Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Aces High General Discussion => Topic started by: nrshida on October 17, 2017, 11:43:47 AM
-
Presently not able to play (without rare exception) outside of my daytimes. MA often something as low as 14 players online at that time. If that's anything like the last days of AHII, I imagine that's something like 7 players bombing undefined bases. 6 sitting in tanks and Cybro sitting in his white Chevy surveillance van making notes.
Can now go several days sitting all day in the MPA or Training Arena and not see another soul. What was once a hive of activity of a hobby is now becoming two dozen matches at the weekend if I'm lucky. Even the forum seems quiet.
Yellow skies over London, hurricane over Ireland, weird-coloured sunset over Europe. Is this the beginning of the end? :old:
-
In fairness, there are 62 people in the MA right now just before 1PM on a Tuesday. That's double what there was before steam.
-
I feel bad for people who aren't in North America. The numbers just aren't there. Hope it gets better for you, I can imagine how I'd feel in your shoes.
Wiley.
-
In fairness, there are 62 people in the MA right now just before 1PM on a Tuesday. That's double what there was before steam.
That's roughly about the pre Steam numbers.
-
Hope it gets better for you, I can imagine how I'd feel in your shoes.
Thanks brother. I don't know I can do. I used to fly my Ki-84 around in circles skimming my wingtip in the water or beating up the airfield like a world-class barnstormer. I can fly backwards at will, land on a train and do a true & swift hammerhead in a Mosquito at less than 30-m.p.h. but even that gets boring eventually.
I think it's just dawned on me how hopeless it is for me right now. AH is just not a single player game.
-
That's roughly about the pre Steam numbers.
Pre Steam numbers at 1PM east was about 18-40. I was on disability and on every day at the time, I am confident of that.
-
Pre Steam numbers at 1PM east was about 18-40. I was on disability and on every day at the time, I am confident of that.
It's the beginning of my evening prime time. You would have gotten low numbers like 18 only after an arena reset. Numbers like that have been more common during noon to afternoon. Beginning of prime time were between 50-75.
There's no doubling of those numbers at all. In fact, twice the number of players would have been a grand success that everybody would be talking about here.
I would have been ecstatic, and HT probably too :old:
-
Thanks brother. I don't know I can do. I used to fly my Ki-84 around in circles skimming my wingtip in the water or beating up the airfield like a world-class barnstormer. I can fly backwards at will, land on a train and do a true & swift hammerhead in a Mosquito at less than 30-m.p.h. but even that gets boring eventually.
I think it's just dawned on me how hopeless it is for me right now. AH is just not a single player game.
I've pretty much backed off to FSO, Scenarios, and squad night for the most part. When the mood strikes, I check in on the MA during NA primetime but even then if it's not looking good for plane fights after a sortie or two I don't stick around. I generally log on Tuesdays too because it's squad night for a couple squads that fly.
I don't know what to do about it. People keep talking about the gabillions of people out there just waiting to play this game, but I honestly don't think they exist. People who are looking for this enough to stick around are a subset of a subset of a subset. Most ideas I see to make the game more attractive to people turn it into something I'm not terribly interested in playing.
For me, this is what I want when I want to play a flying game. I've tried free DCS, it's ok but not really my scene. I tried IL2 ClOD and it really didn't grab me. WT... just no.
It's a tough spot to be. One quote from HT from a good while ago that has always stuck in my mind is "The one thing you do not want to be is the last one standing in a shrinking market." And here we are.
Wiley.
-
One quote from HT from a good while ago that has always stuck in my mind is "The one thing you do not want to be is the last one standing in a shrinking market."
And I was thinking I might be the only one remembering that exact quote :D
-
And I was thinking I might be the only one remembering that exact quote :D
I never really thought the market was shrinking until I realized that it's not the "Airplane game" market that's shrinking, it's the "Airplane game that is MMO, open world, all PvP, steep learning curve" market that is shrinking.
Wiley.
