At this point of the game's evolution, this has to be the most unthoughtout feature ever. This system, if it EVER worked, was a product of an arena with 500 people in it. The ENY values are arbitrary and have no basis in fact and only serve to keep people from flying. As many people will log in and look at ENY and log off because there is no waste of time quite like trying to fly a lame plane on a lame map. You can only make up for bad ENY with sufficient numbers and right now the numbers are just too low.
To be clear, the argument that it "encourages people to fly other planes" is just a salve to the ego of the developer more than anything else. The developer wants people to try all the planes that were so difficult to create. It is not "want" of the player to fly all of them all the time. Human nature dictates that the player will fly only a few over any given period. The player wants to have the option to fly but not the commandment. At most people will have a stable of lower ENY planes they might be willing to fly but they are still selecting out of a very select few. So the idea that they are sampling the gamut of plane choices is a fallacy. Don't believe what people say, believe what YOU see them fly. Its the same thing over and over. They are far more likely to just try something different for the fun of it.
Now with the numbers so low it has just become an easily accessed form of cheat. Less than a handful of cheaters can keep an entire country in ENY all night for nights on end.
Here are the facts:
1. Having a second account is a minimal impediment to cheating. It is proven that people have done it and will do it in the future. They place the second account in the country they want to have ENY. Tonight both Knights and Bishops had 49 in flight but Knights had a ENY of 22 and Bishops had NONE. If you believe the counter nearly 20 people were in tower and stayed there.
2. With number as low as 30 per side, it takes only 2-3 cheaters having second accounts in the country of choice to induce ENY. ALL NIGHT!
3. This makes NO SENSE, when the numbers are so low. If the numbers are below 30 a side and you give 1/3 of the people an ENY of 27, what do you think they will do? THEY WILL LOG OFF BECAUSE ITS NOT WORTH IT!! Seriously, ask yourself what YOU would do? Would you battle 3 or 4 guys with both hands tied behind your back?
The total disconnect is having ENY based on "in country" instead of "in flight". In country has NO effect on the outcome of the battle. These people AREN'T FLYING or PLAYING!!!! Therefore they can have NO impact on the fight.
If you MUST have ENY as a very crude balancing mechanism have it based in "in flight" numbers. In flight players actually affect the outcome of the battle. ENY should cut off at about below 30 players on any side because it has no impact on game play. Whether there is 10 people on a side or 20, keep in mind they all have to work together to do anything. I have seen it where out of 60 players on, 2/3rds of them have ENY. Shortly thereafter the arena gets much, much smaller
. The vast majority of people DON'T switch sides. That is just a reality. There is always a small set of opportunists that do but that isn't the norm.
Please consider that this game isn't getting bigger, its getting smaller. Don't make it smaller yet by hanging onto a play killer. The change is easy and simple. People leave the game because of the "can'ts" not the "cans".
Thanks!
