Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Aces High General Discussion => Topic started by: toddbobe on July 22, 2018, 08:59:34 AM
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I debated out posting this for a while, but thought what the hell we are all friends here that love the game. I know that HTC reads our posts so I thought lets see if we, as the player community, can come up with some ideas on how to get the numbers up.
I was thinking some re-branding. This game has a steep learning curve, so I thought lets turn that to our advantage. I know the game is advertised on steam. So why not advertise that game this way. "Want an arcade style war game that lacks realism? Move along. Do you want a serious game that will test your skill in a realistic environment? Ace High is the place for you. However, be warned due to the realism there is a learning curve. Sit back and enjoy"
Im not an ad writer but my thought that accenting the seriousness and realism of the game over the competition will attract people.
Sorry Hitech, but reducing the price to below the $10 barrier may help.... I hope I dont get banned for that one.
Advertising at airshows sure hits the target market.
I have classic cars and found that many classic car people are also plane people. Targeting the classic car people may be useful.
Perhaps extending the 2 week trial to 1 month? Maybe something special for summer?
Anyone else have some constructive ideas?
Thats my $.02 worth... and its over priced.
Todd
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Seems to me that those are all very good ideas.
- oldman
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I was thinking some re-branding. This game has a steep learning curve, so I thought lets turn that to our advantage. I know the game is advertised on steam. So why not advertise that game this way. "Want an arcade style war game that lacks realism? Move along. Do you want a serious game that will test your skill in a realistic environment? Ace High is the place for you. However, be warned due to the realism there is a learning curve. Sit back and enjoy"
Telling potential customers that they might not like this game is not a good idea IMHO. I think it would be better for everyone to try and see if this is the realism level they want and accept. Some have said that few current game features are too arcade, like 6k icons for example.
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Telling potential customers that they might not like this game is not a good idea IMHO. I think it would be better for everyone to try and see if this is the realism level they want and accept. Some have said that few current game features are too arcade, like 6k icons for example.
My motivation telling people up front that there is a learning curve would help remove some of the frustration factor new players face. They will be prepared to learn and not give up.
I hear ya on the icons, but a balance must be made between realism and the ability to play on a computer. My neighbor was a jug driver, he carried a 50 year old spyglass in his plane and would often take it out and look around... a german recon plane regretted it... think of it as your spyglass... just as I think of GV dar as information from civilians.
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Designate a squad that all “New” players get automatically assigned to. Have several “Vets” lead said squad. Up the free trial from 2 weeks to 4.
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I debated out posting this for a while, but thought what the hell we are all friends here that love the game. I know that HTC reads our posts so I thought lets see if we, as the player community, can come up with some ideas on how to get the numbers up.
I was thinking some re-branding. This game has a steep learning curve, so I thought lets turn that to our advantage. I know the game is advertised on steam. So why not advertise that game this way. "Want an arcade style war game that lacks realism? Move along. Do you want a serious game that will test your skill in a realistic environment? Ace High is the place for you. However, be warned due to the realism there is a learning curve. Sit back and enjoy"
Im not an ad writer but my thought that accenting the seriousness and realism of the game over the competition will attract people.
I think this is a good idea, rewording it a bit might be better :P but the idea of pointing out this isnt some cheap-o arcade game makes a good point.
Sorry Hitech, but reducing the price to below the $10 barrier may help.... I hope I dont get banned for that one.
I know this seems to be an issue with some players coming in. I think a better solution would be to have 6-8 planes and vehicles be free all the time in the MA. You want to fly the uber/popular rides, get a subscription. This way would keep HTC's money coming in, add more player to the arenas so the numbers would look better, and take the pressure off the new guys kmowing they could fly every day, once a month and not "burn their free time". While not EVERY free player would transfer over to a subscription player, I think youd get more subscribers than you are getting now.
Advertising at airshows sure hits the target market.
Always thought this was a no brainer. HTC could put together a good system, rent a table, and provide tickets to players in the area to man the table for the duration of the show. When the show is over, ship everything to the new volunteer group at the next show.
I have classic cars and found that many classic car people are also plane people. Targeting the classic car people may be useful.
Not sure of this one but a "dumbed down" version could be made up. Put together a half dozen videos of some fighting/guns passes/bomb drops/GV's running and shooting, and have them run continuously on a good size screen and hand out pamphlets.
Perhaps extending the 2 week trial to 1 month? Maybe something special for summer?
Getting people to stay is the issue. Hitech said most players trying the game during the Steam run were gone after 20 minutes never to return. Adding a couple more weeks to the trial period isn't going to help if they are gone already. Remove any pressure and give them the 6-8 free all the time planes and vehicles.
Anyone else have some constructive ideas?
Thats my $.02 worth... and its over priced.
Todd
I would also like to see game mechanics adjusted to make the "easy" path the worst path the go to accomplish anything in the game. The lame game play is a killer for keeping new players he. A game isnt fun if there is no challenge. Cutting corners and boiling down the game play to the lease common denominator is just killing this game.
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Make some Early War rides free.
However, this doesn’t address the problem that we have of keeping people in the seat past ten minutes.
An animated video with a “CO” cartoon/CGI “instructor” might help, with animated arrows pointing to the right places (CLICK HERE TO CHOOSE A PLANE), etc.
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Have new players spawn into the front seat of an AT-6 with an AI "instructor" for a "check ride" to sort out controls and at least get into the air. At first they would just be a passenger while the clipboard displayed tips and information, then they would fly basic maneuvers with the "instructor" taking over whenever they lost control. It would be a chance to pass on basic information in an interesting and "realistic" way.
Mark new players' icons for friendlies and for the opposition. Leave it up to the friendlies to help them out or at least welcome them to the game, and to the opposition to give them a break and a salute. (Erase the icon mark after they get (some number of) kills so "newbie" returning sharks can't game it.)
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Turn off the arcade junk
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Here is why I think our beloved game fails to hold interests in new players long enough:
1.) Interface. While a lot of things where done to improve this (remember the .dot commands?), its still a blast from the past! Just take the inability to scrollwheel the map-zoom - this and the many other things we veterans are so used to will let new guys (the iPhone generation!) turn away in disgust and frustration. Its all about modern conventions. We need a modern interface to set up controls - we need a map that zooms in all the way so people can find their way (down to street level in towns!) . We need radios that are easy to find and use - new guys fail to even get in contact with someone else!
2.) Sights and sounds. AH3 looks great, but some core things that the younger generation loves is missing. The machine-gun hit-sprites are right out of the 80s arcade consoles. The explosions are bland. Gunsmoke is missing. This is stuff that we are used to, but it sticks out to someone new!
3.) Frustration factor. No one likes to fail, everyone likes to have success. But a new player in AH won´t have success for a LONG time. It´s not about "learning to fly" - AH is beyond that. You need to be able to fly to even stand a chance (and have some hardware beyond the mouse and keyboard). But even an accomplished flightsimulator pilot will get his *ss handed to him constantly for a few weeks, due to the absolutely deadly competition. Some of the guys in here do NOTHING all day 24/7 but play Aces High - for dozens of years! I like the idea of the "newbie tag". I think even some of the die-hard grouches in this community MIGHT spare someone with that - or make the killing of one of them less rewarding (doesnt count).
4.) Price. I consider 15$/month an ABSOLUTE steal, considered how much fun I have. But the new, frustrated guy will think: "What, I am supposed to PAY for getting killed over and over again?" Invent some sort of tiered payment schedule. Free, 10$, 20$... with increasing benefits, even if just cosmetic. People in other games are spending SERIOUS money just to get some special camouflage for their vehicles. AH players (the vets) are old - and have money to burn. Milk them (thats including me), but spare the new guys (until they are hooked!).
5.) Gameplay. There is much discussion about this, and many opinions. But I think we can agree that we need more "action", especially when numbers are low. Make maps smaller, funnel gameplay, make bases only capturable when adjacent to an enemy base, whatever.
Make other avenues of gameplay more rewarding. Running supplies give no score right now? Shooting manned ack neither? Ship guns? These are things that new guys could do to get a feel for the mechanics, but its not rewarded at all! Not even a message "xyz supplied..." Bad.
Jan
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Before I share my first impressions of Aces High III, I would like to preface my statements by saying that I think it's a wonderful game and my hat is off to the developers. These are my personal opinions for what it's worth. They are offered as constructive consumer feedback.
Website:
(1.) It appears, to me, dated and clunky. Thus, at this point I feel my first ping of doubt in confidence in the competence of the game's developers. As I was deciding whether to even bother with the download and install I'm asking myself if the game will be as bad as the website. Okay it's not that bad, it just seems so web 1.0
(2.) It's also not very attractive. Being a former Marine I love some Olive Drab Green but it's not what I would choose to decorate the main portal to potential customers. When I go fishing I choose a bright and shiny bait to attract the fish.
Download, Install, and Controls Setup:
(1.) Download speeds seemed slow.
(2.) Install was flawless.
(3.) Upon opening the game I was met with tutorial videos each time I opened a new clipboard menu. Great idea, but poorly executed. I mean no disrespect and I congratulate the efforts of all involved in the production but personally I was so put off by the voice of the narrator/instructor that I had to permanently disable the videos.
(4.) I've flown many flight simulators over the years so I may be biased but the Controls Setup in Aces High seems straight forward and easy to use with plenty of flexibility for fine tuning to your setup. I've experienced no problems.
The Game:
At first I wasn't very impressed with the flight model. Something felt very wrong, until I turned off the stall limiter and learned to blip the combat trim (or use trim set) rather than flying with it always on. Afterwards, flight felt fluid and I found myself zipping around at high speeds with a great big smile on my face. I'm almost hooked.
"Let's try some low level flying. I'm right over the treetops! I must be scraping the paint, this is awesome! What control! Let's fly through a hanger... EXCELLENT! Okay, so I bent my prop and ruined my engine on the first try but I'm hooked. I want to play this game.
Onward to the Main Arena...
In game VOX! Nice! "Where has this game been all my life?" I scroll the map looking for action. Radar bars work well to help me find it. I'm happy and plan to buy a subscription.
Make some Early War rides free.
Vraciu's suggestion of making a small selection of early war planes free seems to be the best option for the current state of both this game and the gaming industry. During the two week trial period players are asking themselves if the game is worth $15 per month. This would give them more than two weeks to acclimate to the game. Only after properly acclimated to a new game environment can immersion begin. Only after the player is fully immersed will he pay for a subscription.
The player will return daily to test his air mettle in his early war bird. Each time he is shot down, his ego will suggest that if he only had a late war bird he could rule the skies. What frustration! For only $15 (just 0.50 cents per day) he could have so much more fun in Aces High. I think this marketing strategy is too good not to consider pursuing.
Thank you for taking the time to read my review.
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At first I wasn't very impressed with the flight model. Something felt very wrong, until I turned off the stall limiter and learned to blip the combat trim (or use trim set) rather than flying with it always on. Afterwards, flight felt fluid and I found myself zipping around at high speeds with a great big smile on my face. I'm almost hooked.
I have always thought this and warface's tesemonial has confimed it. First impressions make a huge, huge, huge difference. If a newbie thinks that the default flying system (with stall limiter on) is what to be expected of the game they might lose interest.
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I agree 100% with the free planeset.. keeping them limited while allowing players to experience the main arena.
Gotta set the hook well before you try to reel in the fish.
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Before I share my first impressions of Aces High III, I would like to preface my statements by saying that I think it's a wonderful game and my hat is off to the developers. These are my personal opinions for what it's worth. They are offered as constructive consumer feedback.
Website:
(1.) It appears, to me, dated and clunky. Thus, at this point I feel my first ping of doubt in confidence in the competence of the game's developers. As I was deciding whether to even bother with the download and install I'm asking myself if the game will be as bad as the website. Okay it's not that bad, it just seems so web 1.0
(2.) It's also not very attractive. Being a former Marine I love some Olive Drab Green but it's not what I would choose to decorate the main portal to potential customers. When I go fishing I choose a bright and shiny bait to attract the fish.
Download, Install, and Controls Setup:
(1.) Download speeds seemed slow.
(2.) Install was flawless.
(3.) Upon opening the game I was met with tutorial videos each time I opened a new clipboard menu. Great idea, but poorly executed. I mean no disrespect and I congratulate the efforts of all involved in the production but personally I was so put off by the voice of the narrator/instructor that I had to permanently disable the videos.
(4.) I've flown many flight simulators over the years so I may be biased but the Controls Setup in Aces High seems straight forward and easy to use with plenty of flexibility for fine tuning to your setup. I've experienced no problems.
The Game:
At first I wasn't very impressed with the flight model. Something felt very wrong, until I turned off the stall limiter and learned to blip the combat trim (or use trim set) rather than flying with it always on. Afterwards, flight felt fluid and I found myself zipping around at high speeds with a great big smile on my face. I'm almost hooked.
"Let's try some low level flying. I'm right over the treetops! I must be scraping the paint, this is awesome! What control! Let's fly through a hanger... EXCELLENT! Okay, so I bent my prop and ruined my engine on the first try but I'm hooked. I want to play this game.
Onward to the Main Arena...
In game VOX! Nice! "Where has this game been all my life?" I scroll the map looking for action. Radar bars work well to help me find it. I'm happy and plan to buy a subscription.
Vraciu's suggestion of making a small selection of early war planes free seems to be the best option for the current state of both this game and the gaming industry. During the two week trial period players are asking themselves if the game is worth $15 per month. This would give them more than two weeks to acclimate to the game. Only after properly acclimated to a new game environment can immersion begin. Only after the player is fully immersed will he pay for a subscription.
The player will return daily to test his air mettle in his early war bird. Each time he is shot down, his ego will suggest that if he only had a late war bird he could rule the skies. What frustration! For only $15 (just 0.50 cents per day) he could have so much more fun in Aces High. I think this marketing strategy is too good not to consider pursuing.
Thank you for taking the time to read my review.
Thanks for your honesty, and input. Also Welcome to Aces High! <S>
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I think this is a good idea, rewording it a bit might be better :P but the idea of pointing out this isnt some cheap-o arcade game makes a good point.
Im not an ad writer and Im jet lagged running on 2 hours sleep. Im lucky I can think.
Todd
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If we follow the trend and try to predict the next *big* thing, historically its been:
First. Pay full price upfront for game.
Second. Subscribe per (insert time unit here) to game.
Third. Provide game for free and charge micro-transactions.
Fourth (predicted). Pay people to play the game.
Thats as far as I can see. I am not sure these idea will make anyone happy but its just prediction.
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:aok TODD,Sir...you have a pretty good idea there :rock Talk about LEARNING CURVE...try DCS :uhoh They handle this in a good way, you can do offline missions and training in A REDUCED REALISM/Game Mode, with more crutches to help newer players. Auto Rudder, pre flight trim settings(so you dont have to keep trimming)sort of like our Combat Trim, it does make it more Fly by wire and less simulator. In my opinion, this was best way to get a players feet wet. It was relaxed enough to at least let you figure out if the platform was a good fit for you,BEFORE buying Mods to play Online(or Off line if thats your thing). The online is a bit complicated with DCS(nowhere near as good as we have) but its same situation only talk about fish out of water...NOWAY a player can jump into DCS and go straight to ONLINE-FULL reality. We would just need Training missions to run in offline-basics.even WT has training sorties when you first start. We have offline drones, but that gets old quick...need action to set the hook. I believe this would ABSOLUTELY get folk addicted. Its hard to expect a new player to go to TA and plead for help(its a pride thing) and they sure as heck wont stay, if while trying to learn how to taxi-they get shot on runway, over and over :headscratch:
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I think a better solution would be to have 6-8 planes and vehicles be free all the time in the MA.
Agreed. Although I would go as far as 18 items on the menu comprised of one air and two ground transports, eight early war fighters, three early war dive-bombers, one early war level bomber, the Storch, the Jeep and the PT.
