Aces High Bulletin Board
Special Events Forums => Friday Squad Operations => Topic started by: AKKuya on December 10, 2016, 11:56:30 PM
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The FSO Community has a wide variety of player backgrounds. Especially those who are adept at social media or know people whom are.
The CMs are asking for our help with minimums being met with assignments being achieved.
I will put this out to the FSO Community.
Those who know how to do the social media or can ask someone outside to step into the FSO Community and get the message out. Let the ideas pour in and get them implemented. we have screenshots and film to showcase the action. The viral networking will draw interest.
I can think of ideas. I just don't have the social media knowledge except for bb forums.
Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and others are so popular. I know films are in YouTube.
1) FSO Reporters - players who create broadcasts about the action
2) FSO Photographers - players who post pics of the action
3) FSO Film Crew - players who create films of the action
4) FSO Ambassadors - players who take the broadcasts, pics and films to groups and meetings for showcasing
We have the technology.
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If you want pics I have a few from AHII
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We have an FSO facebook group with 40-50 members and a special events facebook group that has 120 followers and gets 150-250 views per post.
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We have an FSO facebook group with 40-50 members and a special events facebook group that has 120 followers and gets 150-250 views per post.
Is that bringing new people in?
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Is that bringing new people in?
I'm not sure. Their purpose is to act as a reminder for Special Events and FSO. The FSO Group allows posting for discussion by all members, but nothing gets posted.
The postings on the AH Special Events page certainly get more views than the forums here most of the time, but 100% of FSO discussion happens here.
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What I think kuya wants to do is get FSO numbers back up, and I would love to see happen. One issue is that we don't see 300 people in MA, it will be difficult to get numbers up in FSO. Never less, we do need to better advertised FSO to attached more people to joined in the events.
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What I think kuya wants to do is get FSO numbers back up, and I would love to see happen. One issue is that we don't see 300 people in MA, it will be difficult to get numbers up in FSO. Never less, we do need to better advertised FSO to attached more people to joined in the events.
Yes, there is some correlation between overall game numbers and FSO numbers.
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Yes, there is some correlation between overall game numbers and FSO numbers.
:frown:, FSO is about the only reason I still play. Now it getting harder to stay around.
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:frown:, FSO is about the only reason I still play. Now it getting harder to stay around.
Me too. FSO is the only reason for a lot of folks I know as well. It's also why I continue to remain a CM, without new Admin and Setup CMs, FSO will eventually lose the people who design and host the events.
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My intent is to recruit people into the game from the outside. Bring fresh players to the game. Special Events is a great key to that unlocking.
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My intent is to recruit people into the game from the outside. Bring fresh players to the game. Special Events is a great key to that unlocking.
Yes, but there is a specific strategy that must be used when using the events to advertise the game. Simply linking someone to our events FB page will not help at all, because while there are some pictures, most of the information on there will only make sense to people who already play the game.
One would have to link them to the normal HTC site or videos with an emphasis on "Hey, we also have a slew of special events that are historical".
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My intent is to recruit people into the game from the outside. Bring fresh players to the game. Special Events is a great key to that unlocking.
That's great but could be tough to sell
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Kula I have a lot of respect for you my friend. But I think everyone is missing the main problem. Fact - The FSO isn't as fun as it use to be. Recruiting will be nearly impossible unless positive changes to the game play are made. What worked 10 years ago isn't working now. Time to make changes in what the community wants to do and not a few guys running the CM Team want to do. Big changes are needed. Big ones.
Then after you recruit you have to retain that guy. Hows this done in the current situation? These are hard questions I have on my squad staff calls and no one has any good answers we can effect.
If the FSO was great fun we'd have pilots beating down the doors wouldn't we?
You want more recruiting, heck I'm working hard to hold on to the guys I have let alone get more. Why don't you the CM Team help me recruit and retain by making a really fun game.
Its long over due to for root cause analysis here.
I want a great FSO community and I'm willing to work for it. But telling us to get more folks isn't the answer here.
