Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Wishlist => Topic started by: RTHolmes on April 07, 2010, 12:52:50 PM
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arena caps enabled again :(
was really nice not having to bother with those dam arena caps since the last update, now theyre back on again. didnt notice any deterioration in gameplay while they were off, everyone got to fly where they wanted to which was great. some people like flying in an empty arena - with the caps off there were still usually a few in LWB, most prefer to fly in a more populated map. now we get told where to fly again.
not happy.
edit:
notice how few ENY moaning posts there have been recently? prepare for daily ENY whines again as the caps promote big country numbers imbalance. etc etc you know the rest ...
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Back to normal...very cool. Blue won't be empty anymore. Thanks for the heads up.
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how is that better?
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I'm actually glad to see that things are back to "normal" as well. I tend to prefer the split arenas, I actually try to avoid flying much on Tuesdays because of Titanic Tuesdays. I think there's a critical mass where "more players is better" no longer applies. I generally don't have problems flying with friends and with the squad, at least nothing that can't be solved with a few minutes of patience every once in awhile.
As for ENY, it still occurs, knights hit it last night as I recall.
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we had split arenas before, the only difference is now we dont get to chose which one we want to fly in.
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how is that better?
Has it been that long for you? Aside from a minor inconvenience when the caps are changed throughout the day, it's a lot better than jumping on and having to look for a horde to take on 2 hordes coming at you...or seeing 10 times the amount of useless text scroll by when you're trying to coordinate something...I can go on. Yes the one big arena was a nice change but it was too much like Titanic Tuesday 24/7.
we had split arenas before, the only difference is now we dont get to chose which one we want to fly in.
Yes you do, just wait for the caps to adjust...happens on a regular schedule.
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Coming home at 7PM, turn on the computer, log in, and face a 40-player LW arena again :(
And yes, that's just a whine. But it's been a great 2 weeks being able to log in at my prime time and have some decent numbers.
Yes you do, just wait for the caps to adjust...happens on a regular schedule.
Most American players won't notice much difference for sure. For me as a Euro-player it's a total different thing. ;)
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more than a minor inconvenience, Ive been waiting almost 30mins now to fly with my squaddies. and it wasnt a TT syle one big arena, it was 2 separate arenas, same as before but with no caps.
not buying the hordeing thing either, seen no difference at all while the caps were disabled.
edit: agreed snail, the cap effect is always really bad just after work euro time.
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Then you haven't been on during prime time. It's been one horde after another from all sides...but then I don't usually get to fly in the middle of the day.
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arena caps enabled again :(
was really nice not having to bother with those dam arena caps since the last update, now theyre back on again. didnt notice any deterioration in gameplay while they were off, everyone got to fly where they wanted to which was great. some people like flying in an empty arena - with the caps off there were still usually a few in LWB, most prefer to fly in a more populated map. now we get told where to fly again.
not happy.
edit:
notice how few ENY moaning posts there have been recently? prepare for daily ENY whines again as the caps promote big country numbers imbalance. etc etc you know the rest ...
You aint the one on bish at 7am EST to 10am EST where eny climbed up to 25 on a GOOD day because of arena caps being off
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how did arena caps being off cause that exactly?
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how did arena caps being off cause that exactly?
the number of bish on at the time went above what the arena cap would allow
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the number of bish on at the time went above what the arena cap would allow
Caps don't work for or against one side exclusively. If caps are on, no rooks or knights can enter the arena too when no bish can get into it.
We do have actually more ENY when caps are on, because often there is one team having the numbers in Orange while the Orange underdog is having numbers in Blue.
For example for some time Knights tended to have numbers (& ENY) in Blue each day, while their countrymen in Orange were outnumbered all over the place.
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the number of bish on at the time went above what the arena cap would allow
so it was caused by a massive number of bish, almost double the smallest side to get eny 25. point is they had a choice as to where to fly, now they dont. caps entrench number imbalance anyway. my bet is that eny restriction would have lasted alot longer had caps been enabled.
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We do have actually more ENY when caps are on, because often there is one team having the numbers in Orange while the Orange underdog is having numbers in Blue.
thats my experience, I predict more eny restrictions now the caps have been turned back on.
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I liked it without the caps.
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I liked not having caps, it was pure win! I really think HiTech should think about keeping it that way.
Titanic Tuesday 24/7 in orange, blue was the noobs friendly zone. Everyone profits.
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I liked it without the caps.
