HiTech, your thoughs about removing Titanic Tuesday...

[TnDep]

+10000000000   

But that wouldnt even matter.....  Let me ask you this, if HTC could have 10,000 paid subscriptions and NO ONE EVER logged on or 5,000 paid subscriptions and EVERY player was on EVERY day.......  Which would he pick?

According on if your talking from a business stand point or a player's the answer would be different according on which side of the fence you stood on and it's opinion oriented.  From my perspective of course I want to play against more players A.5,000 and to answer your question it would be according on the retention of those 10,000 if retention drops he would also choose the 5,000 that played everyday.

[Warspawn]

I love TT...

Sorry that it gets folks so riled up to have *one* day a week where we merge everyone into a huge arena, but that day I find to be the most fun for me.

I've heard others like it as well, and yeah...I've seen people who swear they log off on that day land kills on TT, lol!  The thing that really makes me log off in frustration is the 'normal' days where the arena my squad/friends fly in is sitting at 225/100 while the other arena is 42/200.  That's the time when I go play BF-BC or do something somewhat productive.

[Skuzzy]

at the risk of beating a dead horse....perhaps a customer email survey would be a good idea.

That will never happen.  I will fight that to my dieing day to make sure that never happens.  This is how companies get labeled as SPAMMERS.  We already have a problem with several ISP's and free email services due to people complaining about getting emails from us.  You know the emails about billing warnings, answers to support questions and stuff.

You have no idea how many actually get the email, read the email, or answer the email due to the problems associated with SPAM control.

A survey is not going to tell HiTech anything that is not already known about this situation.  

As a matter of fact, this very thread shows how the customer would run us out of business to get what they want.  We cannot sustain growth with a single large format arena.  It cannot be done.  Anything that could be done to try and sustain it was tried.  Still, even after years of explaining it, over and over again, we still have people coming in here lamenting about it.

Persoanlly, I spend more time on this topic than anything else I do.  Yes, I know people allow themselves to get frustrated by it.  People also stubbornly cling to the idea that the only arena to have fun in is where the biggest numbers are.  That is a paradigm I wish I could change.  It would make all of this moot.

If you want to help, come up with a better way to implement the split arenas.  Keeping in mind the goal is to make sure they are all populated with enough players to make those arenas fun to play in.  Also keep in mind, HiTech has already tried numerous methods before settling on the current one.

[Rolex]

Deleted. Upon reflection, it wasn't a good suggestion.

[ZetaNine]

in that case, skuzzy........as much as it has nothing to do with my original goal of one big arena...and as that won't be happening.... I will say that after reading what most of the long term vets are saying....my idea of a "Skilled Aces Arena" sounds like a pretty damn good idea. 

it appeases ego....
it directly offers a dedicated arena where the best sticks here know they can go at it in
for obvious reasons...hacks will stay out of it...


if what I'm reading is true...in that we have lost a good number of vets because they are sick of the dealing with "all types" in the arenas....this is certainly a solution that will make losing more vets for the same reasons, much less likely.

[Skuzzy]

For the reasons HiTech already listed, your idea will not work.  I will go further to add, when a returning player signs back up he is going to be stuck in the newbie arena and will promptly come to the board to complain about it.

You instantly create a hostile 'us' versus 'them' environment where the so-called 'pros' will complain about the 'newbies' entering the 'pro' arena.  This board would get really ugly.

Then add to the fact the new player will still not be getting any help, along with the fact they will be lunch meat for the so-called 'pros' when they are booted from the newbie arena to the 'expert' arena, they will quit.

Newbies do not know any better.  As an simple example, they will HO. They will get lambasted for it.  Most players will not offer to help them, as they do not see why they should waste their time.  To a point, they are correct.  However, that point means we lose a potential customer, not because the player does not want to get better.  They are just ignorant as to how to get better and the arena where they want to play is full of players who are there to play, not teach.

You cannot do something that drives a wedge into the community without having severe negative consequences.  We already have that, to a degree, from players who are country-centric thinkers.  We do not need to promote more cliques.

[A8EJay]

If all the arenas are capped at 150, you will 2 players right away, me and my bro.  Not everyone likes small crowds in the arenas.  The only thing that made me want to quit when i first started is the attitude of some of the players on the game, just downright rude and dont yu dare ask for ANY kinda help when youyr new, all u get is ALT-F4 anwsers.   Not threating just saying.  And what exactly is the limit when things start to turn into a "cesspool"?  300? 400?

