Hordes and the game dynamic

[Fulcrum]

Its funny how a lot of these guys say just up a jet, or dive in and get 3-4 kills. You do realize that most of the people who play or are in this thread complaining rarely get 2 kills a flight? Their hit percentage in the 1-2 area, and most don't have a positive K/D. That maens they don't eran a lot of perks and so can't afford a jet. So they use non perked planes.... OK they dive in a few times missing more often than not MAYBE killing one or two if they get enough rounds in them.

For the average player.... and I don't mean these guys that "think/call" themselves average like what's his name running 262's for the month of November, or anyone else that flies 80 plus hours a month..... fighting the horde really isn't an option. It is death after death helping their team little or not at all. Bombing barracks and ammo dumps are an option, but personally I prefer to fight something that is going to fight back. I can flatten buildings all day long rarely missing but it isn't all that much fun nor very challenging. I'm sure there are other that find it far too challenging.

My brother in law just started playing again after being off for 6-7 years. He was complaining that all he can find is hordes and his rust is really holding him back to the point that one kill before he dies is awesome! his son, 16 years old got the itch playing on my computer and then when his dad started he tried on his for a bit. He flies WT now. Doesn't want to be bothered with trying to learn the game as all he gets to do is climb out and die here. On top of that these guys who have no trouble with the horde have the time to mess with the horde. What did Lusche say, average time is around 20 hours a tour? Thats less than an hour a night to fight a fight or two where your not being picked by 5 or more guys all the time. With that kind of time to play how is it possible to get better at anything other than dieing if you spend it trying to fight the horde?

If the average player CAN'T fight the horde that only leaves flying IN the horde. How long is that going to be fun? More and more people get bored or frustrated every day. And the numbers continue to drop.

I have to concede many of your points have merit....even if I consider myself an "average" player but have better stats then those you describe.  I also can't dispute that numbers are dropping considering I recently left the game (temporarily and for reasons other than frustration with hordes).  I'm just not seeing what changes can be made to dissuade formation of hordes that have already been tried and/or implemented.

[dirtdart]

Man I wish I knew what the answer was. I have found myself upping ... not finding a fight, bailing, and chasing dars. When the horde is bish on rook, life in knightland gets REAL slow.

[kvuo75]

I don't mind hordes, I am more annoyed by people on my country crying about them, or crying about losing bases, or crying about nobody porking ords. etc.

[guncrasher]

Great plan except 262:s are not free even in worst of hordes. Many people lack the perks.

mr ripley there is not reason for anybody that has been around for a couple of months to not have enough perks for a 262, unless they make it a habit of crashing every single one of them.

there's quite a few guys I know that are better than I am and will routinely land 40 or 50 perks on a flight and yet they have zero perks, because while they're good at earning perks, they really suck in perk rides.

I have thousands of perks earned at 1 perk for every 20 kills in my pony.  who's fault is it if you dont have perks?


semp

[The Fugitive]

mr ripley there is not reason for anybody that has been around for a couple of months to not have enough perks for a 262, unless they make it a habit of crashing every single one of them.

there's quite a few guys I know that are better than I am and will routinely land 40 or 50 perks on a flight and yet they have zero perks, because while they're good at earning perks, they really suck in perk rides.

I have thousands of perks earned at 1 perk for every 20 kills in my pony.  who's fault is it if you dont have perks?


semp

My brother in law just started flying again after a number of years off. He still doesn't have enough perks for his favorite ride, the C-hog.  I have never earned more than a few perks on a single flight in the 11 years I have been flying here. For the average player earning perks is tough. First they have trouble killing anything, and second they spend most of their time in ponies and spits. Now you tell them "just fly a mid war bird, or better yet, and early war bird!" That have trouble killing in the uber rides, how do you think they are going to fare in a P40?

I always say Semp has his head buried in the sand, but when it comes to gauging skill, he's not the only one. While Semp isn't one of the "elite" players he is well above an average player. I think I'm a bit better than average myself, my poor aim is what really holds me back from being one of those guys who get multiple kills on a flight. But I'm not blind to whats going on. I know where my weakness is. I can see where other have there problems. I never sugar coat anything here, I call it as I see it.

I see a lot of players who don't have many skills. They spend most of their time lawndarting P38s, or running after they make one MAYBE two passes on you and you still aren't smoking. You can't learn to get better if you don't try to get better. Todays player are accustom to playing a game until they are tired of it (bored) or they complete it, and then they play something else until the new version of that other game comes out. Rinse and repeat.

