6 hours to change sides

[The Fugitive]

Don't remember if it used to be, but 60 minutes is good.  Thirty would be better.

- oldman

I think after they switched to two LW arenas they had set the switch time to 1 hour for a bit for the transition, then forgot about it. Once they noticed it , it was months later, and they switched it back to 12 hours and finally 6 to appease the main complaints about the 12 hours.

[MDStampf93]

Personally Id love to see Hitech take a bigger interest in the game. I know he has other things on his plate, but I think if he was more up to date he might be willing to give some of these ideas a try. At this point the vast majority of players are hard core lifers that have been here for years and years. Chasing them away would be near impossible by testing a few changes. These test may add some spark to game play and in the end maybe bring back more players if not new players should we get the word out. If he doesnt want to spend the time, maybe add a manager.

Dale and the rest of HTC (back in the day) not only built one of the greatest sims but one of the greatest communities. This game and community has stood the test of time, especially as far as gaming goes, and I’d argue we were on the cusp of an upswing, between the MA and Special Events I have noticed an uptick in not only attendance but performance as a whole, but I digress from that for a moment.

Hitech has everything he needs right here… handed to him on a silver platter. A $15/mo subscription model which is WILD in today’s world (yes it’s only 2 gumballs a day for unlimited fun), I get that, but the rest of the world doesn’t. He has free marketing, player made content is becoming more and more popular. He has a whole team of Special Events CMs, Map Makers, Moderators, marketers … non of which are paid or receive any special benefits by the way … not that I know of at least 

My point is … the community is here doing everything we can to keep this major part of all our lives alive. It would be nice to have just a little bit of attention from the only Developer we have left.

In special events, when things don’t work we tweak them to make it make sense for the numbers/players that we have. Personally I don’t care about side switches because in 20 years I have only not been a Knight for about 2 hours and felt like I needed a shower after 

But I know the side switch is a popular issue and I completely understand it, I think this is a change that should be considered and discussed and would be easily implemented. There are many others, to include every plane being an AWAC (popular topic) and even the ENY topic, amongst others.

Would just be nice to hear from Hitech every once in a while and not feel like the forgotten step children.

Oh right… the reason I quoted Fugi … plenty of honorable guys(not me, squad CO and CM is enough for me) willing to manage some small aspects of the game, with changes going through HTC of course. Some small changes could make all the difference, even if only implemented for a short time as a test.

Done rambling … carry on gents.

 

[Animl-AW]

I side with 6hrs
It deters abuse, which I see often.
Don’t blame the setting, blame those who abused it enough to put it there.

Think of how some afforded 2nd account to work around it, one on both sides. Now think what it would be with the gate hide open.

1 hr was a starting point, 6 hr is the result of human nature and dishonest brokers.

When I see players switching sides with the highest numbers, than ask for reduction (not the author) they ate doing the exact opposite of balancing sides
6 hr make players like that think twice. Blame that kinda stuff

[Animl-AW]

Dale and the rest of HTC (back in the day) not only built one of the greatest sims but one of the greatest communities. This game and community has stood the test of time, especially as far as gaming goes, and I’d argue we were on the cusp of an upswing, between the MA and Special Events I have noticed an uptick in not only attendance but performance as a whole, but I digress from that for a moment.

Hitech has everything he needs right here… handed to him on a silver platter. A $15/mo subscription model which is WILD in today’s world (yes it’s only 2 gumballs a day for unlimited fun), I get that, but the rest of the world doesn’t. He has free marketing, player made content is becoming more and more popular. He has a whole team of Special Events CMs, Map Makers, Moderators, marketers … non of which are paid or receive any special benefits by the way … not that I know of at least 

My point is … the community is here doing everything we can to keep this major part of all our lives alive. It would be nice to have just a little bit of attention from the only Developer we have left.

In special events, when things don’t work we tweak them to make it make sense for the numbers/players that we have. Personally I don’t care about side switches because in 20 years I have only not been a Knight for about 2 hours and felt like I needed a shower after 

But I know the side switch is a popular issue and I completely understand it, I think this is a change that should be considered and discussed and would be easily implemented. There are many others, to include every plane being an AWAC (popular topic) and even the ENY topic, amongst others.

Would just be nice to hear from Hitech every once in a while and not feel like the forgotten step children.

