What Ever Happened to NOE??

[bustr]

In the last year or so you don't see the giant NOE hoard missions that earned the "Devils Brigade" or the vGuys the name vTards or vHoard. Across the 3 countries they worked very well to take bases quickly and efficiently. 

Everyone complained and kvetched over NOE and hoards. I wonder if the peer pressure and social stigmatizing worked? And now we look at NOE missions the same as we stigmatize social IZM's = HATER or EVIL. Or, NOE = Sissy or Coward.

Regardless of the perceived unfairness, gaminess, EASY MODE, or lack of cohones. They were a source of activity and concentration of players that could be relied upon for action. Now our action if a mission happens is 20-30 guys arriving 15-20k. They drop the relevant hangers if they are any good, then vulch and runaway at alt if opposed too effectively. At least with the NOE you had to drop the relevant hangers and running away was co-alt with the defenders. More often a running fight instead of safely at alt thumbing your nose at low fools who want to fight while you run away. Seems we achieved another of those unintended consequences of forced social engineering by Mob peer pressure in this game.

NOE = Evil cowards who don't want to stand and fight. But, Altitude = knights of the sky's who want everyone to know where they are, ready to fight all challengers. Altitude = Safest place to hide in plain sight for 80% of the players. 

I miss the NOE hoards. Everyone was below 10k making fighting them a reasonable proposition even outnumbered. By expending our community effort to stigmatize NOE, we have driven missions above 10k if missions happen at all. And taught those not inclined to fight anyway how much safer altitude is for cheap shots and running away.

There has always been timidness in the play style of the average player base in our game forever whined about by the self anointed skillz gods. But, the 80% would follow the bolder players in missions in the past. Now we kvetch over the timidness and cowardess of the 80% for only wanting to fly above 15k and never fighting other than to pick and runaway. We have even discussed in this forum the slow down in missions. Missions used to be a concentrated source of low altitude action at one time with the 80% fighting or attempting to runaway where you could get at them.

So we showed them the secret to surviving if that's all you want to do day in and day out in this game in our effort to eliminate NOE. The 80% will never change because that's who they are. But, they will follow the lead of the more accomplished players as long as that lead gives them the illusion of survival other than as ACM fodder to a DA god.

Big NOE missions that obliterate fields like the old days will give those who pay attention to the map action all night long. And get the 80% back down in the game. The really good furballs with die hards don't happen until after 9pm Pacific Coast Time.

   

[Lusche]

By expending our community effort to stigmatize NOE, we have driven missions above 10k if missions happen at all.

I absolutely disagree with that. No amount of yadayadda on the forum or in game could have made that happen. Do you see players less hoing? Less running to ack? Less ganging? All of this had been 'stigmatised' like NOE's for ages, and nothing ever changed. NOE's didn't get less used because anybody complained about them.
They did get used because folks just see other means of attacking bases being more effective by that. NOE's had been he easy way until the DAR settings were changed.  Since then, they gradually disappeared (even though they are technically not that difficult if you kill dars first, but don't get me started on the topic 'coordination')

A P-38 or Pony raid coming in screaming at 15K more effective today. It still is over the base (and can shut it down) long before the defenders can react, and as not the severe E issues a NOE has when detected early.


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What i did noticed apart from the decline of my NOE (I used to spend whole evenings & nights nothing else but defending vs NOE after NOE) is the apparent disappearence of missions overall. Very few missions do I see these days, and those are limited to smash & grab. Even before my break i haven't seen a proper bomber mission being posted in public for weeks, if not months.  Some of it may be casued by the decline in numbers, we had more players back in time when Kazaa was running his Sunday Euro afternoon bombing raids (~2006)

[Randy1]

Earl ran a couple a month or so back.  Both times they were waiting for us in huge numbers.

[BluBerry]

In my opinion it's because base taking is old and outdated, and feels very copy and paste / rinse and repeat..

Dog fights always feel new because the altitude of your enemy, aircraft and pilot are nearly impossible to predict.. leading to a "new" fight feeling each sortie..

but as far as bases go.. they are always the same, the process of capturing one is nearly always the same.. and it tends to get old fast and not retain the interest of a large majority of the players..