My 'freebie' suggestions:
C-47A
F4F-4
P-40B
SBD-5
Hurricane Mk I
Spitfire Mk I
Bf 109E-4
Fi 156
He 111H
Ju 87D-3
B5N2
D3A1
A6M2
I-16
Jeep
M-3
SdKfz 251
Elco 80' PT Boat
There's a fair degree of limited fun there without much chance of griefing. Plenty of latitude but none of the late war iconics like the Mustang, Corsair or late war 109s, 190s, Japanese or Russian hotrods or heavy bombers. I suppose the level bomber could be dropped as well as the Zero and Wildcat. That still leaves 15 toys (out of over 100). It's a pretty good carrot (with potential for steak upgrade).
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Before I share my first impressions of Aces High III, I would like to preface my statements by saying that I think it's a wonderful game and my hat is off to the developers. These are my personal opinions for what it's worth. They are offered as constructive consumer feedback.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<SNIP>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I sincerely hope Hitech reads your review. It's well constructed, unbiased and offers some great ideas...most of which I agree with.
Welcome to the game!
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My 'freebie' suggestions:
C-47A
F4F-4
P-40B
SBD-5
Hurricane Mk I
Spitfire Mk I
Bf 109E-4
Fi 156
He 111H
Ju 87D-3
B5N2
D3A1
A6M2
I-16
Jeep
M-3
SdKfz 251
Elco 80' PT Boat
If I might offer my humble opinion I think that list, taken just for example, is far too comprehensive and any new revenue generated would likely be offset by current players taking a temporary payment hiatus while you would still see them playing in the arena.
I was thinking of something closer to they way Rise of Flight offers one central and one allied fighter for free in multiplayer. Everything else is paid. When I started playing that game I flew those two planes for nearly six months before making my first purchase. Now, a few years later, I've paid for just about every plane, map, or upgrade available in the game store.
I'm of the opinion that two or three early war planes available in the MA is easily enough content to provide a free player plenty of time to decide if they'd like to support the game, as well as boost player numbers/action/targets for the paying members. Remember, everything is free to try offline and in the training arena. Free rides in the Main Arena should exist only to provide a window into MA multiplayer action (the games only real lure) for more than two weeks.
Building personal relationships with other players is the BIGGEST hook any multiplayer game has, but these things take time.
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Telling potential customers that they might not like this game is not a good idea IMHO. I think it would be better for everyone to try and see if this is the realism level they want and accept. Some have said that few current game features are too arcade, like 6k icons for example.
have you not played world of warthunder and armored warfare==you're tank and or plane reticle shows were the tank is-behind a tree-wall or a hill-dive bombing too easy as there is a bombsight on the ground all you have to do is line the sight up with the object, boom. not to mention that those games list player distance and player name for both sides.
all you have to do is go to youtube and watch the gameplay of these games.
Aces High3 heck even AH2 was and is a lot better.
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I definitely feel like allowing early war aircraft for free in the MA is a great idea. I bet you anything it would get more people to stick around longer and thus end up buying a subscription for the "good" planes.
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Designate a squad that all “New” players get automatically assigned to. Have several “Vets” lead said squad. Up the free trial from 2 weeks to 4.
yep sure another sure fire way to bash new players. HEY I'M NEW come kill me and my squad we are all new players.
HiTech already said that giving a 1 month free play won't help. if a player don't like the game in the 1st 30 minutes to an hour they are not coming back. and I have seen new players whine about this and that, or the game is too hard, and they don't come back.
you said have vets lead said squad. vets log on to play and have fun-often have limited playing time, and don't want to waste it training people-I may be wrong.
ideas for getting new players has been posted over and over.
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My 2 cents. If you let them in for free on a limited plane set, let them spend perks to fly better rides. This is how most games work today, play for free, get the nice goodies for ingame coin. Eventually you'd get to the point when it just is easier to subscribe.
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If you have ever looked at the WT initial setup interface, you are reminded of a collusion between Photo Shop and Blender in black livery with more choices and menu items than Adam. If you play the game the play interface looks like a collusion of an xBox console and a smart phone game. Lots of lights, bells and whistles constantly feeding the senses along with more HelperBots than Eve.
Our interface is rudely stark in comparison along with being so simple it can be vague. Bless Hitech and his floating tool tips. No bells, whistles or HelperBots.
In the face of this, what keeps a new never before player grinding through the WT nightmare more choices than Adam GUI, and willing to launch out into the WT environment with no experience flying anything in a simulator? Do they not get shot down as quick? Do the helper aimbots concede to the idea that gamer's need enhancements or they won't play your game for very long? Much of the WT interface is full of HelperBots telling and showing you everything you could ask for that would get you banned from our game for life.
As for free rides in the MA, give them only the spit9. It's easy mode, very competitive, and would make it quicker to gain positive feed back with kill strings. Less than that won't keep them trying for very long against vets constantly in late war monsters hunting newbies in spit9. Anything from Arlo's list would quickly be a give away the player was a green newbie.
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If you have ever looked at the WT initial setup interface, you are reminded of a collusion between Photo Shop and Blender in black livery with more choices and menu items than Adam. If you play the game the play interface looks like a collusion of an xBox console and a smart phone game. Lots of lights, bells and whistles constantly feeding the senses along with more HelperBots than Eve.
Our interface is rudely stark in comparison along with being so simple it can be vague. Bless Hitech and his floating tool tips. No bells, whistles or HelperBots.
In the face of this, what keeps a new never before player grinding through the WT nightmare more choices than Adam GUI, and willing to launch out into the WT environment with no experience flying anything in a simulator? Do they not get shot down as quick? Do the helper aimbots concede to the idea that gamer's need enhancements or they won't play your game for very long? Much of the WT interface is full of HelperBots telling and showing you everything you could ask for that would get you banned from our game for life.
As for free rides in the MA, give them only the spit9. It's easy mode, very competitive, and would make it quicker to gain positive feed back with kill strings. Less than that won't keep them trying for very long against vets constantly in late war monsters hunting newbies in spit9. Anything from Arlo's list would quickly be a give away the player was a green newbie.
Yeah I sort of agree with you about the spit9. Would be a perfect plane. Could probably throw in a 109F and a CV plane like the sea fire or a6m3.
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Yeah I sort of agree with you about the spit9. Would be a perfect plane. Could probably throw in a 109F and a CV plane like the sea fire or a6m3.
Agreed that the difficulty in flying Early War planes versus vets in uber rides would make noobs quit even faster. The choices needs to be somewhat survivable.
I like the limited choices too. Three fighters, three bombers and three GVs.
The Spit IX and something faster, like the P-47D-40, along with the A6M3.
For heavy bomber, the Lancaster because it's slow and vulnerable. The Ki-67 for medium bomber. The Il2 for attack/bomber role.
Add in the Panzer, T-34/76, M-16 and PT Boat.
No ack guns for free.
edit: maybe even rotate the choices every tour.
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the spit9. Would be a perfect plane.
This is genius. Gives even the rawest recruit a ride in which he/she can kill the most experienced vet. Not hard to learn how to fly it. Noobs can succeed on their first day.
Why didn't I think of this...? Even worse, why did Bustr beat me to it?
Hitech, could you do this tomorrow? You need to post it in big letters on the web site, though, or no one will know.
- oldman (possibly a USA Today advertisement: Free Spit 9s. Kill at will. Go here.)
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To those that are saying give the new players early war planes I think you would be making them cannon fodder... no one likes that. How about the inverse. Give them a all planes and a perk point DISCOUNT. That way a 2 week player can up a 262 and blasts 999000 out of the sky... the new guy gets a WTG and is happy.
Another thing I think we need to do is to make new players feel welcome. I would suggest that HTC make a few select players know that player X is new, that way the vets can reach out to them and make them feel at home. If a player ID's himself as new we should ALL make a concerted effort to make them feel welcome and part of the group.. no cont-alt-F4 toejam... While I LOVE the game I have to say that the true draw of this game is the player base, you guys are the best out there. If you Bish or Rook players happen to see a Nit P-47M a bit less accuracy would be appreciated! :-)
Thats my $.02 worth.. and its over priced.
Todd
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If you have ever looked at the WT initial setup interface, you are reminded of a collusion between Photo Shop and Blender in black livery with more choices and menu items than Adam. If you play the game the play interface looks like a collusion of an xBox console and a smart phone game. Lots of lights, bells and whistles constantly feeding the senses along with more HelperBots than Eve.
Our interface is rudely stark in comparison along with being so simple it can be vague. Bless Hitech and his floating tool tips. No bells, whistles or HelperBots.
In the face of this, what keeps a new never before player grinding through the WT nightmare more choices than Adam GUI, and willing to launch out into the WT environment with no experience flying anything in a simulator? Do they not get shot down as quick? Do the helper aimbots concede to the idea that gamer's need enhancements or they won't play your game for very long? Much of the WT interface is full of HelperBots telling and showing you everything you could ask for that would get you banned from our game for life.
As for free rides in the MA, give them only the spit9. It's easy mode, very competitive, and would make it quicker to gain positive feed back with kill strings. Less than that won't keep them trying for very long against vets constantly in late war monsters hunting newbies in spit9. Anything from Arlo's list would quickly be a give away the player was a green newbie.
Very true. Spit IX.
But they're still not staying past ten mins. We have to fix that.
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Very true. Spit IX.
But they're still not staying past ten mins. We have to fix that.
In addition to an effective ride, the sarcasm that newbies receive from our keyboard heroes is a big factor, in my opinion. Why would a newb stick around for that kind of treatment? ALL of us started square one, day one. The keyboard heroes have somehow forgotten that or are too self absorbed to care. Regardless, not a good starting environment for a newb.
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In addition to an effective ride, the sarcasm that newbies receive from our keyboard heroes is a big factor, in my opinion. Why would a newb stick around for that kind of treatment? ALL of us started square one, day one. The keyboard heroes have somehow forgotten that or are too self absorbed to care. Regardless, not a good starting environment for a newb.
Disable 200 for 2 weeker's, and as i stated earlier, have a few vets create a squad dedicated for new guys, and automatically place those new guys into that squad.
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In addition to an effective ride, the sarcasm that newbies receive from our keyboard heroes is a big factor, in my opinion. Why would a newb stick around for that kind of treatment? ALL of us started square one, day one. The keyboard heroes have somehow forgotten that or are too self absorbed to care. Regardless, not a good starting environment for a newb.
Yeah. Also noobs probably have no idea how to communicate to ask for help. I can't tell you how many dozens of players I saw sitting on the runway firing their guns...towering...doing it again.
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I dont think troop/supply carriers is a good idea personally.. if you are trying to build a new core of players with a promotion like this, that would be starting off the wrong foot. Aces High 3, not supply warZ. I would rotate the planes available to some extent too. 2 somewhat competitive fighters, 1 bomber, and 1 gv + pt boat.
This isnt my game though. I dont recall seeing HTC share any opinion of a free planeset either. I definately dont see any accounts being lost due to the change. I do see folks populating the arena and eventually wanting to have access to the whole game.
I cant quite wrap my head around new accounts not staying even for their trial. :headscratch:
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I dont think troop/supply carriers is a good idea personally.. if you are trying to build a new core of players with a promotion like this, that would be starting off the wrong foot. Aces High 3, not supply warZ. I would rotate the planes available to some extent too. 2 somewhat competitive fighters, 1 bomber, and 1 gv + pt boat.
This isnt my game though. I dont recall seeing HTC share any opinion of a free planeset either. I definately dont see any accounts being lost due to the change. I do see folks populating the arena and eventually wanting to have access to the whole game.
I cant quite wrap my head around new accounts not staying even for their trial. :headscratch:
:rofl :rofl :rofl :rofl :rofl :rofl :rofl :rofl :rofl :rofl :rofl :rofl :rofl :rofl :rofl
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Disable 200 for 2 weeker's, and as i stated earlier, have a few vets create a squad dedicated for new guys, and automatically place those new guys into that squad.
Great ideas! Plus have dedicated mentors/flying partners (in addition to our fantastic trainers) to fly with newbs and explain the ins and outs of the game.....encouragers.
Yeah. Also noobs probably have no idea how to communicate to ask for help. I can't tell you how many dozens of players I saw sitting on the runway firing their guns...towering...doing it again.
Also, a good idea. As a newb (and with some of it still), I found a lot of the training writups online to be confusing and not match what I was seeing on my computer screen. Written from the viewpoint of someone who understood the subject, not someone who was on day one.
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I suggested this before:
F2P is out of the question for this game. On the other hand the 2-weeks non repeating trial is well below the standard these days for trying a game before caughing out any $$.
HTC can have special event weekends where people can play for free. These should not happen often enough to form any kind of F2P, but they do allow the masses some trial time in the MA, without the 2-weeks clock ticking over their heads.
These weekends should be accompanied by an advertising push. The community could run walk on special events during these times.
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If you believe newbies are having a problem understanding how to use VOX\Text, the button that says Radio can be over looked with pre-experience assumptions from other games that Radio does not mean chat or text. Since the younger generation is used to chat or text and something related to VOX like Discord or other external service voice comms in other games being separate functions. Change the button to VOX\Text or have an onscreen floating box like the HUD in a corner with Communications or some other word or sentence. "Click Here for Help Channel Chat."
I don't know how much Hitech researches the competition and other games in general to understand player expectations based on experiencing those games most of their gaming lives. Our clip board is pretty basic, sparse and simple. I'm not sure how patient or curious new players are to hover a mouse or, if they even discover that aspect of system help. What I've seen of the other games, along with a word description is usually included a graphic in a click box as a button for a function. Shades of kiddy games. :lol Think of games on your smart phone or a console. WT went to the extreme with this in their interface. The AH GUI is of the generation that we understood to click on things and see what happens to learn the interface. Then there is the aspect of players for the competition's games are constantly publishing updated youtube videos on how to navigate and use the basic setup of the game's interface portal. We call that the tower with that clipboard we click on. Skuzzy might want to create a sticky forum and fill it with all of those Help videos the popout on the clipboard runs after the first game install, "Help Videos" or some really obvious name. Newbies probably visit these forums at least once along with prospective new players.
If it only takes 10 minutes to dislike this game, that is not long enough to be offended by the in game community or, the learning curve. It's just about long enough to have their pre-conceived judge a book by it's cover biases confirmed. Our interface on purpose tries to look like how boring a tower and a real clip board looks. I used to work as ground support at Bay Bridge Airfield in Maryland. You only want the info needed to accomplish flying to the local rules and standards, not a bells and whistles game console for xBox hero's. Games have bells, whistles and flashy shiny stuff to hook short attention spans. Pilots in the real world try to eliminate as much of that as possible becasue their lives depend on not being distracted. Hitech has chosen to eliminate "distractions" in favor of focusing on seat of the pants combat. And becasue he is a real world active pilot, not a virtual world gamer.
If all it takes is 10 minutes to dislike our game, the portal to our dance floor may be a bit too Zen for kids expecting a mosh-pit with flashy shiny stuff going on like WT and other games.
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Agreed. Although I would go as far as 18 items on the menu comprised of one air and two ground transports, eight early war fighters, three early war dive-bombers, one early war level bomber, the Storch, the Jeep and the PT.
My 'freebie' suggestions:
C-47A
F4F-4
P-40B
SBD-5
Hurricane Mk I
Spitfire Mk I
Bf 109E-4
Fi 156
He 111H
Ju 87D-3
B5N2
D3A1
A6M2
I-16
Jeep
M-3
SdKfz 251
Elco 80' PT Boat
There's a fair degree of limited fun there without much chance of griefing. Plenty of latitude but none of the late war iconics like the Mustang, Corsair or late war 109s, 190s, Japanese or Russian hotrods or heavy bombers. I suppose the level bomber could be dropped as well as the Zero and Wildcat. That still leaves 15 toys (out of over 100). It's a pretty good carrot (with potential for steak upgrade).
I think this list is a bit too comprehensive. The issue of alt accounts and spying (yep I went there, someone was bound to bring it up) also comes to mind. Being able to have a second account for free and run goons, M3, etc would offset the decent balance we have already. Luckily, this game has never been plagued much with alt accounts like I have seen in other games. While it may be hard to alt account with no joystick, the GV game can certainly be altered by an influx of alt accounts.
