Couple of questions...

[colmbo]

1.  If I use the in game option to change my handle will I lose perks?  stats change?

2.  If I see hit sprites on my target am I getting hits?  or is it that my front end thinks I'm hitting but due to lag, etc. I may actually be missing?

3.  How are kills awarded?  Is it who gets the most hits?  who does the most damage?

4.  Ditches?  The other day I oiled a Brewster but wasn't able to get a sure kill.  He managed to ditch about 15-20 miles from his base.  I received no credit - ditch or kill.  Is there a magic distance within which you get a safe ditch?  Do I ever get kill/assist credit if the target manages to ditch?

Thanks

[Lusche]

1.  If I use the in game option to change my handle will I lose perks?  stats change? Yes, you will lose all your perks. Also the new handle will get his own, fresh set of scores & stats

2.  If I see hit sprites on my target am I getting hits?  or is it that my front end thinks I'm hitting but due to lag, etc. I may actually be missing? Unless there is something really wrong with the connection. If you see the sprites on your targets, you are getting hits

3.  How are kills awarded?  Is it who gets the most hits?  who does the most damage? The one who did most damage to the enemy until some critical part was destroyed (fuel fire, wing removed, etc) will be credited with the kill

4.  Ditches?  The other day I oiled a Brewster but wasn't able to get a sure kill.  He managed to ditch about 15-20 miles from his base.  I received no credit - ditch or kill.  Is there a magic distance within which you get a safe ditch?  Do I ever get kill/assist credit if the target manages to ditch?
Planes can ditch anywhere in friendly territory. That's simply determined by the ownership of the closest base - if that's a friendly one, so is the territory. This includes CV's. If your enemy manages to "ditch", you won't get a kill or assist, but you still will get score points if you managed to damage him.

[colmbo]

Thanks Lusche

[Tigger29]

Yes Lusche is correct, but I felt a need to further explain how kills are awarded.

The term "the most damage" is a little bit misleading.  Simply put, the person who put the most lead into a plane up until a major part is destroyed that will doom the plane (such as a wing, fire, etc) will be awarded the kill.  This has absolutely nothing to do with what actually becomes damaged on the plane.

Let me introduce a little scenario.  Colmbo, lets see you and I are both attacking Lusche.  Now, assuming that we are using the same exact ammo, lets say that I dive down on him while he's too busy drawing up a pie chart to notice.  I get on his six o'clock and put nine rounds into his left wing.  I don't do any real damage to his plane as far as destroying anything, but still my nine rounds did manage to hit him.

While I'm flying around working on another pass, you dive in and hit his left wing with only two rounds.  After your second round hits, his left wing breaks off and he spirals down to the ground.

In this scenario, I would get the kill and you would only get an assist.  The fact that you are the one who technically 'shot off his wing' has nothing to do with determining who gets the kill, as I put more lead into him.

Let's expand the scenario further and let's say that HiTech himself just happens to be online when this happens and he dives in on Lusche while he is missing a wing and spiraling down, hitting him with 25 rounds and blowing up his plane.  In this case, HiTech would not even be awarded with an assist, as Lusche's plane stopped 'scoring' damage once its wing was blown off.

There have been times that I have seen an enemy plane fly by and I'll fly to it and blow it up, only to get awarded an assist.  Yes it's aggravating, but obviously someone had already 'shot him up' before I got to him, even though there was no noticeable damage to his plane.