What the answer is??? I don't know. I've made a few suggestions, others have made some great suggestions. Is HTC thinking of a change? Are they working on something right now? Who knows, thats one of the problems of being as tight lipped as they are. I don't fault them, it's a competitive and very small field and you have to play your cards close to the chest, but I sure wish I knew what they were thinking/doing.   

[GhostCDB]

See Rule #4

[PFactorDave]

Upping a 262 is not a satisfactory answer in my opinion.  Same goes for La7, P51D, 190D, etc etc etc.

Those fast B&Z aircraft just aren't fun for me.  The game is supposed to be fun.  If it devolves to only hording, I won't be around because it won't be fun.

Lately, I've been able to find some fun fights.  Maybe a lot of planes involved, maybe I get picked, maybe a little ganged, but close enough odds that it is still fun.

[guncrasher]

My brother in law just started flying again after a number of years off. He still doesn't have enough perks for his favorite ride, the C-hog.  I have never earned more than a few perks on a single flight in the 11 years I have been flying here. For the average player earning perks is tough. First they have trouble killing anything, and second they spend most of their time in ponies and spits. Now you tell them "just fly a mid war bird, or better yet, and early war bird!" That have trouble killing in the uber rides, how do you think they are going to fare in a P40?

I always say Semp has his head buried in the sand, but when it comes to gauging skill, he's not the only one. While Semp isn't one of the "elite" players he is well above an average player. I think I'm a bit better than average myself, my poor aim is what really holds me back from being one of those guys who get multiple kills on a flight. But I'm not blind to whats going on. I know where my weakness is. I can see where other have there problems. I never sugar coat anything here, I call it as I see it.

I see a lot of players who don't have many skills. They spend most of their time lawndarting P38s, or running after they make one MAYBE two passes on you and you still aren't smoking. You can't learn to get better if you don't try to get better. Todays player are accustom to playing a game until they are tired of it (bored) or they complete it, and then they play something else until the new version of that other game comes out. Rinse and repeat.

What the answer is??? I don't know. I've made a few suggestions, others have made some great suggestions. Is HTC thinking of a change? Are they working on something right now? Who knows, thats one of the problems of being as tight lipped as they are. I don't fault them, it's a competitive and very small field and you have to play your cards close to the chest, but I sure wish I knew what they were thinking/doing.   

really fugitive?  I got my sand parked in the sand?  I fly the pony which gives you 1 perk for every 20 kills you get, almost.  and yet I have thousands saved?  I can fricking lawndart p38's on the radar and have more perks than killing a few here and there on a pony.

and you have the balls to say I have my head in the sand.  I would rather have my head buried up in the sand than have brains like you do. 


semp

[Fulcrum]

Gotta disagree with Fugi....I agree with semp's self assessment that he is completely average.   

 

[guncrasher]

Gotta disagree with Fugi....I agree with semp's self assessment that he is completely average.   

 

azz kiser, i am below average.


semp

[BaldEagl]

It seems to me that I get at least four perks on every sortie and I fly mostly "dweebfires" although I fly I's and IX's most of the time.  Because I like EW/MW planes (recently F4F, FM2, Bf110G-2, etc.) in the LWA and like flying hugely outnumbered I die a lot but still score decent perks per sortie and never spend them.  I don't really play all that much so playtime isn't an excuse for not earning perks and I'm just marginally above average in terms of skill.

I agree that many times I log into the LWA and can't see a thing that I want to do so just log back out or go sit at a base in a GV or field gun waiting to see if it will be attacked.  I don't bomb much of anything in bomber or attack mode, attempt any field captures or do most of the wealth of things the game has to offer.  I've been there and done that and don't care anymore.  Rather I fly in fighter mode or defend bases in GV's. 

I like to play in the areas where the Bish have the worst odds against them (us).  That's how I started out, stopped doing that when I was playing for rank and score, but went back to after that phase of my AH life ended.  I used to really love a good one on one but now I get bored and need more stimulation.  That means I see a lot of hordes.  I don't care if I die it's the thrill of the fight and the more I'm overloaded the more fun it is.  It's always amazing to me how long one guy can hold a horde in place and keep them from advancing.  I'm also amazed that in nearly every horde I run into players that would never admit to being there when they're here on the BBs.  Nothing's changed in terms of hordes since the beginning of AW.  It's not something new and it's certainly not what drives people away from the game.

