Originally posted by Wilbus
Same Furios, Wotan, log in the MA, see 300 players online on a SMALL MAP, and there is really noting to do then to furrball, I almost only fly fighters, not helping much in field captures unless there is a mission going on, but I hate the lag in there now, the constant warping and HUGE furrballs over one single field where it's got to do more with luck then skill, not to mention that if you happen to find a nice 1 vs 1 fight, there will almost allways be 3 or 4 of the enemies friends who join in after 1 minute.
While I've been posting to the AH boards for some time now, I'm what most would classify as newbie to the actual sim, having just joined the mayhem about a week ago. However, I've been flying offline WWII sims since they first became available. My favorite offline sim has always been European Air War. It's well structured with deep immersion. The AI's predictability and the low resolution graphics are its only significant weaknesses.
So, when I entered the MA for the first time (about a week ago), I was somewhat dismayed by the disorganized mayhem present. Initially, I wanted to get my feet wet, so I avoided the huge furballs and concentrated on picking my fights carefully. Unfortunately, finding a decent one on one was difficult in the extreme. I'd finally isolate a single fighter and go after him, or play dumb by flying along straight and level, inviting a sniper to take the easy kill. Someone usually takes the bait and we'd have good ol' time for about 30 seconds. However, like tossing a gold coin into a Mogidishu street, the urchins race over in a horde to grab the prize. Of course, that changes everything. Most of these guys are fixated on getting kills to the exclusion of all else. No thought on tactics, no thought of protecting a fellow pilot. Naturally, being a "newbie" combined with a rather steep learning curve meant that my first two days in the MA were not very impressive. I had my bellybutton waxed nearly a dozen times without a single kill my for trouble (a few assists don't count in my mind) before I got the hang of things.
I have discovered a method to deal with this dog-pack mentality. Sometimes, if I'm in the correct frame of mind upon logging on, I find a field being swamped by badies, pick a Zero or Spit Mk.V and take whatever fuel is available or 75% max. Spawning in a hanger, I launch directly from there getting airborne as quickly as possible. Should badies fail to get me on the takeoff run, the fun begins. Hell, if I have to deal with being outnumbered up to 10:1, why not do so under circumstances where it's actually fun and I have some measure of parity, if not outright advantage: Down in the weeds, stallfighting. My favorite place to do this is in one of those punchbowl airfields. You know, the type on the coast, surrounded by high hills on three sides. This goes a long way to cancelling some of the advantage normally available to the B&Z planes. Should the badies want to engage (most usually do), they have to fly into the bowl. Once in, they will have to turn or climb to get out. Some of them don't get out. Flying the bog-slow Zero and marginally faster Mk.V under these circumtances presents major problems for the opposition. Engaging either type in a slow turning fight is suicidal, unless they happen be flying the same types (yet, that guarantees them nothing). One fact prevails. You will seldom be shot down by anyone you see. A hard turn or instant vertical maneuver will shake anyone on your 6 flying one of the "uber" fighters. Should they try to follow, they're dead two turns later. Still, even Saburo Sakai could not avoid the huge volume of lead being sprayed your way during this type of fight. Every Tom, Dick and Harry flying red-tagged airplanes will taking wild, off-angle shots at you, and just may find the mark. Then again, one lone cowboy in a Zeke or Spit can completely breakup a coordinated attack on the airfield (if any of you have watched Leviathn defending an airfield in his Mk.V, you'll understand what I mean) Killing two or three of the attackers can cause the remainder to re-evaluate their plan of attack, and often, there's a mass scramble by the more learned pilots to get the hell out of that punchbowl. At this point, they will usually confine themselves to high-speed passes, which if spotted, are easy to dodge unless they're coordinated attacks, and it seems that no one coordinates anything once the fight starts.
(By the way, I found that it is folly to take on a horde at altitude, or even low over water, in either the Zero or Mk.V. There's simply too many escape options open for your opposition, and you cannot:
1) Hope to catch them with either the Zeke or even the Mk.V.
2) Can't afford to try, because flying straight and level is instant death. In other words, should the guy you're after break and run, and you miss your first shot, turn away and look for someone else. Yeah, I know, that does take a lot of air discipline and most will continue the chase, usually to their peril)
However, the never ending incoming stream of party crashers means that you will eventually run out of gas, ammo (frequently both) and luck. But, what the hell, I find that this is at least a challenge. Since it appears that there is no short term solution to the disorganized MA, with its dogpack like swarms of arcade junkies, why not find a way to have fun despite these faults?
Sometimes, I take a Spitfire Mk.IX, load it with a droptank and go find a distant and quiet enemy airfield and wait for someone to get airborne. I allow him to get a few thousand feet of altitude, then angle in on him. This is the best way I've found to get a one on one that is not immediately broken up by the dogpack. There is one downside. As often as not, no one ever takes off and you find yourself flying lazy eights until you get down to bingo fuel. Naturally, when your fuel state is low, someone appears on the runway. So, you have two choices. You can drop down and kill him on the takeoff roll, or while he's too slow and low to evade. Or, you can be a gentleman, show a little mercy (frequently, planes taking off from fields deep in the rear are piloted by newbies just feeling out the MA) and just go home. Naturally, by diving down to the field, the AI triple A can ruin your entire day.
Generally I go home. I should mention that no one has
ever given me anything close to a break or fair opportunity. That's not in the nature of the MA.
I fully understand the frustration of the MA. However, you can still enjoy the experience if you're willing to deviate from what you normally prefer and experiment a bit.
My best to all,
Widewing