As for planes, it is tough because people who want to play want to fly the P51, P47, 190, 262, etc. All the late war stuff. Giving all early war stuff will make people write it off as Pay to Win, which in today's gaming world you don't want that label. Mid war stuff would be a nice mix. But we're talking only a handful of planes, 3-4 or so. Just to give people a taste beyond their 2 week trial (which is too short to experience this game and make a decision).
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Give them a spit9, FM2, He111 and Panzer H.
These become obvious if a vet or newbie is flying or driving them. After the initial 2 week, 2 more with only these. Vets with second accounts won't destabilize anything like having access to Arlo's full list. And make the 28 days contiguous once the trial account enters the MA for the first time, use it or loose it.
Most people with lives so busy they can't keep up with extra activities will never start a free account at much of anything or have the time to waste on our learning curve. They are too busy. This has been used as an argument for extremely long and flexible trial MA accounts. Only a vet who wants a long term free second account would even throw that out as a road block to something like this. Use it or loose it. Over the years I've seen many new name 2 week accounts flying like vets I've fought against under their real names show up repeatedly. I've never heard that your IP or what ever unique identifier is limited to x number of times to create new two week accounts.
And then back to the stories of prospective new players taking only 10 minutes in the tower to decide our game is too retro and boring. Windows 7-10 has a classic interface you can set your OS back to. If younger gamers need a glitz and flash interface to warm the cockles of their little hearts. Present two interfaces with a toggle for the "Classic" we see standard today and burn their Lil eyes out with flash and bling like the competitors. If that is all it will take to get them to up rides and discover what makes AH what it is. It's a gamble, or Hitech just waits for them to turn 40 and hope they take another look at this game. By that point most of them will be working at eliminating glitz and flash from their lives.
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:furious Ok,maybe OFF TOPIC, but back too MY PERSONAL pet peave with keeping NEW players :uhoh Just LAST NIGHT....New player, made a comment on 200 and recieved this reply "Shut up..... new DIC" :furious THAT AINT HELPING I would post the screen shot, but dont know how to edit out the names involved, and dont want to be a DICK. But it really upset me :uhoh Yes...HE LEFT :bhead
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:furious Ok,maybe OFF TOPIC, but back too MY PERSONAL pet peave with keeping NEW players :uhoh Just LAST NIGHT....New player, made a comment on 200 and recieved this reply "Shut up..... new DIC" :furious THAT AINT HELPING I would post the screen shot, but dont know how to edit out the names involved, and dont want to be a DICK. But it really upset me :uhoh Yes...HE LEFT :bhead
Send that screen shot in to HITech and let him remedy that childish behavior. What’s wrong with showing the names involved? If anyone else was egging this guy on, they need their names up in lights also.
Just another prime example for not tuning up 200.
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I still think it would be beneficial to use the games learning curve as a plus rather than a negative. Such as this is a serious game not an arcade plane game. Are you serious enough?.... that kinda thing.
Thats my $0.02 worth... and its over priced.
Todd
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And then back to the stories of prospective new players taking only 10 minutes in the tower to decide our game is too retro and boring.
Lots of interesting suggestions from the established player base but I wonder what (prospective) new players think? How about a survey of recently joined players, with an incentive of a free months subscription to complete the survey?
Some market research to find out what is required for those key first 10mins would surely be helpful? :headscratch:
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Lots of interesting suggestions from the established player base but I wonder what (prospective) new players think? How about a survey of recently joined players, with an incentive of a free months subscription to complete the survey?
Some market research to find out what is required for those key first 10mins would surely be helpful? :headscratch:
That’s a great idea.👍
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Lots of interesting suggestions from the established player base but I wonder what (prospective) new players think? How about a survey of recently joined players, with an incentive of a free months subscription to complete the survey?
Some market research to find out what is required for those key first 10mins would surely be helpful? :headscratch:
Cant argue with that! Sounds like a pretty good idea :salute
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P-51D is a very popular ride for new players & from a certain perspective a very good idea for a free plane: 1 - new players love it (I see a lot of them in MPA and the Breakfast Club (usually HOing from 2k out)), 2 - it gives them a chance to escape until they have more skill, 3 - it conversely takes a lot of skill to get the best out of it. Running into an experienced P-51D stick will show what it can do and I suspect those who seek difficult but achievable challenges outnumber the instant satisfaction brigade by a long chalk, 4 - it doesn't demand fine control at slow speed to get some results out of it like, say, a 109 does (think mouse controllers only). 5 - it's already an optional purchase in another popular flight sim I hear. Oh and 6 - everyone will think Vraciu is a noob and he'll get more fights (http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/k526/rwrk2/duck.gif)
I'd run an advertised promotion, experiment & evaluate if it was my game. Sometimes a negative result is also useful.
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I think the idea is not to give away something that can create a permanent class of free play part timers. Who know when they create a free trial account every few months, it lasts up to a month. Or a new one every tour. They will have a highly competitive late war ride waiting for them next time they get the itch and come into town. In the old days you sold cut rate drinks down stairs with girls walking around keeping company but, the girls up stairs were full price for more than a chat. Here in the USA and in Europe and the Common Wealth. Probably why Hitech keeps it to two weeks in the MA. Even FPS games follow that down stairs, up stairs rule with lots of smoke and mirrors, and why they are really freemium.
I wonder how many would admit if Hitech did a 30 day trial account where the P51D was the bird, they would cancel their accounts and play when they really got the itch knowing a late war ride would be available for 30 days? Any speculation on how the numbers would drop off as a result? Or is that Hitech's headache to work out. It's so easy to spend other peoples money until it runs out.
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I think the idea is not to give away something that can create a permanent class of free play part timers.
Although for a temporary period bumping the numbers up off the tipping point has its own merits because as I learned witnessing the decline of the AH2 DA & also the MA in my Timezone. Low numbers in itself is enough to cause low numbers.
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Lots of interesting suggestions from the established player base but I wonder what (prospective) new players think? How about a survey of recently joined players, with an incentive of a free months subscription to complete the survey?
Some market research to find out what is required for those key first 10mins would surely be helpful? :headscratch:
People who won't spend ten mins to figure out WTH they're doing in the game are not going to fill out a survey.
Maybe Hitech needs to build a Chinese language version so all those billions of wannabe fighter pilot heroes will join.
:headscratch:
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I am NOT buying a Chinese FUSS-O-METER!!!!!!!!! :old:
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With smaller numbers, I'd suggest smaller maps. Concentrate the action and the interaction instead of making it easy to go to some far corner of the map to take real estate and avoid interaction.
Numbers go up, map sizes go up.
As a newbie, why would anyone want to have to fly for an hour before finding a fight?
Add fighter town and tank town where the bases are not able to be captured and not able to be damaged. No points for kills, no additions to anyone's stats. No hangers downed so planes keep flying. Let the newbies be a part of the larger arena with a spot to learn without paying a price for the stat hounds vulching them so they can land 30 kills or bombing the hangers just to kill the fight. You kill someone there, no one knows the difference. Once the newbies get an idea on how it works they can venture out into the land of stats and conquest and start to establish themselves after getting a chance to learn the ropes without the usual distractions and discouragement
Might make those recruiting for squads take the time to fly with folks too and help them integrate into the larger arena.
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How do you make an old man look young again? That is the crux of the issue here.
Is re-inventing him enough? Do you get him to learn the lingo and go around to the trendy places? Do you give him a smartphone? Does he get an electric car? Does he youtube/twitch/stream and wear a VR helmet? Is he up to the latest on netflix or amazon?
There is also the problem of being seen as cringy. Pulling off stuff not of your generation is not an easy task. Is VR like 3D and just a failing trend at the moment?
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With smaller numbers, I'd suggest smaller maps.
Oh man, now you've gone and released the krakenstr. :uhoh
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With smaller numbers, I'd suggest smaller maps.
I vote to adopt the old AW map. (With terrain updates, certainly.) Only a few neutral bases to capture, all in the middle. No more win-the-map. Possibly a separate island where GV people can engage in frenzied mutual destruction. Perk points based on kills. Keep it simple.
- oldman (but hey, I'm old and simple myself)
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seconded
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All in favor of using th old Air Warrior map say “Aye”
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Advertising at airshows sure hits the target market.
As others have said, this seems like a no-brainer. But Hitech once said that he had spent a lot of money advertising at airshows, with very little return. It seems counter-intuitive, but you can't argue with experience.
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Designate a squad that all “New” players get automatically assigned to. Have several “Vets” lead said squad.
I'll be part of that training squad. I'm not good enough to teach ACM, but I can help new players get up the learning curve.
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How about sprucing the in game O-Club up with a stage and a pole?
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As others have said, this seems like a no-brainer. But Hitech once said that he had spent a lot of money advertising at airshows, with very little return. It seems counter-intuitive, but you can't argue with experience.
You are right. Airshows don't have that many people. Then they forget about it when they get home.
Tv Commercials and Online advertisments go a long way. If I recall many players found this game from the military channel.
One fine commercial on the history channel would attract a lot I bet.
There's so much that AH offers that doesn't get marketed, especially on steam. It's a weak spot for AH. Heck if you could find someone to volunteer to update the current website once a week with cool vids and events. That would probably attract more people.
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I think the idea is not to give away something that can create a permanent class of free play part timers. Who know when they create a free trial account every few months, it lasts up to a month. Or a new one every tour. They will have a highly competitive late war ride waiting for them next time they get the itch and come into town. In the old days you sold cut rate drinks down stairs with girls walking around keeping company but, the girls up stairs were full price for more than a chat. Here in the USA and in Europe and the Common Wealth. Probably why Hitech keeps it to two weeks in the MA. Even FPS games follow that down stairs, up stairs rule with lots of smoke and mirrors, and why they are really freemium.
I wonder how many would admit if Hitech did a 30 day trial account where the P51D was the bird, they would cancel their accounts and play when they really got the itch knowing a late war ride would be available for 30 days? Any speculation on how the numbers would drop off as a result? Or is that Hitech's headache to work out. It's so easy to spend other peoples money until it runs out.
Not arguing..but while my Pc was being fixed, I went ahead and set up my ex wife's youngest son an account. It was on my new pc and already had AH on it and played under MY account. So figured he could start HIS 2 weeks on my pc...wouldnt do it, 2 week trial was expired :uhoh Maybe its ISP based? If so, wouldnt that be alot of trouble just to keep getting free play?
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The OP has posed the question to solve the low numbers and many have jumped on a better / longer free trial period as the answer. That may be an option.
However, HTC has openly said that a massive majority of new players do not stay even past day 1 let alone 2 weeks. Why do they leave so quickly and what is the solution to that?
I was a veteran of AW, WW2OL, Fighter Ace before I came to AH. I struggled to get the plane over 200 mph in my first day. I got slaughtered time and again. Only my love of the concept of fighter combat kept me going.
Of the 6 squad mates that came to AH from FA, only 1 remains. Most were gone before the 2 week trial was done. Nose bounce accounted for a few of them, flight model the rest.
I make no judgement either way, but these were the reasons they left, not the cost or the length of the free trial.
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2 words.
David Wales
<S>
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Rather than free planes or longer free trial period how about increased training for new players before throwing them into a multiplayer environment. We have a great group of trainers and some helpful tutorials on the AH website, but how about offline training where the drones do more than just fly in circles. Having offline play with adjustable difficulty would allow new players to start shooting drones flying in circles, then basic ACM with non-firing drones, then advanced with drones firing back. You can market it as a "flight academy", because this is a "serious" combat flight sim. Once a new player has reached that level they are more likely to stick with it in the MA, because they at least know WHY they got shot down. This tends to be the way new games with multiplayer options are going.
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Do a stock split..... that will instantly double the numbers.
:banana:
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I was going to read all 5 pages of this but then remembered how many like it I’ve read thru the years. All the same. I know every piece of advice I ever offered was ignored. I knew nobody was going to tool around in a WW1 plane, despite what they said. I said the big maps were a big mistake when the numbers started dropping. They would have been better off keeping uterus on 24/7.
Honestly I don’t think HiTech and a lot of players want anything to change. 1/2 seem happy getting on once or twice a week with old squaddies and chatting while launching tank rounds across the map. They don’t mind new players as long as they are compliant and easy kills but they don’t want anyone new on their squad channel or in their squad.
Compared to when I first joined the game has gotten inhospitable to new players.
Lastly the genre has been on the decline for awhile and doesn’t draw squeekrs like it once did. Kids always want the newest thing and dot want to play with old croakers like us. They want to see brain splatter in FPS games and don’t have the patience for a game like this, nor a credit card #.
Pity, except for the big maps AH has always been well written and had a good flight model, and excellent customer service.
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The OP has posed the question to solve the low numbers and many have jumped on a better / longer free trial period as the answer. That may be an option.
However, HTC has openly said that a massive majority of new players do not stay even past day 1 let alone 2 weeks. Why do they leave so quickly and what is the solution to that?
I was a veteran of AW, WW2OL, Fighter Ace before I came to AH. I struggled to get the plane over 200 mph in my first day. I got slaughtered time and again. Only my love of the concept of fighter combat kept me going.
Of the 6 squad mates that came to AH from FA, only 1 remains. Most were gone before the 2 week trial was done. Nose bounce accounted for a few of them, flight model the rest.
I make no judgement either way, but these were the reasons they left, not the cost or the length of the free trial.
The single worst thing about AH3, IMO. Wish I cou,d find a way to tame it.
In any case, getting people to stay is the most important thing. A welcome tutorial would help.
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The single worst thing about AH3, IMO. Wish I cou,d find a way to tame it.
In any case, getting people to stay is the most important thing. A welcome tutorial would help.
Try stick scailing. I know that helped for some players.
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AH is a niche game. People only stay 15 minutes because they are not interested in flying they are interested in playing a game. Steam leads are cheap but they are people looking for a video game not a niche flying simulation with bullets. People who have computers that can play AH probably aren't that interested in playing it. A lot of people who might be interested in trying AH and would end up playing it probably don't have a computer that can play it let alone a joystick. Quandary.
Immediately I think the maps, gameplay etc. has to be rescaled so that it works better for low numbers. IL2 is considered busy when 25 people are on, here depending upon who is playing it can get miserable with 30.
The best part of AH I have always thought were the special events, there are less of them now. Maybe they needed more facilitated attendance then just word of mouth/volunteerism. I have no idea. AH racing was fun but it was always at the wrong time for me, a new player wouldn't know it existed until they found out about it on their own same with scenarios and FSO and Snapshots etc.
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AH is a niche game. People only stay 15 minutes because they are not interested in flying they are interested in playing a game. Steam leads are cheap but they are people looking for a video game not a niche flying simulation with bullets. People who have computers that can play AH probably aren't that interested in playing it. A lot of people who might be interested in trying AH and would end up playing it probably don't have a computer that can play it let alone a joystick. Quandary.
Immediately I think the maps, gameplay etc. has to be rescaled so that it works better for low numbers. IL2 is considered busy when 25 people are on, here depending upon who is playing it can get miserable with 30.
The best part of AH I have always thought were the special events, there are less of them now. Maybe they needed more facilitated attendance then just word of mouth/volunteerism. I have no idea. AH racing was fun but it was always at the wrong time for me, a new player wouldn't know it existed until they found out about it on their own same with scenarios and FSO and Snapshots etc.
I was gonna say that about IL2...It's really busy with 20 or so players on...AH is busy with 15 or 20 players per side...You just have to know how to find the fights or create them... People running to ack disheartens long time players and makes them rage quit... Attacking a town only for it to be resupplied disheartens players and makes them rage quit....There are no easy answers...
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Here's a couple ideas to keep the new members a bit longer. Will it work? Who knows. Newbies are a fickle group, but it's so very obvious that the current tactics and attempts are NOT working at all. Time to shift gears and start looking for changes.
Free to Play
100% on board with the other folks. Open up F2P in the main arena with a limited selection of planes and vehicles. No more than 10 planes and 1-2 vehicles. Let them take it all in, create a desire to move up to the better stuff.
