It's because of him, and the other, which may in fact be him, that I chose not to. Perhaps you are right a more sophisticated screening process would have prevented it.
However it is a moot point, I hardly have time to fly for myself anymore. Perhaps if nice people ask my for help I can contribute a little advice or some short lessons in the interests of propagating skilful flying.
I have a very sophisticated screening system (when I'm playing.)
You probably don't have much experience or knowledge of me since I primarily flew before your time, altho' you might have caught glimpses when I played back in 2011.
A big part of my in-game persona is very much on the smack talker side - I don't make personal attacks beyond the confines of the game, nor am I vulgar (vulgarity is the first refuge of the mediocre.) I'm a lone wolf, often going up against odds whether from an advantage or not. This is where I'm most "visible"- my running smack with the hordemonkeys.
I challenge the size of their e-peens, hoping to bait them into asking me to the DA so they can prove they have more skills than someone who whines about dying against odds. A substantial amount of them time - hell, 98% of the time, it doesn't work (I think they *know* lol,) but... there have been those times when that person rose to the bait and took me to the DA and got schooled, and probably left with a tip or two. Of those people, only a handful swallowed their own egos for continued, well, I don't want to call it training so much as polishing.
That's my system - get past my MA persona, swallow that ego (at least temporarily) and be willing to learn.
So again I've helped numerous people with tips and fun practice in the DA, but have only taken under my wing a handful. I can't emphasize enough that the time I spent with my "peers" in the DA, just having fun in a variety of rides, etc - like with batfink, a lot of the muppets, quite a few la drivers where there was no big moment of enlightment just continual polishing to a brillance.
I respect effort. Other than being somehwat disappointed with Midway's refusal of so much good advice, I'd have to say another one I would consider to be a disappointment would be Higheye in his P-51. I first encounetred him in '08 when I came back for a few months and basically lurked a lot in the DA's furball lake. He'd be in a high 51, picking and hording with his squaddies (TAS Aero iirc) I thought I saw some potential as he was rising to my smack. I gave him a few pointers for the pony. Eventually I left and came back in '11 and he had finally evolved to the MA (and even had his own squad for a while) and lo and behold he was still flying pretty much as I left him in '08, just in the MA.
So here I am trying again to see if I can help him get better in that pony he loves so much, offering advice and even to wing in the MA and even going to the DA with him and a squaddie to show them what a pony is capable of. Throughout '11 I kept trying to get him t come around and swallow that ego - didn't happen. And then I left again. He any better?
The point is, you can't pick a winner every time. But even those random one-off encounters where you can pass along a tip just may have a butterfly effect down the line, hopefully a positive one.