[ZetaNine]

For the reasons HiTech already listed, your idea will not work.  I will go further to add, when a returning player signs back up he is going to be stuck in the newbie arena and will promptly come to the board to complain about it.

You instantly create a hostile 'us' versus 'them' environment where the so-called 'pros' will complain about the 'newbies' entering the 'pro' arena.  This board would get really ugly.

Then add to the fact the new player will still not be getting any help, along with the fact they will be lunch meat for the so-called 'pros' when they are booted from the newbie arena to the 'expert' arena, they will quit.

Newbies do not know any better.  As an simple example, they will HO. They will get lambasted for it.  Most players will not offer to help them, as they do not see why they should waste their time.  To a point, they are correct.  However, that point means we lose a potential customer, not because the player does not want to get better.  They are just ignorant as to how to get better and the arena where they want to play is full of players who are there to play, not teach.

You cannot do something that drives a wedge into the community without having severe negative consequences.  We already have that, to a degree, from players who are country-centric thinkers.  We do not need to promote more cliques.

duly noted.  that does make good sense.

[LLogann]

We are still talking to ourselves I see.........


No, that's not a Bash towards HTC......  That is a Bash towards all of us.  Or at least, the thicker people. 

[999000]

I do Love TT.....I probably have been one of the biggest detractors of limited areanas, and the "eny" limiter.....But maybe its time for me to grow up, and understand how very little I actually know about this game.  THIS IS ONE HELL OF A GREAT GAME AND COMMUNITY!. I appreciate all of Hitech's efforts to develop this game and his restraint in not listening to villaige idiotts like mself.
 999000 <S>

[Vudak]

Write a book on your preivous experience with the games you've created- your experience in the field of aircraft- your future goals in the industry ect. publish the book have AH website address of course.  That's uses your time 1 time and lasts forever.  I've done that in the past and I'm a published author myself.  After you have that accomplished use AH players to set-up Radio Interviews for you.  These radio shows look for experienced people to have interviews with to fulfill theres slots.  These slots are normally 30 mins. long.  and cost you nothing but your time to be on the show.  Some of these radio shows have several 100,000's listeners and it's a person to person sale.  Your retention will be a whole lot greater with these types of sales.  They will have 30 mins. of knowledge vs 30 sec. of being intrigued.  

This seems like a very, very, very good idea. 

Just try not to break the bank on the editor 

[Knite]

Unfortunately, the only thing I can see as a "help" to the caps, while keeping 2 arenas growing is a "hidden" cap system, allowing for squads/matchmaking.

What I basically mean is... instead of allowing the customer to choose one of 2 arenas (and getting angry they can never get in), the system go through a logic process to determine which arena to put the customer in...

For instance - Customer signs in, clicks "Late War Main"
All logic is based on the assumtion that minimum max arena size = 150... (so if 150 is > (125% Arena#, the max is still 150)
This also goes under the logic that NO ARENAS show current and max #s, or at least only show current #s of all arenas combined (for instance, if Arena 1 had 250 and Arena 2 had 222, it would show "LWA 472")

