Some observations after being back a few weeks

[hazmatt]

Have to start with a disclaimer to hopefully avert a dumpster fire. Non of these should be construed to be an attack on a person or squad.
(these are my observations and opinions. I am not saying that everything I say is in fact true in ever situation, it is just what I have observed in no order of importance)

It seems that some squads are now focusing so much on their k/d ratio and stats that they are kicking out members that fall below this level and that at least one of those members is leaving the game now. (I'm guessing because they got kicked out of the squad)
**This seems to encourage picking, flying the latest rocket planes and running as soon as there is a threat. I guess it's their $15 so they can fly how they want but it's very discouraging when you're in a great 1vs1 fight low and slow and you get picked by some 550mph pony or if you're the other guy in the fight, you get your 12 "cleared" by the same kind of player on your side.

It seems that there are many more people and squads that are only focused on their stats then before. I saw more then 6 "squads" on the the squad ranking for the last melee campaign that were less then 2 members or otherwise not legitimate "squads"
**This seems like it would preclude actual squads from the list and looks like a desperate attempt for someone to get their "name in lights"
I'm not sure why the list couldn't/wouldn't just exclude such players to give legitimate squads a spot on the list.

Another observation is this 2 vs the lowest number country thing that I've heard about lately is a real thing.
I've seen where two countries will have over 20% of the lowered numbered countries bases and both countries continue to attack.
**I've also seen the drop in numbers it causes when people log off because they get tired of being double teamed. (don't expect anything to change, just an observation)

The maps seem to be too big for the current numbers.
**I know this has been said many times and I don't expect this comment to change anything.

It appears that there are many more people now with multiple accounts.
**Obviously this can be used to pad stats or create an unfair advantage. I'm sure that this has never happened. /cough

Also the communications between players on country seems to be lost. (I think somebody described it in another post as "camaraderie")
Yesterday there was a base take in progress and a guy was asked by multiple players if he had troops or was in a tank. He completely ignored everyone so a second person got a set of troops. After the second set of troops were on the way, another teammate stated that the player that had been asked multiple times did in fact have troops.
**To me this seems like it creates a snowball effect because people will remember this guys name and when he needs help or says something, most likely they will ignore him the same way the ignored them.

On a positive note. I have noticed that there are still a good number of "old school" players and players left that actually like to "fight" and are not constantly worried about their "stats". I've had some great fun with HlyWd, BSB, LilMak, TheStig, Maniac1, TA57, LatinLuv, Pearly, Animl, NoTar, Oysters, BigDawg, and many others who's names aren't on the top of my head in melee and with the AKs in FSO. I'm really glad these guys are around as they make the game enjoyable for me no matter the downsides. <S>

[Shuffler]

I jumped on for a short time last night. Knights were by far low numbers compared to both other sides. I saw a field being attacked. I upped my 38J. It was a F4U deacking the field. As soon as I upped, he ran. He had all the advantage and still ran. I simply logged after that. I do not play much any more so I don't waste my time.

[hazmatt]

I jumped on for a short time last night. Knights were by far low numbers compared to both other sides. I saw a field being attacked. I upped my 38J. It was a F4U deacking the field. As soon as I upped, he ran. He had all the advantage and still ran. I simply logged after that. I do not play much any more so I don't waste my time.

Aye. This seems to be much more common these days or maybe it's just become more obvious with the lower numbers.

I've had many engagements recently that a high pony or 152 or D9 will engage and make one turn followed by a 6k extension and if at they point they have an alt advantage they will rinse and repeat. It seems that these tend to be the players with the high k/d, score etc.

I'm not against the scoring system, however I think that when people become obsessed with it that it starts to detract from the game play. Rumor has it that some people have spreadsheets of their kills vs others. I guess that's "fun" for some people lol.

[Animl-AW]

IMO, Gamers vs Simmers. Not the same mindset.

There’s always fun to be found. Glad ya found a bright side. It all depends on how one squints their eyes. Score matters to me the least. Been there, done that, have all the t-shirts.

I enjoy AKs being around too. Great guys to war with, or against.

IMO, its gratifying to kill a point monger, their heads explode bigger than a plane does. So emotional. <snork!>

[LilMak]

There are a litany of reasons for your observations. The single biggest contributing factor is the reduction of numbers.

Back in the day, you could carve out your own fight(s) just about anywhere on the map and almost tailor the fight to your desire. I remember when I used to just pick a random base somewhere off the beaten path and guys would come up to fight. I’d usually let them get out of ack and get some altitude before starting any engagement. Fighting would be great and conversations across 200 would be encouraging. Now you just have the choice of which front. Basically fight A or Fight B.