One last thing I will note is that I often find myself playing in one small area of the map and not leaving it during my entire playtime.  That means sometimes I am greatly outnumbered but over time the odds might change.  If they do get too heavy in our favor I may move or log off but that all depends on how much fun it is or isn't anymore.  Often if I can hold the enemy at their base it encourages other friendlies to up and come join the fight which also changes the odds.

[Lusche]

It seems to me that I get at least four perks on every sortie and I fly mostly "dweebfires" although I fly I's and IX's most of the time.

If so, it would be massively above and beyond what the average player can expect. I can only reiterate the numbers of the median regular pilot (means no 2-weekers!) in tour 165:

Fighter K/S 0.41
Fighter K/H 2.63
Fighter Kills: 15
Attack Kills: 2

And that's not while flying ENY 30 planes all the time, so in the end he's lucky if he's getting 1 perk per kill.


Arena average would be

Fighter K/S 0.56
Fighter K/H 3.02
Fighter Kills: 40
Attack Kills: 19

But as also explained before, this is skewed a lot by the top 10% 'aces'. But even that numbers would mean something like only about 60 fighter perks per tour.

[Max]

Why am I still text muted. 

I was text muted for taking a CV from the Gaychemist while they tried hording a base I was attacking first.

Dweebs 

Chances are, you were text muted due to .reports from other players. They last (I believe) 7 days. If you believe you were unfairly reported, drop a line to Skuzzy -> support@hitechcreations.com or, call the office.

[bozon]

you don't mess up a horde with a 262, that is just lame - you mess up a horde by bringing 5 of your friends/squadies and arrive with 6 262s. I really wish HTC gave me the option to set up a mission in which I pay everyone's perks. I'll gladly take a few perk-starved players along.

If you want perks get out of your silly ENY 5 plane and roll something ENY 20+. The mean ENY in the LWMA according to Lusche is something like 12, so instead of getting 1/2 a perk per kill you will get 2 - that is x4 times the perk gain. No, before anyone mention the P-40, there are other planes in the ENY 20+ range that are far more capable then the P-40C. Really, people way overestimate the performance of the few low ENY planes. For perk harvesting survival is optional (only 25% bonus). Get something with good guns and not too slow and have at it. In addition the 20+ ENY planes are much cooler then your typical P-51D/La7/Spit16. If you are not so good and going to die anyway - die in a cool plane and collect your perks.

[Scca]

you don't mess up a horde with a 262, that is just lame - you mess up a horde by bringing 5 of your friends/squadies and arrive with 6 262s. I really wish HTC gave me the option to set up a mission in which I pay everyone's perks. I'll gladly take a few perk-starved players along.

If you want perks get out of your silly ENY 5 plane and roll something ENY 20+. The mean ENY in the LWMA according to Lusche is something like 12, so instead of getting 1/2 a perk per kill you will get 2 - that is x4 times the perk gain. No, before anyone mention the P-40, there are other planes in the ENY 20+ range that are far more capable then the P-40C. Really, people way overestimate the performance of the few low ENY planes. For perk harvesting survival is optional (only 25% bonus). Get something with good guns and not too slow and have at it. In addition the 20+ ENY planes are much cooler then your typical P-51D/La7/Spit16. If you are not so good and going to die anyway - die in a cool plane and collect your perks.

+1  The p47-D11 and D25 are great perk farmers.  Eight .50's will rip apart a bomber group like no bodies business...


Reviewing the comments what I see is what I expected to see.  Many don't like hordes, but aren't willing to do what needs to be done (kill ord, troops, defend) to stop them.  Last I checked this is a game.  Can you imagine a football coach saying "defending against the run is no fun, so I won't do it, or I will just quit"?  If you really don't like hordes, do something about it and stop trying to convince HTC to change the rules of the game.  Remember, there are few voices of decent here, that horde of 30 will be more pissed at a change in game dynamics caused by HTC is effecting their game play. 

Personally I <S> the Ghi's, Jayro's, and the FB's in the game for taking their $15 and making a fight.  I respect them more than I respect the Pee-51 that flys around all day with an 11-1 K/D, and .5 kills per hour.  I know immersion is cool and all, but coming to a game and spending all your time avoiding a fight is beyond my capacity to comprehend.

YMMV