Is customer in a squad?
     Yes. - Which Arena is Majority of Squad in? 1 or 2?
          1 - Is Arena 1 > 125% of Arena 2? Y/N?
               Y - Join Arena 2 - Is ENY of Country attempting to be joined in Arena 2 > 5.0? Y/N?
                    Y - Inform user of ENY restriction, prompt if wish stay with country, or change country for ENY balance (and show ENY information).
                    N - Join Arena 2 Standard Country. (message: Sorry, Arena 1 Full, please try again later. Assigning Arena 2)
               N - Is ENY of Country attempting to be joined > 5.0? Y/N?
                    Y - Is majority of squad in a different country? Y/N?
                         Y - Prompt if customer wants stay with country, or change to squad country (i.e. choose stay with country, or stay with squad)
                         N - Inform user of ENY restriction, prompt if wish stay with squad, or change country for ENY balance (and show ENY information).
                    N - Assign customer to Arena 1, their standard Country.
          2 - Is Arena 2 > 125% of Arena 1? Y/N?
               Y - Is ENY of Country attempting to be joined in Arena 1 > 5.0? Y/N?
                    Y - Inform user of ENY restriction, prompt if wish stay with country, or change country for ENY balance (and show ENY information).
                    N - Join Arena 2 Standard Country. (message: Sorry, Arena 2 Full, please try again later. Assigning Arena 1)
               N - Is ENY of Country attempting to be joined > 5.0? Y/N?
                    Y - Is majority of squad in a different country? Y/N?
                         Y - Prompt if customer wants stay with country, or change to squad country (i.e. choose stay with country, or stay with squad)
                         N - Inform user of ENY restriction, prompt if wish stay with squad, or change country for ENY balance (and show ENY information).
                    N - Assign customer to Arena 1, their standard Country.
     No. - Is Arena 1 > 125% of Arena 2? Y/N?
               Y - Is ENY of country attempting to be joined in Arena 2 > 5.0? Y/N?
                    Y - Prompt if customer wants stay with country, or change to another country (i.e. choose stay with country, or lower ENY)
                    N - Assign customer to Arena 2, standard Country
               N - Is ENY of Country attempting to be joined > 5.0? Y/N?
                    Y - Prompt if customer wants stay with country, or change to another country (i.e. choose stay with country, or lower ENY)
                    N - Assign customer to Arena 1, standard Country
                  


This system would not only make sure the arenas grow evenly, but also give options to help with ENY, and choices to stick with squad or not. It also would stop waving those "max arena" numbers in people's faces making them obsessively click on an arena, then quit, then arenas, then quit looking for that right moment when the caps change. These caps ALSO would be much more "organic" in growth, without the harsh 50-100 person max cap limits that happen now.
Not saying it's a great system, just a different one. It satisfies the need for split arenas, gets all customers in game, and even prepares people for possible ENY cap restrictions. This is a very "barebones" system and I have a much more complicated one in my head with this as the baseline (the one in my head allows flexibility in the max cap based on ENY needs), but I wanted to at least get the concept out there for discussion.

[grumpy37]

Since the split arena is here to stay and so are the caps then can we at least have a few new maps that are designed for lower number arenas?  Blue currently has some of the MW maps in its rotation which I think is a great idea.  If one arena was dedicated to these smaller maps and the other larger ones you may get players willing to populate them both.

[TnDep]

That will never happen.  I will fight that to my dieing day to make sure that never happens.  This is how companies get labeled as SPAMMERS.  We already have a problem with several ISP's and free email services due to people complaining about getting emails from us.  You know the emails about billing warnings, answers to support questions and stuff.

You have no idea how many actually get the email, read the email, or answer the email due to the problems associated with SPAM control.

A survey is not going to tell HiTech anything that is not already known about this situation. 

I agree, however if you were to use a double opt-in list this would take care of that problem although this doesn't take away the fact it's another time consumer. 

I would suggest if you were to do anything to further take the player/ownership/management staff of Aces High to the next level by limiting a lot of this nonsense in the forums and it would take some work off your back as well Skuzzy. 

     * Create a player advisory board of 10 players (mastermind group)
 
This group would consist of players with 1-10+ years in the game.  You need a variety of different opinions for the collection of great ideas. 
This group would be responsible for collecting ideas from all the players on the forums on the main topics to improving AH.  The advisory board then would sort through the ideas making changes if needed and once per month would bring the best ideas back to AH through a private forum-player advisory board. 

The player advisory board would need to be daily forum checker and continue to discuss different opinions in there private forum.  Once per month before the final list gets taken back to AH a meeting would commence in the TA on vox. Each advisory board member would have 3 min. to discuss the main topics in the private forum out loud.  By the point of this meeting it will probably already have gone through all the logistics in the forum but the meeting will be for any last minute remarks before posting back to AH. 

    * I'm sure you guys Skuzzy have a meeting every morning at AH already discussing things in the works and where the progress is going.  Just one day a month you could throw this player advisory board list into you guys meeting.  The player advisory list would be premium recommendations of the players and forward progress this game hopefully for the better.  As always you guys make the final discussion.  This would take away all of your responses to these forums but once per month where you would put the player advisory board suggestions along with a response of AH to these recommendations.

Oh and Vudak I done a spell check this time thanks 

[Vudak]

Oh and Vudak I done a spell check this time thanks 

That was a rib at "HiTec," not at you hehe