*stands up*
*ahem*
Hi everybody
My name is Krusty and... I'm a face shooter.
I used to do it a lot. Frankly I got good at it. REAL good. I could shoot down anybody that was trying to avoid me in the worst possible ways. Full rudder? I nailed 'em. Vertical separation? I nailed 'em. Horizontal separation? Still nailed 'em. Both seperation? Nailed 'em but felt better because it was more challenging.
Want the inside about HOing? It's hard in some situations. Granted not many but some. I started being a poor pilot. I still am. I get some kills, but still. So anyways I would HO because I invariably would get saddled up by some SpitTard in the uber +16boost spitcopter. I refused to fly the spitV. Even in AH1 I avoided it. If anything I'd take Seafire, but that's only marginally less dweebish. So because I couldn't out turn or out accelerate what every other pilot in the room was flying I'd face shoot. 190As with 4 guns instead of 2 (always take 4, even if you don't face shoot), or the A8 with the wonderful 30mm. I didn't do Hurc2s or temps, I at least mixed things up to try to learn.
There comes a point when you say "okay I've got to learn some things". At this point you actually start trying. I hit this point a long time back. I'm still just barely past it (lol -- my spanking at the hands of a yak9U over and over last night was proof I haven't learned much!). So I try slightly more manuverable planes, which means inevitably less forward firepower, less chance of winning a HO (50/50 odds suck) so you start to avoid the HO because you can't shoot back. Of course hizookas kill in 1 ping almost every time, but I don't fly planes that have them.
Then things change to the point you understand getting a good position helps a LOT. Then you don't HO even if you have a good plane because you're concerned more with positioning for the inevitable zoom after the merge. Hell if I could do a shallow dive and still maintain guns lock I'd fire off a burst or two, but they're mutually exclusive.
Frankly, having experienced many newbies' attempts to face shoot, run, and repeat, I can say most just don't even try.
Then some do try. I had a frustrating fight with a pilot in an La5 (the room I was in had the La7 disabled or he'd be in that no doubt). The pilot ran for a sector but couldn't lose me, so we fought, G6 vs La5. Once we started fighting it was a series of high/low loops of me trying to get any angle on him but at every loop he'd face shoot repeatedly. He was trying. I grant him that. But it was frustrating on MY end because he only ever tried to loop for the next HO. I was a bit gruff with the pilot, who thought it was a great fight at the time. For that pilot it was a step in the right direction. For me it was not. Are HOs good? Sure! Just depends what level you are at, and what you try to do with your abilities.
I think that 90% of all gripes would disappear if new players' accounts were NOT allowed to fly dora, temp, n1k2 or lgay7 until the account had so many hours of flight time in (4 months of regular use, say). There would still be HOs, but they'd be by people that were at least beginning to try, and even if you got hit by one you'd realize the pilot had a valid move. This, instead of thinking that pilot was an idiot and a fool, or whatever the current sentiment is.
Keep in mind not everybody is as good as y'all are. I sure as hell ain't. If I face shoot you it may be a moment of relief for me, knowing I stopped you from unquestionably outflying me.
Bah, sorry for the long post. Am at work. Bored right now.