-
Very sad to hear... Sometimes I sit in the MPA just waiting... I'll idle off and do something else.
Where are you located, and what times do you sit around in there? I'm always looking for 1v1's.
I work everyday but I might be able to work it in there.
<S>
-
it's the "Airplane game that is MMO, open world, all PvP, steep learning curve" market that is shrinking.
And in a way you're saying as the numbers shrank away...
Very sad to hear... Sometimes I sit in the MPA just waiting... I'll idle off and do something else.
Same here. I work and just occasionally look at the waiting list.
Where are you located, and what times do you sit around in there? I'm always looking for 1v1's.
Presently live in the Netherlands bud. I'm on CET - 6 hours ahead of Alabama, but additionally the daytime thing is problematic.
-
And in a way you're saying as the numbers shrank away...
Same here. I work and just occasionally look at the waiting list.
Presently live in the Netherlands bud. I'm on CET - 6 hours ahead of Alabama, but additionally the daytime thing is problematic.
Ahh. even by the time I got off work ready to play it'd be 11-12 your time. Perhaps on the weekends, if you'd like to set some playtime up let me know. :salute
-
I rarely play during the week, you should either being doing your homework or fast asleep in front of TV after working for the man :)
-
I rarely play during the week, you should either being doing your homework or fast asleep in front of TV after working for the man :)
You told me you were fast asleep even when working for the man..... :old:
-
Well there it is. Stayed up until 2:39 a.m. and had great fights with Copperhead, Spitty76, 0200, KB, Erich and Krupnski. Best fights I've had in months. Trouble is, I just can't justify staying up. Looks like Lusche & I in the same boat. :cry
-
Many "left" because they need to upgrade computers.
They will slowly trickle back in.
I left because HTC has removed the ability to use stealth.
-
Are you com8ng back?
-
Are you com8ng back?
He may be very stealthy, so you wouldn't know...
I'm back.
I'll be between 20k-30k.
Feel free to bring party favors..
Coogan
-
The numbers don't concern me as much anymore, anytime that I can log in on a weekend and find nearly 150 players online in the main arena. :joystick:
I too, am mostly saddled with the off peak server times during the week, but I think a main arena vastly unpopulated is compounded by
- the 3 chess piece "win the war" /
- "fly anywhere and do anything" /
- "top gun score maintenance"
- and would draw outrage if it were abandoned
- (so not gonna be the one to suggest that).
The answer that seems to come to me most often (more often after time away), is that I log in to visit with some close old friends and hopefully encounter some new ones.
- If there is a group on country coordinating together ( I repeat if),
- it might push me towards another style of play.
- Often, that style of play concentrates action away from player versus player confrontation
- and may even exclude one whole chess piece's involvement entirely.
Sitting and waiting for others to join the Match Play Arena, is fine if you are actively doing something else, and just waiting for a cue that there is someone available to "versus".
- I think it better if none already populate the arena, to actively invite a combatant from another arena
- vox channels, preferred rules, planes, fuel, etc can be decided
- also, determining skill level in advance (# of months subscribed, etc),
- could help retain interest of newcomer
- rather than discouraging quick defeats :ahand even for a poorly equipped old veteran lik me
- either way (invite or sit and wait) MPA is a very, very cool additional way to get your scrapping in :joystick:
-
Thanks for the :ahand in Match play... I tried to be "good".... But alas, my skillz lack the smooth hands of a surgeon.
Match play is interesting, but why doesn't anyone want to try 2v2 or beyond? It seems only 1v1s and one would be lucky to not get stuck with the same butt-whopping-eerrr, lesson over and over. :uhoh
I tried approaching the fights differently, as you can tell i'm not a Ki84 pilot, but when I'm in 1v1's like the Match Arena, I always want to try an "even" playing field to truly test my skill. Frustration sets in early and often for me, especially when up against a pilot which I know should wipe the sky with me.
