The Other Side of The Fence (New AH career arena)

[Revvin]

I see the same pom pom wavers over at AGW are trying their best to still put AH down

HTC go quietly about their business without the need to spam other community forums and without the hype iEN seem to operate on. Slowly but surely they've added the ingredients together to make this new arena happen. Over the last few months we've had the strat updated, the mission editor, the AI drones and the integrated voice comms all now coming together to make this work.

What is amusing are the claims this can already be done in Warbirds III  if it could then why is it not being done when many already state they only stick around for the S3's although who knows why when AH has the equivalent events here run by a great CM crew. The AI formations in WB appear out of thin air, I could'nt think of anything less immersive than if they put floating power up pills and wormholes in the arena. They have to be directed by the CM's so you may as well be playing a boxed game and I find it rather sadthat arena attendance is so poor these AI drones are being introduced more and more into the arena's. HTC are not the only ones working on this, the Targetware sims are also goign to have online missions which will leave WB even further behind.

Wild Bill has just about scuppered WB chances of competing by his desire to make other money spinning boxed sims off the back of WB and it's players who are paying more for less. For me AH was already many steps ahead of the current competition with it's integrated voice comms, strat, bombing systems and AIdrones. If HTC pull this off then the gulf will widen even further and why should we not believe HTC? everything they have told us they are working on has made it into AH.

Quiet consistent improvement and innovation, AH going from strength to strength.

[Drex]

longtime, IK


Drex

[hblair]

Originally posted by -ik-
Myself, I don't quite understand all of the indignation over a measly $15 to try out AH a second time.  Like someone said above, if they think the arena idea is really so fantastic, that should be enough.  I know I think it's fantastic, and my next box will be a pc for the first time ever, even thinking of building my own to save $.

Ozark!

regards all,

ik

Now what did I tell ya ik? You were gone too long man. WB's is on its way down, AH is going up.

[Sancho]

drex sux0rs

[Beegerite]

Damn!!! I didn't know about this 1.11 goodie.  Amazing and extremely welcome.  Definetely not for the furballers.  More so for those of us who would rather take our game play to a new dimension which I will refer to as "Re-Enacting"  Something akin to those guys that dress up in wool uniforms and go marching in July.  Dedication!!!

Guess what?  I have two subs one in WarBirds where I'm known as "Cojudo" of the 475th FG "Satan's Angels" and here I'm Beeg of the Rampaging Rooks of Retribution.  Why?  Cause WB at this time does a better job of providing an outlet for anyone who wants to dress up in a blue or gray wool suit in July, that's why.

This ofcourse would drastically change under the 1.11 concept put forth by HTC but in addition to the obviously welcome changes provided by the structure they propose, there would need to be changes in the flight model eliminating the feeling which I've heard described in WB as "planes on rails" and taking it halfway to what AH types call "MushBirds"  For what it's worth, I have substantial real life flight experience and between the two sims at this point WB is more true to life even if it seriously lags behind AH in almost every other department.

And....in closing, last night I cancelled an FA3 account I opened 3 months ago when I began my search for the golden grail of sims.  I'm amazed to see that my old squaddies are still there in what is the most arcade like sim of the lot.  Guys who professed loudly how much they wanted realism etc. etc. are still there night after night playing Nintendo with a joystick.  Makes me almost want to puke!  I feel so sorry for them but there is nothing that will make them see the light.  It's their "drug of choice" and they like it.

"Drug of Choice", strange analogy?  I don't think so.  Flight simming is an addiction (bet you thought only your wife told you this eh:D)  We get comfortable wherever we are and will make every effort to protect our "supply"  Most will defend either AH or WB without making any effort whatsoever to try the other  brand. I for one know that I'm not going to go broke by spending $45 a month for a few months in order to find out what's really best for "me" not HTC or IEN.  For the time being I'm gonna keep spending my $45 and continue to push both of these companies to improve their product.

Beeg
Rampaging Rooks of Retribution
Cojudo
475th FG "Satan's Angels"

P.S.  Great people on both sides

[Wotan]

i kept a wb3 account for 6-7months

canceled last billing....

its ok but its mostly damn near empty when at the times I flew there.

20 online and when I ask where everyones at they were mostly in gvs somewhere.

Gvs have otto gunner enough said about that.

You can make a good arguement  for bomber otto gunners but gvs

The terrain mostly looks like crap and from agw its seems you will have to buy the boxed version of wbs 3 or kiccass(sp) to see an improvement.

Plane cockpits are better "looking" but the guages are mostly unreadable. Facilities on the ground are so small they are hard to spot from 10k. They were turning that pee soup cloud layer on off but that was pretty bad.

Its ok to like umm both but dont act like folks here havent played or never tried wb3. I have tried fa3 as well I am not gonna even tough that.

wwiiol is pretty bad imho but its frustrating because you can see a quality game coming out of that "idea".

Most folks here and probrably at wbs dont just dimiss eveything without trying it out 1st. While each has its fan bois there are enough folks in each that would drop their preferred sim for one that was "better".

[Vector]

Originally posted by -ik-
I know I think it's fantastic, and my next box will be a pc for the first time ever, even thinking of building my own to save $.
ik

S!
Then we will have a true 109 experten here, that's great to hear

[Revvin]

Good points Wotan. I don't subscribe to this 'fan boi' mentality that some follow. I'm a paying customer plain and simple. I don't owe HTC anything and they certainly don't owe me anything. I'm here because right now (and for some time) for me Aces High has been the best online simulation. I have a 6yr old account in WB but it's only on $9.99 now, mainly still there out of habit after so long and just wondering if there is life in the old dog yet. Maybe the CD release will save it but it's missing so many things which is why I find it so amusing to read the claims of how what HTC plan in v1.11 can be done in WB now....well hey anything that can be done scenario wise can be done in AH too and a lot easier too. If CM's had the time they could setup a whole host of missions timed to start one after another which will automatically place all participants on the runways with correct fuel and ord. You cannot do that in WB it would require 24/7 CM attendance and a bunch of players who will listen to their direction regarding fuel choice and plane choice. As the planeset stands right now we have a good selection for mid and late war European conflicts as well BoB and not many planes away from Blitzkreig (hint STUKA ) also planes for a Pacific campaign not to mention the Russian planes we have for Eastern front campaign's it's not as limited as some players over there make out and I've played in more than my fair share of scenario's there with non historical planes being used as 'substitutes'

Warbirds last bastions are being eroded away, not only by the plans for this new arena but let's not forget the events that WB hold so dear are already being run just as well and just as frequently as WB events and more importantly the European players are getting their fair share of Euro timezone events unlike WB which has always tended to be more US centric.