I've been wondering about arena numbers lately as well. During the times I log on (mid to late evening Pacific) lately, there has always been a decided Knight advantage over both Bishop and Rook, sometimes two to one. In addition, closer inspection shows that there are way more coordinated squad members flying for Knights than for either Rook or Bishop: a few nights ago there were 7 Knight squads up with 4 or more members flying and only two Rook and one Bishop. Tonight there were 7 Knight, 3 Rook, and 4 Bishop with total squad members (4 or more per squad) of 62 Knight, 8 Rook, and 27 Bishop. That means the Knights are often conducting well planned coordinated base grabbing attacks with overwhelming odds which makes it tiresome to be a heavily outnumbered Bishop (or, I suspect, Rook) defender.*
Does anyone know why so many active squads pick Knight? Back in AirWarrior the sides were given generic letters, A, B, and C and still people would associate characteristics with the players of each side. Warbirds had colors, and again sides took on characteristics: green were Kermits, purple Barneys, reds Commies, and Gold.. well they had the aura of being the "best". Now we have chess based names. But while "Knights" has an almost perfect ring to it (warrior defenders against barbarian attackers), the other two are less than inspiring. "Bishops" are guys in satin robes who wear funny pointy hats and have no military power, and "Rooks" are, well, inanimate objects (castle towers) and basically useless (well, OK, I'm not a very good chess player). I wonder if the names have any subconcious effect on peoples choice of sides?
*PS- Before complaining about team members who appear to be attacking what you consider to be the "wrong" side, consider what you are asking. In tonights case, if you were a Bishop asking other Bishops to ignore the Rooks and defend against Knights, you are asking people to fly against overwhelming odds- sometimes as many as 30 Knights attacking one base. The likely outcome will be constant death and a Knight reset anyway. Why not just let the people who choose to avoid that, and have fun elsewhere until the reset, do their own thing. I personally hate taking on hopeless odds and dying repeatedly for virtually no reason. If you like that, more power to you, you're a better man than I am Gunga Din, but don't call me a moron for not following you. You can't win against overwhelming odds, especially when applied as squad coordinated attacks, so let people have their fun elsewhere if they choose.