'Torc' = 'ppit' from WB? If so, hello dude long time no see.
I had 3 or 4 'secret' IDs in WB, for a variety of reasons...
-> I flew with a group of guys (JG 14) that specialized in LW aircraft. At some points of the learning curve, it's not especially fun to fly only LW aircraft. When you have relatively new players, one source of motivation to 'stick with your 109' is to see the more experienced guys in the group doing so.
From an engineering standpoint (was ME with a stress on AE in college) the Ki-84 has always been interesting to me - specifically the flaps of the Ki-84. When it came out in WB, I was very interested in finding out how the flaps were modeled and what you could do with them. I flew (only) the Ki-84 a great deal under a 'secret' ID. The Ki-84 was a really powerful aircraft overall - easier to get kills in in a 'MA' type setting than a Fw 190 or Bf 109. So I used a 'secret' ID to avoid undercutting the motivation of some of the newer guys in JG 14.
-> It can be interesting to fly as an 'unknown'. It can probably never be repeated in AH, because the player base is so big. But there was a time in WB when there were ~80-100 'core' players, and everyone 'knew' each other. I flew under 'secret' IDs to see how differently you might be treated as an 'unknown'. Fairly interesting results - if I flew well as 'wulf', or 'wulfie', or '-14-' and shot down some fairly 'high profile' player there might be no response. As an 'unknown' I would sometimes shoot down the same player and he'd instantly call 'nice HO Fw 190 dweeb' on the 'open MA' channel...I guess to 'save face' due to being owned by an 'unknown'. This was a rare occurance mind you.
However, it was interesting to see that some players were 'nice' to 'popular' players, and total jerks to 'unknown' players. I recall working a P-38 with a Fw 190...a nice little 1 on 1 where I was slowly forcing th guy into the ground (I had more E and he was totally defensive). A certain 'high profile' player saw the engagement, and started to head on over our way. I told him I was ok. He came on in and shot the P-38 down. I said "did you hear me say I had him?". The response: "You loser he was gonna shoot you down you ought to thank me".
At the other end of the spectrum - some guys were total class acts. Nice to everyone all the time. =vila= is a shining example of this. It's too bad he isn't in AH anymore.
-> Also, animosity developed between certain groups of players. There were times where I honestly wanted to fly with a group of guys but it would never have been 'possible' because I was in 'JG 14' and they were 'the enemy', or we were 'Fw 190 dweebs' or whatever. It sounds weird, but believe me - your average WB player in 1.08 thru maybe 1.11 was very passionate about WW2 aviation, much more than your average AH player today (that's a good thing in my book - better to have a big group of people into the competition and a small group into the history above all else in my book - I change groups on a bi-weekly basis sometimes). There were many times I was honestly curious about 'how good xxxx and his guys really were'. So I started a new ID to fly with them for awhile. Never for purposes of 'spying', etc. Also, others will attest to this but those IDs were almost always busted due to 'the gunnery % thing' (a long funny story involving =drex= as the annoying 'Inspector Drexseau, Gunnery % Investigations Office').
I'd actually say that if you play AH alot, with a set group of people, try a different ID at least once. You learn alot about what people are really like with a total stranger, a new guy with no 'reputation', etc. Sometimes people that you think are real jerks happen to be stand-up guys...any (usually BBS based) animostiy arising from some stupid misunderstanding.
My $.02.
Mike/'wulfie' in AH
'wulf'/'wulfie'/'-14-' in WB
'pips' in WB (shared account)
p.s. I was not 'pegasus' in WB. I'm flattered by the suspicion though...that guy was good.
