Originally posted by TequilaChaser
I myself do not understand what everyone is complaining about regarding the DA now.......
and there was no difference in that than fighting in the DA the way it was before HTC company made this latest change, it played the same way, you flew until you was out of ammo, fuel or shot down, that is how me and dedalos played the other night.......
only thing is you can not fight friendlies, so what is so bad about that?
TC-
I appreciate your comments. It's hard to describe the actual experience and enjoyment that I and others are missing with the change to the DA, but I'll try.
It goes beyond just the mechanics of the arena. It's the loss of a greater level of friendly human interaction. I suppose its actually a sense of a loss of community. It's true you can still 'arrange' a very workable duel now, but you generally need to know who you want to duel with in the first place to make the arrangement. I've never, ever found the need (nor the enjoyment) in singling out anyone in the MA to challenge them to a grudge match. It really does't appeal to me to make it a contest like that.
Previously, I could just pop into DA and expect to find some friends as well as someone (or three) that I'd never met or fought before. To see if I'd gotten any better, I could pick on Hemp, or Dedalos, or Phish (or avoid them if I didn't want my ego bruised), who would show me a turn, a loop or two, then send be back to the tool shed. No arranging, no setting up a convenient time, no flying from base to base to meet. No fuss, no muss. Impromptu quick death, ala carte.
Also, one of my big things was, I could watch duels from high up. If I didn't accept a Check 6, no one bothered me. Now I'd have to follow someone to another base for their fight and hope no one sees me, or includes me as a target. Just damned inconvenient.
A big thing for me was, I could quickly find new pilots to: (1) make friends with, (2) help with ACM tricks, (3) possibly recruit for JG-3. With the ability to freely interact, offer duels, play and practise, etc. I could easily identify those whose attitude was, "I'm liking this game. I want to get better, and I'm NOT a screw-off".
I was able to meet pilots from the other countries that I didn't know or hadn't talked to before. I often met a pilot for the first time in the DA who'd handed me my hat in the MA the night before. And it was fun to meet him/her and in a friendly way see how I would do in a simple one-on-one.
My squaddies and I used to play impromtu games in the DA, like Canyon Run of Death (an extremely strange follow-the-leader). Or, some intense training or practise excercises. These are more difficult, or in some instances, impossible to do now. At least not easily or as spontaneously.
In the old DA, we would all talk and chat about ACM, the current map, new hardware, etc. The real time 'ease' of the conversation and interaction amongst ALL the people in the DA is something that is not there anymore.
I guess, in conclusion, I can only say I've gone into the DA since the change, and tried it, and found it extremely disappointing. Few people are there anymore. I won't travel to another base to get ganged by the other side. And I don't have any personal grudges, or anyone I particularly seek out and schedule for ACM training.
What's been lost, among other things, is the spontaneity and ease of the action, and the commraderie, conversation and friendly competition that it supported.
Best I can do to explain it. It was a damn fun place. In fact, I think back to when I started with AH almost a year ago, and what I remember is different friends and when I met them... in the DA.
