Farewell, AcesHigh

[kfsone]

Having not played in some time and, when I have, mostly playing head to head, I've decided to close my account.

The clincher for me, being a buffer type, is the little news-detail of multiple-bombers-per-pilot. This smacks of: Rather than recognising the buffers frustrations, we'll simply put more buffs in the sky for fighters to shoot down every time one person spawns them.

AI gunners or the option of more than 1 gunner per plane... These would have been good moves. Flying multiple buffs at a time would really make me feel nothing more than a drone for the fighters.

I wish HTC well and good luck, and all those of you whom I know from AcesHigh and before And those of you still playing WW2OL will no doubt bump into me there.


Oliver "kfsone" Smith

[Sunchaser]

Well, even though they seem to have been "toss ins" to draw a few bodies into the game, bombers have become totally irrelevent in Aces High outside of scenarios.

Any damage they cause can be repaired in seconds, way too long for some here, and cloning them in 4s would surely raise the whine level to new heights.

I hope HTC has plans for the bomber aspect of their game but right now their customer base is mainly "take off shooting" types and they pay the bills.

The fact that bomber improvements have taken a back seat to film editors  might be construed as a notice that bomber pilots  need not apply.

[Yeager]

Cyas buddy.

I understand and completely agree on where you are coming from.  Buffs have unfortunately, and I am sure unintentionally, managed to find themselves victims of gameplay lethality settings IMO.

Im not sure how HTC can rectify this but lets hope they do.  Keep on eye on AH.  This situation  may change for the better eventually.



Y

[lazs2]

you fly buffs "head to head"?
lazs

[Khavren]

When will you guys learn or realize that Bombers never took a backseat to a new film editor?

HTC has already said that work on the bombers is continuing at it's normal pace and is still a big concern of theirs.

It all merely came down to one simple thing...HTC could WAIT to release the next patch until the bombers are done, or could release 1.09 now and make available other projects that are completed.

If they'd decided to wait, then everybody and their brother would be screamin bloody murder because they want a new patch/update.  If they don't wait, then they get criticised for work not magically 'poofed' into existence.

According to HTC's news, 1.09 is releasing other fixes, details, and ideas that other players have had.  Just because they have not yet finished what YOU want is nothing to scream about.

Really, it  just makes you look like a spoiled child.  Kinda like Veruca from 'Willy Wonka'......"But I want it NOOOOWW!"

[Yeager]

Veruca was a babe.  She could have squeaked to me all day as long as I got what I wanted in the end.

Hehe n

Y

[Octavius]

Guys, HTC  never said they were cancelling the new buff idea.  Check back and see when it actually *is* implemented.  The concept is extremely difficult to meld into the current strat and will most definitely take longer to develop.  

I see it this way:  wait longer for the release of 1.09 including[/ the new buff ideas (possibly delaying the release by atleast a tour and a half) or stick with the current plan and release the updates in smaller chunks.

If you feel you need to take a break from AH for a while then more power to ya.  Its not going down the pooper any time soon .  Check back often and hang in there, your time to shine as a buffer is coming!

[Kieran]

I believe what kfsone is saying he doesn't like the proposed buff mods. Doesn't matter if they make it in 1.09 or not, he doesn't like the direction. To each his own.

The argument has played over and over, what left is there to say? If you want to have a mega-impact, come in mega-numbers and back it up with mega-support. If it takes the ability of one buff to virtually nuke the other side's resources to make the buffing game fun, well, good riddance. Two lancasters able to destroy radar and resources for up to 4 hours before was a bit lame, don't you think?

Don't want to see anyone go, but you can't have your cake and eat it, too. If you are perfectly willing to accept the game concession of buffs that operate 15K over historical altitudes with pinpoint accuracy (please don't quote the B-17's 36K ceiling- first, it seldom went that high, and secondly, it couldn't hit Rhode Island from up there), then you have to accept your damage can be undone by people in a game concession manner. I've seen many of you guys pull stunts and maneuvers at altitudes that would have made the pilot's ears bleed, and perform better up there than a fighter with a supposedly higher ceiling could ever dream of. It's funny, I never hear a buffer complain about that one.

I think the game wants and needs buffers, but you cannot expect more game concessions than you already have. If they happen, great for you. I still can't understand why it isn't fun to fly in, blast a base, get a few kills, and land that sortie the way it is. I guess the only thing missing is the former ability of buffers to effect a tactical nuclear strike.

Then again, could it be that Jabo is actually effective now, and people don't want to take the long flight up? If so, is that bad? Seems like another option, which can't be all bad.

In the end there is no need to call anyone that doesn't want to buff a "take off shooting type"- as a sweeping generalization it just doesn't fit. To me this turns your argument into yet another "play it my way" rant.

[funkedup]

Seems to me the AI bomber wingmen would be a great force multiplier for a bomber pilot.  Instead of a formation of four bombers you get SIXTEEN.  With all the bombload and firepower and protection.  And I'm pretty sure they'll leave in the option of using a single bomber.  I definitely don't see a problem here.

If bomber pilots want to gripe about something they should gripe about the poor bombsight model, or the strat system.

[kfsone]

Lazs; it's good to see you are still doing your bit to drive people away from the game.

Kharven; when will you learn to read peoples posts rather than read what you want to see them saying? It's the imminence rather than the delay of the bomber formations that clinched my decision to leave.

Funkedup; we'll have to agree to disagree. I explained why I don't like it, you seem to have ignored that explanation.

