Dang WTH Happened to the Numbers???

[Shuffler]

Another topic that has been run over and over again, with good reason.

Imbalance is the problem.  ENY tried to address that but all it did when I played was piss me off and piss me off enough to log off when it got stupid.

To those that say 'change sides and no ENY'...please READ THIS CAREFULLY...  We could change sides and the fight would evaporate to the other front leaving us nothing to do (fighter pilot, really not interested in any other aspect).  So I would change sides and no fight 30 minutes later but stuck for 12 then 6 hours.  nah, outta here.

Imbalance takes many forms though, it could be a horde, it could be 2 sides on 1 or it could be late war planes against early war.  ENY tried to address that last point but it really did not work.

For me, to make it more fun I would have restricted planes to time periods.  Early, mid, late.  Cycle that on a time basis, for arguments sake 30 minutes a period.  Once that period is over you lose the right to fly the later period plane, you can continue in a lower plane if preferred but once your sortie in a later period ends, be it die, land or refuel.

But I liked fighter plane action so obviously my preference favours that play style.

Problem is there is no way to please us all and I feel that is the essential problem with the game.  It tries to be all things to all men and ends up being poor at everything rather than excellent at one thing.

They removed ENY for the kids. Now numbers are way embalmed many nights.

Now you can happily come back and fly in your group of 80 against 30 and 25.

[oakranger]

True!

And so what?

We will never see pirate days again, or Mongol horde days again.  We live for what we have today.

Which is still pretty good.  I haven't lacked for entertainment.

- oldman

Nursing home still letting you play?  Those poor nurses.

[FESS67]

They removed ENY for the kids. Now numbers are way embalmed many nights.

Now you can happily come back and fly in your group of 80 against 30 and 25.

You did not rear my statement carefully enough did you?  I would change sides to fly against the numbers only have the fight dry up and be stuck there.  So why would I come back and fly in a group of 80 when that was not what I did before?

[Shuffler]

You did not rear my statement carefully enough did you?  I would change sides to fly against the numbers only have the fight dry up and be stuck there.  So why would I come back and fly in a group of 80 when that was not what I did before?

ENY was the best idea yet. It was removed and now it is worse.

The kids got their pacifier.

[oakranger]

ENY was the best idea yet. It was removed and now it is worse.

The kids got their pacifier.

Yep, the children will jump into the upper in planes and have no clue how to fly them correctly

[Eagler]

Must be the oddball here but I usually check numbers and switch to low side when I login just to improve chances of finding good fights

Eagler

[oakranger]

Must be the oddball here but I usually check numbers and switch to low side when I login just to improve chances of finding good fights

Eagler

Nope.  Going on the low side gives you a rich target environment. 

[Rich46yo]

Yep, the children will jump into the upper in planes and have no clue how to fly them correctly

And then before you know it they will be in the , co called, Lesser planes.

What was that Italian fighter, the c-205 or something, that had the two canon and two 0.50s and real good speed and handling? Very under rated when someone good was in it "not that I was". I remember having very tough times against very good sticks in Lesser fighters.

AH had some tremendous sticks at one time. I'm sure a few are still around. Some of those Euro players were murder.

We had some very good P-38 sticks to and you only needed to be in front of those nose guns once. They didn't miss. Of course it wasn't often you were in the altitudes where the P-38s could give you a very hard time. Thats why I have such great memories of "Big Week". Finally we were able to fight these airplanes at the altitudes they were designed for. <S>

Ive hooked up my hardware again and got it running. Im just wondering if I have the energy to play again. Frankly my health hasn't been very good but I'll probably try it again. Its good to still see some old names around. Any ex-484'th or Blind Bats still around? <S>

[Peanut1]

I am shook by the number I have been seeing when I get of work lately...less than 11 on maps far to big for this game

[Shuffler]

Alt? P-38‽ We don't need no stinking alt.

[The Fugitive]

And then before you know it they will be in the , co called, Lesser planes.