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Then after you recruit you have to retain that guy. Hows this done in the current situation? These are hard questions I have on my squad staff calls and no one has any good answers we can effect.
I'm sure that flying in circles for 30 min before landing is a great way to promote FSO action.
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CiC's with premature landing syndrome, doesn't help the FSO either. we need players that WANT to play.
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I tried to see if some solutions were possible. Maybe the silent minority/majority are working behind the scenes to bring new players into the game.
2017 may bring better tidings.
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Kula I have a lot of respect for you my friend. But I think everyone is missing the main problem. Fact - The FSO isn't as fun as it use to be. Recruiting will be nearly impossible unless positive changes to the game play are made. What worked 10 years ago isn't working now. Time to make changes in what the community wants to do and not a few guys running the CM Team want to do. Big changes are needed. Big ones.
Then after you recruit you have to retain that guy. Hows this done in the current situation? These are hard questions I have on my squad staff calls and no one has any good answers we can effect.
If the FSO was great fun we'd have pilots beating down the doors wouldn't we?
You want more recruiting, heck I'm working hard to hold on to the guys I have let alone get more. Why don't you the CM Team help me recruit and retain by making a really fun game.
Its long over due to for root cause analysis here.
I want a great FSO community and I'm willing to work for it. But telling us to get more folks isn't the answer here.
I am with you, however, as I stated and Narf seems to agree, how can you get numbers up in FSO when MA numbers are struggling too?
It is up to HT and staff to advertise the game in a way that people will check it out. I learned about AH 10 years ago on the military channel and I was not involved in any online gaming. IDK what it will take but strongly believe it is the key to get numbers up over all.
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I'm sure that flying in circles for 30 min before landing is a great way to promote FSO action.
(http://cdn.someecards.com/someecards/usercards/-mic-drop--b29a8.png)
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I am with you, however, as I stated and Narf seems to agree, how can you get numbers up in FSO when MA numbers are struggling too?
It is up to HT and staff to advertise the game in a way that people will check it out. I learned about AH 10 years ago on the military channel and I was not involved in any online gaming. IDK what it will take but strongly believe it is the key to get numbers up over all.
There was some discussion about advertising the other night. The word is, HTC said it didn't pay off. Funny thing is, several people including myself said that's how they found out about the game. <shrug>
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I've been sharing videos of in FSO and Scenarios and some of the annoucements from HTC with my friends on facebook. Most are horse owning older ladies but I know some of them and their husbands are gamers.
I started playing because AOL sent me a disc with Air Warrior on it. Back when downloading was SUPER SLOW, anything that arrived on CD that was free was gonna be tried out. :D
Not sure how that translates into getting the word out today.
I did see the commercials on the History Channel several times but I already knew about Aces High by then.
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went on my facebook page and typed this:
@aces high III join the game, join the fun!
www.hitechcreations.com
takes them to the ah3 facebook page and creates a link to aces high. if everyone does it, maybe that will help?
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There was some discussion about advertising the other night. The word is, HTC said it didn't pay off. Funny thing is, several people including myself said that's how they found out about the game. <shrug>
i wonder how they come up with that conclusion? The only way I can see for them to know that is did a community survey. Now I am getting of age and forget things from time to time, but never recall HTC asking.
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I found the game from an ad on the military channel as well as on history channel. Never would have started without those ads.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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I saw the Ad on the Military channel in 2002? I too was not a gamer, but I got into the game and have been hooked ever since. I was divorced not too long after I started. Surely it was a coincidence! :headscratch: :bolt:
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In 2000, I was surfing the web looking for add-ons and skins for Janes WW2 fighters and found a web banner for Aces High.
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In 2000, I was surfing the web looking for add-ons and skins for Janes WW2 fighters and found a web banner for Aces High.
I'm a web bannor. :bolt:
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it must have been a Bannor day!!
