HQ and radar with low numbers

[Golden Dragon]

Well, it took me many many months to even realize there was a dar much less how it worked.  And the  much longer still to use it effectively to find fights.  But that was fine since it was all I could do just to stay in the air for more than a few minutes.  I think it's easy to forgot how steep and long the learning curve is to this game.  The new guys aren't logging off be ause HQ is down.  I can tell immediately when I'm fighting a newer player and I'll often fight my preferred Mustang outside it's strengths and let the nee guy get a kill.  It's just a game after all and it will only be as good as the player base.  The only thing that would ever chase me from the game are guys like Rumal or whatever his name is now.  Fortunately, there are more decent folks here than his ilk.

[Vraciu]

OP, Fugitive, and Chilli are dead on.

[BaldEagl]

OP, Fugitive, and Chilli are dead on.

I was dead on too.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

I was dead on too.

I was alive on, I win.

[DREDIOCK]

...and as a new player logging in for the first couple of times to find all dar down, how is he going to find fights? THAT is what the OP is trying to point out.

Yes. Particularly during the non prime hours.

During times with higher numbers its much easier to find something or see something is going on somewhere.
during off hours its much more difficult especially with the large maps. Often because they are zoomed out to look like a big blob.
Your average new user doesnt know how to work the map or even what a flashing base means. But during prime hours if you stay in the tower upon entry into an areana. Other people tend to show up regularly. You can see names showing up and often even hear chatter in the tower. Or see alot of text moving in the buffer During off hours. Nobody else might not show up for quite some time. To them. No darbar. no dots,no voice chatter. No names in the tower listed, no charrer in text buffer, and just maybe a couple of bases flashing to them it looks like nobody is there.

[Vraciu]

I was dead on too.

You usually are.   This thread is likely no exception.   I just forgot what was said by everyone by this point...    It is a mess.  It needs to be fixed.

[Arlo]

You usually are.   This thread is likely no exception.   I just forgot what was said by everyone by this point...    It is a mess.  It needs to be fixed.

Well, you could type 'The sky is falling just like it did in FA!' in caps a dozen times.

[Chilli]

Well, you could type 'The sky is falling just like it did in FA!' in caps a dozen times.

Arlo,

It is quite unusual that you are taking such a HARD line on something that does cause concern for a number of players.  This thread, as well as others, has provided some intelligent and logical discussion, minus the bickering.

I have to ask, how often do you play online and on what days and time?  When was the last time that you played online?  These are serious questions, and I am not attempting to be rude or make any judgement. 

It is just confusing to me that if I were to POLL players that are online at the time that I am, the overwhelming number of them with opinions would consider HQ downtime and current balance a problem that does reduce the availability of fights.  They most certainly would testify that it both causes players to log off, or at the very least move on to activities (including resupply) that do NOT involve interaction with enemies.

[Arlo]

Arlo,

It is quite unusual that you are taking such a HARD line on something that does cause concern for a number of players.  This thread, as well as others, has provided some intelligent and logical discussion, minus the bickering.

I have to ask, how often do you play online and on what days and time?  When was the last time that you played online?  These are serious questions, and I am not attempting to be rude or make any judgement.  

It is just confusing to me that if I were to POLL players that are online at the time that I am, the overwhelming number of them with opinions would consider HQ downtime and current balance a problem that does reduce the availability of fights.  They most certainly would testify that it both causes players to log off, or at the very least move on to activities (including resupply) that do NOT involve interaction with enemies.

That was for Vrac. He's been a 'Sky is falling just like in FA' guy since he got here.   I was online night before last (or was it last night?) I'll likely be on tonight.  

[Vraciu]

Arlo,

It is quite unusual that you are taking such a HARD line on something that does cause concern for a number of players.  This thread, as well as others, has provided some intelligent and logical discussion, minus the bickering.

I have to ask, how often do you play online and on what days and time?  When was the last time that you played online?  These are serious questions, and I am not attempting to be rude or make any judgement.  

It is just confusing to me that if I were to POLL players that are online at the time that I am, the overwhelming number of them with opinions would consider HQ downtime and current balance a problem that does reduce the availability of fights.  They most certainly would testify that it both causes players to log off, or at the very least move on to activities (including resupply) that do NOT involve interaction with enemies.

I have had Arlo on ignore for months.   The rare times I read what he writes are when someone else quotes him.

I never played FA.   I played WBs.   The numbers and trend now are exactly what I saw there a few short years ago.   There is no denying the falloff and it will probably accelerate if past is prologue.   Anything that is a deterrent to finding and keeping new players (not to mention veteran players) needs to be (re)evaluated.

The OP is right as are those who agree with him.   Fix it already, please.

[Arlo]

I have had Arlo on ignore for months.   The rare times I read what he writes are when someone else quotes him.

I never played FA.   I played WBs.   The numbers and trend now are exactly what I saw there a few short years ago.   There is no denying the falloff and it will probably accelerate if past is prologue.   Anything that is a deterrent to finding and keeping new players (not to mention veteran players) needs to be (re)evaluated.

The OP is right as are those who agree with him.   Fix it already, please.

Warbirds, FA, meh .... but see what I mean? Prettymuch a doom and gloom broken record. I had hopes for this WB immigrant what with the classy cpid/forum name and all.

[Squire]

Have it disable dot dar only which is precise GCI information...bar dar is like the Observer Corps and other low-tech spread out assets giving info on enemy planes...like the Aussie Coast Watchers say. If a large formation of bombers flies over someplace its going to be observed by somebody..."there are enemy planes here someplace". 

[EagleDNY]

With the HQ being such a valuable asset to all countries, It'd REALLY POORLY protected (ack) and very light with how much damage it takes to kill it.

I think if BOTH these were increased, say more anti-AC flak around the HQ, and say 100k ib needed to kill it, things would change.

Agree 100% -- HQ should be too hard for a single box of bombers to take out (even B29s) -- and the AAA around it should make it suicidal to even try with a single box. 
During primetime, with numbers on I have no problem with getting up a big raid to take HQ down. 

[molybdenum]

Agree 100% -- HQ should be too hard for a single box of bombers to take out (even B29s) -- and the AAA around it should make it suicidal to even try with a single box. 
During primetime, with numbers on I have no problem with getting up a big raid to take HQ down. 

I disagree. HQ is protected by 163s (unless there are eny issues for the target country) and any big mission deep inside enemy territory is going to see a lot of opposition. The net result of many of the suggestions in this thread would be that HQ almost never goes down; and if so, what's the point of having one?
The buff pilot who tries to take down HQ expends considerable time and effort to get there with no guarantee he'll succeed. Take away the reward or make it much harder to take down and, again, HQ will rarely die.

Fwiw, I fly buffs a lot but have taken down an HQ maybe 2x in the 2 years I've been playing. Imo the effort put into killing HQ is better put, in a strategic sense, into taking down a factory or the enemy city instead.

[Ninthmessiah]

any big mission deep inside enemy territory is going to see a lot of opposition.

Those kind of missions are getting more and more sparse due to low numbers and a dispersed strat system.  Also, nobody would launch to oppose such a mission if the defenders never knew such a mission was occurring (i.e. the HQ is dead and there is no darbar).

Here's the reality:  The current HQ system promotes combat for the few who up to defend it, and deters combat for almost everyone else.  So we can all cede that point to those who subscribe to the "well y don't ya up to defend the HQ"  argument. 

As for everyone else, the HQ system hinders the fight.  Any game mechanic that has such a detrimental effect on combat for so may players is at face value, a terrible mechanic, and a difficult one to defend in the face of the criticism posted in this thread and in others.