You are confusing "no enemy icon" with no dar and no radar. Fights will no be harder to find with Enemy Icon Off because dar and darbar will still be working.
I have to disagree, though I don't agree with most of what Raven said.
We became heavily dependent on the icons to locate other aircraft. I would challenge anyone to turn off icons for a while, fly into the combat area while scanning for other aircraft. When you cant see any, conduct a test by turning icons back on. See how often some aircraft you didn't know was there is suddenly lit up, friend or foe. Now, because you are aware of this being a test, I think the odds are not going to be as great as if your normal every day routine was to fly without icons for years on end.
I like the idea of icons off, but I think there will be a huge percentage of missed engagements. Think about how often you've just barely caught the icons of some aircraft at treetop and max icon range, turned to go after them and knew if it hadn't been for that flash of icon that they would have gotten away.
Think about how many times you were limping home wounded. You were sneaking along tree tops watching some enemy a/c that don't appear to know you're there, then they notice you. It happens a lot, and we don't realize how much more it would happen with icons off.
Dar bar is definitely part of that, but if I had to put numbers on it, I'd say you have an 85% chance of catching sight of an aircraft that is obscured or in an inconspicuous relation to yourself. With icons off, I believe that goes down to around 10%.
I would accept this drawback as a more realistic experience. It would be an additional challenge. But for the sake of the game, I think it's a better business decision to leave them on. Maybe someday it will have a large enough population to support arenas for all tastes.