Outsiders (like me) aren't necessarily welcome.
One thing sets Aces High apart from any other game out there. And, this is coming from my humble experience and opinion only, as a flight sim gamer since about '96, and a rabid gamer since the 80s arcades. Yes, I'm older. 52. Doesn't mean I'm out of touch, in fact, that's called experience
Outsiders like you aren't welcome? You don't get to make a blanket statement like that and represent it as fact. It's not a fact, it's a feeling you have, and one that is quite frankly based on limited experience. It's also your problem to solve, not ours. There are two distinct types of games. One is a group hug, global embrace of the masses where the game is pure eye candy with a large community of back slapping and support, and you can face the opposite direction of the enemy and still score a kill because you were at least trying and that's what matters (world of warcraft, arguably the largest community and game out there), and then there is the purist who demands precision, effort, and a back bone, far more rare, specialized and demanding.
AH is not for the timid. It is not for the social experience to gain self worth through score. This is a game of die hard enthusiasts. We build scenarios that require countless hours of planning, strategy, debates, arguments and pushing ones will and drive to the limit. We require, demand, insist on, and expect the best, the hardest, the struggle, and more often than not judge a person not on their hopes and dreams, but on their accomplishments. We pride ourselves on cheering the one who entered an UN-winable fight and died over one who secured a victory when it was clear he should have. You don't get invited into a group of Type A personalities. You barge in. You take. You create. You demand and you back those demands up with accomplishments. If you expect to be embraced with open arms and then be handed the successes, results and rewards of players who have invested countless hours, you are going to be disappointed. If you are here waiting for someone else to justify you or legitimize you, you are going to be disappointed. You are surrounded by the greats. You are at the mercy of the skilled. You are in the presence of the talented and you are not going to be coddled and invited into that group. When you reach the top, you reach it by scraping, clawing, and fighting your way there. This is vital, it's important, because when you get there, it is something you actually earned. You don't need to be validated by the masses, you don't need to be embraced by the group, you earned your spot and reputation on your own and you KNOW it, and that's all you need.
It's harsh. It's cruel. It's empowering and enabling. You are surrounded by greatness. You are expected to be great. The top create their positions, they are not invited to it. This game is the single best example of what it takes to be the best. You don't see this game catering to the World of Warcraft crowd. You don't see this game cater to volume over talent. There is a reason "some" people come here while "most" don't. It's not our role to invite you in. It's your role to assume your position. Leadership and greatness require a confidence in self. We don't give you that. We can't. It's just a game. But this is the single best example of something mankind has learned ages ago, how you play is the purest reflection of who you are.
No room for growth or newbs. Yall need to b more inviting and affable.
There is plenty of room for growth. This is not a social experiment where we have to evenly divide the pie. You want in, barge in, we embrace the motivated and aggressive, and reward the successful. We have invited you in. We don't need to change. You need to step it up, trust me, it's worth it. We will stop you, we will fight you, we will berate, slander and embarrass you. If you allow us to dominate your view of yourself, you don't belong here. If you can handle that, you can handle anything. This Is Not Candy Crush! Don't be turned off by the attitudes in the game, learn it. Embrace it. Consider this, the Ford Taurus is a very popular car, the Ferrari Anything is a very Special car. Anyone can drive a Taurus, can you handle a Ferrari? You're sitting in it. Anyone can start it, but are you willing to learn how to drive it? It takes time, and a completely, radically different frame of mind to understand why it's different. You have to first understand, and admit, that you know what you know, but don't know what you don't know. When you figure that out, and realize you have to play this game against your own goals, own objectives, and your own measurement, then you will best fit into a squad if that's what you ultimately want to do. You have to understand this, you are not playing this game against us, you are playing this game against you, and there is no other game out there that will challenge you as hard, or reward you as much, as Aces High.
As an aside, I've been doing this since the mid 90s. I build scenarios. I've been on the top of the score boards. I've considered the score boards irrelevant. I've been the CO of a squad. I've been in a squad. I'm currently in no squad. The game isn't about what I'm a part of, but what I do. It's also, equally, about what you do. Not one time, in all my years, have I based a decision on what others did for me, or with me. Look what has been done with that frame of mind. Try it, you'd be amazed at the rewards that come not only in the game, but as a lifestyle.
Quit this? Think about it, do you really want to say you can't do this? This is THE measure, there is nothing else out there that will test you, and hold you accountable to your own decisions, like this one.
Anyone can say it's just a game. But like I've said before, how you play is the truest measure of who you are. So turn your back on what you expect, disregard what you think, and get in there and be the person you want to be.
