those things .....like fill bombers with machine gun rounds.... to get to the top. Lusche is a master of the scoring system and how it works. It would be interesting to see his take on a system that would be fair and acurate.
The ranking system is actually pretty decent to measure your performance.
1. If you want to try for a high k/d, fly a faster plane and attack bases rather than defend. Planes will typically be under you and you will be able to kill more plus run away easier if you get in trouble.
2. If you want to increase K/S, always try to get at least 3-6 kills per sortie even If you die.
3. If you want to increase hit%, use 50 calls and shoot bombers once in a while.
4. If you want to increase k/h. Defend your base rather than only attack, defend against CV attacks, or launch from CVs near enemy bases for shorter flight distances.
5. If you want to increase points, use 50 calls and attack bombers, or play a lot. (Points have always been my biggest weakness)
If you take the opportunity to do these steps in different situations during the tour. You will generally have a top 10 fighter rank.
Rarely do people who only fly one plane and one style ever get #1, and even being top 5 is tough unless you fly a Temp, 262, P51, 190D, or f4u4 every sortie and really know what you are doing. Mixing up your styles and planes are what gives you the high rank. That makes it good IMO.
For example, I was still #1 and top 5 this tour so far even with dying more than 50% of the time. I normally get ganged about every other sortie low n slow in a fight which leads to my death. However, I typically get 2-5 kills a sortie. Focusing on getting more kills a sortie is very important. Though dying really reduces the amount of points you score. Plane choice really determines how many points you get per sortie. Landing really matters in that regard. I normally get top 5 most every tour because I like to mix up the styles of play. I dont normally play for rank unless I think I have a chance at being #1, that being said, I hate to die a lot without kills so it gives me a pretty decent rank most of the time. That's what 15 years of ACM and MA study get you.
I like the fighter rank because people with different flying styles can be top ranked if they try.
I do wish there was a ENY metric however, anything to get players into mid war planes instead of super late war planes. The plane choice really matters. It is incredibly difficult to be top 5 flying early war planes.
There is always that challenge of trying to be top ranked in midwar-early war planes. Challenging yourself like that will really help you become better at the game.
Players like Yucca are extremely skilled and very good fighters in the MA, but flying as risky as he does in a fighter that's meant to BnZ and jabo, he gets shot down quite a a bit from being ganged. That's his choice and his preferred style of play. His metrics are one thing. His ACM skills are another. It's hard to measure ACM skill like that. I wish more were like him, but that is a dying breed as most people dont care about ACM contest anymore. It's all gang and kill by any means necessary. This has led to a lot of timidness is late war planes which has made the gameplay boring and slow for many.
I think If you are trying for rank or to increase your MA performance, the metrics are very good. Many players dont care or try, even if they are good. So they dont have as high of a rank. Luckily it changes every tour so it always washes out and a person always has a new opportunity to try for it. That is something I really like. I also like that you dont have to play every day to be top ranked, though you do have to find a way to get points.
Even if a person shoots bombers 25 times taking off and never flies again, they will still have a chance at not becoming #1 because of the points. I proved that last year against a player who did that very thing.
