Observation: Changes in MA style in the last month or so..

[poopster]

Just a personal observation. Qualified by low flying time, Holidays and all.

I see a large shift to the "safety in numbers" style of play. Primetime regardless of map, large groups of pilots are the norm. Usually with little opposition.

Small fights of 10 to 30 people with equal opposition have disappeared for the most part. I haven't seen a good CV fight in a couple of months..

Large groups taking a base with little opposition. The vulch cycle, off to somewhere else..

Large numbers versus small numbers is a vulch regardless of altitude..

A half dozen pilots are met by thirty, two pilots by six..

If it isn't lopsided one way or another, it doesn't occur.

What caused this change ??

Is it better this way ?? More fun ?? Am I seeing things ??

Am I missing out on the fun here ??

Spent an hour and a few flights last night in the island map looking for an even-up little fight, bunch of guys going toe to toe..

There wasn't any.

Primetime Friday night 400 plus..

There WASN'T any.

Just big groups overwhelming small groups doing the vulch cycle..

Why ??

I saw an entire Knight "mission" chasing one La7  

I don udrstan....

I have seen something that might be contributing to the change. In primetime I've seen up to sixty pilots not in a squad online. Healthy influx of new blood. That explains alittle, but not all of this "play it safe" change.

[Sandman]

Gaggle exercises are the best way to win fields and reset the map.

That and perk points. If you show up in large numbers, it's easier to score a few vulch kills and then land. Maximum perk points awarded.

Flying lone wolf looking for "fair" fights is the long, and slow way to get points.

One other thing... if you're a score potato... gaggle missions are again, the way to go.


The game is set up to encourage this sort of activity... it's just taken awhile for everyone to catch on to it.

[poopster]

The game is set up to encourage this sort of activity... it's just taken awhile for everyone to catch on to it

To what end ?? I'm missing something. Score ??

I'm silly, but to fly in a little or no threat envirement over and over to put a number on the board doesn't make sense. The sum of fun is equated by a number. If the number sucks you flew a bunch of low threat sorties and still suck... I don't see the fun of it..

I've noticed an increase in altitudes flown, increase in numbers in groups and an unwillingness to engage unless superior numbers and/or altitude are present. While this increases the chances of a lower number, the large group that participates negates any benifit. I've dropped about 500 points since the change but haven't changed how I fly. So one might be able have his score remain constant by adopting the "new" attitude.

But the question remains to what benifit ?? This large group could not have all of a sudden discovered that flying in large groups with little threat is the best fun the game has to offer. Something triggered it.

I would submit that "large group safe sorties" are by far not the best this game has to offer, but that's just me.

I don't think I'm alone. Lately it just appears that way.

[Shane]

slobberdonkeys is as slobberdonkeys does.

[VOR]

Love it or hate it, it isn't going to change. Everyone is going to find their own version of fun, and for most fun = being on the side that's winning (I'm no exception). You have a few options here, but all nonsense and analysis aside it comes down to joining the pigpile, playing in other less-populated arenas (if you can handle some of the extra extra large bubble canopies and megaphones found in them), or finding another game to play. Sorry, but them's the breaks. Have fun!

[Sandman]

Poop... try not to define what's fun.

What works for you or for me or for Laz may not work for everyone or anyone else.

The game is set to reward gaggles... make perk points and you get to fly perk rides. Make enough of them and you won't even care if you break a jet here or there. The reward for score whoring? Control of the CV.

[poopster]

It's fortunate to have options. Being the "fight" has disappeared of late in a search for the holy grail of a number, a try at a kill with landing in every fighter is an option I'm going to try. Keeps the interest, have the perks for the big dollar planes, might be fun.

If a "good" fight pops up in the meantime, I'm there. Meanwhile it's somethin to have fun with.

Starting with the "A's" today

Might take me awhile to land'um in the "A's"

[bowser]

The last month or so?  It's been this way for at least a year...or least that's when I first noticed it.

bowser

[hazed-]

Unfortunately you are witnessing the two great principles of military attacks (all be it performed by a pack of unruley mobs rather than a regimented army or air force).....

and that is concentration and surprise.

The idea being find your enemies weakest or least defended spot and concentrate a larger force to overwhelm the defences preferably with surprise.

As surprise is pretty much negated by the super radar we are left with the simple overwhelming part.

