Muck,
If you go back and actually read the various C-hog threads, you'll find the "easy mode killer" argument figures highly in it. As in, "it's so easy to kill in that it has 20% of all kills".
Nothing wrong with flying it in my book, btw.
However, for a person that continually rails against "easymode" planes, flying it is pretty humorous in a hypocritical sort of way. I think that's what Shane's pointing out.
Your quite right. I have thousands of perks that I will never use. About a month ago, I got a phone call while playing that I had to take. Got shot down, of course. So I upped Spit XIV's and Me-262's as the field was being vultched. Didn't try to take off, just let the vultchers come. Now I got killed more than I killed, but it was a true hoot getting all those prox kills as the slavering hordes dove at full speed, killshootering each other to get the sacred perk plane and the resultant perkies. Blew about 2500 perks during that call... money well spent, I'd say. Best use of perks I've found so far.
Kewassa's "fly like I say to fly" idea? Nah? Like I said, if you want those things, they're already here in AH or will be shortly in TOD. No need to FORCE someone out of a plane they want to fly for lack of perks.
Oboe's simple ENY idea has far greater merit than K's if diversity is truly what you seek. It doesn't force anyone to do anything. Hallmark of a reasonable solution, IMO.
Of course, diversity may not be what is actually sought.
And I don't see the "diversity" guys jumping on Oboe's simple ENY idea, so... draw your own conclusions.
As for perking/limiting, I don't think you'll ever find a place where I've said perking won't limit a planes use. In fact, I've agreed with that.
What I disagree with is "limiting". As far as I'm concerned, I wouldn't even HAVE a perk system. Fly what you want to fly. I'll react accordingly in the plane I am flying.
I see no need to limit the "Big 5". I fly them now and again, but mostly I'm in the older, "lesser" planes. Yeah, I even fly the P-40B now and again.
But Spits don't terrify me and I like killing them as much as killing anything else. If a Spit jumps me while in a P-40B, I'll probably get killed. But that doesn't send me into depression, especially if I give him a good fight.
I simply don't understand the need for other people to try and dictate what another paying customer chooses to fly. It's as simple as minding your own knitting.
And, as I pointed out, there are other AH arenas going nightly where you won't see the Big 5 at ALL. So, if that's what you so desire, why don't you take advantage of those?