Aces High Bulletin Board

Help and Support Forums => Help and Training => Topic started by: Nugget on April 21, 2012, 04:15:28 PM

Title: a "beginners" arena?
Post by: Nugget on April 21, 2012, 04:15:28 PM
despite how long ah has been around, the paltry numbers of players at any given time tells me ah is having trouble attracting and retaining new players.  so to help ease them into the game, i'm wondering if ah has ever had, or would consider having, a "beginners arena"?  i'm not asking ah to dumb down the game, just a place where beginners can learn the ropes for the first few months.

let's face it, combat flight sims have probably the steepest learning curve of any game genres out there.  so when you put newbies in the same arena as people who've been "flying" for a decade, it gets ugly and not so much fun for the noobs.  the new guys can go to the training arena all they want, but the fact is they just don't have the skills yet to be effective.  in air warrior, that wasn't so much of a problem because you had a constant and large influx of new guys so proportionally, you stood a good chance of meeting someone of similar skills in the sky.  in ah, my guess is the influx of new people is probably a trickle.  so for a noob like me, i'm probably flying with mostly vets.  while i like combat flight sims, i might not stick around too much longer because it's just not that fun getting waxed while i'm just trying not to stall.

with the introduction of world of warplanes, there'll probably be a resurgence of people interested in combat flight sims.  if wowp is anything like wot, emphasis on arcade rather than realism, i'm sure quite a few of those people would get bored and graduate up to ah.  i hope ah finds a way to attract them.
Title: Re: a "beginners" arena?
Post by: uptown on April 21, 2012, 04:18:28 PM
Just look for this guy.


(http://i279.photobucket.com/albums/kk121/TheAmish/Fester.jpg)
Title: Re: a "beginners" arena?
Post by: Ruah on April 21, 2012, 06:12:03 PM
AH does not have levels or any objective way to judge 'beginners' - sure we could use a metric of how long you have played, but you know that would be counter-productive.

Personally I think AH has one of the best communities in terms of training and helping new players - you want to get better? then this very sub-forum is a good place to start.  And if you are the kind of player that does not like the challange, then AH is defiantly not your cup of tea - because it is very frustrating at times.

Ultimatly - I think that a proactive player can get a lot of help in this game - and that is already impressive.
Title: Re: a "beginners" arena?
Post by: PFactorDave on April 21, 2012, 08:36:17 PM
I am also of the opinion that numbers have been growing over the last few months.  They aren't as high as they have been in the past, but I don't believe that we are seeing new lows every month.  Only HTC knows for sure.
Title: Re: a "beginners" arena?
Post by: Alky on April 22, 2012, 04:26:47 PM
we could use a metric of how long you have played, but you know that would be counter-productive.
How long is not indicative of anything, I started playing AW DOS, went till the end of AOL and even did some Warbirds. I've been hanging around AH on & off for a number of years as well. I suck really big time, look it up.  The training arena, trainers and a bit of natural ability, of which I have none, will get a noobie where he needs to be.   ;) :cheers:
Title: Re: a "beginners" arena?
Post by: morfiend on April 22, 2012, 05:28:23 PM
 There is a beginners arena,it's called the training arena!    Then you can move up to the Dueling arena at furball lake!



   :salute
Title: Re: a "beginners" arena?
Post by: Orbitson on April 22, 2012, 06:27:58 PM
+1  :aok  The training arena is the place to start learning what you need to enjoy AH.
Title: Re: a "beginners" arena?
Post by: Big Rat on April 24, 2012, 06:04:48 PM
There is a beginners arena,it's called the training arena!    Then you can move up to the Dueling arena at furball lake!



   :salute

I'm not sure that's up :headscratch:

 :salute
BigRat
Title: Re: a "beginners" arena?
Post by: Traveler on April 27, 2012, 09:53:20 PM
if you are not afraid to fly a real airplane, come fly with the 113th Lucky Strikes.

The 113th Lucky Strikes, a P38 squad, is always looking for pilots to wing up for a flight, or an hour,  or an evening or to join the squad.  Check out our AH Wiki page at

http://www.hitechcreations.com/wiki/index.php/113th_Lucky_Strikes

We fly as Knights every Saturday evening in a late war arena, we begin operations around 7:00PM EST.  Vox 113.  CO is Gunston, XO is Traveler.
Title: Re: a "beginners" arena?
Post by: coombz on April 27, 2012, 11:09:42 PM
new players just need two things

1) the will to read and learn and research some of the great and helpful material on the AH Training Corps site and on these forums

2) a squad to take them in wing with them, give them advice, and duel them occasionally
Title: Re: a "beginners" arena?
Post by: Flavel on May 04, 2012, 05:16:10 PM
Air Warrior had two arenas.  One was simplified "arcade" where you couldn't really depart from controlled flight short of simple stalls that were easy to recover from.  Also, blackouts and redouts didn't apply.  You could pull 9g's and all was well.

Then there was arena where flight was more realistic.  Not on par with Aces High but more so then the kiddy pool.

The thing was, most of players stayed away from the deep end.

Title: Re: a "beginners" arena?
Post by: The Fugitive on May 04, 2012, 06:20:42 PM
AW had a beginners arena with the point restrictions, they had a "relaxed realism" arena in both Euro and Pac flavors, and they had "Full realism" in both Euro and Pac flavors.

Many started in the training arenas and moved quickly to the Relaxed arenas. Some went to the full arenas once they became proficient in the relaxed arenas.

The trick with a "training" arena would be the restriction. Once you hit the threshold (points in the AW arena) you were forced to move on. With Aces High not having a relaxed and full arena type set up it would force the players into the mains with everyone else.