after reading the inteveiw at
http://www.simhq.com I have a few worries id like to bring up for a possible response from HTC to deal with my concerns:
HTC:
'We plan to use a type of officer evaluation report where commanders would rate the performance of their flight leaders who in turn would rate the performance of the pilots in their flight.'What happens when players with a good rank take a dislike to a player who is flying with them for whatever reason and then gives a bad evaluation regardless of how good the player performs? what is there to stop deliberate attempts to keep a certain player down in rank?
Personally I really like the idea of taking orders etc but i do worry that some could use their higher rank to pick on players they dont like.
HTC:
'Players don’t create missions. The missions come down from HQ a.k.a. the host. In planning an attack, the best mission plan would be one with no enemy contact. However, that would make for a pretty dull mission and we don’t want that. So the missions are orchestrated to give an almost certain probability of enemy contact while preserving the ability to be surprised and have to react. 'Could we possibly be able to make slight adaptions to missions (once you get the rank of course), maybe like changing the altitudes or particular target at the set AI target. i.e. define fuel or ammo or barracks etc but keep the missions essentially the same.Couldnt this give players a bit more input and still not disturb the setup from you guys to make sure there is enemy contact? say for instance we change the route to the target but the target is still the same and Ai defenders will at least be at the target and its a hit or miss whether you meet more on the way to targets.Im thinking something like the AI gives mission then if you have enough rank you can edit it to your own choice of alt and maybe set the route a little different.Also change the loadout, maybe you prefer rockets to bombs etc. This could be enough to satisfy the mission builders i think.
HTC:
' The Squad format of the main arena won’t be a part of ToD. 'I was a little dissapointed by this but then i had a thought which may solve this problem HTC. How about you go for even more reality and make any individual base a squadron base. Players would be able to choose or buy a base (if perks are still in AH2) and if they pay enough they are able to set the name of tht bases squadron. For instance base A39 is originally RAF 111 Squadron. Players from a current squad can decide A36 is for them, they pay some 100 perks each and the player with the highest rank in that squad (and has flown from that base the most, this prevents other players of high rank deliberately trying to change the current squad) can then change the name.
Then all the players from that squad fly out from this base. All players from that squad , each time they launch, adds up to the squadron use of that base. If they defend it and do successfull missions (set by Ai) from it it adds more and more to their use total. That base then in effect becomes their personal base. Others can use it freely still but generally this i think would more than satisfy the squad types and its quite realistic.
I got this idea because in JG54 we used to , on the uterus map, defend and hold the A54 base on the island. We deemed it our personal base and fought to defend it accoringly. It was great fun.
I hope this gives you guys an idea you like HTC
HTC:
'There will be a lot of things that are either different or won’t carry over from Classic to ToD. For example, killshooter (reflective damage for friendly fire) will remain in Classic but won’t be in ToD. Instead, there will be a court martial system.'I get worried here. What if you are about to take off and in pops a total newbie who when he spawns shoots and kills your player as you launch? what if he kills almost an entire mission as they taxy to launch? what if he takes off with a bomb and turns around and drops it on all the others taking off? Hes court marshalled sure but if he doesnt care what happens to his avatar this isnt going to stop him is it?
Again I love the idea of court marshals etc to punish you when you do something wrong, a drop in rank or whatever seems great but i worry about those players who dont care about the loss of rank or indeed enjoy ruining other peoples fun deliberately. Ho is this going to be handled? If you are going to appoint a 'player monitor' who can ban a player for deliberate misconduct what happens if this is abused and a player picks on another?
What happens if we do the right thing and drop our bombs on a target but another player who doesnt want to play by the rules flies low into the target and your bombs kill him? do you get punished for his stupidity? I know this sounds far fetched but honestly i have died many times in MA by dropping on a hanger and somone unseen under you straffes past and is within the blast radius and boom you die to killshooter. In AH2 it seems i will get a court marshall even though it isnt really your own fault.
Im a little worried by the amount of damage a player can do if he deliberately intends to harm others enjoyment. Whats to stop the guy on a 2 week trial behaving this way ?
ok thats it for now, btw thanks for the interveiw and it all sounds very promising indeed. Just like i say i have a few worries and would love to hear a few replies on it if possible (time permitting of course)
