I posted this in that "other thread", but it applies here as well. Todays squads are whats killing the game. I'm not picking on any one squad, but its the general way in which most squads are today that I'm talking about.
Short side story....
I was in the 444th Air Mafia in both AW, and here in AH. I was CO the last year in AW, and the first year here. We were always a big squad, and we were pretty potent on squad nights. Our attacks were both the "brute force" type, or the "tactical" types ( I always loved the tactical captures with the multiple wings with all the different launch times and stuff) We had a plan called the "Lightning Strike" 1 goon and the rest hvy P38's. 7 minutes from dar ring to capture 90% of the time.... yes it was NOE. We did it all, one group to capture a base while a second killed ack at another then left it alone to make it look like we didn't want it, then we'd sneak it with a couple of 110s and a goon. The one thing we never did, was run from a fight. We would regroup, build a new plan and attack again. Many a night we would fight some of the other great squads head to head all night for the same 2 or 3 bases. Hours of fun where had by all.
I know all about "big squads", I know all about grabbing bases (best in AW was 13 bases in 3 hours, AH I think was 7 in 3 hours). Not to mention when we teamed up with other squads. Today its a different story. Its NOE or nothing, its always cannon planes, and should a few guys up a defense.... well thats the signal to move on. I'd bet most don't know what the term "conga line" refers too. Its a shame how many times I've upped at a base flown my 20 miles to the biggest dar bar on the map only to find the attack failed and everyone has moved on to some other place on the map. Today, if I was a squad leader I would again put together big missions, but they would have multiple tasks, different objectives, but mostly they would be designed for fun both for the attacker, as well as any defenders that wished o play, that what a "game" is all about. Do you like playing chess against your 5 year old nephew because you can annihilate him? Or do you play against him to have some fun, by putting your queen in trouble at the first opportunity to see him have the fun a capturing it, and making it a bit more fun for you to work with out it.
Being able to run 10 NOE's and get 8 of them through is great, but the question here is... should you? Avoiding the fights, avoiding thinking up new tactical plans and executing them sounds like fun to you? If so, your missing out on a lot that this game has to offer. The "trait" of taking the easy way is slowly killing this game. Its much harder to show some "honor" and let a 1 vs 1 play out than it is to just dive in and cherry pick the easy kill. Its much harder to use your "group" tactically" than it is to use it as brute force in a horde. It's much harder to show a little class and make things fun for everyone than it is to just run another NOE "for your country".
Well that's what I think about how the honor, and class, or fair game play comes in to this game me. Its sorely missing these days.