Purchasing Perks
Go for it, by all means. I honestly don't care if someone wants to whip out the credit card and buy 5,000 fighter perks and fly those rides all the time. Most perk planes are relatively easy to counter if they are flown by someone new. And this also means more money for HTC to keep up their business, hire some new hands, whatever. It is in no way game-breaking, it's really not pay-to-win. Make it happen! $0.05 a perk!
Information
Information in-game is just not as readily accessible as it needs to be. For example, someone who knows absolutely NOTHING about airplanes or guns or bombs, they are really just left on their own. There should be more stats about the different planes and their loadouts. Have the speed/climb charts change with the different loadouts. Have a description of the plane show up when you select it. Information on the loadouts, what a bomb radius is, etc. Make convergence more noticeable, what it is, recommended settings (rather than the default in-your-face stuff).
The way to get information used to be outside of the game on wikis and all that, but that’s just not how things are done in the gaming industry anymore. Yes those things are all still used, but a gamer should never HAVE to leave a game to get information unless they are looking for tutorials, videos, or crazy in-depth information.
There needs to be more tool hints and things of that sort for the new player. An actual first-time setup walkthrough. A first flight coached by a computer (with realistic voice that doesn’t make you want to put a knife in your own ears). NEWBIES NEED HANDHOLDING, especially today’s caliber of newbie (for the most part, there are great exceptions).
Honestly I don’t want to hear the old “well that’s not the kind of player we want anyway” because THAT kind of stuff is why the game is dying. We can get 5 of the players the old-timers want and the game continues to die, or we get 1,000 new players, those 10 old guys leave and the game stays alive and healthy. This is a mindset change for all of the players, old and new, and the developers. Stay with the times or get left behind, it really is that simple. Sucks, but it is the fact of the matter.
Squads
I think default newbie squads led by volunteers isn't a bad idea, but I do think squads and squad visibility needs some work done. Right now the only way to find out about a squad is by coming to the forums and searching through to find a squad, see if it's even active, MAYBE they have written a wiki article about themselves.
Instead, I would make squads more accessible in-game. For example, there is already a squads option in the O'Club, but it's worthless if you aren't already in a squad or you aren't trying to create one. Have the squads page display a list of active squads available. Make them clickable so a potential recruit could click on a squad they like and get information about it. What side the squad is on, total members, squad leadership, a squad description written by the CO/XO, and include a newbie-friendly checkbox that a CO/XO can select for their squad that is also displayed on the information page so a recruit knows whether or not it's a bunch of old farts who don't like new people or it's a squad willing to put in some time helping their new member along.
Missions
The mission system isn't that bad really. I've been going through it, and I like the setup. I would like to see a country-wide advertisement when a mission is created, much like when someone successfully lands a sortie but with a different color so you KNOW it's a mission.
Make missions count for something. Maybe an extra perk modifier, like 15% more perk points, with a mission requiring minimum 5 players or something to that effect. And let the mission creator set the destination (doesn't have to be visible to others) so if someone joins the mission and flies halfway across the map away from the mission track, they don’t receive the bonus, or they get kicked from the mission at X distance. This could also be another draw for subscriptions, F2P members don't get the extra perk modifier.
Website and "Play for Free" false advertising
Please god update the website. There are plenty of people who have stated that the website looks old and it's very rarely updated. Add some flair to it, make it more attractive, add some larger pictures and make it seem fun.....
If this game is not going to actually have a Free to Play option in the main arena, even with a limited planeset, get rid of all the "Play for Free" stuff. That seems to have made many new players angry to get fooled into getting the game, only to find out it's not free at all after the trial. Read the steam reviews and that's EXTREMELY evident. It's deceitful, and that is their first impression of the game and the devs, that they are out to deceive the players.
The gamer has changed over the last 15 years quite significantly and they expect a lot more. They expect up-to-date information, flashy websites, devs that listen and respond to community feedback, value for their money, in-game resources for information (not relying on forums alone), ease of use, and fun. This website and forum was just fine 15 years ago. Today it's just not up to standard, not even close.
Subscription price
This will probably be the least favorite if the devs are even reading any of this post and considering player feedback, but I’ll state my opinion again.
This game is just not $15 a month material, not compared to everything else out there. $7.95 a month MAYBE. Personally I would recommend a discounted system, like this for example:
-Monthly: $10 a month
-3 Months: $27 lump sum ($9 per month) with $3 savings.
-6 Months: $50 lump sum ($8.33 per month) with $10 savings.
-12 Months: $90 lump sum ($7.5 per month) with $30 savings.
Conclusion
The time has come for HTC to step up and try some new things. Time to get gimmicky, branch out there and get creative. We've been behind the times on this for well over a decade now, and if there's any hope of saving Aces High, it will require a significant break from this stagnant and out-dated mold we've become used to. I really hope we can come together and figure this out, the new players need serious attention, but a lot has to come from the devs in order for that to stand a fighting chance. The community can help some as well, but the game itself needs changing, and we as the players are pretty powerless there other than to offer our suggestions and hope they are heard.
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Add to my last post...
In IL2 people don't complain about attacking buildings and stuff because it's part of the mission to win that match or whatever...AH doesn't have this...In AH you do what you want...This isn't a problem with it makes it much more awesome...
Unfortunately people with no since of purpose in a game don't want to play said game because they don't have a purpose in it...squads make the game have purpose...Squad leaders gave guys stuff to do...I give my guys stuff to do when I'm on...We have fun like that...But when you have to pay for something you don't know what to do with...You have problems...
Add to that... People don't want to pay for anything anymore...We are all growing old and more cranky...Nothing is what it used to be back in the day...I can go on and on...It's a hard nut to crack...
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AH is a niche game. People only stay 15 minutes because they are not interested in flying they are interested in playing a game. Steam leads are cheap but they are people looking for a video game not a niche flying simulation with bullets. People who have computers that can play AH probably aren't that interested in playing it. A lot of people who might be interested in trying AH and would end up playing it probably don't have a computer that can play it let alone a joystick. Quandary.
If you don't have a computer that can play AH, you probably don't have a computer that can run Microsoft Word hahaha. But in all seriousness, there has to be a point at which the devs have to leave people behind. If you haven't upgraded in the last decade, it's on YOU to keep up. I realize computer technology changes like twice a year, but nearly any computer from the last 5-8 years can run AH. The community and devs cannot cater to the 2% of the crowd that can't/won't upgrade.
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Unfortunately people with no since of purpose in a game don't want to play said game because they don't have a purpose in it...squads make the game have purpose...Squad leaders gave guys stuff to do...I give my guys stuff to do when I'm on...We have fun like that...But when you have to pay for something you don't know what to do with...You have problems...
This is also very true. While it can be fun to just do your own thing for a bit, you really need a sense of purpose to hold interest. I'll play things like Rocket League and WoT occasionally for the quick fun, but the games I enjoy the most are games where I have a reason for being and can make a difference. Where I can have goals, help my squad accomplish the squad-wide goals and objectives, feel like I'm contributing. Without that, interest falls off quickly.
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Try stick scailing. I know that helped for some players.
It's definitely an AH3 thing. I just went over to Warbirds and flew around without it happening. This in fact the only game out there that does it. I don't understand the logic behind it either. Airplanes just don't behave like that unless they are massively unstable or out of CG.
Scaling doesn't help, it just shifts it around. I was told to just deal with it by other players. Not sure how guys like Skyyr seemed to have such incredible nose authority. Maybe a new stick would be of some help, but if it's built into the coding well.......
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It's definitely an AH3 thing. I just went over to Warbirds and flew around without it happening. This in fact the only game out there that does it. I don't understand the logic behind it either. Airplanes just don't behave like that unless they are massively unstable or out of CG.
Scaling doesn't help, it just shifts it around. I was told to just deal with it by other players. Not sure how guys like Skyyr seemed to have such incredible nose authority. Maybe a new stick would be of some help, but if it's built into the coding well.......
Try DCS World,V :eek: Yes its more "SIM" but even in their "Game Flight Model" which is way beyond the effects of combat trim and stall limiter we have, TALK ABOUT NOSE BOUNCE....scalling is the ONLY WAY you can even attempt to hold a coarse. IMO, since I am only VR all the time..with its smaller POV than most other players without VR, Nose bounce CAN be scaled out VERY EFFECTIVELY. When I do play with my old settings and TIR, I notice nose bounce returns...but do to scaling it isnt NEAR as big an issue as it was. You have to really dig in and tinker with it...but it can be dialed out. Check the "Show control input" box for the HUD and fly a sortie. Pretty quick to see where the "Bounce" comes into play. Pretty sure your reason is same mine was, subconscious pulling just A WEE BIT harder as you squeeze trigger...then realize NOPE...yes...nope,,,DANGIT...that sucked, rinse repeat :uhoh
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First, I would like commend the community for helping the new players with their questions. :aok I have noticed and have been preaching that we must be behave and try to answer from new players the best we can. We have improved on that from my view point at least what I've seen on the Rook side.
Second, just quickly I am sure you heard it before :D, I think this game is missing it's demographics in my opinion.
I saw commercial for Warbirds on the AHC Channel recently an of course I saw War Thunder commercial too. Aces High needs to be seen on channels like the AHC, Science Ch, FS1, FS2, History, etc. like ages before. That's this game target demographics and we all know it :old:. I know its not cheap but that's what needs to be done. :joystick:
:salute
27th
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Vriacu,
Some things with scaling are fixed by opening the jsm file and cropping about 5000-10000 off each end of the calibration line.
These kinds of lines and two data points: X Axis 0,32767,65535,0.050000,0.100000,0.250000
For 5000 that would end up 5000,32767,60535. You have just shortened your maximum axis throw which speeds up getting to the ends when you move your stick. So then you have to use scaling to tame it. It's not as extreme as it sounds.
That makes it not necessary to ever calibrate again. Since I started doing that 10 years ago I've never had to calibrate again. You do then need to use scaling since the game thinks your stick has a shorter end to end throw and you need to tame it down a bit. As for nose bounce, this has helped somewhat to eliminate it along with scaling but. If you go offline and chase the drones on full zoom. Watch your nose as you pull the pipper inside left and try to hold the nose just up a littel to account for your target's forward motion. If you are inputting rudder, do you have a point half to 2\3 of the way to full deflection that the rudder suddenly snaps a few degrees instead of following your input smoothly? It's that sudden rudder snap getting in the way and looking like nose bounce.
I took 10000 off each end of my rudder calibration line so I didn't have to push a leg all the way under my desk for full deflection. And I scaled starting about 35 up at the "0" line over to the 50 line, then gentile curved up to 100 at the 90 line. You will have to play with the delay and dead zone. No sudden snap out of nowhere. Controllable small inputs or smooth large inputs. Made my GV driving more fun. I can imagine twisty sticks really driving you nuts with that sudden snap.
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Vriacu,
Some things with scaling are fixed by opening the jsm file and cropping about 5000-10000 off each end of the calibration line.
These kinds of lines and two data points: X Axis 0,32767,65535,0.050000,0.100000,0.250000
For 5000 that would end up 5000,32767,60535. You have just shortened your maximum axis throw which speeds up getting to the ends when you move your stick. So then you have to use scaling to tame it. It's not as extreme as it sounds.
That makes it not necessary to ever calibrate again. Since I started doing that 10 years ago I've never had to calibrate again. You do then need to use scaling since the game thinks your stick has a shorter end to end throw and you need to tame it down a bit. As for nose bounce, this has helped somewhat to eliminate it along with scaling but. If you go offline and chase the drones on full zoom. Watch your nose as you pull the pipper inside left and try to hold the nose just up a littel to account for your target's forward motion. If you are inputting rudder, do you have a point half to 2\3 of the way to full deflection that the rudder suddenly snaps a few degrees instead of following your input smoothly? It's that sudden rudder snap getting in the way and looking like nose bounce.
I took 10000 off each end of my rudder calibration line so I didn't have to push a leg all the way under my desk for full deflection. And I scaled starting about 35 up at the "0" line over to the 50 line, then gentile curved up to 100 at the 90 line. You will have to play with the delay and dead zone. No sudden snap out of nowhere. Controllable small inputs or smooth large inputs. Made my GV driving more fun. I can imagine twisty sticks really driving you nuts with that sudden snap.
Wasnt aware of that little tidbit! My curves are settup about the same though....Thanks for the tip,Bustr :rock
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Vriacu,
Some things with scaling are fixed by opening the jsm file and cropping about 5000-10000 off each end of the calibration line.
These kinds of lines and two data points: X Axis 0,32767,65535,0.050000,0.100000,0.250000
For 5000 that would end up 5000,32767,60535. You have just shortened your maximum axis throw which speeds up getting to the ends when you move your stick. So then you have to use scaling to tame it. It's not as extreme as it sounds.
That makes it not necessary to ever calibrate again. Since I started doing that 10 years ago I've never had to calibrate again. You do then need to use scaling since the game thinks your stick has a shorter end to end throw and you need to tame it down a bit. As for nose bounce, this has helped somewhat to eliminate it along with scaling but. If you go offline and chase the drones on full zoom. Watch your nose as you pull the pipper inside left and try to hold the nose just up a littel to account for your target's forward motion. If you are inputting rudder, do you have a point half to 2\3 of the way to full deflection that the rudder suddenly snaps a few degrees instead of following your input smoothly? It's that sudden rudder snap getting in the way and looking like nose bounce.
I took 10000 off each end of my rudder calibration line so I didn't have to push a leg all the way under my desk for full deflection. And I scaled starting about 35 up at the "0" line over to the 50 line, then gentile curved up to 100 at the 90 line. You will have to play with the delay and dead zone. No sudden snap out of nowhere. Controllable small inputs or smooth large inputs. Made my GV driving more fun. I can imagine twisty sticks really driving you nuts with that sudden snap.
I remember you mentioning this a long time ago and I completely forgot about it. I need to try this. Thanks for bringing it to light again, Bustr. :salute
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If you don't have a computer that can play AH, you probably don't have a computer that can run Microsoft Word hahaha. But in all seriousness, there has to be a point at which the devs have to leave people behind. If you haven't upgraded in the last decade, it's on YOU to keep up. I realize computer technology changes like twice a year, but nearly any computer from the last 5-8 years can run AH. The community and devs cannot cater to the 2% of the crowd that can't/won't upgrade.
I don't disagree with what you are saying but my point wasn't about people who are players and don't want to upgrade it was about a theoretical population of people who aren't really interested in video games but would be interested in AH. It might just be projection on my part but for me the only reason I own a video card is AH, the only games I play are IL2 and Condor a soaring simulator. If I was starting today I would never try AH because I just wouldn't be able to. I'm not saying this is something to fix I am just observing that it might be hard to get exposure to a market segment.
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I don't disagree with what you are saying but my point wasn't about people who are players and don't want to upgrade it was about a theoretical population of people who aren't really interested in video games but would be interested in AH. It might just be projection on my part but for me the only reason I own a video card is AH, the only games I play are IL2 and Condor a soaring simulator. If I was starting today I would never try AH because I just wouldn't be able to. I'm not saying this is something to fix I am just observing that it might be hard to get exposure to a market segment.
For sure. I was kind of having a joke, but I also missed what you were trying to say. Realistically, you could build yourself a computer that could easily handle AH for around $400-$500 on a site like Newegg, or just buy the separate components here and there if you can't get that kind of money together. Computers these days are very powerful compared to what used to be around, and the invention of the APU (which is CPU + GPU) has probably helped in regard to the video card requirement.
I just don't think we're missing out on a sizeable amount of people due to computer issues. If AH was really graphics intensive, then I could see it. I could be wrong though, I'm not exactly an expert! The gamer world is HUGE, and for some reason AH isn't pulling in that crowd. I can understand the older generations maybe not having the computer to handle AH, but with all due respect to those fine folks, that's a small crowd to market to. The target audience should be the gamer generations, like the 20-40 year olds that dominate the gaming market, and many of those have decent computers and gaming laptops.