I admit that I preferred it also. I saw no difference in ENY, hording or the usual explanations as to why arena balancing is needed. All the same annoying behaviors still occurred, but I could fly where I wanted, when I wanted. I concede the HTC knows their product better than me, so I go with the flow.
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blue was the noobs friendly zone.
Thought that was what the DA and EW arenas were for...
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we had split arenas before, the only difference is now we dont get to chose which one we want to fly in.
You still have a choice...you can choose to log into the Blue LW arena or the Orange LW arena. Nothing is preventing you from selecting either one other than yourself.
ack-ack
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It does not have to do with hordes, it has to do with our business. HiTech and Pyro have both explained the business reasons behind it.
If you continue to make it about something else, you are just beating your head against the wall and all we can do is sell the popcorn for the show.
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You still have a choice...you can choose to log into the Blue LW arena or the Orange LW arena. Nothing is preventing you from selecting either one other than yourself.
err ... the arena caps are preventing me from selecting which arena I fly in. :headscratch: i think you may be confusing this with an eny whine or something else.
It does not have to do with hordes, it has to do with our business. HiTech and Pyro have both explained the business reasons behind it.
I must have missed those posts, would be interesting to see the reasoning behind it.
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Here are some of the responses from HiTech:
1. Before arena split AH was no longer growing.
2. After arena split AH started growing faster than it ever had.
Now there really is only 1 reason for this, more people are having fun, and thus subscribe.
So let us begin with the true facts, there is an optimal number that makes game play the best for aces high.
This number is above 50 and below 500. We can argue where that number is exactly, but it is irrelevant because we have more people playing aces high at the same time then the upper bounds of this number.
When we split arenas, we had gone far above this number to the extent, AH had stopped growing. So some method was needed to start a 2nd arena. The simple method as you propose was tried first. We set both arenas to have a static cap, but 1 arena will fill , before people would start populating the 2nd arena, and the cries were deafening to change something.
The reason we have the floating limits, is simply because it is the quickest way to reach critical mass of the 2nd arena.
The time we chose to do the population , is when the population is growing the quickest , this is to minimize the low number time in the 2nd arena.
So now, if you do not understand , ask a question. If you understand, but do not believe the facts, I do not wish to hear it, because we have facts, you only have guesses.
If you have a NEW idea that has been not tried before please post it and I would be happy to discuss it.
If you wish to hide your wanting a bigger arena with ideas like letting people into a full arena to balance the idea, do not expect a response from me.
To begin with total players on line was the highest last night it has been in at least 3 months on a thursday night.
2nd I assume we agree there is a playablity limit at some number where there is just too many people in one arena.
Pick any number you wish, the problem becomes what to do when you hit that number.
For instance when we were at a cap of 390 what do you do when you log on and the arena is full. Suddenly you are realy stuck because at best only 5- 10 more people will be wanting to play LW with you. The key is to understand no matter where you think the max is, at some point you will have to establish a 2nd arena in the same format.
So if you do not cut down the max and make 2 arenas where both have a large enough population durning most play times. You have sudenly limited the growth of you player base. Because establishing critical mass in the 2nd arena by changing nothing is almost imposible.
This is not a new problem, when we were running WB we had the same problem. At that time our technical max was 250 in an arena. And we had grown to where the main was full on most nights. We never did find a way to get another arena populated.
Understand our goal is simply to have 2 arenas running with critical mass.
The other goals are, always be able to get in each arena, so you can always fly with your squad, or any one else you wish.
But the need to establish critical mass in a 2nd arena of the same type is realy not debateable, the only things debateable are at what point, and how to establish that critical mass.
There are probably more. I did not look for Pyro's posts.
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The problem is the Atlantic Ocean isn't wide enough. If it was 3 time zones wider there wouldn't be as much of an issue. Euro would have the single arena 3 more hours and then when the dynamic caps started the second arena would climb pretty quick as the east coast of the US signed on. Unfortunately the dynamic cap kicks in as the east coast starts coming on, it's just a bit too early for most of the Euro guys.
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Here are some of the responses from HiTech:
1. Before arena split AH was no longer growing.
2. After arena split AH started growing faster than it ever had.
Now there really is only 1 reason for this, more people are having fun, and thus subscribe.
No one can argue with the continued commercial success of the game.
I, for one, have enjoyed the lack of caps. Especially after a disco, it is nice to jump back in without a cap block.
But, I played before, and I will continue to play.
Shooting down waystin is worth the $15... :bolt:
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Shooting down waystin is worth the $15... :bolt:
I take that as a compliment Ruf!