Nr, if you want to keep people in there against you on 1v1, try giving them some advice. I would have appreciated your insight along with getting shot down consistently. If the Match Arena is just there to club the other guy, are you really surprised when the seals don't show up? :bolt: :banana:
-
Thanks for the :ahand in Match play... I tried to be "good".... But alas, my skillz lack the smooth hands of a surgeon.
Match play is interesting, but why doesn't anyone want to try 2v2 or beyond? It seems only 1v1s and one would be lucky to not get stuck with the same butt-whopping-eerrr, lesson over and over. :uhoh
I tried approaching the fights differently, as you can tell i'm not a Ki84 pilot, but when I'm in 1v1's like the Match Arena, I always want to try an "even" playing field to truly test my skill. Frustration sets in early and often for me, especially when up against a pilot which I know should wipe the sky with me.
Nr, if you want to keep people in there against you on 1v1, try giving them some advice. I would have appreciated your insight along with getting shot down consistently. If the Match Arena is just there to club the other guy, are you really surprised when the seals don't show up? :bolt: :banana:
This is precisely how I've learned everything I know today. I learned fast that the TA just couldn't do it for me - I've spent hundreds of hours getting shot down over and over again with no input more than "your pointing your nose down too much" or "you're trying to pull to much lead" by Glzzhuh, Skyyr, Anarchy, Violator, Joach1m, Krupnski, Blade, (whom gives 0 input lol) and many more. Eventually it will start to click once you see what you're about to do, you've done before, and it didn't work. I couldn't beat his Ki84 in the few I went, simply because I had no idea the 84's E retention was so well, and I knew I had to do something else, but I was trying to help out my noob friend at the same time.
In short; record, revise, re-up, relax, restrain. That's the 5 R's of Aces High.
-
My 5 R's
Running out of ammo
Running out of gas
Running wee wee wee home
Rolling to a stop on the runway
REALLY wanting to do it again.
:cool: :cheers:
-
My 5 R's
Running out of ammo
Running out of gas
Running wee wee wee home
Rolling to a stop on the runway
REALLY wanting to do it again.
:cool: :cheers:
LOL Well said!
-
Has anyone ever heard of flex seal? :headscratch:
-
In short; record, revise, re-up, relax, restrain. That's the 5 R's of Aces High.
Emotional restraint?
You do realise you can't post on the forum anymore because your post count is presently exactly 109 :rofl
Nr, if you want to keep people in there against you on 1v1, try giving them some advice. I would have appreciated your insight along with getting shot down consistently.
You left after three matches without saying a word and only a System salute.
If the Match Arena is just there to club the other guy, are you really surprised when the seals don't show up? :bolt: :banana:
You raise a poignant question. No I'm not surprised. I'm not surprised when the MA vets don't show up either.
It won't make any difference imho. I've tried all those things and more in abundance and to no avail. The prevailing / remaining culture is quite simple and elemental and finally clear. Players pay their $15 for a months worth of win and if they can't get it sharpish they'll move elsewhere, perhaps to the MA or a multi-squad event or another game.
So I have decided to dedicate the remaining days of AH flying my favourite plane as hard as I can in MPA, with all the hard-earned and self-taught knowledge and technique I gathered in my time here. Rather be a hard data point representing the old days where you did things simply because they were hard and challenging.
Like a small fish, trapped in a slowly evaporating pond of what was once a large, diverse and magnificent lake. In a way the game is leaving me rather than the other way around. It's a bit sad but I guess my little puddle is just a bit closer to the sun than US primetime.
-
Emotional restraint?
You do realise you can't post on the forum anymore because your post count is presently exactly 109 :rofl
You left after three matches without saying a word and only a System salute.
You raise a poignant question. No I'm not surprised. I'm not surprised when the MA vets don't show up either.
It won't make any difference imho. I've tried all those things and more in abundance and to no avail. The prevailing / remaining culture is quite simple and elemental and finally clear. Players pay their $15 for a months worth of win and if they can't get it sharpish they'll move elsewhere, perhaps to the MA or a multi-squad event or another game.