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I don't disagree with what you are saying but my point wasn't about people who are players and don't want to upgrade it was about a theoretical population of people who aren't really interested in video games but would be interested in AH. It might just be projection on my part but for me the only reason I own a video card is AH, the only games I play are IL2 and Condor a soaring simulator. If I was starting today I would never try AH because I just wouldn't be able to. I'm not saying this is something to fix I am just observing that it might be hard to get exposure to a market segment.
Hey pemb cut him some slack, he has only been here since 2004... he is still a noob. :P
:rofl :rofl :rofl :rofl
:bolt:
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Hey pemb cut him some slack, he has only been here since 2004... he is still a noob. :P
:rofl :rofl :rofl :rofl
:bolt:
Yes, definitely still noobly, at least the way I fly these planes :airplane: :joystick: :x :aok
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I know this seems to be an issue with some players coming in. I think a better solution would be to have 6-8 planes and vehicles be free all the time in the MA. You want to fly the uber/popular rides, get a subscription. This way would keep HTC's money coming in, add more player to the arenas so the numbers would look better, and take the pressure off the new guys kmowing they could fly every day, once a month and not "burn their free time". While not EVERY free player would transfer over to a subscription player, I think youd get more subscribers than you are getting now.
I think this is a great idea.
- P51B
- Spitfire V
- B25C
- 109-F4
- A6M3
- C47
- TBM-3
- C.202
- F4F-4
Boom. Just competitive enough to gain people's attention, and make them want that extra bit more. Hell, you might get some old timers like myself to come back and add to the overall pool of targets. I don't have the time to dedicate to play to justify a subscription, but I may pay for a month here and there as I do have time.
This is basically what Eve has done. Allowed people to play their lower class ships without a subscription.
Outside of that, I don't know what to say. Subscription based games are mostly dead, and a thing of the past. There are two other routes Aces High could go down:
Free game with easy grinding and lots of "extras" to buy.
This would be more like the League of Legends model. Join the game, certain aircraft are free each week. You play these to earn free credits. You can use Free credits to buy specific vehicles that then become available to you all the time. Alternatively, you can use money to buy premium credits. Then use the premium credits to outright buy vehicles/skins without having to grind for them.
Heavy Grinding Game
This would be more like War Thunder or World of Tanks. You get free base level vehicles (Hurricane I, P40B, etc.) and grind out more advanced vehicles. You use real money to buy premium vehicles (not Pay to win, just unique "XP" earners) or premium time that gives you XP grinding bonuses. Basically in this model, you use money to buy skins, or smaller grinds.
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I was thinking some re-branding. This game has a steep learning curve, so I thought lets turn that to our advantage. I know the game is advertised on steam.
The problem right now is the Steam reviews are bad. Some people tried the game and felt deceived because it was advertised as free. The other bad reviews are because the learning curve was too steep. So until the reviews improve, most people will pass on even downloading the game from steam.
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I think this is a good idea, rewording it a bit might be better :P but the idea of pointing out this isnt some cheap-o arcade game makes a good point.
You almost nailed that ....this is a moderately expensive arcade game
I know this seems to be an issue with some players coming in. I think a better solution would be to have 6-8 planes and vehicles be free all the time in the MA. You want to fly the uber/popular rides, get a subscription. This way would keep HTC's money coming in, add more player to the arenas so the numbers would look better, and take the pressure off the new guys kmowing they could fly every day, once a month and not "burn their free time". While not EVERY free player would transfer over to a subscription player, I think youd get more subscribers than you are getting now.
I don't think that would work with ENY very well , as folks that have been here a long time and have stars would take advantage of that
Getting people to stay is the issue. Hitech said most players trying the game during the Steam run were gone after 20 minutes never to return. Adding a couple more weeks to the trial period isn't going to help if they are gone already. Remove any pressure and give them the 6-8 free all the time planes and vehicles.
You might seriously consider turning off 200 With all the trash talk on it, It's not what thrills new people, and they don't need to see that stuff. When the phrase "Toxic Community" was brought up on the Steam's reviews, I think there were referring to that. We have greater control here on the Bulletin Board than we do on 200...Can't remember the last time some one complained about being gagged on 200, maybe the Mods are asleep or not in game at all anymore
I would also like to see game mechanics adjusted to make the "easy" path the worst path the go to accomplish anything in the game. The lame game play is a killer for keeping new players he. A game isnt fun if there is no challenge. Cutting corners and boiling down the game play to the lease common denominator is just killing this game.
I think from the GV stand point there has been way too much "mechanics adjusting" and that has caused more than enough people to just up'ed and walked away from the game all together. You know an I know this has happened and there is no way to dance around that fact In a Nut Shell, When you manipulate something to enhance one particular sector of the game to make it better for that group, you screw the other folks who paid the same amount of money to have the same good time. AH III is all about the furball and that's the way it is. Anything that interferes with that will be adjusted so it doesn't interfere with the folks furballing.
You know as well as I do there are some, almost bordering on serious, issues with this game that needs to be addressed but this isn't the platform or place to discuss those issues.
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Elevator stick scaling should be the default, I have helped numerous people setting that one up.
A help page would help a lot for setting up things like VR, TrackIR, and stick/throttle settings (video or pictures), how to bomb, select skins, set convergence etc - clickable from the game itself.
Try stick scailing. I know that helped for some players.
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Yes, definitely still noobly, at least the way I fly these planes :airplane: :joystick: :x :aok
I will be thoroughly noobly after almost a year off. I so look forward to it.
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I will be thoroughly noobly after almost a year off. I so look forward to it.
Haha for sure. Only a couple flights in for my first time in years, and I'm feeling the pain :P
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Tried again tonight in the MA with 125 folks online. Felt the whole time like there were less than 10. Me, personally, the maps are way too large. A 6x6 sector count would be awesome with the number of folks online.
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Tried again tonight in the MA with 125 folks online. Felt the whole time like there were less than 10. Me, personally, the maps are way too large. A 6x6 sector count would be awesome with the number of folks online.
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That's barely enough room to get my bombers to alt.
Not everybody furballs all the time.
Coogan
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That's barely enough room to get my bombers to alt.
Not everybody furballs all the time.
Coogan
Depends on the route you take to climb.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Depends on the route you take to climb.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
With a map that small I'd be doing a tight spiral climb. Not interested.
Coogan
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Tried again tonight in the MA with 125 folks online. Felt the whole time like there were less than 10. Me, personally, the maps are way too large. A 6x6 sector count would be awesome with the number of folks online.
I'm always somewhat amazed at players who don't have the ability to dogfight each other because 'the map's too big.' The fronts are the fronts and bases are scattered across them. It's not like there are three bases stuck in corners. Players could find each other if almost any effort was applied, whatsoever. Now, if you have 125 players, most of whom are dedicated to hiding from each other, I could see the rare one that was looking for a fight get a bit frustrated.
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I'm always somewhat amazed at players who don't have the ability to dogfight each other because 'the map's too big.' The fronts are the fronts and bases are scattered across them. It's not like there are three bases stuck in corners. Players could find each other if almost any effort was applied, whatsoever. Now, if you have 125 players, most of whom are dedicated to hiding from each other, I could see the rare one that was looking for a fight get a bit frustrated.
You make a good point,Arlo. That being said, and PLEASE dont take this as a slight or argument, but I believe its been a while since you played? IMO,the biggest reason there are less numerous "air" fights, is because its about a 60-40 split GV/FIGHTER sorties lately. Even with the GV DAR many seem to loathe(ironic really). Thats the thing on Bish side anyway. Seems more attacks are initiated by mass GV runs instead of the Jabo, NOE or coordinated Bomber shut down with Jabo clean up. Leads to less aircraft available, even in an attack situation. So with 40 players and 10 AFK in tower and 4 gvs attacking one base and 5 more at another, with bombers hitting strats or porking.....doesnt leave many available to furball with. Thats just my opinion,Pretty sure some one will argue the point, but thats my .02cents :uhoh I have NO PROBLEM finding fights but I have only known life in AH this way. I am not as set in my ways/still fun for me :uhoh
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I really feel like the game needs a good offline mode where you can fly against AI aircraft. New players need to fly against bots with different difficulty levels to practice. The biggest challenge in getting kills is hitting the target and the bots circling above your base in the offline practice aren't nearly the same thing as hitting someone who is flipping and sliding around. The only time you ever get that practice is when you fly against people in the main arena with long wait times between fights, very limited ammo and you are usually flying against seasoned veterans; it makes learning good gunnery and ACM nearly impossible. I mean seriously, how much of your time in the arena is actually spent shooting at enemy planes? You need repetition with unlimited ammo on maneuvering AI aircraft. Period.
Long wait times between shooting opportunities and jumping straight to flying against veterans is THE reason the learning curve is so steep. Being able to spawn in a dogfight with skilled bots over and over and over again whenever you want would be a godsend.
Imagine the boost to a new (or old) player's confidence and sense of fun if you could retreat to a safe offline dogfight match against AI planes set to easy and feel like a badass for once? As it is, the only time you ever get to engage anyone in a dogfight is in the online arena. Sometimes it feels good to pop in another flight sim with single player and shoot down some planes without the high competition of online gameplay. Then, when your confidence is up, you can jump back in.
Aces High just doesn't feel like a complete game without single player. Single player is where everyone is supposed to start.
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+1 DCS incorporates exactly this situation! Their learning curve is a lot bigger...without their training missions :uhoh I never would have purchased the first module :rock
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+1 DCS incorporates exactly this situation! Their learning curve is a lot bigger...without their training missions :uhoh I never would have purchased the first module :rock
Training missions are a good idea but I really feel like the importance of good old-fashioned, build-your-own matches cannot be overstated. Janes WW2 fighters, Combat Flight Simulator 2 and IL2 1946 are all super fun to play just for s**ts and giggles. Not everything needs to be training for the online arena, sometimes fighting the computer is fun too. I think making a FUN offline component is really the key to attracting new players.
Just mix and matching different planes and seeing them in your cross-hairs with unlimited ammo is not only fun but it's that repetition that will make you good enough to throw down in the online arena. Eventually, you're able to judge lead correctly and you aren't a deer in the headlights thinking "I hardly ever get somebody in my sights! Don't screw up, don't screw up, don't screw-" dead.
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only 24 on at moment 5:50 Aussie time. Big map for 24 people
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I would second and third the single player feature. The germ of it exists in the staged mission system but the interface/ease of use just isn't there. What would be nice is if an arena like the match play when it had mountains existed that allowed a player or three to fly against a designated number and type of airplane without the time limit but with the airspawn.
I never had any luck with the AH2 mission editor, does a mission editor still exist and work?
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You make a good point,Arlo. That being said, and PLEASE dont take this as a slight or argument, but I believe its been a while since you played? IMO,the biggest reason there are less numerous "air" fights, is because its about a 60-40 split GV/FIGHTER sorties lately. Even with the GV DAR many seem to loathe(ironic really). Thats the thing on Bish side anyway. Seems more attacks are initiated by mass GV runs instead of the Jabo, NOE or coordinated Bomber shut down with Jabo clean up. Leads to less aircraft available, even in an attack situation. So with 40 players and 10 AFK in tower and 4 gvs attacking one base and 5 more at another, with bombers hitting strats or porking.....doesnt leave many available to furball with. Thats just my opinion,Pretty sure some one will argue the point, but thats my .02cents :uhoh I have NO PROBLEM finding fights but I have only known life in AH this way. I am not as set in my ways/still fun for me :uhoh
That is the one thing I hate about the GV dar we have. A square pops up, the town starts flashing and you could have any where from 1 to 20 GVs moving in. As a fighter guy I may call out the dar, but I dont have the time to investigate. Next thing you know another base is gone and no fight happening. I wish HTC would have just added another dar BAR that grew like the ones we have now for GVs. It still would have alerted players to a GV, and would have given more info as to whether it was an attack or a camper.
Then there are the "fights" we do get. As seen in the picture below we have a nice little fight going around 5k. Not only do a number of guys show up, they come in at 12-17k in spits. How much of an advantage do you need?
(http://66.189.10.34:8080/pics/numbers_screen_sht.jpg)
I flew 3 flights last night.
First was a guy who ran to ack so I left and started fighting 2 guys higher than me. After a couple passes the LA came back with alt instead of his ack :rolleyes: 3 on 1 i turned toward help. As I got a guy for help, they got 2 or more for help on there side. So the gang forms.
Second flight I had a guy in an LA try to HO me 4 times, 5th time I HOed him, I win..... big deal.
Third flight was the picture above, but minutes later it was 3 to 1 odds, most with stupid alt. Double dar against not even a full dar for our guys..... and no fights on the other fronts for the Knights.
What is it with players today? The kill is ALL important and the "HOW" of getting that kill doesnt matter. Hide in hordes, or run away so you dont die! "ALERT" "It's a game and NOBODY really DIES!". The idea is to learn and develop a skill to be able to FIGHT your way out of a paper bag and not run/hide from everyone.
Until the player mentality changes the game play we have now is what we are going to be stuck with. Players can help change this but will they? In last night scenario, all those spits coming in at high alt could see the dar they had. Instead of ADDING to it they could have attacked a different base/front, but no they added to the problem instead of being a solution. Why jump in an F4U4 with a couple buddies to do nothing but pick and run at an already unbalanced? fight, Yet you see it often enough. When game play imbalances FINALLY get to HTC they make drastic changes NOEs stopped due to rad changes, HQ drops stopped due to rebuild times, long range artillery stopped due to .target removal. What will change if they deem that "pickers/horders/runners" are driving away the new guys?
Training missions are a good idea but I really feel like the importance of good old-fashioned, build-your-own matches cannot be overstated. Janes WW2 fighters, Combat Flight Simulator 2 and IL2 1946 are all super fun to play just for s**ts and giggles. Not everything needs to be training for the online arena, sometimes fighting the computer is fun too. I think making a FUN offline component is really the key to attracting new players.
Just mix and matching different planes and seeing them in your cross-hairs with unlimited ammo is not only fun but it's that repetition that will make you good enough to throw down in the online arena. Eventually, you're able to judge lead correctly and you aren't a deer in the headlights thinking "I hardly ever get somebody in my sights! Don't screw up, don't screw up, don't screw-" dead.
Winger1, there are a number of "Staged Missions" where you can setup an arena and fly a mission profile against maneuvering AI planes. Check them out in this thread. http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/board,410.0.html
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I would second and third the single player feature. The germ of it exists in the staged mission system but the interface/ease of use just isn't there. What would be nice is if an arena like the match play when it had mountains existed that allowed a player or three to fly against a designated number and type of airplane without the time limit but with the airspawn.
I never had any luck with the AH2 mission editor, does a mission editor still exist and work?
I used to love building offline missions, but it seemed that every time there was an update to the game the editor would break.
Once AHIII was released, all of my AHII would no longer work. So I'm sure that others like me just gave up building them.
The offline missions can take quite a lot of time to make, but the end result was usually worth it.
Coogan
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What is it with players today? The kill is ALL important and the "HOW" of getting that kill doesnt matter.
The score doesn't register quality or method.
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You make a good point,Arlo. That being said, and PLEASE dont take this as a slight or argument, but I believe its been a while since you played?
Not so long (less than a year) that the 'big map' argument is something new. ;)
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Winger1, there are a number of "Staged Missions" where you can setup an arena and fly a mission profile against maneuvering AI planes. Check them out in this thread. http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/board,410.0.html
I will definitely check that out. I didn't know that existed!
