Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Wishlist => Topic started by: mia389 on October 26, 2009, 12:51:00 AM
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My wish is Icon Range to 3.0 in the main.
I think it would change game play a lot. For the better
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I think it would change game play a lot. For the better
How so?
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It would be easier to get a way from lurking guys above.
In a furball, would be easier to hit the deck and get away.
Keep the "fog" of war around.
Would make for some quick thining once in range. It would be harder to tell what the guy is doing if you dont see his icon until 3.0
Icons at 3.0 and getting rid of friendly DOT radar when out of the radar rings would be sweet.
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i think it will help pickers. NO from me.
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The raison d'etre (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/raison%20d'etre) of the MA is to promote dogfighting.
Would making it harder to find the enemy help to do this?
I have to admit, I enjoyed the post-evil con mission arena with no dar but I also noticed that Blue was the new Orange.
wrongway
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Yea i dont like it but I understand what your getting at, I know many times I have been chased by a high con when im already damaged and RTB just because the guy is going for the easy kill instead of the other 5 knights still fighting
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I think it would hurt the pickers. I think this because there would be less hordeing.
Also the guys up at 20k will fight guys up that high or end up diving on friendlies and losing all that alt :D
I think if Hitech tryed this for a night you all would suprised how many would like it.
Dar bar will always lead you to the fight
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I think it would hurt the pickers. I think this because there would less hordeing
Pickers dont pick from 6k away.....
wrongway
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Chasing a dot for two sectors only to find out that it was a friendly running from a dot is not fun. I have been there and done that.
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no but they can watch you from that far and time it. I can show you some of my picking film haha.
If a guys just sees two guys going in circles not knowing which one is friendly would make it harder.
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Most arguments against dot range 3k have been stated already so I just want to add:
Short Icon range is one of the major reasons I don't fly AvA.
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guess I am the only one that likes it :-(.
Just need something differnent in the MA then the hordes from one base to another.
Also to easy to read our radar.
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guess I am the only one that likes it :-(.
Just need something differnent in the MA then the hordes from one base to another.
Also to easy to read our radar.
The more difficult it is to read the radar, the more power you give to the horde.
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Would be much easier to get jumped with a lot less reaction time. No.
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My wish is Icon Range to 3.0 in the main.
I think it would change game play a lot. For the better
Did you come over here from WB? Or been talkin to someone from there?
IIRC that was how it was over there...... they didn't have the numbers over there we have here..........
NO THANKS!
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How many of you have actually tried shorter icon ranges in an arena environment? The AvA is a poor test because there are so few people there.
Based on the reasons most of you are giving against shorter icon ranges, I can tell that the number is close to zero. This is not to say that there aren't good reasons for keeping icons as they are, but the actual result of shortening icon ranges is not what you think.
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Come fly an FSO tour, it has 3k icon range.
Fact is there is no escaping if there are a group of enemy cons around.
Being more particular what fights you dive into will help.
As will scanning the skys more often as your in that furball.
SA is the key, not changing icon range.
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I would prefer no change on the icon range.
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A shorter icon range HELPS the picker not the other way around.
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More a priori opinions...
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How many of you have actually tried shorter icon ranges in an arena environment? The AvA is a poor test because there are so few people there.
Based on the reasons most of you are giving against shorter icon ranges, I can tell that the number is close to zero. This is not to say that there aren't good reasons for keeping icons as they are, but the actual result of shortening icon ranges is not what you think.
My example was from the MA when icon ranges got messed up for a short time. So yes, yes I have.
I also spent a goodly amount of time in the AvA.
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Ok, here's my conclusion based on many hours of dogfight servers in Il-2 with ~40 people on the server, concentrated in one general area of the map. Icon ranges can vary from none for enemies, to black icons out to 3km for enemies (the black color makes them a little less obvious).
My first observation is that it does not make cherry-picking easier. The cherry-picker's M.O. is to target the highest bandits first. The highest bandits are most often others who are trying to cherry pick. Therefore, any gain in stealth with short icons is balanced out by the greater risk of being cherry-picked while trying to cherry-pick. Experience has taught me that longer icon ranges generally afford me greater certainty about when it is safe to cherry-pick, so I can devote more of my attention to my targets who might also be more aware of my presence. In any case, the net difficulty change of cherry-picking is somewhere close to zero.
My second observation is that it is easier to get bounced with short icons if you do not compensate with more frequent scanning of the airspace around you. If you're used to scanning once every 10 seconds, and the icon range is cut in half, you need to scan every 5 seconds to have the same degree of SA.
My third observation, and something which no one else has touched on yet, is the contribution of icon ranges to furball dynamics. Generally, longer icon ranges tend to spread out fights simply because enemies at greater ranges are readily visible. You think more carefully about jumping into a lower furball when you can see enemies 5km out. You weigh the enjoyment and utility of the close fight with the enjoyment and utility of fighting the enemies who are a little further away. When all you see are some dots in the distance, human behavior tends toward the immediate; you target the bandit you can see. Short icon ranges have the unfortunate consequence of coagulating fights, where the annoying tendency to gang-up 3 or 4 to 1 on the nearest bandit is amplified. I think we can agree that this is the last thing AH needs.
The aspects of surprise and stealth are what make limited icons enjoyable and good for scenarios/FSOs, etc. The loss of SA is ideally compensated for with good squadron communication, and a knowledge of where friendly units should or should not be operating (this is one of the reasons why teamwork is frequently the deciding factor in scenario play, and not individual skill). Greater SA allows for more commitment to a fight and the goal of shooting down an enemy aircraft. Greater SA also means a lower implied risk that comes with less airspeed and less altitude. So longer icon ranges encourage the raging low altitude furballs that AH is known for because they make SA less expensive. If icon ranges were made shorter, some fighting styles would become less successful, namely those that depend on the cheap SA that current icon ranges afford, e.g. the lawn-mowing furballer.
For my part, although I often deride main arena gameplay, I do not put any blame on icon ranges. I like that their most important effect in a chaotic arena is to keep fights spaced out, and to give a little motivation for engaging the bandit who is a little further away than the one who's already fighting a friendly right in front of you. I've tried online air combat in arena environments that have no icons at all, icons for friendlies only, icons out to 3km, and what AH offers, and I believe that for a free-for-all arena what AH offers is best.
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3000 yards is about 2.7 km
Any fighter pilot unable to spot a con at this distance should die merciless :)
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I think the 6k icons are a good thing, but instead of listing the exact aircraft, I'd wish for a simple "FTR", or "Bmbr", etc. Once in to a distance of 2-3k, THEN show the make of the aircraft. I think the 6k distance for the ID badge is too close.
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I think the 6k icons are a good thing, but instead of listing the exact aircraft, I'd wish for a simple "FTR", or "Bmbr", etc. Once in to a distance of 2-3k, THEN show the make of the aircraft. I think the 6k distance for the ID badge is too close.
That would be reasonable. I just want to know if it is friendly or hostile so I don't chase things endlessly.
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Actually at long range I'd be happy with just the country symbol.
Keep it small, easy to miss, but there.
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The raison d'etre (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/raison%20d'etre) of the MA is to promote dogfighting.
Would making it harder to find the enemy help to do this?
I have to admit, I enjoyed the post-evil con mission arena with no dar but I also noticed that Blue was the new Orange.
wrongway
Man I hated that no dar time. It was just hit or miss to find a fight. A base would be flashing, you'd go there and it might be one plane, it might be a dozen. Much too much work to find a good fight, IMO. I don't necessarily need dar icons, (though they do help in a base defence, when dar is still up) but I depend on the dar bars to find out where the bad guys are.