they could limit the number of each side that can enter the same grid
I hope you are joking -what would they do, program it so that aircraft would bounce off the "boundary line" as they tried to enter the grid?
I like ENY in general - what I would like even more is if there were a workable system that would localize it. At times, while the players numbers are generally even, what you have is two hordes, each flying against a handful of defenders. Ideally, it would be nice if the players in your general area determined ENY, as that would break up the hording faster than anything else. But I've spent a considerable amount of time thinking through the design, and every thing I could think of breaks some even more important aspect of gameplay. This is the most common reason I change arenas if you want to know the truth - I dislike being on either side of "The Hammer". The other reason I change arena's is that there are just some maps I don't enjoy flying on.
One aspect of squadron play as it pertains to ENY is that it's sets up what's essentially a paradox. If you have a squadron that flies religiously for a single chess piece, then the simple "just change sides" is a contradiction - they can't because they never do.
But when I did fly for squadron that was open to switching around to even things out, what invariably happened is that much of the time we discuss switching, but couldn't - one or more guys had switched when they came on in order to fly for the side we were flying for when they joined the game, and they couldn't switch, so none of us did. So while we as a squadron were open to the idea conceptually, in practice, it was generally a no go, too. Perhaps that could be alleviated if the side switch penalty were adjusted by the imbalance, such that it's relaxed if the player is switching to the side with significantly less players?
Again, not complaining, things generally work, but if they worked better, I wouldn't complain.
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