Oh right… the reason I quoted Fugi … plenty of honorable guys(not me, squad CO and CM is enough for me) willing to manage some small aspects of the game, with changes going through HTC of course. Some small changes could make all the difference, even if only implemented for a short time as a test.

Done rambling … carry on gents.

 

Agreed

[fufu]

Dale and the rest of HTC (back in the day) not only built one of the greatest sims but one of the greatest communities. This game and community has stood the test of time, especially as far as gaming goes, and I’d argue we were on the cusp of an upswing, between the MA and Special Events I have noticed an uptick in not only attendance but performance as a whole, but I digress from that for a moment.

Hitech has everything he needs right here… handed to him on a silver platter. A $15/mo subscription model which is WILD in today’s world (yes it’s only 2 gumballs a day for unlimited fun), I get that, but the rest of the world doesn’t. He has free marketing, player made content is becoming more and more popular. He has a whole team of Special Events CMs, Map Makers, Moderators, marketers … non of which are paid or receive any special benefits by the way … not that I know of at least 

My point is … the community is here doing everything we can to keep this major part of all our lives alive. It would be nice to have just a little bit of attention from the only Developer we have left.

In special events, when things don’t work we tweak them to make it make sense for the numbers/players that we have. Personally I don’t care about side switches because in 20 years I have only not been a Knight for about 2 hours and felt like I needed a shower after 

But I know the side switch is a popular issue and I completely understand it, I think this is a change that should be considered and discussed and would be easily implemented. There are many others, to include every plane being an AWAC (popular topic) and even the ENY topic, amongst others.

Would just be nice to hear from Hitech every once in a while and not feel like the forgotten step children.

Oh right… the reason I quoted Fugi … plenty of honorable guys(not me, squad CO and CM is enough for me) willing to manage some small aspects of the game, with changes going through HTC of course. Some small changes could make all the difference, even if only implemented for a short time as a test.

Done rambling … carry on gents.

 

Everyone forgot to mention, half the player base is NOT FLYING - they like GVS. I'm fine with it, but lets not terrorize everyone who wants to enjoy this gem of a flight sim, by teh needs of a percentage of players, who count war map swaps/wipes/victories, because the 6 hour rule, I presume, is mostly to prevent strategic abuse. How about locking the players start abilities, like moving cvs or whatever, I do not even know, I do not care about that part of this FLIGHT SIM.

I've been away from AH for over 15 years, but i kept looking in at the site and forums. I started simming when i was about 18, now im 45, and after a roundtrip of 10 years in world of tanks and 5 years of hell let loose (i tend to be focused even when relaxing...) because ALL the newer flight sims are not this game. Better graphics, more complex systems, whatever. The feedback of dogfights and airplane control in this game is unsurpassed for me. Even tho I went through 10 cheapest wingman extreme 3d joystick over all these years, soon replacing my current one after a year of being back.

I was always surprised, AH is not dead yet. And now I started paying for it again. Even tho it is a shell of a game. I am a living example, and just one of many as we have all seen lately, of people coming back to this game after years of absence, despite all the other options around. Does it mean it is just a perfect game ? Or is it an opportunity to actually re-asses where it is, how it works for what is, and how to make it last longer, at least as long as the people that have been enjoying for all these years, on and off.

Anyways, I wouldn't bother if I was HT, as clearly the "community" it the form of forum readers, can't agree on such obvious flaws in the current state of the game, so... I will just re-asses my own mind in a few month, if it is still worth for me to waste time on not having fun while playing a flight sim designed to have fun.

Cheers,
Fufu

p.s. I always had the greatest respect and gratitude, for all the CMs that work on the events and such, it is what actually brought us all together years ago I believe, everyone on ones path of interest in history and WWII air combat.

[The Fugitive]

I think that might be where the problem is..... you, like "violator", "eagler" and a few others look at this game as a fighter vs fighter game, and it is not. The players who have kept this game going for so long are those that play many aspects of the game without "fighters" being the main focus.

Some keep the GV side of things going, others the heavy bombing group type of play. Most love the mission aspect with base capture and "win the war" the ultimate goal. Shooting down fighters just happens for these players. The focus of being a fighter vs fighter game changed long ago and Im sure that is what has given the game its longevity. How many times have some players tried to get a "furball lake" type arena going? "Combat Tour" arena even in its heyday was never very popular.