:salute
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Every time this is brought up it sounds like an issue of timing more than anything...maybe if HTC adjusted the times and maybe the cap numbers it wouldn't be so bad?
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What about adjustment of the minimum the caps start at? I've seen minimums as low as 150/100. How about adjusting them to 250/200 as baseline instead? That still would not change how the arenas function at critical mass, yet at the same time give more flexibility in the "lower numbers" time periods?
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Raising the minimums does not solve any problems. It will just take longer for the second arena to reach a level players are happy/okay with.
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Raising the minimums does not solve any problems. It will just take longer for the second arena to reach a level players are happy/okay with.
I think that depends on what the perceived problem is.
Taking the example of at least my understanding of this post, people from outside the " crazy happy time" time zones enjoyed the lack of cap. Examining the reason (it would be helpful to know a more granular reason of why), a "guestimation" would be the lack of caps meant the smaller "total population" of the off hours crew allowed a much higher number to conglomerate together at the same time, allowing for more people to participate with each other at once under the same arena. I'm sure you can agree that there is a gameplay or immersive difference between 100 people in the same arena vs. 200 people in that arena, and the people posting in here appear to prefer the 2nd alternative. By increasing the minimum baseline, it would help alleviate this problem, and no longer split up an already smaller player pool, yet would not alter the "max arena numbers" balancing accomplished by the current cap system when the numbers do become much higher during "happy time". Yes, it would mean the second arena would take longer to reach it's cap, but at the same time would not hinder the "mass online" playability of those players during slower time quite as much.
Was just a thought. =)
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Should only be one WWI arena and one WWII arena in my opinion. The more people in one arena the better. I like the action!
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Should only be one WWI arena and one WWII arena in my opinion. The more people in one arena the better. I like the action!
That will likely never happen Vafii, and the quotes in one of Skuzzy's replies are just a few of the responses to that wish. As it stands right now, that style of play actually hurts HTC as a company, which is not good for the longevity of the brand/game.
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Raising the minimums does not solve any problems. It will just take longer for the second arena to reach a level players are happy/okay with.
It does not have to do with hordes, it has to do with our business. HiTech and Pyro have both explained the business reasons behind it.
If you continue to make it about something else, you are just beating your head against the wall and all we can do is sell the popcorn for the show.
HiTech sees only two things connected to membership subscription
1. Before arena split AH was no longer growing.
2. After arena split AH started growing faster than it ever had.
Now there really is only 1 reason for this, more people are having fun, and thus subscribe.
That’s per skuzzy’s quote of Hitech. No other business or economic factors could be the cause of a two week trial not turning into a full subscription. The only answer is to install Caps in the arenas. End of story.
The worst recession since the Great Depression has nothing to do with it. The fact that the this recession actually got started way back following 9/11, has little or nothing to do with it. That the Economy has been dragged down little by little as funding priorities shifted from our government right down through Wall Street with the final bill landing on Main Street. None of that has had an impact on High Tech Creations subscriptions as much as the number of players in an arena.
You’d think that with 20 to 30 million Americans out of work and running out of credit that might have more of an impact on subscription retention. I know that our squad member ship is down by half. They didn’t like the hassle of arena caps but we just all went into what ever LW Arena that all of us could get into. However, 6 of our members had to stop playing because of the cost of the game. I left the game for 3 months because I was out of work. When I closed my account I wasn’t asked Why I was no longer subscribing ? I just received a confirmation online that my account was deleted.
It seems that WWI has three arenas. All for the same period of time of the war. WWII has many arenas, My squad plays in one of the LW Arenas. When I fly other then on squad night, I fly in the largest number LW Arena that I can get into. Could the LW Arena be broken into the following:
One LW with no CAP aka Titanic Tuesday type areana, only paid members allowed.
Two LW arenas with the current CAP system in place for balancing the fun factor also, this would be where members on the two free week option would have to play. These arenas would be optional for paid members. And two week subscription would have access to other arenas, AVA, LWE, LWM.
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HiTech sees only two things connected to membership subscription
1. Before arena split AH was no longer growing.
2. After arena split AH started growing faster than it ever had.
Now there really is only 1 reason for this, more people are having fun, and thus subscribe.
That’s per skuzzy’s quote of Hitech. No other business or economic factors could be the cause of a two week trial not turning into a full subscription. The only answer is to install Caps in the arenas. End of story.