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Depends on the route you take to climb.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Yah....every one has to work their game around the furball, cause the furballers can not read a dar bar to tell where a fight is
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Ok....Here is a solution for low numbers have 2 MA's one with all the arcade stuff and the other arena with just the AH 2 bells and whistles...no Icons only dots, GV's no dot no GV dar (Their own country does no see them) And here is what this will do, show what the customer base really wants in this game. It deserves at least a 1 week trial what's there to loose? The two arenas can be sized down to a max of 400 and that should be enough for the existing server to host 2 arena's. If the Arcade arena has more folks in it well I guess the game is headed in the right direction, But if the more realistic arena has more participation, I guess that would show were the customer base really wants to spend their money on. Seriously it is worth looking at
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Ok....Here is a solution for low numbers have 2 MA's one with all the arcade stuff and the other arena with just the AH 2 bells and whistles...no Icons only dots, GV's no dot no GV dar (Their own country does no see them) And here is what this will do, show what the customer base really wants in this game. It deserves at least a 1 week trial what's there to loose? The two arenas can be sized down to a max of 400 and that should be enough for the existing server to host 2 arena's. If the Arcade arena has more folks in it well I guess the game is headed in the right direction, But if the more realistic arena has more participation, I guess that would show were the customer base really wants to spend their money on. Seriously it is worth looking at
Yup, diluting the community between 2 arenas is just what we need. All you'll do is force a bunch of players to quit. If the arcade side "wins" the hard core guys will leave, if the hard core side "wins" the arcade players will leave. You'll lose a bunch just running the test. How many people are going to log in, check out each arena and see only 12-15 players per team. Many will just say screw that and move on then.
Yah....every one has to work their game around the furball, cause the furballers can not read a dar bar to tell where a fight is
I dont think it is even so much about the furball. I think if players ran missions....NOT HORDES..... to attack bases instead of hiding and sneaking around to avoid all contact with other players it would work out for everyone. GVers would GV, bombers would bomb, fighters would fight, everyone would get the chance to do those things they like to do.
The game has degenerated to a game of avoidance. Hide under a tree for 3 hours for the off chance to catch a spawner..... or just flash a base. Run from fights until you have a 2 or 3 to 1 advantage and then attack. Fly an "uber" plane to pick and run. This is what we have left now a days.
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Hell, let's try a two-sided Melee next to the three-sided. Let them run at the same time for a bit. New game pieces--checkers and pawns.
When Buzzkill comes up people will flock to the other arena. :old:
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The two arenas thing was kind of a necessity years back when there were 600 on at a time. I was on last night after FSO til about 2am eastern. I noticed things got kinda dead in the center where I was so I zoomed out to look at the map. This little bit of not much dar bar was all there was ON THE WHOLE MAP! I checked and there was 38 players in flight. Thirty freaking eight! On a Friday night where it was just 11pm west coast US time. Historically this was always max arena number prime time. I know it's summer but Jaysus! I don't know how you'd magically fix that but splitting the already under-populated arena(to put it gently) isn't the answer.
Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk
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The two-sided MELEE (not AvA) will become full, the other a ghost town.
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The two-sided MELEE (not AvA) will become full, the other a ghost town.
I doubt that very much. Human nature will cause most players to gravitate to the higher number side not wanting to be under manned. The only way a 2 sided setup would work is if the game auto adjust and put the next player in the arena to the lower number side keeping the number even. WIth a 6 hour switch on top of that you wouldnt have squads any more. Instead of a community youd be pushing "individuals" and that would screw with the "teamwork" aspect.
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The two-sided MELEE (not AvA) will become full, the other a ghost town.
Which brings me back to what I posted earlier...Why is it necessary to have SEPARATE ARENAS. I dont go to AVA or MatchPlay because I like to know what is happening in the MA. Ok ENY is 29, if we had a zone that was STRICTLY Fighter town or Tank town-WITHOUT CROSS traffic from out side zones(MA). It would pass the time till ENY dropped, usually only stays THAT high in short spans. Eny only gets me bummed when it gets REAL HIGH, and this would keep fun rolling WHILE having access to REAL TIME goings on in The Win the War side of the arena? But thats just me :uhoh
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splitting the already under-populated arena(to put it gently) isn't the answer.
Yes.
...and anybody that thinks otherwise is simply deluded. Sorry.
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Apologies for not reading all 8 pages and I'm in a rather jovial mood.
Best way to easily double the numbers you see online is to start drinking. Sooner or later you'll start seeing double.
:cheers: :cheers:
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Apologies for not reading all 8 pages and I'm in a rather jovial mood.
Best way to easily double the numbers you see online is to start drinking. Sooner or later you'll start seeing double.
:cheers: :cheers:
That answers some questions....Explains the "Rubber Bullet" phenomena. Shoot the one in the middle :devil
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Ok....Here is a solution for low numbers have 2 MA's one with all the arcade stuff and the other arena with just the AH 2 bells and whistles...no Icons only dots, GV's no dot no GV dar (Their own country does no see them) And here is what this will do, show what the customer base really wants in this game. It deserves at least a 1 week trial what's there to loose? The two arenas can be sized down to a max of 400 and that should be enough for the existing server to host 2 arena's. If the Arcade arena has more folks in it well I guess the game is headed in the right direction, But if the more realistic arena has more participation, I guess that would show were the customer base really wants to spend their money on. Seriously it is worth looking at
AVA exists.
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Hell, let's try a two-sided Melee next to the three-sided. Let them run at the same time for a bit. New game pieces--checkers and pawns.
When Buzzkill comes up people will flock to the other arena. :old:
AVA exists.
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The two-sided MELEE (not AvA) will become full, the other a ghost town.
Ok, you differentiated. But .... it exists.
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... if we had a zone that was STRICTLY Fighter town or Tank town-WITHOUT CROSS traffic from out side zones(MA).
That's not how an arena works.
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I doubt that very much. Human nature will cause most players to gravitate to the higher number side not wanting to be under manned. The only way a 2 sided setup would work is if the game auto adjust and put the next player in the arena to the lower number side keeping the number even. WIth a 6 hour switch on top of that you wouldnt have squads any more. Instead of a community youd be pushing "individuals" and that would screw with the "teamwork" aspect.
I don't. Three sided is getting a tad stale with the thinner numbers. First time Buzzkill shows up on 3-sided people will go to two-sided and never go back to three. Until Buzzkill shows up again, of course.
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Which brings me back to what I posted earlier...Why is it necessary to have SEPARATE ARENAS. I dont go to AVA or MatchPlay because I like to know what is happening in the MA. Ok ENY is 29, if we had a zone that was STRICTLY Fighter town or Tank town-WITHOUT CROSS traffic from out side zones(MA). It would pass the time till ENY dropped, usually only stays THAT high in short spans. Eny only gets me bummed when it gets REAL HIGH, and this would keep fun rolling WHILE having access to REAL TIME goings on in The Win the War side of the arena? But thats just me :uhoh
Yes.
...and anybody that thinks otherwise is simply deluded. Sorry.
We're splitting them already by default into thirds. It's not working.
But not my call either.
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AVA exists.
I've said this until I am blue in the face so let me do it again any way. AvA with two sides is *NOT* the same thing as a Melee with two sides.
AVA exists.
I've said this until I am blue in the face so let me do it again any way. AvA with two sides is *NOT* the same thing as a Melee with two sides.
Ok, you differentiated. But .... it exists.
I've said this until I am blue in the face so let me do it again any way. AvA with two sides is *NOT* the same thing as a Melee with two sides. The dynamics of the AvA are totally different than the MA, two OR three sides.
Cheers, bruh. :cheers:
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Axis vs Allies (originally called "Combat Theater") differences with the MA:
1. 2 sides with one side featuring a limited Axis plane set and the other a limited Allied plane set and the terrain often being historic.
2. Numbers.
This arena has tried almost everything to build numbers:
1. It has offered perk planes for free.
2. It has tried creative alternate history set-ups for balance.
3. It has promoted a 'civil gentlemen pilot environment' that differs from the typical MA environment (though I think that's neither
necessary nor beneficial since it often comes across as shaming or 'manners policing' the player population to no good effect).
4. There have even been rare occasions (iirc) that the AvA pretty much hosted a mini 2-sided MA with all Axis planes vs all Allied planes.
(I could be wrong. My memory is less 'perfect' than before.)
The most I remember ever logging into the AvA was still less than 40 (with the MA pushing almost max pop).
What difference .... is going to make a difference? (Bear in mind that I was once CT staff and I promoted that arena with all of my energy.) :) :salute :cheers:
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Axis vs Allies (originally called "Combat Theater") differences with the MA:
1. 2 sides with one side featuring a limited Axis plane set and the other a limited Allied plane set and the terrain often being historic.
2. Numbers.
This arena has tried almost everything to build numbers:
1. It has offered perk planes for free.
2. It has tried creative alternate history set-ups for balance.
3. It has promoted a 'civil gentlemen pilot environment' that differs from the typical MA environment (though I think that's neither
necessary nor beneficial since it often comes across as shaming or 'manners policing' the player population to no good effect).
4. There have even been rare occasions (iirc) that the AvA pretty much hosted a mini 2-sided MA with all Axis planes vs all Allied planes.
(I could be wrong. My memory is less 'perfect' than before.)
The most I remember ever logging into the AvA was still less than 40 (with the MA pushing almost max pop).
What difference .... is going to make a difference? (Bear in mind that I was once CT staff and I promoted that arena with all of my energy.) :) :salute :cheers:
The fact that it is split along Axis and Allied lines is the kiss of death for it in this day and age. People want to fight Jugs with their Mustangs. It is what it is...
We had an AvA in WBs that was insanely popular. Then one day it no longer was and instead the two-sided MA was. Things never went back the other way once that happened.
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The fact that it is split along Axis and Allied lines is the kiss of death for it in this day and age. People want to fight Jugs with their Mustangs. It is what it is...
We had an AvA in WBs that was insanely popular. Then one day it no longer was and instead the two-sided MA was. Things never went back the other way once that happened.
Well, if eliminating one side (without an historical Axis vs. Allies setting) will bring in more numbers to AH then eliminating two should work even better. We could call it the perpetual kill-shooter arena. ;)
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Well, if eliminating one side (without an historical Axis vs. Allies setting) will bring in more numbers to AH then eliminating two should work even better. We could call it the perpetual kill-shooter arena. ;)
Now you're just being silly.
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Now you're just being silly.
It must be catching. :D
But seriously, we all love this game. We want it to thrive. We are desperately trying to come up with solutions while seeing the flaws in everyone else's suggestions. It may be too big and simple a problem to overcome. Maybe it's the arcade comfort and high end video card graphics of World of Warplanes (or other games that don't have anything what-so-ever to do with the fascination and enjoyment of WWII air combat) and a larger/younger demographic that doesn't appreciate the differences that AH offers. I don't want it to be that. But I'm starting to accept that this community really is a slowly shrinking due to two reasons - we are, indeed, a very selective game genre niche ... and we are starting to die off.
Neither of those realizations comfort me. I don't think the next generation of gamers will realize what they missed.
Hopefully, in a week ... or a day ... or an hour ... I will climb outa this funk and participate in 'How are we gonna help save Aces High?' again. I still have some getting shot down to look forward to .... in 2019.
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It must be catching. :D
But seriously, we all love this game. We want it to thrive. We are desperately trying to come up with solutions while seeing the flaws in everyone else's suggestions. It may be too big and simple a problem to overcome. Maybe it's the arcade comfort and high end video card graphics of World of Warplanes (or other games that don't have anything what-so-ever to do with the fascination and enjoyment of WWII air combat) and a larger/younger demographic that doesn't appreciate the differences that AH offers. I don't want it to be that. But I'm starting to accept that this community really is a slowly shrinking due to two reasons - we are, indeed, a very selective game genre niche ... and we are starting to die off.
Neither of those realizations comfort me. I don't think the next generation of gamers will realize what they missed.
Hopefully, in a week ... or a day ... or an hour ... I will climb outa this funk and participate in 'How are we gonna help save Aces High?' again. I still have some getting shot down to look forward to .... in 2019.
I hear ya. I want to at least get to be the best evah and slay all of you before Hitech pulls the plug on the place. :old:
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(http://i.imgur.com/SFQvWJ6.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/rcynKSv.jpg)
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There needs to be the Main Arena and SEA. That's it. Later on....we'll see.
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Change the warring factions to 2 chess pieces only fighting a war on one front? I've said this for a number of years, I'm not playing anymore, I'd love a reason to come back and play, but with what people are saying about the numbers of people playing the game and the vast reduction, I don't want to be spending a long time trying to find some fun.
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Oh and another thing in this day and age. leverage youtube. Surely there is someone in the community or a group of people who could make some really nice ingame content then edit it, so that people there can get a Jist of whats going on. Hell get on Twitch and stream the game, the community could make it happen.
I'd love to see a regular youtube series or twitch stream.
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Change the warring factions to 2 chess pieces only fighting a war on one front? I've said this for a number of years, I'm not playing anymore, I'd love a reason to come back and play, but with what people are saying about the numbers of people playing the game and the vast reduction, I don't want to be spending a long time trying to find some fun.
This game will never see a two-country only war.
Coogan
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This game will never see a two-country only war.
Coogan
And this is unfortunate. It's a quick and dirty way to boost action which can generate numbers. People who are leaving are complaining about the lack of fights. A two-sided war would focus the action to a point of attack that can always be opposed. That's a good thing not a bad thing.
But we are losing sight of the issue. The issue is getting players to stay. We have plenty of people coming in and taking a look at the game. We have to get them to stick around...
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Oh and another thing in this day and age. leverage youtube. Surely there is someone in the community or a group of people who could make some really nice ingame content then edit it, so that people there can get a Jist of whats going on. Hell get on Twitch and stream the game, the community could make it happen.
I'd love to see a regular youtube series or twitch stream.
Its been done, QUITE OFTEN really :uhoh Those that do Stream game play have to put in SO MUCH delay into the stream, that it is hard for watchers to ask questions or interact with the player. There is ALWAYS that ONE*** :O that uses it to grief and troll so its an awful lot to ask of those that just want to showcase AH. :uhoh
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I actually like 3 sides. Gives you a chance to fly on the other side of the arena and fight some different people. I think the map is what makes the fights better. The # of teams do not. The best solution is for the maps to rotate every 48 hours. This would give 2 weekers more opportunities to see maps and get involved in more fights.
The new map needs to be marketed on the front page. Thats a big deal. New maps are a great marketing opportunity. It could cause players to want to resubscribe when they see it. It will show people that progress is being worked on. I don't think only having it on the forums is a good market opportunity.
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This game will never see a two-country only war.
Coogan
And this is unfortunate. It's a quick and dirty way to boost action which can generate numbers. People who are leaving are complaining about the lack of fights. A two-sided war would focus the action to a point of attack that can always be opposed. That's a good thing not a bad thing.
<Some Deleted>
Hitech has stated in the past that he has two sides before, and it didn't work very well. In fact, if memory serves, he also tried four sides. Experience has taught that three sides is what works best, and that is why we have three teams, not two.
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Hitech has stated in the past that he has two sides before, and it didn't work very well. In fact, if memory serves, he also tried four sides. Experience has taught that three sides is what works best, and that is why we have three teams, not two.
When you have 1000 players online maybe. That's not the case now.
I liked the back and forth of two sides in Warbirds. It was fun. What we have now is two sides ganging the third when not ignoring it altogether.
So let's keep talking about seven or ten years ago as a reason to maintain that setup today.
In any case, retention is the elephant in the room.
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When you have 1000 players online maybe. That's not the case now.
I liked the back and forth of two sides in Warbirds. It was fun. What we have now is two sides ganging the third when not ignoring it altogether.
So let's keep talking about seven or ten years ago as a reason to maintain that setup today.
In any case, retention is the elephant in the room.
He did not specify how many were involved when 2 sides did not work. Just that historically it did not work.
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He did not specify how many were involved when 2 sides did not work. Just that historically it did not work.
Extrapolation and interpretation. He explained why numerous times. Two sides has certainly not been tried with current numbers. And as stated before, we basically have two sides now (or occasionally a third with nothing to do).
Still not the primary issue which is retaining new players.
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Extrapolation and interpretation. He explained why numerous times. Two sides has certainly not been tried with current numbers. And as stated before, we basically have two sides now (or occasionally a third with nothing to do).
Still not the primary issue which is retaining new players.
In any case if there is a fight between 2 sides now, there is a fight and all can join in. Nothing stops anyone from switching to a side that is actually fighting or being attacked.
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In any case if there is a fight between 2 sides now, there is a fight and all can join in. Nothing stops anyone from switching to a side that is actually fighting or being attacked.
SMH.