The skill level of players these days is exponentially higher as a group. The players that are left are much better on average than they used to be. This leads to an arms race of sorts when it comes to plane/vehicle selection. In order to be competitive, more and more people select the better equipment in the hangar. There used to be a much higher instance of mid and early war planes when people could get lost in the furballs like fish in a school. The survivability was higher simply because there were more targets. The points guys and pickers had plenty of targets to pick from so it didn’t feel like they were dominating fights. These days you might have 10-20 in an area and, if 4 of them are purely energy fighters, it can feel like you’re being hunted. Then, if you do get in a decent position, they do what they always did and hike their skirts up to show you their Nikes. One change that I’ve noticed way too often is entire squads running if you catch them at a disadvantage which I don’t even remotely understand. Not even a fighting retreat. Just turn tail and run. Still, squads these days are usually 3-4 guys working together. When you combine that with a fight of maybe 20 players (both enemy and friendly) in one area, they can easily dominate if they start with an advantage and fast planes. Again, I don’t think this happens at any higher rates than it did previously it just becomes more of a factor for players like me who aren’t out for score or even kills. We’re just easier to single out because there are fewer targets.

Then there are game mechanics. Which actually could be adjusted.

At some point, HT decided that darbar wasn’t enough to get fights going so he introduced magical proximity radar which dramatically dumbed down the game. Mostly it made Situational Awareness and decision making with any sort of risk a thing of the past. You can see how a fight is progressing from the other side of the map. It allows you to choose how you will participate or even if you will participate without any thought whatsoever. This is extremely favorable those who live in the ZnB or horde profile.

Also, many of the tools we have were put in place to combat much larger numbers of players while allowing people to feel like they’re still contributing to the battle. They need to be scaled back in my opinion. The two biggest are M3 town supply runs and the 88 guns. One player can have a town resupplied before a set of bombers is even half way back home. This is an imbalance. 88 guns are personally frustrating to me. You have a player who’s just taking endless pot shots. It would really bug me if they hit with any regularity but the true reason it bothers me is they’re just sitting there trying to ruin whatever I’m doing while taking zero risk. I’m not really against 88s I just don’t think they should be the first option.

Overall, the fights are still here. Some of the guys mentioned in the OP are why I still show up. Once the guys who are here for the fight (not kills or score) dry up. The game will be dead. Because if everybody here fought like thier actual life depended on the outcome, this game would be boring. You’d have an entire community that only picked the best equipment available, climbed to 30k, then ran the second they were in danger. Or simply avoided any combat whatsoever.

[Oldman731]

some squads are now focusing so much on their k/d ratio and stats that they are kicking out members that fall below this level

Seriously?  I mean...seriously...?

- oldman

[Shane]

Seriously?  I mean...seriously...?
- oldman

I'm pretty sure he fell for Flippz' troll remark about why he seemed to have left the skwad he was in - he used that comment jokingly.  Flippz has also recently expressed an indication of leaving when his current subscription expires.

People leave when they no longer find an entertainment value, i.e., they get bored.  And may or may not return at some point.

Personally, ever since I returned in late '21 after a good 10 years away, with the overall lower numbers than I had experienced, I found it puzzling that there was a lack of cross country communication where there would be calls of "we're taking this base, come stop us" or "we're looking to furball in FT."   

Instead of concentrating action players seemed to have chosen a diffuse whack-a-mole where failed sneaks or smash/grabs immediately went elsewhere instead of creating a sustained battle. Or, still prevalent, a horde that has very little chance of being defended against without some kind of cooperation that numbers might not allow for. Then we have the two sides vs one side (usually the smaller one) cycle the floats between sides throughout the day.

Would smaller, better designed maps make a difference? Maybe. But I think it's more about having inflexible mindsets in terms of one's own gameplay.

An aside for you oldman: last night, I saw you flying over fighter island, coming in from a base across water because knits had no FT bases left - you basically had to fly about 2, almost 3 sectors to find action.  I think that displayed how even an older, smallish map couldn't generate action for someone witj a limited amount of time to play.  It's common to see one side or other take over those close range fun bases... why? I dunno. Because it was easier than trying to goon a base from 40 miles away? GVs do contribute more to action than they used to, so failing to recognize that can contribute to less sustained action.

[hazmatt]

Seriously?  I mean...seriously...?

- oldman

This is something I heard, not something I know first hand. It came from a usually reliable source. The problem is I don't know where that usually reliable source got it from.

I also know of another player that is feverishly working on getting his k/d ratio up for some reason and this seemed to support what I had heard about the squad k/d requirement thing.

I have no way to prove or disprove that this all adds up to the conclusion that I reached, however it does seem to be a common thread with certain squads.

[hazmatt]

The skill level of players these days is exponentially higher as a group. The players that are left are much better on average than they used to be. I'm not sure that I agree with this. I've never been that good so I could be wrong. It seems to me that there's just more pickers and "energy management" fighters these days.