So I have decided to dedicate the remaining days of AH flying my favourite plane as hard as I can in MPA, with all the hard-earned and self-taught knowledge and technique I gathered in my time here. Rather be a hard data point representing the old days where you did things simply because they were hard and challenging.
Like a small fish, trapped in a slowly evaporating pond of what was once a large, diverse and magnificent lake. In a way the game is leaving me rather than the other way around. It's a bit sad but I guess my little puddle is just a bit closer to the sun than US primetime.
If you build a small custom FFA arena with 2-4 bases, they will come. 1 side (all green), airspawns, quick action and quick aircombat. If you just get 3-4 players or friends in there it will start getting more popular.
-
If you build a small custom FFA arena with 2-4 bases, they will come. 1 side (all green), airspawns, quick action and quick aircombat. If you just get 3-4 players or friends in there it will start getting more popular.
How would he even get 3-4 players in there during euro times? No chance that this will work beyond once or twice.
-
How would he even get 3-4 players in there during euro times? No chance that this will work beyond once or twice.
Well... I'm just assuming that he and others want some quicker fights in a more densely populated area. The best way to do that is to open a FFA arena like I said.
Oooorrrr option #2 is for Hitech to get someone one to change the MA after 3AM eastern to 3PM eastern to a smaller map where action is more dense. This would go a long way in making action and thus game play more exciting during off hours. That might be too much work, but I don't know how else to achieve excitement. The maps are simply too big for euro time is what I'm trying to say.
-
Well just as with the Lusitania, the ship is going down due a uboat of snowflakes
:noid
-
I, for one, would love to have a few rumbles with you..
Get some pointers and have a white knuckled sweaty good laugh.
I pop in and look when i log in but you and no one is ever there..i sat about in there but that gets dull.
Time zones are a biotch...
《S》 Jimmy
-
You left after three matches without saying a word and only a System salute.
Dang it, that's true... fair enough :uhoh How long would it have taken to reach out ya think? I'm curious as I'm not in the match Arena alot, but when I do its....
like kissing your cousin... Exciting yet leaves you with a "yucky" feeling.
Enter Match Arena -> go 1v1 -> lose 1v1 in ride of choice -> Goto hanger and find same ride as enemy -> reduce fuel to min -> try again thinking I'm testing a more true representation of skillz because rides are the same -> Go back to Tower wondering what went wrong. . . :headscratch:
If I get against you next time NR, let me know if there's something you noticed me doing plz.... If i give you enough killz to formulate an opinion that is.....
-
in a more densely populated area.
Ideally more dense than one person :rofl
I, for one, would love to have a few rumbles with you..
Yo Jimmy, thane of the superior Spitfires and than little gravely patch behind the officers kharsie. I trust you are well my friend? You are on NZ time correct?
Dang it, that's true... fair enough :uhoh How long would it have taken to reach out ya think?
Just say hello next time. In my experience the convivial atmosphere that night is quite typical unless there's a grudge match going on. In the olden days there was plenty of help unless you were a dick.
Goto hanger and find same ride as enemy -> reduce fuel to min -> try again thinking I'm testing a more true representation of skillz because rides are the same -> Go back to Tower wondering what went wrong. . . :headscratch:
In all fairness I do have quite a few hours in that particular aircraft. From what I was able to observe in our brief exchanges you seem to be pursuing the 'ideal' approach walking the EM relativity line. That's probably the most versatile strain of ACM. I would advise spending a little time on the energy assesment of your opponent. Use a dead reckoning approach from initial merge through a sequence of manoeuvres and beware of people hiding energy.
Overall what Erich (Blinky) said - try to become your own trainer and use a reflective-transitive approach. It's a shame he can't post anymore otherwise he'll have to start flying twin-engined German planes (look at his post count, lolz).
-
:rofl What will he fly after the 110 :eek: Along way till he reaches the Brew 239 :uhoh :devil
-
:rofl What will he fly after the 110 :eek: Along way till he reaches the Brew 239 :uhoh :devil
He111 :rofl