Hello! I've been playing the game since I was about 13 or 14, and now I'm 19 playing the game on and off. I've always been a Rook, and have spent the vast majority of my time with the TA's Peacemakers. 800nates, who posted earlier, got me into the squad. Inspired by Latrobe and VuduVince's YouTube videos, I have mainly flown the 109G-14 and G-2. I am telling you all this as some background because I have never posted on the forum before, despite being a part of the game for many years.
I'd like to give my experience with the game as a younger player and give my opinion on what could be done to help the game get some numbers back. After reading most of the forum posts, this is what I have to say.
Though I never got to play the game in its heyday, it never stopped me from enjoying the game. Even though I was young, comradery, realism, teamwork, and sense of self-improvement kept me playing Aces High. I got lucky in finding people who would fly with me, especially as I was young and, I'm sure, annoying. I was first with the VMF-216 Bulldogs flying Corsairs, but that was before I met 800nates and he convinced me to join him in the TA's.
I state this because I am grateful for the people I've met in this game that have supported me throughout my time playing. It has been the support through my squadmates, VuduVince, trainers, and Latrobe that I stuck with the game. Without them, I most likely would've left. I asked stupid questions, made rookie mistakes, and got frustrated, but because of the people who were willing to help out a young newbie, I was able to stay and flourish. The learning curve for me at the time was immense, but I didn't even think about it because I was having fun with my squadmates and doing my best. At my best, I'd be getting about 2 to 3 kills per sortie on a good day. I've done many sorties with the TA's, as well as multiple country operated missions led by ET37, another pilot who I greatly miss in the MA.
This is the teamwork, comradery, realism, teamwork, and sense of self-improvement that I'm talking about when it comes to Aces High. These aspects, as well as the dynamic flight environment, are what truly make it special. I believe this is why people stick around playing the game today.
In terms of the engagement times for the game, I do feel they could be shorter as there are now less people to fill large maps. If the game were full, the large maps wouldn't be an issue, but now that's not the case. I think smaller maps with bases closer together would make for a great challenge in taking bases, and also less time spent doing nothing except gaining altitude. This would allow players in fighters to get into the fight quicker, but one would still have the flexibility to climb out from farther away to gain altitude, whether it is to bomb an enemy field or get an advantage over lower fighters. This also retains the realism and strategy in the MA—if you die, then you still have to fly back. There must be consequence for getting shot down. But, if you just need to support your countrymen in a timely manner, it can be done easily and quickly. This would make taking bases more difficult and provide a great challenge that would still occupy a lower amount of people.
Taking bases is the heart of the MA in my opinion. As it usually requires squads to get together and take action, or on a larger scale, for a player to setup a countrywide mission, teamwork is paramount to being successful. It's then that furballs emerge, where fighters, bombers, and GV's come together to attack and defend a field. I feel the best fights come out of these situations, as there is motivation to stay and either attack or defend a field. Situational awareness must be developed in order to stay alive, but to also support teammates if they are being attacked. People must strike in coordinated waves and adjust to the enemy in order to take a base in the allotted downtime without threat of GV's or fighters preventing troops from entering. Essentially, all the elements of AH come together, including sweet dogfights, when taking bases.
When it comes to simply looking for a fight in the MA, it doesn't seem to work very well, especially with low numbers. Even though it sucks when a player runs away to their ack because they don't want to die instead of fighting, it does make sense. When it's a 1v1 in the air with no and the other person has the choice to run away and either reengage or go home to avoid death, why wouldn't they? I'm not one of those people, but it does make logical sense why some pilots do this, as there is no reason or motivation to stay engaged besides getting a kill or likely dying. One would only want to run away if they are about to die anyways. This is why taking bases must be a huge emphasis in the MA, not just finding a quick dogfight.
If people want a quick dogfight, there are custom arenas, the DA, and even match play. The unfortunate thing is that there simply aren't enough players to saturate anything but the MA in most cases. As a result, new players who aren't accustomed to longer engagement times and such don't get much action, especially if they don't know what they're doing. Because this is the case, we must focus on making the MA more action packed while retaining the spirit of the game.
