I can't tell Hitech how to run his business, I can choose to understand how the MA works with 50-120 customers.
So for two years now I've created terrains none stop while then lurking and observing\listening to the MA population as those terrains are played on to understand how this era of players uses the MA. Over those two years I've evolved the terrains focused on the reality we have between 50-120 players in the MA at most times. Last night my newest terrain riftval had the longest sustained window of player activity I've seen in two years of my terrains. During prime time about 5pm-10pm pacific time, 120 players were concentrated in three areas while making the action seem like 10 years ago. Concentration of players is the key element since in that small area, density of players actively fighting creates the illusion of numbers due to their re-upping to get back into the activity. In the era of 400 players a night, that re-upping to get back to the activity was the core of how player activity was sustained and self perpetuated. Getting 50-120 players to self perpetuate activity all evening instead of 30-40 minutes in chunks with no activity low periods, is much harder becasue mentally they get tired and loose interest. Where with 400 they had space to get their wind back. With 50-120 players it's all on those players to keep it going with out a break which is not really feasible. Our competitors have timed tiny arenas with small numbers. We have old maps designed for 400 people that tire out 50-120 people. Our 10x10 small terrain size can support 50-120 if the terrain is designed to support that number instead of 400, that is what I did with riftval.
As much as some want to believe it's not formula, there is a formula to helping a small number of customers create a great amount of concentrated activity on 10x10 maps. It took two years of feature testing on terrains to get a handle on it. If anything, NDisles is a prototype of that formula and it makes me wonder how old it really is. Pre 2002 did we have numbers more like we do now? That would be for someone else to remember. Since the average distances on NDisles is 25 miles, even for a small map action can slow down due to turn around time. Time not in action deteriorates activity windows for smaller numbers in the MA. Shortening the majority transit lanes between locations helps maintain player willingness to continue going back to a location. A consequence is shortening how long that terrain will be the active terrain in the MA due to faster capture of feilds. The only way to make a terrain last a long time in the MA is to build it to stop the old hoards from the era of 400 players. Then you just bore 50-120 players and they don't create activity which may cause some to leave the game. Replace three of the GV bases in the crater on CraterMA with small airfields like on NDilses, you will probably have the same scale of activity there as on NDisles due to that change. Otherwise, that crater is one of the most dead game play areas Aces High has in the MA arena.
The current radar works well in an environment where the average field distance is only 19 miles like the majority of feilds on riftval are set at. Very quickly the locations of enemy's becomes exposed becasue it takes very little time to travel half way across a 19 mile distance. This helps create an illusion of numbers to fight against and promotes activity. Along with not allowing player enthusiasm to keep returning to a fight be erased by long transit times back to that fight. It helps to setup GV spawn paths that support air combat paths and don't allow self segregation from the prime activity area in any given time frame. This means creating micro terrain for tanks that is attractive for tank combat to make up for not allowing self segregation from the primary air combat initiatives. Riftval is full of gully's, canyons, hills, orchards, and rivers with bridges which creates nuance at the ground level for the tank combat players helping attack feilds. Also mixing up the capture method between a town and the map room on the field changes the combat capture dynamic nuance.
Our terrains became cookie cutter and boring designed to slow hoards on average nights of 400 players, especially now for so few players looking for quicker action.