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Right off the bat... I did not read all prior posts...I'll put my self in the stocks and await pummeling.
1st) It should, SHOULD be hard......not impossible. IF you don't stress that you will not get those that can/could/will-wipe-you-out pilots....make it hard(it is) Do Not hide that.
Second) I think we've gotten friendlier..well, I have. Try not beat up on people new....OR, only post in Caps.
Three-ish) we need every one to chill....Hell, it can ONLY get better :) be well
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one thing IMHO is the maps have to be smaller. w/ lower numbers , you have to focus those people in a smaller area IF you want any kind of fight. We had 144 people on Saturday , yet no one was really fighting save the bish / knights clear across the map . whole map and 2 sectors are being used at a time... that's the norm .
Quite frankly I think the biggest problem is these guys don't play there own game anymore . that's pretty obvious from the answers you guys have been getting .
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Maybe they should get into the battle royale trend thats going around.
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Maybe they should get into the battle royale trend thats going around.
Yep, so every 3 minutes the circle tightens, herding everyone towards the center.
If you do not stay within the circle then instant death...
Really? This is what it sounds like people are wanting. Why don't 'some of you guys' enjoy the little bit of room you have, before asking for it to be taken away. :bhead
Coogan
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Yep, so every 3 minutes the circle tightens, herding everyone towards the center.
If you do not stay within the circle then instant death...
Really? This is what it sounds like people are wanting. Why don't 'some of you guys' enjoy the little bit of room you have, before asking for it to be taken away. :bhead
Coogan
WUT??????????????????? People actually LIKE that???????????????????????? :eek:
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I dont know coogn, its really trendy at the moment. Everyone and their dog (of game studios) have a battle royale game. I am not sure wether its just a fad or a philosophical growth of the "Divide and conquer" approach to gamers/people in general.
Competition leaves a mess and cooperation grows to further heights.
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Let's talk about the real elephant in the room. HiTech simply cannot keep up with the Russian developers with there ultra- low costs. Heck, one airplane in DCS will have a bigger development team than the entire AH staff. HiTech needs to outsource a lot of work and bring this sim into the modern world. I've been around since 1999 and know a little something about the AH staff. HiTech's ego kept him from listening to the community for years and his ego will prevent him from making the necessary changes now.
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I dont know coogn, its really trendy at the moment. Everyone and their dog (of game studios) have a battle royale game. I am not sure wether its just a fad or a philosophical growth of the "Divide and conquer" approach to gamers/people in general.
Competition leaves a mess and cooperation grows to further heights.
I like battle royal type games. I just don't think it would work here.
Coogan
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Battle Royale is KOTH...Not the MA...there are arenas where all this other stuff these other people are wanting happen...Axis vs Allies has its own arena with no and low range icons... Scenarios and FSO for structure...I mean open your own arena and populate it with anything you could ever think of and play it for free!!!! But leave the MA alone...
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Let's talk about the real elephant in the room. HiTech simply cannot keep up with the Russian developers with there ultra- low costs. Heck, one airplane in DCS will have a bigger development team than the entire AH staff. HiTech needs to outsource a lot of work and bring this sim into the modern world. I've been around since 1999 and know a little something about the AH staff. HiTech's ego kept him from listening to the community for years and his ego will prevent him from making the necessary changes now.
Well? Its his BABY, and I aint doing the diapers. I just shake the baby and hand it back before I get puked on :old: I would think it would be difficult to outsource and still keep control? I dont know, I will be here till they kick me out I guess :rock
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Maybe they should get into the battle royale trend thats going around.
So that would fix the game?
Fortnite..ahhh got ya.. 2 weeks..!
Shnice
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So that would fix the game?
Fortnite..ahhh got ya.. 2 weeks..!
Shnice
It was a descent idea,IMO. Might be OK, IF the PUBG model was reversed..as in INSTEAD of the combat zone shrinking, maybe expanding it as to how much territory is captured? Like more bases owned = more bases to attack/defend..could concentrate the fight just a bit? Oh...WHERE THE HECK HAVE YOU BEEN?
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This is something I thought about years ago. A newbie arena. For the first month until you've reached a certain level of 'success' and / or hours online you get to fly against people who are as neophyte as you are. That will give players either the confidence to pony up the $ per month to play or entice them to do so.
All access to everything but you have to stay and get your feet wet. Sure the TA will be open for everybody and God bless the trainers but, at the same time, it can get damn frustrating for a noob to constantly get hammered down by a 'vet' constantly.
Sadly I can't play anymore (eye problems) but occasionally I'll take a hop ride offline because I really miss the game and the camaraderie that I had here.
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This is something I thought about years ago. A newbie arena. For the first month until you've reached a certain level of 'success' and / or hours online you get to fly against people who are as neophyte as you are. That will give players either the confidence to pony up the $ per month to play or entice them to do so.
All access to everything but you have to stay and get your feet wet. Sure the TA will be open for everybody and God bless the trainers but, at the same time, it can get damn frustrating for a noob to constantly get hammered down by a 'vet' constantly.
Sadly I can't play anymore (eye problems) but occasionally I'll take a hop ride offline because I really miss the game and the camaraderie that I had here.
Too bad you can't just come in and visit. I'll be back in game soon and you could sure ride with me. I could leave my brain in the barracks to offset the extra weight in the plane. I never use it while flying anyway.
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I'm a little late to this talkfest, mostly because I didn't have much to add that wouldn't just add to the noise-to-signal ratio as far as substantive ideas. But a previous poster proposed that a way to reduce the quick turnover of new players is to change the UI to give the new player a chance to orient themselves, and that's along the lines of my previous suggestion, which I repost here.
IMO, right now, newbies find themselves, after clicking on "Melee", almost right in the action. But they're lost. (Steam comments say that loud and clear). They click on gear on the control tower table and it doesn't do anything. They hear engines, guns, talking players, and that just adds confusion. They remember to click the clipboard but is bewildering in layout, complexity and utility for them (no context for them, though the tute videos try to address that). So ADD a step. Give the newbies a way to see how the parts fit together.
Aces High III User Interface Concept Mockup (https://h5p.org/node/115127)
You will see a simple diagram. Click on the red buttons to learn about and make your choices. I think maybe something like this (better crafted, of course) is the first thing new players should see before they reach the Control Tower.
You'll get the idea, which is simple: by providing an preliminary step for players to orient themselves while they figure out and make choices, and see what to expect and what to do PRIOR to finding themselves at a Control Tower with all its usual hullabaloo, they're given the time and way-finding tools to take care of important issues such as mapping controls, viewing tutorials or setting up chat options, and other preliminary steps before they're "thrown into the deep end of the pool" at a tower. Players may want quick action, but without a way to make sense of the complex AH world, it may be too much too soon and they leave before they''ve figured out how to even get started. BTW, this mockup is basically a quick sketch to get the main point of the redesign across; it goes without saying that a much more fully developed and professionally-crafted version of this idea would be needed if HTC were to adopt it, and of course, I think old timers should be able to opt out of the prelim step this is, just like viewing the tutorials is an option.
FWIW,
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Long before I was a flight simmer, I was a board/miniatures wargamer. Wargamers were already a small, niche market, but I think I am among the last generation of people that would play and collect them. It isn't so much about the marketing. It is the culture. Combat flight sims are going the way of the old wargames. My son, despite being raised with toy planes, flight sims, and even RC helos and drones simply has no interest in any of these things. He has built a couple of snap tight models, but never a single glue and paint model. He is going into the 6th grade. I built my first model, an MPC 1/72 B-17, in the first grade without one bit of help from my parents. At about 3 years old, he could shoot down an Aces High AI B-24 with a Sptfire. There is nothing Aces High can do to attract my son's attention despite the fact that he could quickly develop his skills high enough to beat me. There is some hope. There are some teens that have adopted their fathers' flight sim hobby. But they are a very small group compared to all the kids playing phone/tablet/console games. I feel like I am among the last of the dinosaurs, dying out as mammals adapt to the new environment.
I want to see Aces High stay around indefinitely, constantly improving and expanding. But a quick reality check shows how long it has taken to upgrade the basic planeset, much less expand and improve the game. I was looking forward to the tour of duty concept with historical missions with historical numbers using AI to fill in the gaps... but all that came of that effort was the offline mission editor and if you look at the forums for staged missions, you will find they are pretty much dead. Strangely enough, Warbirds is somehow still up and running despite miniscule numbers of paying customers. I wonder how that is given that Aces High is a much superior revision and has had much better player numbers for years?
The only thing that can really be done to improve numbers is word of mouth. Try to get friends and family involved in flight sims of any kind and give them a taste of Aces High as soon as they have the hardware to try offline and free gameplay. In all my years of PC flight simming, I can't recall successfully recruiting even one person over the long haul. I have currently impressed several visitors with my VR/home cockpit setup. But none of them are going to go home and throw $1,500-$2,000 into a gaming PC, another $200 to $1,000 in USB controls, and another $400 into a VR headset.
I do have one neighbor that is as much a flight sim fanatic as me and he even has a real pilot license. But he only flies FSX and prefers to fly airliners. He recently posted on our neighborhood's facebook group about the quality of his setup and that he was willing to give kids time on his system and even give free flying lessons. He got only one response from a teen. So, I suspect growth in numbers is unrealistic. We will be lucky if we can keep the number of people interested in flight sims stable at its current level.
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You know one thing that sells more than anything is free stuff. Not very cost efficient of course (unless you add micro-transaction) but something like a free mobile game could act as some sort of advertisement for this game.
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Haven`t installed the entire game for a while but maybe make it easier to get going for the first time and leave the customization for later.
Like default radio to country channel instead of "All". Make copy control modes default so one does not have to set each mode before gaming. Untick "copy control modes" box later for more customized setting etc. Default gun convergence in a hangar to a more useful setting like 400 instead of 200 or so. Change the default game controller function assignment logic or something so it does not map fire all guns to rudder pedal or something. The game seems to recognize that rudder pedals are indeed connected, so why would it assign "fire guns" to it.
And then there is that regional keyboard issue when the game might instruct to push one control, but it is a different key for other keyboard as mentioned in some other topics.
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One more idea. How about having some sort of limited free slots in the MA after 2 weeks are over, like 10% of subscribed players online at the time or time limit etc. When subscribed players log out, new free players log in or time limit is reached the free player who has been longest online gets a warning that his play will end in x amount of minutes. So as a free player you do not know how much or if you can actually play when you want to. And when you get often cut out of best action as per Murphy`s law is likely to happen, maybe the player is likely to subscribe. This could also be a double edged sword and make people mad idk.
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Some of the things I miss about the game were when our squad would roll together and just start capping bases on a front, and if no squaddies were on there were guys like ghi organising things on a country level...
I've not played in years now, and I won't come back to play unless somehow there are more people to play against. I have had some great times in this game with hours of fun, but as the population is dying the game is dying. Inactivity is a killer.
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It is only dying if no one comes back. Sigh.
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Some of the things I miss about the game were when our squad would roll together and just start capping bases on a front, and if no squaddies were on there were guys like ghi organising things on a country level...
I've not played in years now, and I won't come back to play unless somehow there are more people to play against. I have had some great times in this game with hours of fun, but as the population is dying the game is dying. Inactivity is a killer.
Fortunately peoe are flying and having fun. A very small percentage actually come to the BBS.
We will keep supporting an enjoyable game with good folks
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Remembering how it was when I was new, I think initial help and training is probably the main thing needed to get people to stay. I doubt very much if "not finding a fight" is a major concern to those who can barely take off and who have no SA.
In connection with training, the default game settings should allow communication with a new guy. I recall trying to talk to several players (whose strange behavior suggested "newness"), and receiving no reply. My assumption is that they weren't monitoring the text buffer, or didn't have VOX set up properly. Perhaps what is needed is a function similar to "check 6", but which indicates someone is trying to talk to them, and automatically gives them a way to respond. This would have to be designed to avoid people using it to grief, of course. Perhaps an equivalent "can't talk now" quick response, which if ignored, could be filmed yielding a ban on the griefer.
MH
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I have been making an effort to engage the new people that I see, trying to make them feel welcome.
Todd
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I have been making an effort to engage the new people that I see, trying to make them feel welcome.
Todd
Yes, but that only works if they have figured out the comms. MH
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it can get damn frustrating for a noob to get hammered down by a 'vet' constantly.
^ This.
After coming back to the low numbers and checking who is killing me 100 times over and over again, the theme is the same...
Last Killed by: Fighter Rank 22, 61, 2, 47, 13, 28, 296, 68, 198, 6, 11, etc.
...many of them multiple times each gaming session. One of them owns me...lol My Last Killed by actually looks like: 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2 or at least it seems like it :rofl
And the list goes on. Most fights are now against the remaining experts in the game, with no chance for improvement. And as they usually hunt in packs, not only are you trying to trade chops with an expert, but usually against 2 to 1 odds or worse.
I'm a pilot, just single engine land, but I can toss a Great Lakes Sport Trainer around well enough in real life to make most folks puke, if I were to try...lol I can do anything aerobatically the little Great Lakes can do. But that has nothing to do with developing your "twitch" for a game.
And against 2 or 3 of these guys, there is no development at all. It's no fun losing all the time. That's the bottom line. Nobody learns to play tennis against a Roger Federer serve, and that is the crux of the problem with Aces High. And I have no idea on how to fix it, as I guess that is how it was in real life...a small percentage of the pilots got most of the kills in WWII, also.
Thanks for all the salutes and in game pm's (I guess I was a good enough target to amuse these guys), but goodbye.
I know...
"WHAAAAAA! Don't let the door hit you in the backside on the way out!"
There, I saved you the trouble ;)
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It's no fun losing all the time. That's the bottom line.
This is true. Hey, no one knows better than I do! There are multiple solutions, ranging from just logging off for the night to asking if someone would like to meet you in the training arena, or the AvA, or some place where the war madness isn't in frenzied progress and you can work on your skills. Which option you pick depends on your attitude at the moment, and there's no wrong choice.
- oldman
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^ This.
After coming back to the low numbers and checking who is killing me 100 times over and over again, the theme is the same...
Last Killed by: Fighter Rank 22, 61, 2, 47, 13, 28, 296, 68, 198, 6, 11, etc.
...many of them multiple times each gaming session. One of them owns me...lol My Last Killed by actually looks like: 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2 or at least it seems like it :rofl
And the list goes on. Most fights are now against the remaining experts in the game, with no chance for improvement. And as they usually hunt in packs, not only are you trying to trade chops with an expert, but usually against 2 to 1 odds or worse.
I'm a pilot, just single engine land, but I can toss a Great Lakes Sport Trainer around well enough in real life to make most folks puke, if I were to try...lol I can do anything aerobatically the little Great Lakes can do. But that has nothing to do with developing your "twitch" for a game.
And against 2 or 3 of these guys, there is no development at all. It's no fun losing all the time. That's the bottom line. Nobody learns to play tennis against a Roger Federer serve, and that is the crux of the problem with Aces High. And I have no idea on how to fix it, as I guess that is how it was in real life...a small percentage of the pilots got most of the kills in WWII, also.
Thanks for all the salutes and in game pm's (I guess I was a good enough target to amuse these guys), but goodbye.
I know...
"WHAAAAAA! Don't let the door hit you in the backside on the way out!"
There, I saved you the trouble ;)
You can quit if you want, but you certainly won't get any better that way. Did you ask anyone for help? you could be doing something to get yourself killed over and over again like upping from a capped base. The #2 guy may only be there because he games the game and really has no clue how to fight. You just may be feeding this game free kills.
I'm no pro, but I can usually see why people are losing.
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^ This.
After coming back to the low numbers and checking who is killing me 100 times over and over again, the theme is the same...
Last Killed by: Fighter Rank 22, 61, 2, 47, 13, 28, 296, 68, 198, 6, 11, etc.
...many of them multiple times each gaming session. One of them owns me...lol My Last Killed by actually looks like: 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2 or at least it seems like it :rofl
And the list goes on. Most fights are now against the remaining experts in the game, with no chance for improvement. And as they usually hunt in packs, not only are you trying to trade chops with an expert, but usually against 2 to 1 odds or worse.