In addition to smaller maps helping the situation of the MA, I believe there should also be less bases on these given maps as well. This makes it so losing a base would be a much greater loss than simply having a small map with the same density of bases as a large one. Maps that enable the use of GV's, carriers, and potentially bombers, would be hotly contended. They would be the key to invading an enemy's territory even further, or having your territory invaded. If you lose a base that can up bombers, and if there are other airfields that can't, then that would be an extremely important field for a given country in it's war effort. Same goes with GV's and CV's, but that is already implemented.
In essence, there must be more incentive to defend or attack bases. This would require more teamwork, more missions, and result in more action for the small amount of players that are here. Within the scope of smaller maps where fields have more meaning, I believe it would help the entertainment value of the MA greatly.
Something that must still be improved upon is training and integration of new players. I think it must be clear that this game is a flight sim, and so it won't be easy. However, even though the current training videos are great, they simply aren't enough. In my opinion, they are a bit boring, and for the player who just wants to get in and fly, it doesn't cut it. Players want a new and fun experience, so training should be made exciting and fun, as well as necessary.
My idea is to have offline scripted missions with narration before a player can enter the multiplayer arena. Missions could be divided up by fighters, bombers, GV's, and essentials for gameplay like the clipboard. A player would be required to complete a certain amount of missions in training for each category in order to enter the MA. I think of the training games for Call of Duty Warzone, as they force you to complete all the essentials of the game and help you through figuring out controls and strategy in a way that is fun.
Say a player starts the first training mission for a fighter. You're plopped into a plane and the narrator says over radio channel, "Well done reaching your first solo flight! Let me run you through the essentials to flying the plane and understanding the gauges." Stuff like that would continue as you progress through the level, as the narrator would update you on new criteria to complete in order to understand how to fly your plane, set up your plane, look at the map, use E6B, etc. The final levels could be combat situations in which the new player has to use their skills to take off, drop bombs, fight AI, and then land. Once that is done, there could be a quick video or cutscene showing how the player earned their way into the MA and can either continue in the game or request to apply for a squad.
I realize this is very intensive to do, but this would make the game feel like a more polished experience. The new player would be much better equipped to handle the MA through a fun experience that teaches all the essentials to being successful in Aces High.
I saw someone post earlier about finding squads more easy to find and newbie-friendly, which I think is also essential. Once a new player enters the game and makes connections to people who want to help them, include them, find a role, etc., they will feel much more obligated to stay. That's why I stayed in the game—I had people who helped me when I had absolutely no training whatsoever. That's why having squads advertise themselves by giving a bio and rules of what they're about, would help attract new players to start making friends and build comradery. A player can then apply, and after the squad leader talks to the player and/or acknowledges the squad's rules, can be accepted.
I also read earlier about how some vets leave newbies in the dark when they ask questions. Sarcasm and toxicity cannot be tolerated when our game is dying. We must do everything in our power to encourage people to stay, to try, to improve, to make friends, and to have fun.
As a young person, I use Steam for almost all my games, except for special exceptions like Epic Games and Origin. This game must advertise itself to younger players who want a fun, action packed, realistic challenge that is better than War Thunder while offering a more immersive online experience than than IL-2. The game must improve its rating on Steam, as I'm sure it deters new players from trying it. The high subscription fee also deters players, but I realize it's necessary at the moment to keep the game afloat. That can change once player count improves. At the end of the day, this game's image needs to be improved for younger people, but also for older folks who are passionate about gaming or flying sims.
I care about this game very deeply, and I want to see it succeed. I hope my input helps the future of this game—even though I don't play it as much as I used to, there's a reason why I have kept my subscription. I hope my points are considered in making this game better, as I have put in a lot of effort into this post. I thought long and hard about what to do and what contemporary games do for new players. I think all of you have valid ideas and points and I'm glad that we all care enough to do something for the sake of this awesome video game.
-Propilot