The worst recession since the Great Depression has nothing to do with it. The fact that the this recession actually got started way back following 9/11, has little or nothing to do with it. That the Economy has been dragged down little by little as funding priorities shifted from our government right down through Wall Street with the final bill landing on Main Street. None of that has had an impact on High Tech Creations subscriptions as much as the number of players in an arena.
You’d think that with 20 to 30 million Americans out of work and running out of credit that might have more of an impact on subscription retention. I know that our squad member ship is down by half. They didn’t like the hassle of arena caps but we just all went into what ever LW Arena that all of us could get into. However, 6 of our members had to stop playing because of the cost of the game. I left the game for 3 months because I was out of work. When I closed my account I wasn’t asked Why I was no longer subscribing ? I just received a confirmation online that my account was deleted.
It seems that WWI has three arenas. All for the same period of time of the war. WWII has many arenas, My squad plays in one of the LW Arenas. When I fly other then on squad night, I fly in the largest number LW Arena that I can get into. Could the LW Arena be broken into the following:
One LW with no CAP aka Titanic Tuesday type areana, only paid members allowed.
Two LW arenas with the current CAP system in place for balancing the fun factor also, this would be where members on the two free week option would have to play. These arenas would be optional for paid members. And two week subscription would have access to other arenas, AVA, LWE, LWM.
There were 3 WWI arenas because the anticipated a large crowd due to WWI being new. I'm sure you'll see two of the WWI arena to disappear soon now that the "new" has worn off of WWI.
As for the "growth" of the subscriptions, it's kinda funny how it seems to be growing while we are in this resecession. I know I was out of work for 6 months but never got bad enough for me to cancel my subscription. Things are starting to pick up in the economy and now there is a post that "Fighter Ace" is closing their doors.
Not only will you never see a no cap LW arena ever again.....other than those "Terrible Tuesdays".... I'd be willing to bet we may see a third arena added to the LW dynamic cap system if we see a big enough influx of people from FA.
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There were 3 WWI arenas because the anticipated a large crowd due to WWI being new. I'm sure you'll see two of the WWI arena to disappear soon now that the "new" has worn off of WWI.
As for the "growth" of the subscriptions, it's kinda funny how it seems to be growing while we are in this resecession. I know I was out of work for 6 months but never got bad enough for me to cancel my subscription. Things are starting to pick up in the economy and now there is a post that "Fighter Ace" is closing their doors.
Not only will you never see a no cap LW arena ever again.....other than those "Terrible Tuesdays".... I'd be willing to bet we may see a third arena added to the LW dynamic cap system if we see a big enough influx of people from FA.
You say subscriptions are growing, does HiTech share that information with you? I know that we lost 6 members of our squad due to Unemployment. I think it depends on where in the country you live. 6 months , you were lucky. there are many in my area, in my town that are going on two years. Lost homes, savings, retirement, all gone. I don't know if subscriptions are growing or not, as far as I know, HTC does not share that information with anyone.
As to the stated reasons for the CAP system in the arena. If the arena with no caps is the problem for new players not becoming subscribers then having the caps system works for those that want it. I’m just asking for an additional arena like Titanic Tuesday with no caps. You would still have your LW arena with limited numbers to control the fun and people like myself that like the uncapped arena with large numbers would have an arena in which to play more then the once a week.
If your telling me that HTC has plans to put in even more limited arenas so numbers will be even smaller. Well when that happens, I’ll become one of the lost subscriptions.
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not being able to get into orange arena after a days work is annoying, remove the cap or at least make a huge arena of say 500 players for ww2
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... if we see a big enough influx of people from FA.
Not likely. You're talking probably a player base of a couple hundred or so. Ah has between 5000 and 10000 players at best guesses. That's a real drop in the bucket so to speak. Doubt it'll impact the sever load levels all that much.
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You say subscriptions are growing, does HiTech share that information with you? I know that we lost 6 members of our squad due to Unemployment. I think it depends on where in the country you live. 6 months , you were lucky. there are many in my area, in my town that are going on two years. Lost homes, savings, retirement, all gone. I don't know if subscriptions are growing or not, as far as I know, HTC does not share that information with anyone.
As to the stated reasons for the CAP system in the arena. If the arena with no caps is the problem for new players not becoming subscribers then having the caps system works for those that want it. I’m just asking for an additional arena like Titanic Tuesday with no caps. You would still have your LW arena with limited numbers to control the fun and people like myself that like the uncapped arena with large numbers would have an arena in which to play more then the once a week.