Sunchaser; I'm not sure, and didn't mean to infer, that the bomber stuff has taken a backseat. They'll be getting worked on by different people, and the bomber thing just didn't make it in time. Even so, its that- rather than when- its being added that clinches it for me.

Kieran; please don't pin your buff-anti-buff flame on me. I didn't critique the way bombers are implemented, simply that I feel this move is the wrong direction since it introduces drones into the game. IMHO AI Otto would have been a better solution, but I didn't say that I liked it. You most definitely haven't seen me pulling ear-bleeding stunts at altitude, as those who do remember me will probably recall me from back in WarBirds when RAF 617 Squadron frequently formed up on the *taxi ways* before taking off; or from working with -tomb- to organise Operation Chastise, the Dambusters Raid recreation. But the Bomber System really needs a complete overhaul. There has to be a purpose to bombing, or theres no purpose to flying bombers. At the minute they're expected to bomb with modern day accuracy, so having a non-modern day accuracy bomb site leads to a lot of wasted flights. Adding larger targets would simply make it easier for fighters to take them out. So you have a dilema. There's nothing really for the bombers to contribute. Perhaps as ground transport becomes more popular in future incarnations, the bombers will be able to provide some form of support to ground vehicles through carpet bombing.

Yeager; /salute =) I will, of course, keep an eye on AH I'll probably be playing H2H again in a few months, but the main arena just does nothing for me, my interests lie in directions other than AH is persuing I guess.

And generally... I've said I disliked the idea of bomber-drones since the first time I saw Bobn propose them back in WarBirds 1.2. To me the art of flying bomber formations is a key part of what makes buffing fun. My absence in game has been matched by my absence on these forums, so it says something about those of you leaping into flame mode that you would attribute your various pet flames to me... It's expected from lazs but maybe the AH commuity is beginning to draw in more people like him.

[Kieran]

Who?

If you say there is nothing for a buff pilot to do in the game, I disagree. Is that a flame? If I point out that there are game concessions for buffs as ridiculous as the instant rebuild of the damage done, is that a flame? If you think so you misunderstand.

You say there is nothing for a buff pilot to do- I can't disagree more. If your argument had been "there is nothing for the lone buff pilot to do, I agree, and am glad it is that way. Keep the alt performance, keep the deadly guns, give you more formations, let you carpet bomb or strike with pinpoint accuracy from 35K, keep all that- but if you get all that, then a similarly gamey rebuild has to be part of the game.

WRT to buff formations being there as just more targets for fighters, I still fail to understand your logic. Neither you nor I know how they will work, their guns, anything at all about them. How do you know how it will pan out? Further, will you not be able to drop four times the ord on target? Will you not have four times the guns? Won't it be more difficult than ever before to attack bombers? Again, I guess because I don't know, but it seems hardly likely that multiplying the number of bombers by four will result in more vulnerable bombers. Perhaps you can help me understand.

Not trying to hurt your feelings, I just happen to disagree with the "woe is us, the bombers of AH" line of thinking. Seems to me you are getting the better end of the whole deal by a wide margin- save the ability to completely wreck a country all by yourself, which you should by no means have anyway.

[Khavren]

KFSONE...actually I'm sorry if you saw my reply as directed toward you...

I was picking at Sunchaser's reply to your initial thread.  Please don't take my reply as an attack towards you.  

I actually agree with your initial message (sorta...mixed feelings) but I didn't want to see it shadowed by somebody who tries to agree with your views...yet in a way that seems to skew your opinion.

[lazs2]

what do you mean "drive people away"?   You are allready gone.  I just dojn't understand how flying head to head has anything to do with fluffs and if it doesn't then why can you fly fighters in head to head but not in the arena?    I wouldn't fly fluffs head to head if I didn't like the way fighters were done in the arena.
lazs

[mrsid2]

Historically speaking, a lonely buff against a single fighter resulted in a dead buff at least 9 times out of 10.

The buffs in this game can make 4-5 kill sorties shooting down fighters left and right.. The buff pilots should _not_ complain.

The rebuild time is a tad short though, as I've found out myself. It's not possible to do major impact alone out there.. That's not a bad thing though. How many times the fields were porked by the lonely dweeb who spent 2 hours of his time climbing to 30+k and then dropping the bombs from his untouchable position.. Nobody liked that, except the dweeb who ate his lunch and took a hot shower while his fluff was gaining altitude within friendly lines.

I'd like to see 20-30 buff formations at 10-20k (with reasonable leathality though) that strike fields.. Then the fighters would have something to shoot at instead of climbing after the 30k lonely superbuff that will shoot you down with a guarantee at that alt.

I rarely fly buffs and I even more rarely gun in them, yet I'm able to kill 90% of attackers easy. Sometimes resulting in 4-5 kills and rtb.. That means only that buff modeling is very favourable to the buff and the fighters are at a big disadvantage.

Often there has been situations where I've fought 2-3 vs 1 and either shot the enemy down or escaped.. Then a couple seconds after that I try to attack a B17 (high slash not 6 approach) and get pinged to dead from the first hit. So it feels like I have more chances to survive 2:1 vs fighters than a lonely buff.

AI gunners would make things much much worse.. We already have enough problems with the magic AI ack hitting 500mph planes.. Imagine what that would do to anyone who tries to make a fast slashing attack - a certain death.

It would be a no-win situation, you can't go fast because of AI and you can't slow down because the fluff gunner might be there..

[Rude]

Man....you guys are mean spirited....quit it!

Kfsone...join the Dickweeds Heavy Bomber Group...you will have some fun I assure you.