I'd love to see a few tweaks to help fighting, get rid of the AWACs system of radar, even switching back to dots instead of the plane icons  on the map would help, but you are never going to see a fighter vs fighter game only. Forcing it into this mode would chase away even the veterans we have here.

While this game was designed to "have fun", it was designed for a wider range of audience than just fighter pilots.

[Wiley]

The thing that really bugs me about the switch time is, I was active during the period where they forgot switch time set at 1 hour.  I'd use it if there were no squaddies and no fight on my country's fronts.

I think I would have remembered fire raining from the heavens, and the rivers running as blood.  But as far as I can tell, it didn't seem to have any negative effects.  These days I wouldn't use it because I don't play for that long at a time anymore.

But, this hill is one HT seems intent on dying on so unfortunately I guess we're stuck.

Wiley.

[Lusche]

Everyone forgot to mention, half the player base is NOT FLYING - they like GVS

I know you are just making a point, but these days players at large spend around 28% of their time in vehicle mode compared to the three other modes. Only around 18% spend 50% or more of their time in GV.

----

Someone mentioned that only few players use autoswitch. There are many reasons for them, but it's not being helped by numbers being so low as they are. Autoswitch these days means running high risk of being kicked from the only battle on the map. Even at US prime time, there are often not enough players online to for two "centers of gravity" per country, which would be necessary to have battles at all three fronts. Very often I have seen in the past two years only one main cluster of players per country, so when the two bigger country are locked up in a battle, the smaller one sees hardly any red across its fronts. Yeah, you could start trying to milk a few bases, but that's not necessarily what many players are looking for.

And this is also the big problem now. I used to be a big fan of the three side setup, which in a way balances itself over time in a dynamic process. But with total numbers below 30 for most of the time and only for a short time at US prime rising above 100 (if at all), it's just no enough to form combat opportunities not even for all fronts but for all sides. Numbers can be freakingly unbalanced particularly during off hours.

However, I don't really see this game going to a two side setup, because who will put all the work into it?

[Animl-AW]

I know you are just making a point, but these days players at large spend around 28% of their time in vehicle mode compared to the three other modes. Only around 18% spend 50% or more of their time in GV.

----

Someone mentioned that only few players use autoswitch. There are many reasons for them, but it's not being helped by numbers being so low as they are. Autoswitch these days means running high risk of being kicked from the only battle on the map. Even at US prime time, there are often not enough players online to for two "centers of gravity" per country, which would be necessary to have battles at all three fronts. Very often I have seen in the past two years only one main cluster of players per country, so when the two bigger country are locked up in a battle, the smaller one sees hardly any red across its fronts. Yeah, you could start trying to milk a few bases, but that's not necessarily what many players are looking for.

And this is also the big problem now. I used to be a big fan of the three side setup, which in a way balances itself over time in a dynamic process. But with total numbers below 30 for most of the time and only for a short time at US prime rising above 100 (if at all), it's just no enough to form combat opportunities not even for all fronts but for all sides. Numbers can be freakingly unbalanced particularly during off hours.

However, I don't really see this game going to a two side setup, because who will put all the work into it?

I appreciate your numbers because math is absolute.

But aside from all discussed factors, for me it comes down to I’m either having fun or I’m not. I still have fun.

[Oldman731]

Autoswitch these days means running high risk of being kicked from the only battle on the map.

I've been an auto-switcher since it was first implemented (whenever that was).  It's true that I often find myself far from the fight - which is when I pick a plane with good range, so that I can get into the fight.  But many times I'm switched to the team that is getting pounded by the other two sides.  That is always a lot of fun.

- oldman

[Animl-AW]

After our fight the other night and you logged I was trying to remember the last time we got to fight. I could not remember, it must have been many years.

Again, ya never gave me a decent shot. Still flyin well, friend.

[fufu]

I know you are just making a point, but these days players at large spend around 28% of their time in vehicle mode compared to the three other modes. Only around 18% spend 50% or more of their time in GV.

----

Someone mentioned that only few players use autoswitch. There are many reasons for them, but it's not being helped by numbers being so low as they are. Autoswitch these days means running high risk of being kicked from the only battle on the map. Even at US prime time, there are often not enough players online to for two "centers of gravity" per country, which would be necessary to have battles at all three fronts. Very often I have seen in the past two years only one main cluster of players per country, so when the two bigger country are locked up in a battle, the smaller one sees hardly any red across its fronts. Yeah, you could start trying to milk a few bases, but that's not necessarily what many players are looking for.

