Why don't we all just start fresh with the New Year? A pipe dream, perhaps, but how about giving everyone on all sides a clean slate, and move forward to achieve our common goals. I think we can agree that:
1. Proper modeling of all aircraft is a common goal, submitting data and raising legitimate questions is something we should all encourage.
2. There will be conflicting data from time to time. I get the impression that the game developers do not have a play balancing or marketing agenda with how they develop the flight models, etc. If the performance differences are relatively minor, try giving them the benefit of the doubt. IMO no aircraft flight performance data from that period is absolute given the telemetry equipment of the era and other factors. Perhaps the test pilot was hung over. Or the aircraft in question was an extra hot factory special, or a worn-out dog. Worry more about areas where major discrepancies are found. If you really think HTC have a hidden agenda, then is AH worth bothering with at all? Move on to an environment that will lead to fewer ulcers and angst.
3. Compose new data or questions in the same way you would if you were dealing with a work issue. You are asking for a time commitment (even for a minor adjustment) and a change in gameplay dynamics that will not be taken lightly. Provide a convincing argument. If you read anecdotal material, or have a feeling about something without data, perhaps raise it as a question more than a declarative statement. Often "feel" has some validity, but usually only as a starting point to try and collect hard data to prove the issue.
As for anecdotal data, without the specific maneuvering diagrams you really don't know. Did the Ta 152 actually out maneuver the Tempest in such and such a fight? Perhaps so (just an example here, not stating an opinion on the actual aircraft matchup). But then I've ran down P-51s in a Zero and out turned a Zero in a LA7, but that was me (or more accurately, my opponent) and not the airplane that made it possible. Hartmann was great in a ME-109, largely fighting in hit and run encounters at low altitude on the Eastern Front. To him, with his skills, opposition, eyesight, training, radio communications and the mission at hand, the Me-109 was the greatest plane in the skies. However, would he have been less successful flying the Fw-190, or perhaps more successful? Would his opinion of the greatest plane in the world be different had he been flying Corsairs in the South Pacific, 1944? What if he was flying a Yak 7 for the Russians? What if he was flying in an artifical MA type environment with a full range of plane choices?
4. Treat people with respect, even if you disagree with them, and even if at some level you don't actually respect them. If somebody is being a jerk, let everyone see the contrast between him/her and you. Civility and dignity may be in short supply throughout the world, but there is no reason why this community can't rise above an otherwise impolite society. It's really not that hard, even when things become heated. I try to do this, fail at times, but it is still worth the effort.
5. Remember, we are all dweebs. We play computer games. The distinction between a Lame 7, Spitdweeb or LW elite are pretty insignificant to someone from "mainstream" society. If we had some of these arguments in public, we would be laughed off the street
6. Try to have some patience. HTC is not EA, or Microsoft, or some other big corporation - thank god. If it were, we wouldn't see Hitech or Pyro even posting here. We would just receive press release content with their name on it that some PR type created for them to sign off on. HTC is a small shop, but IMO they are a dedicated one. For each concern you or I have, there are a thousand other people with different concerns and priorities. Expect that it will take some time for 6 people or so to do everything on the list. Don't worry, time passes quick enough I'm afraid. It will be 2005 and version 2.3 before you know it. The debate will be over which 1946 plane to add since the addition of the Bolton Paul Defiant finally filled out the WW2 plane set.
7. If the gameplay is seriously broken to your expectations, and the revision timetable is not to your liking after raising the concern politely once or twice, then move on. I know I will.
8. The hardest one -- once a post goes downhill, moves from any factual debate into personal attacks and opinion, stop feeding it.
As an ending note, perhaps a little more feedback from HTC would be appreciated when someone goes to the trouble to dig up real data. I know my interest gets peaked, whether its a TA-152 GM-1 issue or the Corsair acceleration discussion. After spending the time following one of these discussions, I would personally like to get some sort of final answer. The choice to go with one set or another may be controversial. But, so what. That is the developers' call to make, and as a player I can live with that. At least the feedback reduces some of the speculation, which can become quite negative. Once the reason is stated there is no further need for the developers to defend the issue. As players, you and I can make our customer choices from there.
Charon