You really only need to take a base once in your AH career to know what its like and then immediately feel like "been there done that"

The base taking system could use an overhaul.

 

[Tinkles]

In my opinion it's because base taking is old and outdated, and feels very copy and paste / rinse and repeat..

Dog fights always feel new because the altitude of your enemy, aircraft and pilot are nearly impossible to predict.. leading to a "new" fight feeling each sortie..

but as far as bases go.. they are always the same, the process of capturing one is nearly always the same.. and it tends to get old fast and not retain the interest of a large majority of the players..

You really only need to take a base once in your AH career to know what its like and then immediately feel like "been there done that"

The base taking system could use an overhaul.

 

Hmmm, brb making a new topic.

I agree though, NOE seems to have lead to more furballs, which are fun 

Tinkles

<<S>>

[bustr]

Until you overhaul it, you need to get the 80% non skillz regular average players back down into the game.

Blu think about what you just said. The 80% have stopped participating because they were shown the absolute best way to survive. For the 80%, survival is their driving force and they are not interested in what gives you a woodie in the air. Unless you are willing to think like them and help solve their issues, you are fostering their problem. If you want more of them to feed on, you gotta stop thinking like an elitist skillz gauwd. Who gives a ratz toody. They used to fly at furball alt because they liked NOE missions and tolerated getting whacked by skillz guys for their $14.95.

This game is about all of us, and to 80% of us, field capturing is a lot of work and source of engaging action that they can manage. There are more of them than you. 80% is a lot of $14.95. I'm sure you know the LWMA is not the DA.

[BluBerry]

Until you overhaul it, you need to get the 80% non skillz regular average players back down into the game.

Blu think about what you just said. The 80% have stopped participating because they were shown the absolute best way to survive. For the 80%, survival is their driving force and they are not interested in what gives you a woodie in the air. Unless you are willing to think like them and help solve their issues, you are fostering their problem. If you want more of them to feed on, you gotta stop thinking like an elitist skillz gauwd. Who gives a ratz toody. They used to fly at furball alt because they liked NOE missions and tolerated getting whacked by skillz guys for their $14.95.

This game is about all of us, and to 80% of us, field capturing is a lot of work and source of engaging action that they can manage. There are more of them than you. 80% is a lot of $14.95. I'm sure you know the LWMA is not the DA.

I don't need to think about what I just said.. because I wrote it.

I never mentioned anything about an 80% figure, and I'm not sure why you think I have an "elitist skillz gauwd" mentality..

maybe you need to re-read what I wrote...

I'm making the point that base taking is boring, and the system should be overhauled. I never said that everyone in game agrees with my opinion that its boring..

but then again if you are looking for everyone to agree with you.. why make a thread..

 

[Babalonian]

In the last year or so you don't see the giant NOE hoard missions that... <snip>
   

I'm with Bustr on this, and even though we're squadies this is the first he has brough this subject up for discussion (at least with me around)...

I always thought "The NOE Nurf" that lowered the radar altitude limits was TOO agressive, but the falacy in that statement might be my assumption that these settings were something that was going to be further adjusted/tweaked/honed.  I think the pseudo name it inherited kind of tells the story - "The NOE Nurf" killed (in comparison to before and after prevolence of them) large offensive NOE missions, intended or not by HTCs.  They still exist, but before this change there used to be one if not two and hour in the MAs.

Personaly, I though before the change in radar altitudes, it was too easy to herd the cats in below the radar without any enemy detection (and these were massive "mishuns"), but after the change it made it too challenging for your average/mediocre pilot/subscriber.  And despite what we all may say about ourselves or others in this community (IE: on 200 or in this forum), I think a majority of the customer base falls into the mediocre/average capability category.

[Aspen]

NOE = a fight.  Executed correctly and without being accidently or purposely discovered, they can be hard to stop on a small field.  First 4 kill the hangars and set cap if anything gets up or a hangar is missed, the rest put down town and call in the goons that were timed to be there waiting.

But, they rarely go as planned.  They get caught on the deck 1/2 way there, someone pops dar for a few seconds and an observant enemy catches it, targets are missed, troops dropped wrong, a guy in a chute makes it to the map room, someone sneaks in supplies, the guys from scrambled from the next base over get there and kill the troops just in time, etc.  Sometimes it starts a long furball and others its all over quickly with or without a capture.  I think they can be fun from either side.  Not a steady diet of them but they can be a hoot.

