This might be a bit off topic, but since x2lee's gone, he won't notice or mind, right?
This isn't a slam against HTC, so read the whole thing before you get mad and then take it for what it's worth (probably not much)
I've personally noticed that the "community" in the arena seems a lot smaller now that ch 1 is gone and the moderators are more aggressive. The only people I talk to in the arena are people in my squad and those in the flying zoo, and occasionally a couple other people in the country who I know or who say hi. Everything else is essentially squelched due to no ch 1 and fear of moderation.
Being unable to squelch the radio contributes to this because I find myself thinking *just shut up!* which makes me even less likely to verbally interact with other players.
I know it had to be done because of people abusing the original open communication channels, but for me it makes the killing much less personal. Opponents are no longer real live pilots to be destroyed, feared, or respected. Instead, they're just icons to be fragged without a second thought because we'll never exchange anything more meaningful than gunfire.
I used to enjoy getting the occasional *finger* from someone I'd bounced and then shot in the chute (hehe), but it's just not worth the effort anymore since they're not real people. There's just no communication between countries and that's dribbled over to less communication within countries too. I got bounced by some dude, never saw him coming, and had no easy way to ask where he came from and tell him that he's very sneeky. How does "salute" express "You sneeky bastage! where did you come from? Nice shot, but check 6 because I'm looking for you this time". No kill messages on the buffer anymore, so nobody but us noticed the kill and it was totally impersonal for both of us.
Of course in my work I'm used to a harder "edge" to personal interaction and stuff that gets threads locked/deleted and people banned or muted is just another day at the office, because we can't afford to pull punches in our business or people die. Here, it's not people's lives that are at stake, rather the existence of HTC is at stake.
Without HTC there is no game.The original game (CK/WB and even early AH) had a bit of that edge but as the community grew and got too big for everyone to know everyone else, people took it too far. I remember back when hatch (byngtn) used to go online and stir up quite a bit of hate himself, and it was pretty much encouraged by the company because it kept the arena interesting for the old hats. When was the last time HT or Pyro jumped into the arena with a fake id, got a few people angry enough to challenge them to a duel, then whomped up on them in a fair fight? It just won't happen because the customer base isn't the same. We used to be able to handle that, shrug it off with a good laugh and a "dude you got me good!", and buy a beer at the con. Not anymore. I was mad as hell at hatch when he lured me into a duel then cheated at the merge every time, but it sure seemed funny later on plus I learned a few things about how simple "cheats" at a merge can determine a fight before really gets started. Good clean fun.
The USAF is facing a similiar trend and fighting it tooth and nail. We call these kids "SNAPs" for Sensitive New Age Pilots, and they're learning the hard way that when your actions determine life and death for both your wingmen and the people on the ground you are going to kill, you better be able to take hard core full frontal feedback with your ego checked at the door.
Which is why AH is a game, bringing me to my real point - I think
HTC would have a lot more customer relations problems without the moderators and other behavioral modification policies. So knowing that I'm giving you a false dilemma, I'll ask you: What would the majority of customers prefer? An unmoderated arena that is full of intolerable verbal abuse, or a moderation scheme that occasionally seems to be too twitchy?
I guess this reply is not entirely off topic then.