And this is also the big problem now. I used to be a big fan of the three side setup, which in a way balances itself over time in a dynamic process. But with total numbers below 30 for most of the time and only for a short time at US prime rising above 100 (if at all), it's just no enough to form combat opportunities not even for all fronts but for all sides. Numbers can be freakingly unbalanced particularly during off hours.

However, I don't really see this game going to a two side setup, because who will put all the work into it?

Yea, thank you for these stats. It certainly doesn't feel like 28% when I'm online, but that exactly the kind of singular perception one has.

Still, I feel like most of the points I made about wasting time not participating in any meaningful activity when trying to get to where the activity happens went unanswered. If the answer is, as i read it, this game is not a fighter game, ergo it is not for you, accept or move on, it's ok. I don't have time to find action and lock my time/computer for 30 minutes of boredom and inactivity, and I don't enjoy the 20 year old graphics in this game enough to justify just flying around.

I think I mostly started this thread for myself, to calmly layout what bothers me, instead of casually ranting on 200, which has happened twice lately, and it is not how I want to communicate or participate, so... sorry for that.

Cheers guys.
Fufu

p.s. would the mission/base/capture/strat make any sense without people trying to counter you in fighters ? seriously, the backbone of the game being defended here, is closer to a bot driven offline game that an online experience, especially with these arena numbers, the system works for 300 people, not 30 -> these are number s too... but it just my opinion, and it is derived from a perspective a having played this game then, now, and a lot of games in between. I think this wraps it up for me. See you up there, if I manage to find you 

[DmonSlyr]

I think that might be where the problem is..... you, like "violator", "eagler" and a few others look at this game as a fighter vs fighter game, and it is not. The players who have kept this game going for so long are those that play many aspects of the game without "fighters" being the main focus.

Some keep the GV side of things going, others the heavy bombing group type of play. Most love the mission aspect with base capture and "win the war" the ultimate goal. Shooting down fighters just happens for these players. The focus of being a fighter vs fighter game changed long ago and Im sure that is what has given the game its longevity. How many times have some players tried to get a "furball lake" type arena going? "Combat Tour" arena even in its heyday was never very popular.

I'd love to see a few tweaks to help fighting, get rid of the AWACs system of radar, even switching back to dots instead of the plane icons  on the map would help, but you are never going to see a fighter vs fighter game only. Forcing it into this mode would chase away even the veterans we have here.

While this game was designed to "have fun", it was designed for a wider range of audience than just fighter pilots.

Then you clearly miss understand my posts. Im not all about fighter vs fighter only and I actually dont care for furball islands inside the MA for tanks or planes if you go back and read my posts. All Im saying is that the majority of players come to this game wanting fighter combat in large scale battles. Most fighters love shooting at bombers too, so we love our buff pilots. My point is that most of the fighter base are what have left over the years, that includes attackers. I hate attacking fields now.because of the 88 btw.  We dont have 1/3rd of the fighter egos we use to have. Many fly around aimlesslessy looking for a battle and 1 BNZ 190D at 18k isnt doing the truck nore is 12 18k yaks diving on one guy good for the fighters. Ive constantly called out the ganging phenomenon which causes more players to leave than anything else and tried to find ways to solve that issue but non the less its never changed. Its hard out there for fighters and most got discouraged and left. Many of those fighters played other types of vehicles and bombers too, but the majority of players want fighter fights in large scale battles and if they cant find that in a pretty quick amount of time, they log and go play other games. The K/H in AH on average is like 5 for most people. Thats just not cutting it for many types of players these days.

[Animl-AW]

Well, you are just not pleaseable.
Perfection does not exist

Adapt

I have zero problem finding a fight

Name one sim that has better game play
It’s bad compared to what?

No one misunderstands you. You’ll just move the goal post as a vehicle to complain. Addicted to conflict, not the subject. You just moved from oclub to here because you didn’t get your fix there. You do this intensionally. You stated so on country radio last week. Something to stir the pot and keep it stirred.

[fufu]

Well, I just tried to humbly explain the core of my post is about time spent trying to have fun. Yet, I am being accused of stirring conflict. I am going to self reflect on that. Rare trait.
Cheers.
Fufu

edit: i just spent 45 mins trying find a dogfight, it doesn't prove anything, i logged off, just laughing