What was that Italian fighter, the c-205 or something, that had the two canon and two 0.50s and real good speed and handling? Very under rated when someone good was in it "not that I was". I remember having very tough times against very good sticks in Lesser fighters.

AH had some tremendous sticks at one time. I'm sure a few are still around. Some of those Euro players were murder.

We had some very good P-38 sticks to and you only needed to be in front of those nose guns once. They didn't miss. Of course it wasn't often you were in the altitudes where the P-38s could give you a very hard time. Thats why I have such great memories of "Big Week". Finally we were able to fight these airplanes at the altitudes they were designed for. <S>

Ive hooked up my hardware again and got it running. Im just wondering if I have the energy to play again. Frankly my health hasn't been very good but I'll probably try it again. Its good to still see some old names around. Any ex-484'th or Blind Bats still around? <S>

I hope you come back to fly a bit at a time, take it easy. Im sure you will find the types of action here and there, unfortunately not like it was in the old days. Which for you could be a good thing. In the old days you never wanted to log because it was just too much damn fun and so would over do it. Now a days its easier to find lulls where you can take a break, or just log until your feeling up to it again.

The C205 is a rare bird. We have some really awesome skins for it these days tho. There arent too many "super killers" out there any more. We have a new breed that is all about the kills and so are very good at picking, HOing, or vulching to rack up their kill count. Once you get them at any disadvantage their toast    We still have a few super killers and they always make for a fun fight, even tho I still lose most of them.

With the numbers lower, 120-180 depending on the night (US prime time) I wish they would really pull a number of maps. Some of the medium/large maps we have left never hit that special number to generate plenty of fights.

Come on back Rich, we need more players that play the game the "right way" even if you cant pull all nighters any more!  <S>

[Rich46yo]

Alt? P-38‽ We don't need no stinking alt.

You dont. I do. 

Thanks Fugi. To tell you the truth I should have come back years ago. Im 63yo now and cant game for long. I spend a lot of time reading military History now and I finally got the time to bone up on the Pacific war, buying about a dozen books after retirement.

This was actually the first computer game I ever played. Right after I started WW2OL and almost played myself out of a marriage. Its good to see your still here. I was greatly saddened by the Loss of Wasp. When I worked midnights I spent many a daytime cycle just puttering around flying with him and doing little silly things like protecting a carrier by going on ord missions together even tho there weren't many playing.

Wasp was an excellent man. Typical of the older crowd when I started. He is missed.

[Rich46yo]

I find this to be true as well.   One fight in particular that sticks in my mind was a down-on-the-deck duel I had against A8Cole.  He was in a Typhoon, I was in a P-39Q.   I ran out of cannon ammo.   I fact I *think* we both ended the fight out of ammo and low on fuel.   I can't remember if I won, lost, or drew but it was memorable and fun; very sporting all the way through, and ended with <S>'s given.

Another great fight I had recently was against SKJackD (IIRC the handle).  He was in a P-47D with the yellow cowl and black skull and I was in a P-38J.   I can't recall the end, he probably dispatched me, but what I remember is the tension of the fight; the striving for position, the resets and re-engagements, and of course the <S> at the conclusion.   Its always fun to fly against someone who's equal in skill or a little better than you.

I remember beating Betty in her Typhie once. It didn't happen much because Betty was better then me and very good in the Typhie but I just happened to be in a LA-7 and got lucky. The LA-7 at lower alts can make anyone look good.

Then many of us would go on a specific plane binge quite a lot. I spent many months almost never getting out of that IJA bomber, the one with the 20mm cannon on top and the twin 12.7 mm guns in the back. It was heavily armed and very fast and was a great raid bomber.

Then again I spent almost an entire year in B-26s. I loved the Bombers in AH and probably got medium good in them.

There were very skilled dedicated Bomber hunters in the game too and Bomber sticks would always be challenged. The best of them had a tactic where they would come down right on top of you and just whittle one Bomber at a time away. It was very difficult to defend against.