I'm a pilot, just single engine land, but I can toss a Great Lakes Sport Trainer around well enough in real life to make most folks puke, if I were to try...lol I can do anything aerobatically the little Great Lakes can do. But that has nothing to do with developing your "twitch" for a game.
And against 2 or 3 of these guys, there is no development at all. It's no fun losing all the time. That's the bottom line. Nobody learns to play tennis against a Roger Federer serve, and that is the crux of the problem with Aces High. And I have no idea on how to fix it, as I guess that is how it was in real life...a small percentage of the pilots got most of the kills in WWII, also.
Thanks for all the salutes and in game pm's (I guess I was a good enough target to amuse these guys), but goodbye.
I know...
"WHAAAAAA! Don't let the door hit you in the backside on the way out!"
There, I saved you the trouble ;)
Not sure what you tried, but the first thing I'd do is don't up into the red crowd, up from the next field over and climb. Alt and speed can give you a lot more time to think when there's a red crowd there. Work the edges and from the top down, don't get into the middle of the red crowd.
When it's an open melee like this it's easy to get your situational awareness overwhelmed. Working the edge from above is a good place to start to get an idea how it flows. Just my opinion, YMMV.
Wiley.
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Wonder how many new guys would read a placard in the tower that had the rules of how to survive a furball capped field.
How to survive a furball over your field.
1. - Don't up in a red crowd.
2. - Up from the next field over and climb.
3. - Work the edges and from top down.
4. - DONT GET IN THE MIDDLE OF THE RED CROWD.
I've watched furballs for the last week with the radar test. Once a bish field is capped, they up from another field and come in over top of the attackers. The attackers usually don't have the interest in coming back against a now high cap hoard of fighters. The usual pattern is to swamp a field with numbers to take control of the airspace. Seems like Kodiak may not have been seeing this clearly and paying the price.
Our combat is not rocket science. Swamp a location with numbers is the foundation of it. From there, used to be people stayed around long enough to join a squad and be told how to deal with it. Or they liked the action enough to figure it out. Once you did, it is not very complicated becasue this game is not really very complicated. It just requires developing skill at playing the game, which for some is time consuming.
I don't think it would be gamey or out of character for Hitech to have Waffle hang some placards in the tower with the AH simple air combat commandments of survival for newbies. Like the one I wrote from Wiley becasue that is exactly how you survive a capped airfield in this game. I used to tell POTW not to play with the red lice in the bushes. When they stopped, they started surviving some silly furballs.
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And not to leave on a sour note, Aces High has the best flight models in flight simming, IMHO!
Every bit as good as FSX/Prepare 3D and X Plane, if not better. The focus is different in the civilian sims, with more extensive systems modeling, but for the pure feeling of flight, Aces High has nailed it! I always tell folks you can't beat the consistency and predictability of the rock solid flight models in Aces High. You can quibble over performance issues, depending on the historic reference you're using, but for the pure feeling of flight in a consistent universe, HiTech Creations has nailed it!
This is real footage of a Great Lakes Sport Trainer. And look at how familiar the cockpit view feels compared to Aces High...Dale and his team have got it right!
Great Lakes Sport Trainer (not for the faint of heart)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJhoRwWlhiQ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJhoRwWlhiQ)
But none of it can get me a kill in Aces High...lol
Thanks guys, you've all been great in the MA! I don't tune to Ch 200, but the salutes and pm's were appreciated!
Cheers! :salute
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You don't lose if you play the game. You only lose if you never try. You never die in the game.
Everyone has the option to get decent in Aces High. It takes time and a bit of patience. You can almost always find good folks here that will help you along to improve.
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Probably unpopular opinion and seeing as this game used 15$ a month model for over 15 years it's not gonna happen.
But if the game went purchase of 1 time fee of 60$ and in-game microtransaction to purchase skins, it would be more popular.
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Probably unpopular opinion and seeing as this game used 15$ a month model for over 15 years it's not gonna happen.
But if the game went purchase of 1 time fee of 60$ and in-game microtransaction to purchase skins, it would be more popular.
No. I really like the skins folks make, but not enough to pay even one dollar for them. I'm sure many others feel the same.
The game would die faster than it will with this radar experiment excrement.
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^ This.
After coming back to the low numbers and checking who is killing me 100 times over and over again, the theme is the same...
Last Killed by: Fighter Rank 22, 61, 2, 47, 13, 28, 296, 68, 198, 6, 11, etc.
...many of them multiple times each gaming session. One of them owns me...lol My Last Killed by actually looks like: 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2 or at least it seems like it :rofl
And the list goes on. Most fights are now against the remaining experts in the game, with no chance for improvement. And as they usually hunt in packs, not only are you trying to trade chops with an expert, but usually against 2 to 1 odds or worse.
I'm a pilot, just single engine land, but I can toss a Great Lakes Sport Trainer around well enough in real life to make most folks puke, if I were to try...lol I can do anything aerobatically the little Great Lakes can do. But that has nothing to do with developing your "twitch" for a game.
And against 2 or 3 of these guys, there is no development at all. It's no fun losing all the time. That's the bottom line. Nobody learns to play tennis against a Roger Federer serve, and that is the crux of the problem with Aces High. And I have no idea on how to fix it, as I guess that is how it was in real life...a small percentage of the pilots got most of the kills in WWII, also.
Thanks for all the salutes and in game pm's (I guess I was a good enough target to amuse these guys), but goodbye.
I know...
"WHAAAAAA! Don't let the door hit you in the backside on the way out!"
There, I saved you the trouble ;)
Having a large proportion of experienced players does make it difficult for new players. Long ago, there was a good chance that noobs would encounter other noobs and have some initial success. Now, it's noobs getting bounced by squads of long time players in coordinated divide and conquer attacks. Flying Spit XVIs and such doesn't help them because the "leet" players are flying them too.
It is harder than ever for a new player to progress, because the level of competition is that much higher. Not fun to get slaughtered over and over. Most people won't pay $15/month for that kind of entertainment.
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Having a large proportion of experienced players does make it difficult for new players. Long ago, there was a good chance that noobs would encounter other noobs and have some initial success. Now, it's noobs getting bounced by squads of long time players in coordinated divide and conquer attacks. Flying Spit XVIs and such doesn't help them because the "leet" players are flying them too.
It is harder than ever for a new player to progress, because the level of competition is that much higher. Not fun to get slaughtered over and over. Most people won't pay $15/month for that kind of entertainment.
You are thinking that all folks think they should start out on top. Same as kids thinking they should be managers. Not everyone is like that. Most know you have to work your way up.
If they need cheat codes to be good then this is not for them.
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Putting players (newbs) at the busiest field upon login is a recipe for newb slaughter.
Put them at the next closest field, not the one under vulch attack.
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You are thinking that all folks think they should start out on top. Same as kids thinking they should be managers. Not everyone is like that. Most know you have to work your way up.
If they need cheat codes to be good then this is not for them.
Is that what I was thinking? That's certainly not what I wrote.
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Is that what I was thinking? That's certainly not what I wrote.
When I started there were many good sticks here. Many flew in prior games. I did too. To get experience we all flew in air war games. We read where we could to learn all we could. When we flew we practiced what we read. We also learned by doing. We also were shot down a.lot. What kept us coming back is our interest in WWII fighter aircraft and the relationship with like minded individuals.
Nothing different today except the type of people out there.
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I will come back, if HTC puts 20mm on the A20 :neener:
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I will come back, if HTC puts 20mm on the A20 :neener:
You took plenty of scalps with the 50s! Hardly ever see an F/A-20 anymore. To the point I never worry if it's you. And that kinda sucks! Miss ya bro!
Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk
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Many of the ideas posted have been mentioned before and many state the learning curve or being clubbed like a baby seal. Free stuff is good too :)
What if a new player, and we are talking NEW, would have option of enrolling in a 'Training Academy', another idea mentioned numerous times but you can't make a horse drink water once lead to it, and not get charged until they achieve a level of proficiency that would help them survive in the Melee. During this time they would have full access to other arenas or if a Academy arena could be created have them fly there. Regular AHers could enter that arena but have a handicap, sort of. Say they could only fly what used to be flown in early war arena and if they clubbed too many seals their Academy score would rise and there would be a certain level where they loose the ability to enter Academy arena.
Also maybe send the new guy an Aces High windshield sticker :) Heck I'd buy a dozen of them for myself :D
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(https://i.imgur.com/LGPlXLp.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/tNzwdkq.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/jFthXtD.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/VOlfaxU.jpg)
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The learning curve here is not as steep as it is in other games like the dcs series. There you have to set every single input before you can have a successful flight. And even then you have to tweak them to make them right. Aces high is pretty much plug and play. You can take flight and fly in a matter of minutes, where as it took me about a half a day to set up one plane in dcs.
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The learning curve here is not as steep as it is in other games like the dcs series. There you have to set every single input before you can have a successful flight. And even then you have to tweak them to make them right. Aces high is pretty much plug and play. You can take flight and fly in a matter of minutes, where as it took me about a half a day to set up one plane in dcs.
now fight......
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When I started there were many good sticks here. Many flew in prior games. I did too. To get experience we all flew in air war games. We read where we could to learn all we could. When we flew we practiced what we read. We also learned by doing. We also were shot down a.lot. What kept us coming back is our interest in WWII fighter aircraft and the relationship with like minded individuals.
Nothing different today except the type of people out there.
:aok Like a player, Mike something(had Youtube and some vids posted in forums under something like Magic? His signature was "You guys are really gonna resent killing me so much..but I am learning" something to that effect. I know I didnt mind it..if I got frustrated I up a Wirb(might be why am pretty good in a WIRB) I knew that to get the feel of the game...Growing Pains were welcomed! Then again, like you...we didnt grow up in the "Participation Award" environment...so I can see how paying $15 a month would not be conducive to longevity. Just so far from their comfort zones?
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Love the write up & thanks Todd. I love the game & always scared last year or so of a shut down due to low numbers. I think the Newbie tag is a awesome idea. <S> to you all.
ZaZa
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I will get the noobie tag when I finally get back. Been almost a year. Dang house rebuild is getting slower and slower. LOL
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I spent ten mins today in Match Play trying to get a player to communicate. I got nowhere. He was flying aimlessly shooting at nothing. He kept crashing and eventually left...
:headscratch:
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It's not about getting slaughtered over and over. It's about the amount of time to find the action and then get slaughtered over and over again. That's why people play CoD or BO4, where you die quickly, but each sortie takes like 3 minutes if you suck. In AH it will take you 20 minutes to die over and over again each time. That's where it may be discouraging. It's a hard game because it's so easy to get ganged and be at a disadvantage. Even most great sticks are constantly at a disadvantage. They just know how to stay alive a little bit longer.
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. In AH it will take you 20 minutes to die over and over again each time.
Forward operating base which will spawn people closer.
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Add to that:
Newbees get an additional 2 weeks free for shooting down the highest ranking member with the best k/d of each month... heheheheh
:bolt:
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The learning curve here is not as steep as it is in other games like the dcs series. There you have to set every single input before you can have a successful flight. And even then you have to tweak them to make them right. Aces high is pretty much plug and play. You can take flight and fly in a matter of minutes, where as it took me about a half a day to set up one plane in dcs.
It's not the flight model that makes the learning curve in DCS, it's having to read and study the manuals that make it steep. The physics of the DCS flight model isn't that difficult to learn. The "study sim" aspect of the game hides what is a rather average flight model.
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Forward operating base which will spawn people closer.
Well.. I actually enjoy that part about the MA. And they have made efforts to make the bases closer, which is appreciated.
I really just think that a fast action small custom arena populated by a squad of players throughout the day, would be the best for new players to just be able to fight quickly and duke it out. While also figuring out their tweeks being able to be in fights quickly.
I know it's a pipe dream but it's just what I think knowing this game.
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I actually would not mind being a bonus target in the MA. Noobs could hunt me in the MA and I could not fire back. when they kill me they get bonus perks or something over what they usually would get. Would get them communicating to find the bonus plane. Would also generate some movement and maybe a little excitement.
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Fun continued until ENY was installed into the game punishing and crippling the winning sides. It boiled down to this... "hey (insert faction here)! you cant fly the p51 because you are winning the war." Wanna fly your LA7? join the losing side then. The ENY was the start of the downfall of AH. This is the point we began to see player numbers dropping.
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Fun continued until ENY was installed into the game punishing and crippling the winning sides. It boiled down to this... "hey (insert faction here)! you cant fly the p51 because you are winning the war." Wanna fly your LA7? join the losing side then. The ENY was the start of the downfall of AH. This is the point we began to see player nunessaserelymbers dropping.
ENY was in the game since I started playing 14-15 years ago.. that's when AH was at its best. ENY does not necessarily Cripple the winning team, just the team with the most number's..
I believe you said last year you where new and did not play the game. This claim makes me believe you did play the game back than.. am I correct?
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Fun continued until ENY was installed into the game punishing and crippling the winning sides. It boiled down to this... "hey (insert faction here)! you cant fly the p51 because you are winning the war." Wanna fly your LA7? join the losing side then. The ENY was the start of the downfall of AH. This is the point we began to see player numbers dropping.
Your not understanding of how ENY works and your previous posts clearly show you don't play this game.
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Well.. I actually enjoy that part about the MA. And they have made efforts to make the bases closer, which is appreciated.
I really just think that a fast action small custom arena populated by a squad of players throughout the day, would be the best for new players to just be able to fight quickly and duke it out. While also figuring out their tweeks being able to be in fights quickly.
I know it's a pipe dream but it's just what I think knowing this game.
What do you think the match play arena is?
HiTech
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What do you think the match play arena is?
HiTech
I havent been to the match play recently if there have been any updates, but there were things that complicated it from being simple.
1. It tried to combine the dueling arena with a free fight arena.
2. You could not pick teams to duel agaisnt each other. It was random
3. You could not choose the area you wanted to fight.
4. The map is big which confused knew players.
And like I mentioned. A squad of players need to be I there so that it look fun to join. Can't control that aspect but I think an easier arena for free fight with just a fighter bowl would work better separately from a dueling/match play arena.
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Hitech,
At a minimum players like Nirshida have tried to put back furball lake as a custom arena while mongoose asked me to make a tiny canyon fight arena with an airfield at each end of the canyon for the custom arena host. DmonSlyr and others have wanted back elements of the AH2 DA terrain like the three field furball lake area, the canyon fight area, and a straight up two field dueling area. All of these with no forced queue restrictions, or air spawns, just launch and go. I'm not sure of the efficacy of air spawns in a no restrictions DA. 5k mesa bases seemed to suffice for duels.
I do not know if the original DA terrain in it's Spartan state and size would be effective with today's numbers or tastes of today's gamers. But, elements of it are still in demand by some customers. That was a bit of what I was testing with the center island of Oceania under MA restrictions. Today, something with the primary combat micro terrains and far fewer feilds in a smaller area than the original DA terrain would probably work. Radiate the elements from a caldera with furball lake in the center outward with canyon fights and face to face dueling on the outside slopes in prepared areas. Probably only need 6 feilds for those.
And slap some paint and texture on the puppy, this is 2018 where everyone has grown up with eye candy. You just need to convince DmonSlyr it will only take him two weeks maybe a month to build it. :lol
Or give me the specifications to how furball lake was constructed, the depths\widths of the canyons, and how far apart the feilds were. How far apart the heads up dueling feilds were. And how should I handle the HOST requirements for strats and resupply paths. I doubt there would be any need for task groups or GV spawns.
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Please stick a drone or 2 in the Match Play Arena if no one is in there.
My take on the psychology of missions/drones etc. is that fighting AI is not as interesting as fighting human beans. The staged mission arena is inefficient as most of the time a player is in there there is no contact and the mission has to run through its timeline before it starts over. That is one thing in FSO but with AI it is just tedious. For training and getting players up to speed having match play with its airspawn populated by any one of the aircraft in the game would be really helpful and would draw a lot of use in my opinion.