An considered analysis of AH. By an Ultra Dweeb.

[Naso]

Salute! Buzz, nice post.

Just one think, in old times, during and just after the beta, here was a land of sportsmen and cavalry, now this is gone...

Why?

Dunno, maybe quakeheads, maybe some plane  , is really difficult to understand why.  

BTW your suggestions are very very interesting.

[HaHa]

I agree mostly. Remember that waves are not modelled in the ships, heck they were just introduced. Things like "rolling seas" need to be introduced in the future.

I think HTCs best bet now would be to fill in a lot of the gaps. i.e., the vehicles (realism), boats and add AI frontlines as well as supply ships/trucks/planes. Add some life to the arena (this means AI ships/trucks/planes) so there's always something going on.

Basically HTC, read up on what CRS is doing and borrow some of the ideas  

There are 0 mm navy sims, and 0 good mm tank sims. Take advantage of the new elements you have added here. If you've seen one plane sim, you've seen em all ;0

[Animal]

BuzzBait:
Excellent points.
Forget about chivalry, or you will be frustrated. There is huge ammounts of sportmanship in this game, you just wont see everyone doing <S> after a fight, but if you had a good fight, talk to the guy on private channel, like I do. Whinning, like you said, is done by a very small but vocal minority. As my tardling squadmate, Fatty, said, read all people whinning at once in the arena, and check the number of players in the arena. Its less than 2% usually (thats with 100 players   ) Just make sure you have fun. With its flaws (wich you mentioned and I agree 100%) Aces High is still THE best WWII flight sim.

[Spitboy]

Having activated an account and flown some, I can agree with most of Buzz's points. Specifically:

1. Atmosphere. The majority of the people here are very nice - hell I even talked to Rip online the other night <G>. But, the vocal few who live by taunting or trying to find ways around the "bad word" filter give the arena an overall childish tone. I saw constant examples of taunting and cursing. Now, taunting is a time-honored tradition, but it's very easy to go overboard. IT's not uncommon to see folks here go overboard all the time. HTC has done its part with the bad word filter. It's up to the community now to set the tone of the arena.

FWIW I've flown in MacAW, AW, and WB extensively over the years. And in none of those arenas did I get this same impression. Sure, you get your occasional nuisance, but in general there was overall more positive attitude than negative. Here it seems to be 50-50, with occasional swings well into the negative. Maybe it's just the times I fly, but I see the same thing happen here on the boards.

2. Laser Guns. It just seems too easy to kill or be killed from 600+ yards. I have no hard evidence other than WW2 accounts I've read, but it just seems to easy to tag someone with a few rounds at 700 yards and kill him.

Aside from that, with 1.05 AH is really becoming a good sim. No complaints about the FM, and the features are very nice. I've kept up with all the version over the past 6 months or so offline, and this is the first one that enticed me to actually sign up. There's still a good many bugs, but HTC is quick about patching so that's not a big concern. The two issues above are the biggest downers for AH to me.

Spitboy -SW-

[Maniac]

Very good post,

You can call it an summary of things expressed by alot of us in the past... Dont expect an change towards what you have suggested anytime soon  



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AH : Maniac
WB : -nr-1-

[GrinBird]

Way to go Buzzbait, its a very good post indeed. As you did I also came in from EAW and was surprised about the way ppl talked to each other here. I also agree that the agressive and unfriendly tone in AH is the greatest danger for the firms survival. Maybe its only 2% of the players but I do have a feeling that it gets worse during time, and that it will affect new players to behave the same way. I hope that HTC will find a way to bring it down to a reasonable level, else it will get unbearable with time.

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GrinBird

[maik]

OOOOPS, double post :/

<S>
Maik


[This message has been edited by maik (edited 12-29-2000).]

[maik]

These ARE the kind of posts I would like to see more often here   .

Totally agree with u, Buzz. Well at least at most points  


<S>
Maik
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<9./JG 54 "Grünherz">
 

[This message has been edited by maik (edited 12-29-2000).]

[-ammo-]

<salute> buzzbait!

TY for your post.  I agree whole heartedly with the projected impression within the arena. But I challenge you and all folks to put on their thickest skin. I know of too many guys in here that are extremely nice and will throw you a salute if they have time. As far as the whining goes..yes there are a a few that are doing this. Dont let it ruin your experience.

the bomber guns and their ability to put a bomb in a window pane -- IMO this is neccessary. I agree that it isnt historicall and no where near accurate. But in this enviroment you just wont be able to get 20--100 Bombers in a formation to do the damage you need. So..to compensate they make the bamber halfway survivable. If it wasnt like this..we would never see a bomber flying around. NOW THAT would be sad.

As far as the Air to air accuracy. I think alot of it has to do with the very visible bullet strikes. They let you know which way to adjust. Now I may be wrong, been there before. at the range you are talking about, I think bullet strikes would be visible but not like a Christmas tree. Another point I think is that the Damage model while being very good.. doesnt model everything that would happen in a WW@ fighter. Hydraulic leaks, guages taking a hit, broken glass, control surface linkage.. will be modeled in the future. We should see less wings coming off then, however recieve the kill nonetheless. alot more can be said by the more knowledgable in the crowd here.

I will say it was refreshing to read your post. I hope you stick around.

[Mickey1992]

>>The atmosphere on the server is not encouraging to newer players, or good sportsmanship in general.<<

Unfortunately the rude 10 players out of 150 are the ones that fill up 80% of the open channel.