[Tank-Ace]

What I've been seeing more of is smaller, tactical NOE missions, as opposed to the big NOE hordes that would steamroller a bunch of bases in quick succession. What they're doing more of is trying to take the bases that dominate an area or are easy to defend (ports away from airfields, the end of a chain of GV spawns, airbases next to vehicle fields, bases in choke-points, etc).

[deadstikmac]

What's NOE mean? 

[Tank-Ace]

What's NOE mean? 

Not overly exciting

[The Fugitive]

On the water maps they are still pretty popular. Getting un-skilled players to follow terrain is pretty tough add that into the "spiez" blowing missions most don't bother anyone. On the maps with a lot a shore line bases you will see many NOE's.

I don't need to think about what I just said.. because I wrote it.

I never mentioned anything about an 80% figure, and I'm not sure why you think I have an "elitist skillz gauwd" mentality..

maybe you need to re-read what I wrote...

I'm making the point that base taking is boring, and the system should be overhauled. I never said that everyone in game agrees with my opinion that its boring..

but then again if you are looking for everyone to agree with you.. why make a thread..

 

Yes they are boring because nobody puts any effort into running "good" missions any more. Maybe with the lack of skill it's more like herding cats than it is running a mission. Good missions involve more than "everyone grab your hvy plane of choice, first four guys in hit the FH's, next two hit the VH and everyone else hit the town." Good missions need things to capture the interest of players be it historical, or something that may be a bit out there, but just might work.

Today's players are too tied up in the "end game" be it grab a base or win the war. Eventually they either quit (most of them it seems) or they advance and figure out the "journey" to that end game is far more satisfying. Fighting the battles is more important than whether you win or lose it ... tho I prefer to win   Running good missions takes a lot of time in the planning and keeping a reign on the cats you have along.  Mugz, Taz, Ripsnort, and a few other use to the "go to guys" when ever they logged on it was "Make a mission!" and they rarely got any peace until they did.

[Babalonian]

What's NOE mean? 

In aviation: Nap of the Earth flying.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nap-of-the-earth

[bustr]

When NOE was adjusted for with RADAR to castrate it because "those who know better than others" complained along with demonizing NOE for being detrimental to the survival of our game. Now NOE is only for retarded weanie noob cowards who dare to up NOE missions. They got what They whined for. And the same unintended consequences we always get that are worse than what was whined to get rid of.

The 20% always think in terms of themselves and what bores them. Ergo, it must bore everyone else because you are so superior to the 80%. Tank-Ace has nothing good to say about NOE. But, he has nothing good to replace it with for the 80% who are emotionally happy with being in a giant NOE herd doing something together and feeling good about themselves. So he will be at the closing of the doors due to not enough subscriptions screaming with the bored self serving 20% skillz crowd it's all the stupid no skillz 80% noobs fault this game failed. Because he knows better than them.

After 11 years one thing is sure. The 80% liked NOE hoard missions because it made up for their lack of time, lack of skill(or interest to polish their posteriors in the DA) and presented them their best use of their $14.95 to have FUN. NOE had the longest run of generating action and something to do of any other activity in the MA. Now that "those who know better than others" have killed it by whining to Hitech and with peer pressure. The 80% spend their time hiding above 15k running away and "those who know better than others" now whine about the lack of game play, action and skillz. How the heck did the know betters become so dumb to ignore the Laws of unintended consequences??

Giant NOE hoards work, and the 80% will willingly follow the crowd and make themselves available to combat at the target destination to the defenders below their current nose bleed hiding alts.

Hitech please put the radar back where it once was so we can get the NOE hoards going again. At least the newer players will fight then, from the perceived safety of their numbers. I'm not sure the 20%er's judgment can be trusted after all of these years of their grand game social engineering experiments they beg you for. They are still complaining about the same things after each change you grant them fails to keep the 80% engaged and being their targets. Give the 80% something that makes them happy and suits their emotional needs. NOE, because it doesn't take game skillz supermen to make an NOE mission successful and rewarding for $14.95 a month.