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Military channel ad in 04 or 05 for me....and I wasn't a gamer either...I traded a Cadillac for a gaming computer for this game in may of 05...wife been trying to leave me ever since :noid
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Military channel ad in 04 or 05 for me....and I wasn't a gamer either...I traded a Cadillac for a gaming computer for this game in may of 05...wife been trying to leave me ever since :noid
Good luck with that Puller. :P
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it must have been a Bannor day!!
On the 4th of July I'm star spangled! :rofl
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Military channel ad in 04 or 05 for me....and I wasn't a gamer either...I traded a Cadillac for a gaming computer for this game in may of 05...wife been trying to leave me ever since :noid
You're from Oklahoma too...
You must be some kinda country cowboys singer. :rofl
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:rofl
Nope... just an Okie living north of Muskogee :rofl :rofl :rofl
Its closer than Tulsa and my odds of getting shot aren't near as great :noid
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I would like to offer my thoughts on recruitment if I may. I am in Nefs fso squad the 412th FNV (Friday night volunteers) which is made up of guys from several MA squads. Nef sends out Tshirts which he makes up on his own at the end of each year (a fact I didn't know when I joined) and that is a motivator like no other, but that is not what makes the squad so great, it is the fact that we get on every Friday night and pick and tease each other and visit with each other and share our real lives. As some of you know last year I came down with stage 4 lung cancer, had 1/2 of left lung removed, went through chemo, and was to the point several times of just wanting to give up, except this squad wouldn't not let me, they kept encouraging me calling, pm'ing me and talking to me and I came through it. Now, the point is,,,, if each squad in FSO will just give each one in their squad, this kind of support both in the game and in real life, and let it be known in Aces High, then we will see the return of a lot of players that have left and recruit some of the newest players in the game; but it takes us all talking it up next year for this to happen. I will do my part every time I can.
Don't get me wrong I am not saying the other squads don't do this, I don't know haven't been in them, I am just using this as an example.
SALUTE
ab8aac/dmdchief
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:rofl
Nope... just an Okie living north of Muskogee :rofl :rofl :rofl
Its closer than Tulsa and my odds of getting shot aren't near as great :noid
Cool, I was just in Tulsa this past August. My company has a satellite office there. Very flat Oklahoma is...
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i have pointed out a few things over several years....that have not been corrected...and DO NOT HELP TO GET NEW PLAYERS...i have brought several players to AH only to have them..NOT play do to several reasons....one. after downloading the game, there arent any instructions on what to do and how to do it.....they didnt even know you could set the views or how to set the views on air craft. you would have to know that you need to search to find out what the key board keys do....and they had no clue what a DOT command was. i had proposed ..years ago.. a tutorial that would have a voice tell you the basics and with each helpful prompt highlight the control , both in the cockpit and on the keyboard. and two no explanations on game play. it would be nice to have a page to show how to set of convergence,hot to straife,drop bombs, how icons work,and basic air combat and tank combat. most download it, play around offline,cant figure it out,get frustrated and go play call of duty,lol
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maybe you should've helped them more and encouraged them or showed them where to find the answers or ask the right questions?
when I bring someone in, I'm married to them until they feel comfortable enough to play on their own. I even meet with them every night to answer questions. while you do have a valid point about getting them a tutorial, being a buddy and a teacher to them would help immensely. I would never let them go to the wayside, knowing I could have helped them...LOL.
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great advice.........i have actual responsibilities in the real world to attend to and as i pay to play this game,and have no authority here, why should i as a player with limited time,spend all my free time trying to keep a few players...when good advice has been given and the actual owners of the game could work on and implement that would help hundreds of potential players and possible make the game great again and also protect their livelihood.
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Anybody else agree Alpini should be in charge? Him smart. :rolleyes:
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i have actual responsibilities in the real world to attend to
...how wonderful for you.
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Regarding Alpini's complaint: I quite disagree, respectfully. I have found help for this game in multiple places, from those playing online to AHWiki to YouTube. Your recruits must have had short attention spans, or too busy to give it a proper chance. I'm not buyin it.
