HTC - Fighter Role Too Narrow

[MachNix]

HTC,

The fighter role is too narrow in scope and does not reward team play.

Everyone has heard the calls from a poor Goon Driver with troops begging for someone to knock down the last building in the town, but the Fighters are way too busy vulching or waiting to vulch to help the Goon Driver.  The Fighters are either afraid of losing the vulch opportunity, or they know that their scores and ranks will suffer if they expend rounds knocking down a building.  The same thing applies to shooting and killing ground vehicles.  It appears that the Fighter Pilot is only rewarded for putting rounds in another aircraft.

Recommendation:
1. Shooting Objects - Deduct the rounds hitting an object from the total rounds expended.  This will keep the Hit Percentages from going down if the Fighter Pilot chooses to help knock down a building.  Do not give points for shooting an object.  I don't want the Fighter Pilot helped, but I don't want them punished for helping.

2. Shooting Ground Vehicles - I have two possible recommendations.
2a.  Score them the same way as if they where aircraft.  All GVs have the ability to shoot back and the Fighter Pilot is taking his life in his hands when he attacks one.  In some cases, it is more risky to attack a GV then an aircraft.  If he kills one, it should go in the kill column and count towards his Kill and Hit Percentages.
2b.  If not 2a, then just treat them as objects like in Recommendation 1.  Again, you don't have to help them, but don't hurt them either.

All the other categories - Bomber, Attack, and Boat/Vehicle - can destroy objects, kill GVs, and even shoot down aircraft without hurting their scores.  Why should the Fighter category be hurt for destroying an object or killing a GV?

Stop punishing the Fighter Pilot for his team play and help the Goon Driver get his capture.

[SKurj]

Remove vulch kills from fighter score and only score them if attack role selected +)


SKurj

[hazed-]

machnix I gotta agree about the scoring thing.

I fly as fighter and I always end up straffing ground targets when i fail to find an air to air fight. I try my best to fly as I should for fighter scores , ie try not to shoot buildings or Gvs when in fighter mode, but I just cant behave a certain way purely for score.I couldnt leave someone in trouble or ignore an M3 just to keep my hit% up or fly home with full guns!

Fighter mode should however stay as it is and i think skurj's suggestion would be a welcome addition!

If vulches didnt count and GV's or buildings didnt either then i think most of us would stay in attack mode but switch to fighter only when we know for sure we wont end up low.

Skurj's suggestion could solve your problem too machnix.Think about it, if it rewards you nothing to go low in fighter mode for vulching then simply fly as 'attack' and use just your favourite high alt fighter on 'fighter'.It could work well if themajority of people played on attack but only a few played on fighter.

Next tour I think ill try to play the fighter role as the game needs for score. Im going to set all my planes to 'attack' unless it is definately a fighter to fighter only encounter. It will be a good test. Im also going to try non-vulching in this mode. Basically I'l not use fighter mode if im going to go below 5k or so
If we all try it for a tour maybe we could post our experiences here for HTC to think about.Help them see if its worth worrying about.

[pugg666]

sounds like fun, I'm game

[SunKing]

and only award perk points for landed kills/sorites.

[KG45]

don't know how many base captures you've taken part in. but i always see tons of team work.

the first priority is suppresion of defenses. if there are lifters or GVs, they gotta die first, or flying a goon in a useless.

once that's covered i usually see 2 or 3 pilots buzzing town to make sure its dead and stays dead.

[MachNix]

Thanks for the comments guys.

SKurj's suggestion may keep the fighter guys from getting credit for their vulching but it does not get them involved in the team play.  The fighters would simply be somewhere between bases fur-balling for self-glory while the enemy ups in "attack" mode and hunts down the poor Goon Driver flying at 150 feet AGL trying to do something for his team.  

Hazed, in Tour 38, has been a team player in the Fighter category by knocking down buildings and killing GVs for the Goon Driver, and it has earned him a Hit Percentage of 5.3% with a ranking of 2039.  I know he is a better shot than that because he has a 16% hit percentage in Attack.  Why should he look bad as a fighter pilot for trying to help the team?  Sure, don't reward him for operating his aircraft outside its intended role, but don't bust him in rank for trying to be a team player either.

Expand the Fighter's role as recommended and get the Fighter Guys involved in the game.

MachNix

p.s. KG45, there is always plenty of team work during missions.  But I have also seen players flying as Fighters shadowing missions into the targets when their only intent is to vulch.  They don't help take out the acks, kill GVs or knock down the town.  But let's leave that for another thread.

[qts]

One could always remove the distinction between Fighter and Attack, which seems to me to be arbitrary and useless.

[empty]

Who the heck plays for scores?

In the my squad the emphasis is on the victory.  This also seems to be the drive of the Bishops I fly with in the early morning hours.  Somebody has to stay on the  CAP, but when the goon is inbound everyone is cooperative and readily jumps in to finish the town off or gun down some GVs that got out.

[DmdNexus]

Score? We don't need no stinking score!

Want to capture a base and have your goons covered... join a squad that plays that way.

There's plenty of them.

[Murdr]

Originally posted by MachNix
It appears that the Fighter Pilot is only rewarded for putting rounds in another aircraft.

Recommendation:
1. Shooting Objects - Deduct the rounds hitting an object from the total rounds expended.  This will keep the Hit Percentages from going down if the Fighter Pilot chooses to help knock down a building.  Do not give points for shooting an object.  I don't want the Fighter Pilot helped, but I don't want them punished for helping.

 

This is an excelent idea.  Encouraging team play appears to be a factor in HTC's decisions.  Non-scoring hits on nme objects by fighters is better than discouraging fighters from helping by penalizing their stats.  Seems like a potential idea if it ever gets noticed.