Questions about the AVA

[Oldman731]

The question is what will it take to get more folks in the AvA. The problem I see with the AvA is the planes sets and the historial aspect of it. I mentioned in another thread about how adding the full plane set would be a good idea. And I still stand behind that statement....to a degree. I don't mean having Ki61s or nikis at the BoB or 109s at Midway, but rather the full plane set for that respective country in the battle.

Thanks for your interest, Uptown.  This particular problem may be insoluable.  If you have, for example, the entire Japanese plane set against the entire US plane set, you can hardly call the match historic in any real sense of the word.  Niks didn't fly in the Battle of Britain, and they didn't fly at Midway, either.  On the other hand you are clearly correct that many people won't fly AvA because they can't always fly their favorite planes.  The nature of the arena will always be self-limiting in that sense.

We've actually tried all-Axis v all-Allied on a few occasions.  It holds peoples' attention for a night, sometimes two, but not for very long thereafter.  Couldn't tell you why, really, although I've heard very second-hand that Warbirds had a problem with this as well.  Just wanted you to know that your idea wasn't one that the staff hadn't given thought to.

Keep 'em coming, though, please!


- oldman

[jimson]

I can understand Uptowns desire to have more plane choices. I'm just not sure if people would choose AvA over MA just because they can fly any plane from that countries inventory, you would still be restricted to one side or the other.

I once toyed with the idea of a spit map, say ETO on one side and PTO on the other.

I even played with the terrain editor and built a 30,000 foot wall of water down the center.

I then set a downdraft wind layer at 28,000 feet and there was no way to fly over the wall.

That would keep Zero's away from Berlin and it would give 4 different plane sets and two scenarios for people to try.

Even if we could get such a map approved, would that draw anyone? or would it just further split an already small population.

Plus with only 3 chess pieces, it would be pretty hard to tell from the roster who was flying on what side of the map.

It was a fun idea to think about though.

[ImADot]

I haven't been to the AvA for quite some time.  Went there last night and had fun for the most part.  Takes a lot of getting used to when there are no enemy icons - man you take your eye of him for a second and you won't see him again until he's tearing off your tail.

One thing I see as a potential problem is even though you get a chance to fly under new rules with planes you might not normally fly, you can't get away from the MA mentality of some guys that show up.  You can change everything except people...

[CAP1]

Thanks for being civil Cap What gets me about the AvA staff is that they post a thread on what can they do to get folks interested in the AvA then they turn around in the same breath and say "well it may not be your cup of tea" or "to each his own". I make a comment or two and Captain1ma and Slash get offended and act as if I've never stepped foot in the place or I'm wanting everyone to play my way.
I just looked and there is 0 in the arena right now. Wtf is up with that? Is it not open? Is it closed until Captain1ma decides we can play? If the arena is so so great then why is it empty? It seems to me I'm not the only one that don't like their "cup of tea". But they don't want to hear that. They want us to believe that the 20 or 30 guys in there on occasion are right and the other 2500 or so of us are the ones that have it all wrong. But hey they must be right. They're "AvA STAFF".

I can't in my own mind be anything but civil to ya sir. you've never given me a reason not to me.  

 i think that more than anything, they're asking for everyone to give it a chance. i don't interpret them as saying you all are wrong, although i could be wrong.

 when i went in there friday night, there were 0 in there. i went in, and was gonna teach myself to bomb using the manual calibration that's necessary in there. but lo and behold, some others logged in. granted, it was only 4 or 5 of us.....but in the small area, it was some quick fun.

 that being said, i flew there for a bit, logged out, did some chores around the house, ate, then logged into mw.  

[CAP1]

actually i checked first, you haven't been in there in atleast 9 months. so ill ask the question, what what it take to get you or your squad in there more then once a week if at all? if your only thing is not having all the planes turned on, then I'm very sorry to disappoint you but it won't happen.

Maybe some day you will change your mind and give it a try. i hope to see you in there sometime. 

capt....here's a question/idea......

i saw the ww1 thread. they had the idea of a ww1 arena night. what if you combined their idea with uptowns? 1 night a week, enable the plane set as uptown suggests?

 just a thought.........

[waystin2]

capt....here's a question/idea......

i saw the ww1 thread. they had the idea of a ww1 arena night. what if you combined their idea with uptowns? 1 night a week, enable the plane set as uptown suggests?

 just a thought.........

 

[CAP1]

I haven't been to the AvA for quite some time.  Went there last night and had fun for the most part.  Takes a lot of getting used to when there are no enemy icons - man you take your eye of him for a second and you won't see him again until he's tearing off your tail.

One thing I see as a potential problem is even though you get a chance to fly under new rules with planes you might not normally fly, you can't get away from the MA mentality of some guys that show up.  You can change everything except people...

know what's funny? in the 38, when i go up, trying to rope a con......i almost always lose sight for a second. in ma, i got the icon to help me re-acquire him.  not so here.,......it kilt me once or twice. 