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While some of the basic info is covered here: http://www.hitechcreations.com/support/support-help which is accessible from the clipboard, Alpini is correct in HTC's current lack of instantly available info on basic ACM or other combat skills relevant to success in the game as a whole. I know that Vudu15 made some Youtube videos geared to new players - it would be nice to have a link to those on the help page as well.
But this is more relevant to the game as a whole than FSO.
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Alpini is correct in HTC's current lack of instantly available info on basic ACM or other combat skills relevant to success in the game as a whole.
With all of the new games out there that offer an entry level training tutorial, I've often wondered why AH doesn't.
Join the game, entry level plane, learn how to take off and land. Fly through hoops. Shoot a huge big blimp. Learn to roll left and evade a drone behind you. Roll right to do the same. Loop. Follow the leader. Be taken through a series of basic ACM drills, hear a speech about how to integrate into the community. Graduate to the Main Arena.
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That's exactly how games like Elite Dangerous and Star Citizen did it ROC - a set of basic tutorial lessons, with accompanying videos integrated into the playing experience. HTC would be better served having ALL of the manuals and game instructions in a single, visible place on the home page. One big button for the game manual, which is updated constantly when new info/controls/etc comes out. Now, frequently the only place to find that info is in the forum under the News/etc forum, which is problematic as many new players don't know that and don't even GO on the forums, plus anyone banned from the forums but still in the game has NO options to find that information, which is ridiculous in and of itself. As it stands now, the "how to" etc manuals are in 3 different places, at least. The information is all on the website, just split in between the trainers page, the forum, and other pull down menus. Having it all in one constantly updated PDF is how virtually every other game does it, an update comes out, they update the main manual/how to as well.
Integrate the existing videos on the trainers page into that document or page, and again, have it in a very noticeable and easy to find place. If you sent a new player out to find commands and features now, it'd take them 15 minutes of hunting around, if not longer, just to find many of them.
Devil is right that it's more of an MA issue, but without new players coming to the MA, there will never be new players coming to FSO.
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FSO Recruitment thread started in General Forum http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,383952.new.html#new (http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,383952.new.html#new) Please chime in gents!
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Quite frankly, Alpini. We all have real world things going on.
But I hear you on your advice and I agree. I do want to point out to all of you that are reading this that we are looking for more people to help in the training arena. It is easy to say what needs to be done, but we need people to step up and help to expand and help get the newbs trained.
I offer that anyone interested in helping train or even run events in game, to please email HiTech and find out what you can do to help and what will be offered to you in return.
Everyone has great ideas. It is easy to offer ideas. But to act on them, deserves my utmost respect.
:rock
SlipKnoT
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(http://kiekebusch.com/images/art/Jerry-Crandall/JG-54-Green-Hearts-lg.jpg)
JG54 will take in, help teach and train, anyone interested in flying FSO. No commitment necessary, just a want to learn and to have fun.
Nothing frightens a enemy more then knowing there's a "Grunherz" coming at them!
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With all of the new games out there that offer an entry level training tutorial, I've often wondered why AH doesn't.
Join the game, entry level plane, learn how to take off and land. Fly through hoops. Shoot a huge big blimp. Learn to roll left and evade a drone behind you. Roll right to do the same. Loop. Follow the leader. Be taken through a series of basic ACM drills, hear a speech about how to integrate into the community. Graduate to the Main Arena.
+1 :aok
There are good resources out there created by the community, certainly. With no disrespect to those that created them, the point is that the game creator (the trusted source) needs to pay attention to the impressions it makes (or doesn't make) to the new player or visitor.
1. We are the existing customer base. We all got here through faith in the product, perseverance and MANY ***whippings . Some of us are occasionally very smug about that in our dealings with new players.
2. When I try out a new game nowadays, I am looking for an investment to the customer FROM THE MAKER. Not from the community, who might be full of cheaters and ***hats. Hey, I'm a newb in this instance and I don't trust every veteran as a matter of policy. Any sensible newb operates the same way, I think.