Its human nature to find the easiest and fastest way to win and unfortunately that means ganging up on the opposition.

Dull for playing a game yes but unavoidable.

The only way to stop these massed missions is to have enough of your team defending.Perhaps we need some sort of 'emergency mission' which a player can quickly put up from the attacked base? perhaps a call to arms type of thing that rewards players for participating?

If 'Scramble base A##' mission came up (perhaps an invite to all friendlies in the tower and not flying) and if you then gained an extra few perks for joining and immediately launching in this scramble or defence mission maybe we could use it to defend against these massed attacks?
Then again theres always the simple way......Make your own massed attacks on them

[Sandman]

Originally posted by poopster
It's fortunate to have options. Being the "fight" has disappeared of late in a search for the holy grail of a number, a try at a kill with landing in every fighter is an option I'm going to try. Keeps the interest, have the perks for the big dollar planes, might be fun.

If a "good" fight pops up in the meantime, I'm there. Meanwhile it's somethin to have fun with.

Starting with the "A's" today

Might take me awhile to land'um in the "A's"

I started at the beginning of this tour. Worked my way up through F4F-4 and my next ride is the F4U-1. So far, it's been a lot of fun. I've spent a lot of time doing lone-wolf hunts but I've also had some people help me out and cover me when they know I'm in an aircraft I'm unfamiliar with. The kill over time stat is horrible, but my K/D has been pretty good even while learning aircraft I never bothered to fly before.

My challenge.

[poopster]

First up of course is the A6m2 zeke..

Got killed the first sortie shortly after wheels up..

Second sortie, killed a Spit and a 51B. Then got in a good little 1 on 3 with a La7, nikky and a Pony...

Made them work for it but that put me back to "even" in the A6m2  Not going to wash being even up....

Scanned the map for a "zeke" situation and lo and behold there's a "fight" brewing between 25 and 22. Not a gangbang, not a mission, just an even-up FIGHT !!!

Hopped in my 1-D and had an hour or better of slicin and dicin between those two fields..

I....I think my hair caught fire once

WHOOT !!

Good times..

[Sandman]

I'm having a ball... on the FW190A-8 now...

http://www.dotdoubledot.com/sbm/quest/index.html

[mrsid2]

Poopster I dont know which planet you have been living at, but this problem has been on the MA for at least a year.

I quit my account because I got tired to fighting impossible odds. I can up alone against 10 tiffy raids only for so long and my limit is up. It was either that or lose the field..

But I guess poopster has been flying as part of the 'mob' and is only now starting to feel the effect on the ill-side. That must mean the perk balancing is working, because I have seen whines from the traditional gangbanging sides, the ones that were telling me to stfu at 3:1 advantage.. LOL. As expected, they can't handle even 1:1 and whine like little girls.

[Urchin]

Well, I've had about 4/5th a bibblte of whiskey, but i can say that I've nvevr seen the BK's in any thing but a 'fair' fight'/  That is to say, I've never seen em in a 400 to 1 tiffie raid, only a good furball.  I've the utmost respect for that whole sqaud .  

And P.s>  Yea, I've been drinking justa bit .. but peoplle are ususally at their most honest when  they've been drinking (in my opinion).  I've nothing but respect for that squad (nopoop included(.

The Blue Knights.

[lazs2]

I don't think the problem has been this bad for a whole year... more like about 4 monthys and worse every tour.

I think it has to do with so many new and unskilled people with no squad affiliation... they want to "belong" and they want to not look foolish. so...

They up in a huge crowd... They may not have much fun or get to kill anything but... they feel like they are a part of something and they don't die if they are in a crowd with 20/1 odds in their favor.  

I am guessing that as they get more skill.... building battling and hiding under their collective bunks will get less fun.     I mean... even the stupidest among them will get bored with mobbing fields and flying around doing nothing eventually...  as they get more skill they will look for the spots that have large and fairly even bars.

Bad part is... there will allways be some attention starved, anal,strart potato to pork the fuel or kill the CV at a spot with no strategic value  other than a good place rto furball and then ... he will pant like a doggy and want everyone to pat him on the head and say "good boy".

I also think that the "missun planner" is responsible.  It allows the timid and useless and unskilled a place to gather.
lazs
Public Relations Officer for the BK's