At some point, HT decided that darbar wasn’t enough to get fights going so he introduced magical proximity radar which dramatically dumbed down the game. Mostly it made Situational Awareness and decision making with any sort of risk a thing of the past. You can see how a fight is progressing from the other side of the map. It allows you to choose how you will participate or even if you will participate without any thought whatsoever. This is extremely favorable those who live in the ZnB or horde profile. Ya, I'm not a fan of this or not being able to turn off the kill spam. I really don't care who killed who and it sux when I'm tying to find in the kill spam if I managed to kill a VH or something when I'm evading hoards of enemy and trying to read the chat.

 I’m not really against 88s I just don’t think they should be the first option.
The ack in general seems wacked since I got back. The puffy from the carrier will blow a maneuvering fighter out of the sky that's going over 400mph and 1/2 a sector away but it can't hit the 3 bombers that fly directly over it in level flight while flying in a straight line.

You’d have an entire community that only picked the best equipment available, climbed to 30k, then ran the second they were in danger. Or simply avoided any combat whatsoever.
I get the feeling this is exactly where it's heading

[Dadtallica]

The tilde button expands the chat box. Or it does for me not sure if I mapped it or if it’s default. You can size it as big as you want. 

[Shane]

Ya, I'm not a fan of this or not being able to turn off the kill spam. I really don't care who killed who and it sux when I'm tying to find in the kill spam if I managed to kill a VH or something when I'm evading hoards of enemy and trying to read the chat.

Along with the tilde expanding the chat box, you can also create and edit various radio tabs to include or exclude certain things.  You could put system msgs on tab 2 and keep tab 2, or you could edit out system msgs from your current tab... 

The more you know....

https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,409226.msg5422456.html#msg5422456

[Oldman731]

Personally, ever since I returned in late '21 after a good 10 years away, with the overall lower numbers than I had experienced, I found it puzzling that there was a lack of cross country communication where there would be calls of "we're taking this base, come stop us" or "we're looking to furball in FT."   

Instead of concentrating action players seemed to have chosen a diffuse whack-a-mole where failed sneaks or smash/grabs immediately went elsewhere instead of creating a sustained battle. Or, still prevalent, a horde that has very little chance of being defended against without some kind of cooperation that numbers might not allow for. Then we have the two sides vs one side (usually the smaller one) cycle the floats between sides throughout the day.

Eh.  You always had the NOE sneaks until HTC made flying low too hard.  The "come get us" people, IMHO, were always a minority.  But as someone else in this thread has observed, saying that no longer works.  I often fly to an empty area and invite people to come get an easy kill.  Maybe it's not much of a challenge?  One way or the other, people used to show up, and now they don't.

An aside for you oldman: last night, I saw you flying over fighter island, coming in from a base across water because knits had no FT bases left - you basically had to fly about 2, almost 3 sectors to find action.  I think that displayed how even an older, smallish map couldn't generate action for someone witj a limited amount of time to play.  It's common to see one side or other take over those close range fun bases... why? I dunno. Because it was easier than trying to goon a base from 40 miles away? GVs do contribute more to action than they used to, so failing to recognize that can contribute to less sustained action.

True.  Seems to me we used to have some maps with uncapturable bases, so that Fightertowns could survive.  I suspect the war winners couldn't stand that.

Nevertheless, I still manage to find some good fights among the bad ones, and those make it all worthwhile.

- oldman

[hazmatt]

The tilde button expands the chat box. Or it does for me not sure if I mapped it or if it’s default. You can size it as big as you want.

I think you're missing my point or maybe I wasn't clear. I make it maximize to  the size of my entire screen. I also have a box for all the spam another box for the rest of the stuff I want to see. My point is that I don't understand why a player has to be forced to see kill spam he doesn't want to see and didn't have to see for the first 15 years of AH.
Why would it be such a bad idea to have a check box to turn off all the kill spam and go back to the way things were?

[Shane]

Why would it be such a bad idea to have a check box to turn off all the kill spam and go back to the way things were?

It's a fantastic idea! I hope these images load slow enough for you to follow.

Observe system messages, particularly kill messages in (expanded) chat buffer. Also note "tab 1"


Right click on tab one to call up the popout menu. Click on edit settings.


Observe the settings you can edit on tab 1.


Uncheck system messages.


Click OK to submit (this means save) your new setting.


Observe how system messages have magically disappeared, just like you requested.



Are you still missing something?  Oh right, all the system messages, including landed w/2+ kills, bomber damage reports and landed, and well, bases being captured went poofy, too.  Choices, I guess.

[hazmatt]

That's useless, but you knew that before you posted it.
It would be nice if you actually posted stuff that was useful instead of condescending, passive aggressive stuff Shame.
Don't you have somebody to scream at about weaksauce in the melee arena.