3. If Hitechcreations is serious about the 'customer-to-be' then ROC has described a very safe entry point for them. If the owners' business model is about addressing the issue of turnover, then the customer-to-be needs to be woo'ed and educated on a level playing field. Turnover is a fact and you just can't survive if you lose more than you take in.
As members of squadrons we have to accept that we've forgotten our own terrors and frustrations of the first year. More, we have to continue to do the right thing by the newbs that show up. Not haze them.
The bottom line - the first responsibility to new members belongs squarely to Hitech. First contact, if you will. The customer-to-be nowadays is experiential - younger - and is eager to consume new peripheral technologies, like VR.
I know how much work has been put in to modernize our game, but the lack of a welcoming and educational first experience is a huge miss. I would encourage the next round of Hitech effort be directed there in the coming months. Just a little bit at a time would do the trick. Not an all hands effort like AH3.
All great points and ideas, Roc.
:salute
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...how wonderful for you.
Very helpful Squire. Not really in the best interest of the topic even if you may think its cute.
The suggestion that I think might work the best is an easy mode arena where new players can workup to speed for the MA and Events.
I seem to remember AirWarrior having a Half time (slower speed) arena where guys could build up to Realtime. That seemed to help with the learning curve. I realize also that some never did move up and spent all their time in HT but that's ok also as they still pay the bills to keep the game alive.
We are mostly an old playerbase I believe. The challenge is getting the youth in here and away from the likes of World of Warplanes and DCS. (I am not sure if that's the correct name of the 1st game, forgive me)
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Bring back Big Week and the Oil Offensive. Make this what FSO used to be. Drive up interest and then move back in Russian Front events. And make the PTO set ups competitive, the ki-43 while being accurate isn't any fun to fly.
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Two week push for the next event. Posting in General and on Facebook. Recruit em. More fun for all of us!!!
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if fate let's me make a comeback the attendance numbers in FSO will increase
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Hmm, well I guess great minds think alike. I haven't been reading the forums much but after the last FSO, I decided to catch up and found this thread. I have started a YouTube series playlist called Friday Squad Ops (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjVyIVtMu2ebWYNHmG6INBQahva-9laxp (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjVyIVtMu2ebWYNHmG6INBQahva-9laxp)) that I've been using to post videos to. Perhaps it will drum up some interest in participation.
Red Beard
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If you want to get more bodies into FSO you might consider making it really easy for an interested player unaffiliated with a squad to get in, even if for just one frame. I realize that this is in some sense counter to the spirit of FSO and I understand the "no walkons" rationale but on the other hand I am guessing that there are plenty of players who are qualified in the sense of understanding what no kill shooter means and understanding that it is not the MA or DA, who would be happy to follow orders but don't want to join a squad and commit to a Friday night 2 weeks in the future. If you had a place for a pickup squad that could balance sides if necessary and whose mission was not the tastiest you could have a non walkon CO with ejection powers if a players has a hard time following orders to lead it. You could have a preregistration if you wanted where players could sign up ahead of time sort of pre-qualifying to be able to walk on and make it a requirement to commit 24 hours ahead of time. Just a thought.
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I understand what you're saying, but it gets really hard for the CMs to balance sides if there are large numbers of random individuals joining at the "last minute" and affecting the squadron commitments.
Personally, I'd rather see other things drive an increase in the player base and increase in squad membership / numbers of squads and let that influence how many show up for FSO. That would kill two birds with one stone so to speak.
Red Beard
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I have walk-on guys that I'm always glad to see in the MA on a Friday night...
But with the "number restrictions" I have been warned about bringing too many...not like I brought 15 guys to a 4-6 commitment but I had like 10 one week...I don't think I've brought that many since...and I promise you I wouldn't turn anyone away that has flown FSO with us before just for the sake of making a number...
You can't see in advance how many numbers you will have on any given Friday night...maybe we need to rethink how planes are distributed in relation to numbers that show up...I don't know...
Carry on.... :bolt: