137 Prime Time Summer Friday Night Not Bad

[Animl-AW]

just sayin,.... didn't expect that

[Tumor]

It's not summer for another 19 days.

Just because.

 

[Dadtallica]

It’s barely been at 100 since February. One non-fso night is not going to change the decline.

[Eagler]

Numbers just have to match a smaller map set ..

Not sure why we can't have much smaller maps for the much smaller numbers of subs..

One or two good battles is all that's needed..smaller maps would reset quickly keeping it fresh as well

That said the number online is the highest since the bandwidth upgrade

Eagler

[Lazerr]

It also depends on how those 100 players choose to play the game.  That seems to be more of an issue than numbers are on the evenings I manage to log in.

But yes, smaller maps comes right behind that in 2nd place.

I think that would only require moving 2 or 3 maps out of rotation.

[Max]

What qualifies as a "smaller map"? List 1 or 2 plz.

[DmonSlyr]

A. The large maps like CraterMA and BowlMA are just not suited well for off hours. It makes it not even worth logging in when there is 1 tiny dar on the whole map and it's not even on your side. I logged in 3 different days at about 5:30pm with CraterMA on and logged out because there was absolutely no action with tiny 1 plane dars. Just no point.

B. I told yall back in February or March that The Damned were going to kill the #s in the game that we had steadily been seen increasing during and after MOA. A squad with with 5,900 kills in March + 6,600 in April is going to run a lot of players out of the game with their tactics. I've been seeing horrible #s since then. The game has been so much better without them in the game for most of May.

C. The ganging and rubber bullets. I know for me, I'm getting really tired of it. So much so that i might just leave for a bit. Shoot a guy 70 times and no damage. Half wing a guy who ends up running from me with half a wing. Shoot 3 20s in a tail and half tail so they can run away. Engine and radiator hit, they can still run away. Then I get into a fight and just all 3 guys have to jump in and gang. Get tracked down by a high 190D and his buddy has to join and gang. At this point it's either fly the fastest planes in the game or expect to get ganged if you don't have much friendly support. There is just no comradery between fights in the game. This is making it too hard for most players and they leave.

D. Poor fights in general. I roll at field, there is 15 tanks and 2 fighters trying to defend a field. There is little fighter support now. Everyone just wants to hoard bases and not defend. This is making the fights not as fun. Then I have to roll from a back field 25 miles away. I have to get alt and it takes 15 minutes to get to the field by that time, they take the field and I'm SOL. The off hours are extremely tough to find fights that are even.

The problem is, this game isn't suited for off hours play. This is why the #s have died in the afternoons. The huge maps, the bully gang squads, and huge hoards make it extremely tough to want to stick around. The best way to fix this is to keep the smaller maps so that players are forced to defend and fight in certain areas thus making team play better overall.

[Eagler]

What qualifies as a "smaller map"? List 1 or 2 plz.

For daytime numbers they don't exist imo

No need for maps with more than 5 squares and as many bases as you can cram on it for most of the day

I say trim off the outer lying grids to down size them to 5x5s

I am sure it is not that simple though

Eagler

[ZE]

There is just no comradery between fights in the game. This is making it too hard for most players and they leave.

Good point here
[/quote]

Everyone just wants to hoard bases and not defend.

Agree since I fly a defensive plane, but also in my humble opinion... justify in some conditions like: flying with the squad or hoarding when looking to take a base.
This is a great game that we should support and do our best to make it fun for all, especially new pilots...

[The Fugitive]

What qualifies as a "smaller map"? List 1 or 2 plz.

Smaller maps....

sfma2016
Baltic
Mindnao
smpizza
ndisles

Medium maps....

riftval
fjordma
grinder
montis
oceania
northco
atoll
blacksea

large maps.....

bowlma
buzzsaw
craterma
etoma

Small maps work with less than 100 players but can still be fun with 250 players

Medium maps need over 100, better close to 150-200, good up to 300-400 players

Large maps need over 300 and would still be good to the 600-700 players.

It isnt as much about size either. Its about how it plays out. If the map is spread out and there are too many bases then fights dont start or last long because if a team finds a defense in the way they just move to another base to attack far from the first.