As for the overall atmosphere, I think a lot of people are frustrated this week with the new version and the problems that come with it.  I also think that the current 3 team system and the 60 vs. 30 fighting that comes from of it turns a lot of people off.

Mickey

[Ice]

Nice tone Buzz<S>

Your comments on a frontline are excellent...don't know how they would accomplish that with 3 countries here, but would enhance gameplay I believe.

In reference to other modelled aspects of AH, they are not perfect nor always realistic, however, gameplay issues must be taken into consideration as well.

Ahh...the community Well, I know of many and also know many...overall, this community consists of good natured people from diverse backgrounds who share an interest in aviation and fun...just as in life, there is an element, who for whatever reason, gets out of line....my guess, maturity level.

This sim, unlike the other online WWII sims I've flown since 1989, is dynamic, in that it is evolving as we fly it....HTC is consistently improving or tweaking, reaching for excellence...that alone, is the best part of flying Aces High...I know that HTC will continue to raise the bar, and for thirty dollars a month? Enough said

Give me a shout while online and come fly the friendly skies of AH with the 13th TAS...it's a side of AH you should see

Ice

[Grizzly]

I dread posting this suggestion due to the likely responses  =o)

Regarding the misconduct of a few, I have had a lot of experience with this in Air Warrior. Kesmai kept AW Classic running after they started AW3, but they didn't pay much attention to what was happening there. AW has volunteers that monitor the arenas for trouble makers. Criteria for doing this is based upon the complaints of the players, and the interests of the company. I was one of these and was assigned to AW Classic. What I found there could only be called anarchy, with a few players making the majority miserable. The majority were great people, but were drowned out by the relatively few bad apples. Eventually, these problem makers got cleaned up and the place was once again fun to play in.

The word filter idea is good, but it can't possibly replace human beings using good judgement. These folks can also serve to help other players during good times. However, the use of human beings as arena cops has it's problems and needs to be well managed by the company. Kesmai devotes a good deal of resources toward this. I suggest this type of approach. Many here will likely dislike this idea, but in my experience most are happy to have this presence in the arenas when the need arises.

BTW, I don't play Aces High but am very impressed with v1.05... will probably have to break down and join. Kudos to Hitech and his staff.

grizzly (hi Westy)

[SKurj]

I now have to squelch the open channel or I'll argue with every whiner out there +(

AKskurj

[Skuzzy]

Good post Buzz.

Like some of the others have said, I will also add my own twists too.

As a bomber pilot, which is virtually all i fly, I can address some of your concerns/notings about bombers.

Gun lethality:  Well, the bombers guns are not auto and are manned.  The accuracy of those guns can be attributed to some very fine pilots.  Myself,..I pretty much am a lousy shot as I get blown out of the skies with great regularity and very seldom take a plane with me.
On the other hand, I fly with a squad mate who is incredibly deadly in a bomber.  I have to surmise, it is not the lethlity, but the ability of the gunner that makes them so deadly.

As far as bringing down bombers.  Well,..as a bomber pilot I know it is pretty easy, if you are patient.  I have gone against many pilots who know where the seams of safe flight are to approach a bomber.  They usually get me without me ever being able to land a shot on them.

On bombing accuracy:  Yes,...they are way too accurate.  I never miss when I drop on a target, regardless of alititude.  Bombing a CV is a bit more of a challenge as you have to gauge where the CV is going to be in relation to your alitiude, flight speed, and his course and speed.

Overall:  AH makes some concessions to game play, which have no bearing on historical data.  For bombers it is quite simple, and I beleive appropriate.
Bombers are dreadful planes to fly.  You take off, fly for 15 to 20 minutes to get alt, then hopefully reach your target and drop your load.
To make it a bit more fun and less frustrating for a bomber pilot concessions are made to bombing accuracy and gun management.  If I knew, before I took off, that I would only have a 50-60% chance of destroying my target and/or a 50-60% chance of reaching my target, I would be less inclined to fly a bomber and would certainly be more frustrated.
I find the concessions to playability very well balanced.

Even with these concessions, I find it extremely satisfying to plot a course to a target, reach the target, destroy it and get back to base.  Many times I have sweaty palms on these flights, which says a lot in in itself.  Then I get to follow all that up with a story on the BB about it.  

I think very few people, including myself, would spend the time it takes to pilot a bomber if we knew our chances of accomplishing our mission was really low.

There are probably those pilots that would want the more realistic flight/bombing model, but I think they would eventually get very frustrated.
If bomber pilots could count on escort, then maybe it would be different, but I can only remember 2 times I have had fighter escort on a bombing mission.  Most of the time, I am alone, or with (if I am lucky) another bomber or bombers.

Overall, I have to say I think HTC has done an admirable job of balancing playability with reality.

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Roy "Skuzzy" Neese
President, AppLink Corp.
http://www.applink.net
skuzzy@applink.net

[Westy]

 Hi Grizzly!  I'd love to wing with you again. ALOT!    And spot-on as usual   with what you were saying in your post.

 Folks, please do not forget that the MA is open to the folks with two week free accounts. And that is where you will find the source of 80% of the tripe and assinine behavior. Sure there's some other taunting but it would not have the same encompassing effect if not for that other 80% that makes the MA chatter have such a foul air at times.

 -Westy



[This message has been edited by Westy (edited 12-29-2000).]