Defend against the suicide attack? Mighty hard in a close cap over a base when the enemy P-51/Typhoon screams in for a half a sector or more, locked in compressibility by the time it impacts the target. I've almost killed a lot of them. That's really it. You spend your time flying around in a LA7 trying for that one good angle that might let you stop one. Spit V or Zero used to be good base defense planes, but speed is it now.
Meet them on the way in? Assuming there is alt and position when the first wave is detected sure, at least once, until his 9 buddies kill you. Then you're part of the diminishing numbers just tying to get off the runway. Few of these attacks seem to get the job done on one mission, but by the time you up and get to the capped and vulched target at least a second wave has made it's run. And, of course, finding people on your team willing to face greater or equal odds in defense can be a challenge too, since many are off doing the same thing.
That's what it really comes down to - gameplay. Even without the suicide aspect these attacks are really hard to stop, because, we're seeing the arrival of the Big Pork. The egging fuel 1-2 sectors deep is the signature feature of that environment, and the final step to eliminating any real ability to stop the attack.
There are game players, whose main focus is on War Winning, maybe getting a vulch or gang kill in the process, and then there are those that like to primarily recreate the A2A experience of WW2 fighter combat, for whom loosing a good fight is better than landing a 6-vulch streak. Nothing new here, as has been discussed many times before. AW went through this, and now AH. I wouldn't blame the influx of AW players, this seems to be a pretty universal style of gameplay in online communities. In fact, it's arrival was quite a shock to AW players of the pre Gamestorm days. A simulation is hard to master. A2A is hard to master. You get your bellybutton handed too you for months getting up to speed, which can be hard on the ego unless you really love the era being simulated. I remember the excitement when I first started to get a positive K/D. Even in games like Quake, which are far easier to master at a basic level, you have spawn campers. Given a choice, the path of least resistance seems to win out.
Personally, I still find that the enjoyment value still outweighs the monthly/daily cost. When/if it doesn't, when you just can't find a good fight anymore (I have yet to regularly encounter the deep porkage that some have referred too), I'll start looking elsewhere. That’s why I’m here in the first place
I do get the feeling that HT and Pyro are more the enthusiast type themselves, and want a game that balances all interests. In reality though, it’s hard to see how they can just ignore the gameplayers and the reality of the learning curve to potential new players who might be a bit less devoted to the era being simulated. It will be interesting to see what happens.
Charon