[Changeup]

capt....here's a question/idea......

i saw the ww1 thread. they had the idea of a ww1 arena night. what if you combined their idea with uptowns? 1 night a week, enable the plane set as uptown suggests?

 just a thought.........

+2

[321BAR]

know what's funny? in the 38, when i go up, trying to rope a con......i almost always lose sight for a second. in ma, i got the icon to help me re-acquire him.  not so here.,......it kilt me once or twice. 

get eye surgery? i never seem to have a problem with no icons unless the enemy is right on the deck speeding at 400mph

[CAP1]

get eye surgery? i never seem to have a problem with no icons unless the enemy is right on the deck speeding at 400mph

nah....it was on my first time in there. the booms ca block your view, and the couple times i lost sight, when i went and looked where i expected to see them, they weren't there.

[uptown]

I've always had a great interest in a AvA arena. Hell I got into this game because I thought CT was going to happen. The plane set doesn't really bother me. What keeps me away, and probably most others, is the low numbers in there. 20 or 30 players logged on in the AvA may be good by the AvAs standards but it's pretty sparse when most players are use to flying with 2, 3 or 400 people on any given night.
I wish I had the answer that was acceptable to everyone to get folks in there. Because I really do believe there's more fun to be had in there as opposed to the mains. I think adding more planes is the answer to attract more people. Can't the arena be setup like the TA with different sectors, except divided into time periods and have 2,3 or 4 different battles going on at once?  40-41 in one corner, 42-43 in another and 44-45 in the other?
I know it sounds nutty but surely there must be some way to get the full plane set available to the players. Once you get people in there that might peak their interest into the other lesser known planes and find out they're just as fun. And they might learn a little something about history while they're at it.
I heard a guy the other night crying about how the 3 country setup sucks. I suggested he go to the AvA, his reply was "they don't have LA7s". Personally I think if you want people to log in there you're going to have to offer something they want to fly and be competitive in. Add the big guns and fast planes and people will come. Folks flock to the orange arena because that's where the big fights are. Big fights are there because it offers something for everyone, not because there's 3 sides instead of 2.
The historical aspect of the arena is great but sometimes history can be ....well boring.  

[jimson]

Can't the arena be setup like the TA with different sectors, except divided into time periods and have 2,3 or 4 different battles going on at once?  40-41 in one corner, 42-43 in another and 44-45 in the other?

Well, to have separate sectors would require new maps much like the one I described.

I once toyed with the idea of a spit map, say ETO on one side and PTO on the other.

I even played with the terrain editor and built a 30,000 foot wall of water down the center.

I then set a downdraft wind layer at 28,000 feet and there was no way to fly over the wall.

That would keep Zero's away from Berlin and it would give 4 different plane sets and two scenarios for people to try.

Even if we could get such a map approved, would that draw anyone? or would it just further split an already small population.

Plus with only 3 chess pieces, it would be pretty hard to tell from the roster who was flying on what side of the map.

It was a fun idea to think about though.

It is theoretically possible to have walled off sections like I described, but would HTC ever approve such maps and would there be enough people to fly a 2,3 or 4 arena in one set up?

[ImADot]

You're still separating players - what difference is it whether it's by a map or an arena?  40 people in one corner of a map not being able to affect any other players anywhere else on the map is no better than an arena just for them.  Why would you encourage 150 people into an arena only to limit where they can fly in it?

I'd be willing to bet there would be some that bring their favorite LW uber-bird across the map, refuel and then wreak havoc in a section where they aren't supposed to be.

[jimson]

You're still separating players - what difference is it whether it's by a map or an arena?  40 people in one corner of a map not being able to affect any other players anywhere else on the map is no better than an arena just for them.  

That's true, it would basically be like separate arenas.

I'd be willing to bet there would be some that bring their favorite LW uber-bird across the map, refuel and then wreak havoc in a section where they aren't supposed to be.

If you had walls like I built on my test terrain, no one could bring their planes to a different area.



It is an interesting idea, I just don't think you could draw enough players to populate the different sectors of the map.

[Oldman731]

Can't the arena be setup like the TA with different sectors, except divided into time periods and have 2,3 or 4 different battles going on at once?  

We did this once, too, for a week.  Had an early war set between two bases on one edge of the map, a mid-war setup in the center, late war on the other side.  Wish I could remember, almost think it was the Burma map.  Like other new ideas, it received a lot of attention for a couple of nights, then people stopped coming.  Oddly enough everyone kept to the spirit of things, so there were no grab-a-Ki84-and-fly-it-to-the-early-war-side types. 

Part of the retention problem was map related, because some of the bases were (for once) too close together, so that you were taking off into the other base's ack.  The value of the idea is that it brings people into the AvA and, once there, they occasionally switch time periods.  It's something that we might try again sometime, I think.

If the history part gets boring:  hey, that comes with the territory.  There was a day when the history part was the big draw, and it remains the core of the arena's personality.

- oldman