If your telling me that HTC has plans to put in even more limited arenas so numbers will be even smaller. Well when that happens, I’ll become one of the lost subscriptions.
I'm basing the numbers on the number of new people I see in the arenas. Sure most are kids, but as long as Mommy and Daddy are paying it's the same thing.
Also it wasn't just that the 2 weekers weren't subscribing that caused HTC to look at a way to add another arena they were losing many old time players too. So adding another arena to be a full time TT is going to cause the same issues it did before. HTC has already said they won't go back to a full time single arena due to those FACTS. The only issue that is really up for discussion here is how to make two arenas playable at the same time. Dynamic caps is the one they have settled on until a new idea can be thought up.
Not likely. You're talking probably a player base of a couple hundred or so. Ah has between 5000 and 10000 players at best guesses. That's a real drop in the bucket so to speak. Doubt it'll impact the sever load levels all that much.
While I'm sure HTC would love to see an influx of 200 players your right I don't think we'll see that many. On the other hand if they did see 200 more a night that would surely be pushing the limits of 2 "healthy" arenas, and so maybe a third would be next in coming. Remember they are going to do whats best for the company.
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I don't mean 200 a night, I mean total. You might find a rise in ... what? 20 per night? All different time zones and personal schedules, you wouldn't get them all at once.
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I don't like the caps either.
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HiTech sees only two things connected to membership subscription
1. Before arena split AH was no longer growing.
2. After arena split AH started growing faster than it ever had.
Now there really is only 1 reason for this, more people are having fun, and thus subscribe.
That’s per skuzzy’s quote of Hitech. No other business or economic factors could be the cause of a two week trial not turning into a full subscription. The only answer is to install Caps in the arenas. End of story.
The worst recession since the Great Depression has nothing to do with it. The fact that the this recession actually got started way back following 9/11, has little or nothing to do with it. That the Economy has been dragged down little by little as funding priorities shifted from our government right down through Wall Street with the final bill landing on Main Street. None of that has had an impact on High Tech Creations subscriptions as much as the number of players in an arena.
You’d think that with 20 to 30 million Americans out of work and running out of credit that might have more of an impact on subscription retention. I know that our squad member ship is down by half. They didn’t like the hassle of arena caps but we just all went into what ever LW Arena that all of us could get into. However, 6 of our members had to stop playing because of the cost of the game. I left the game for 3 months because I was out of work. When I closed my account I wasn’t asked Why I was no longer subscribing ? I just received a confirmation online that my account was deleted.
It seems that WWI has three arenas. All for the same period of time of the war. WWII has many arenas, My squad plays in one of the LW Arenas. When I fly other then on squad night, I fly in the largest number LW Arena that I can get into. Could the LW Arena be broken into the following:
One LW with no CAP aka Titanic Tuesday type areana, only paid members allowed.
Two LW arenas with the current CAP system in place for balancing the fun factor also, this would be where members on the two free week option would have to play. These arenas would be optional for paid members. And two week subscription would have access to other arenas, AVA, LWE, LWM.
Oh golly g. I only in buzzness of game for 15 years, G i woulda neva thought of those fansee buznas tings 3 years ago when we spit the arenaas. And ya how ya know that ressionsion ended same day we changed our arena, boy what a coinsidence, 1 year no grow, change areana next week wee growen again, And all tis time I thougth was the arena change. Tanks travelr for that great insightfull information.
Oh and skuzzy was speaking of the change 3 years.
HiTech :rolleyes:
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Oh golly g. I only in buzzness of game for 15 years, G i woulda neva thought of those fansee buznas tings 3 years ago when we spit the arenaas. And ya how ya know that ressionsion ended same day we changed our arena, boy what a coinsidence, 1 year no grow, change areana next week wee growen again, And all tis time I thougth was the arena change. Tanks travelr for that great insightfull information.
Oh and skuzzy was speaking of the change 3 years.
HiTech :rolleyes:
Damn and here I thought you had that whole "spell check" thing worked out ! :eek:
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Oh golly g. I only in buzzness of game for 15 years, G i woulda neva thought of those fansee buznas tings 3 years ago when we spit the arenaas. And ya how ya know that ressionsion ended same day we changed our arena, boy what a coinsidence, 1 year no grow, change areana next week wee growen again, And all tis time I thougth was the arena change. Tanks travelr for that great insightfull information.
Oh and skuzzy was speaking of the change 3 years.
HiTech :rolleyes:
:rofl :rofl :rofl