Id be happy to see us down to those 5 smaller maps. They can hold the numbers we have these days plus any increase in population should it happen. I have never built a map myself but I would think smaller maps should be easier to crank out just because they have less space and things on them. Easier as in 4 months instead of 6 months to make one.

The slow/bigger maps hurt game play as well as population. The more action, the more fun, the more players.

[Eagler]

Heard the map rotation was controlled by a list of maps it cycles through..

Could it be as easy as just editing that list to give this idea a go?

Eagler

[Dadtallica]

You can’t just have one type of map. You have to have a variety.

I sometimes just like to do things by myself like strats and base attacks. “Finding a fight” is very subjective. It’s nice to have some space to move around if you don’t want to furball your lance with every 262 around.

I will just wait for the 163 to come lol

[hazmatt]

I have seen many times in the late evening where I see one enemy plane on the map, usually an orbital pony or 190.
I don't think it would be hard to set up a smaller arena like early/midwar back in the day for people looking for fights in the off hours. Maybe someone who has HTs ear can suggest it.

The rubber bullets thing sux. It seems that certain players have planes that are very durable and have guns that are very lethal. I have had it where I shoot two planes of the same type at the same range on the same sortie and one blows up and the other takes a massive number of hits without damage. Really frustrating.

We have a newer player in our squad that we're trying to get up to speed. The problem is in most engagements they get bounced by multiple high squad members working together. First time we come in at 10k they're 15k. We come back at 15k and now they're at 20k. We come back at 20k and now they're at 25k. I can usually defend as long as I don't drop my SA somewhere or get fixated but I can see how it can be discouraging for newer players that aren't yet good at defending against higher attacks.

The chest beating k/d thing with everybody flying rocket planes so they don't get killed does get old. Thankfully I've been able to find a good deal of fights at lower alts with people who's goal is to win no matter what they need to do to accomplish this. Just the other day I was in a great fight with BSB and Hlywd on the deck. These guys were flying jugs on the deck and doing a heck of a job. It was fun like old times. Luckily for me no chest pounding picker showed up while we were fighting.

When the Buzzkill map is up I log right back off. Seems it's up over the weekend a lot of times which really sux.

Another thing I've noticed is there seems to be a growing number of players that are too good to return a salute. I'm not a guy that salutes everyone every time but I do when they did something of note and I almost always return salutes. Sometimes I'll ask what the salute was for if it was from somebody that picked me while I was engaged. The chest pounders don't seem to salute or return salutes. I guess it's beneath them. Maybe they're too busy calculating how many times they've killed and been killed by whoever saluted them. I think this adds to the perception of: "no comradery"

I've gotten to the point now where when I see a group of what appears to be one of the high picker squads I will fly in an intentionally sewercidal way to try to drag them to the deck so that others have a chance to kill them.

I'm coming up on a month back and I'm on the fence about staying. I've had some times that are fun and some that are not so much. I guess we'll see how it goes.

[Animl-AW]

It's not summer for another 19 days.

Just because.

 

Dipping myself in acid before I reply to my own thread.

I know, it’s in between.

Still.

There are issues that could use attention.
Some good points made, most repeats.

I was just happy to see a higher number and some names I didn’t recognize. No game should expect numbers during warm weather.

I ignore some doomsayers. Some of it is over-thinking it

Its suppose to be blazing hot this summer, we may see a spike at times.but forecasting numbers in summer is fruitless. False positives and negatives. Don’t bank on anything until very late summer - Sept.

We raised numbers last fall, we’ll do it again.
My target last yr was 200, we hit it. I’m shooting for 250 peak this yr.

January I retire, I’ll be pounding the ground harder and more often, hopefully with some help.

Everyone relax. Its not the right time of year to cerebrate nor spread doom. Too many false readings and predictions. I’m just talking about 1 night that did well over a holiday.

Edit: I think HT did the upgrade at the right time of year to be less disruptive with lower summer numbers. I hope he has more ideas before winter. I appreciate his efforts, despite the unpredictable situations.
 

[JimmyD3]

As a point of clarification, all of the current maps in rotation are 256 X 256 miles, with the exception of BowlMA & Buzzsaw, they are 512 X 512 miles. The next smaller maps would be 128 X 128 miles, with the smallest maps being 64 X 64 miles.