Air spawns?

[pembquist]

I think the AVA is a nice concept. I have liked some of the terrains and I liked the no icons. The only problem is that it is usually empty. What I was wondering is do you think it is empty because most people see it in comparison to the late war arena as a place with things taken away? In other words just a place where you don't have icons, you can't use any hardware you want and there aren't that many players?

What I'm wondering is if there is anything that could be easily done to give the AVA Arena something that the other arena doesn't have that would be an addition and not a subtraction. So what I was thinking was using air spawns, running staged missions, some kind of unique strat targets all over, scheduled events with free perk machines, prize money.

The last one is a joke but would probably work the best. I'm personally surprised that there aren't more AH players in general so maybe it's slicing a pie into smaller pieces if you carved some of the population off the main arena.  On the other hand I've heard more than one person say the only reason they play are the scenarios and snapshots so maybe there is a possibility that if the AVA had a consistent population (even if augmented by drones at times) it would support a broader base of players overall instead of just having to take people from an already popular place.

I realize that AH has a history so maybe these are considered bad ideas but I'm curious what some experienced people think. The unique to AVA additions that I listed might not be so great but what about the concept of the AVA offering something that you couldn't get in the other arena by self denial?

[Nathan60]

Well scheduled events are done, and the dev them has runn missions when there were folks in there.I just find it odd that some people who profess to love FSO find the no icon, historical matchup settings as AVA to be 'constraining'

[USRanger]

As soon as HTC gives us permission to start running staged missions in the AvA, expect a lot more action.

[jimson]

Most of the things you mention can only be built into terrains, not things we can do with the CM tools.

We do have a lot of limitations but the good news is that you will be seeing some new stuff soon and of course when we get staged mission capability there will always be something going on in the arena and the beauty is that you will never be quite sure if you will only be fighting AI because at anytime, a real pilot may show up.

[bustr]

So this is what became of "Tour of Duty". The AvA will become ToD light.

[USRanger]

In a sense, yes.  Just waiting on HTC to allow us to start using staged missions (hint hint nudge nudge).

[Pand]

In a sense, yes.  Just waiting on HTC to allow us to start using staged missions (hint hint nudge nudge).

I can't wait.... I've been waiting for more years than I can count for TOD! 

[pembquist]

What I envision is a stack of staged missions and counter missions that kick off at several times throughout the day going on in the arena, alongside regular free play. Hopefully it doesn't have to be either .

This sounds good. 

[Mister Fork]

The current map up has airspawns. Works quite good too. Check the rear bases.

[jimson]

The problem with AI in the arena is that people don't really want to dogfight them.

We have more wannabe fighter pilots than bomber pilots, so if we made an escorted bomber mission with a counter intercept mission, the fighter slots would often fill up faster I imagine, leaving AI to fly the bombers. I think that would be OK.

I figure people will occasionally pop in for a mission, if only for some gunnery practice, and the more people who do, the more will follow

[Hazard69]

Most of the things you mention can only be built into terrains, not things we can do with the CM tools.

We do have a lot of limitations but the good news is that you will be seeing some new stuff soon and of course when we get staged mission capability there will always be something going on in the arena and the beauty is that you will never be quite sure if you will only be fighting AI because at anytime, a real pilot may show up.

Can't wait for some AI action in the AvA. Only thing is I hope the AI is apparent to the friendly players, lets keep just the enemy contacts guessing.

We have more wannabe fighter pilots than bomber pilots, so if we made an escorted bomber mission with a counter intercept mission, the fighter slots would often fill up faster I imagine, leaving AI to fly the bombers. I think that would be OK.

Well I expect there will be many more bomber formations put into play (especially on the axis side) than we see in the MA style of play. So always expect most of them to be AI, which is cool since these will remain in formation, push to target and behave much like a real bomber group would have anyway.

[blazer65]

In a sense, yes.  Just waiting on HTC to allow us to start using staged missions (hint hint nudge nudge).

 .   That sounds like fun.....