Thoughts on FSO

[RedBeard]

I enjoyed the first hour action of frame 2 last night. It was interesting listening to events unfold while anticipating our upcoming bomb runs.

However, the 2nd hour was a bit of a disappointing lost cause. Even with a planned second massed assault mission, there was only 2 sets of bombers that were anywhere near each other and the third set was a sector or more out. That’s the sum total of the offensive force (not including our escorts).

Part of that was 2nd hour attrition and part was the nature of multi-life getting out of sync with 2nd hour plans. So, I’m starting to question what to do to improve things. Here are some possibilities I have thought of:

• We lose a lot of people in the second hour. Should we start limiting FSO to single hour events?
• Multi-life is one way to try to keep people hanging around for a second hour, but when the second hour requires another mission plan, the second hour mission is very difficult to carry off. I think multi-life works great for interdiction style frames where flight times are short, but missions with long flight times (> 10-20 minutes) really don’t benefit from multi-life as there usually isn’t time to get back anyway. So, do we try to limit our scenarios to shorter flight times and keep multi-life or not use multi-life on long flight scenarios?

Given the lack of numbers these days, I’m inclined to do a little of both. Limiting FSO to a single hour and not using scenarios with a long flight time while still supporting multi-life. I have no idea how much this would limit our choices though. What does everyone else think?

[1ijac]

I think the unlimited lives aspect is a good thing.  It helps to keep players from dying in hour 1 and just leaving.  Long flights to action tend to kill the desire to stick around.  The plane match up was kinda ok, but I would say the bomber match up could have been better.  Axis drew the short stick there. 

One-eye

[Spikes]

From a design perspective, I am not a huge fan of the second hour/unlimited life thing in general as it feels less FSO-like, but I feel like it's necessity now. Plus, if it allows more people the ability to enjoy my design more in-depth than they would with just 1 life, I think that's a positive.

For me personally, my main thing is that one side cannot/should not be able to pull a 'come from behind' win due to Hour 2 lives for the exact reasons you state. We lose people, sides may get imbalanced, there is no commitment to stay for Hour 2, etc. For what it is worth, my Hour 2 designs tend to be simple off-shoots of Hour 1, with whatever the objective is being the same or close by as Hour 1, as to not require an entirely separate plan. I feel the goal of Hour 2 should be to have fun, eg. if a squad gets 'bomber duty' in the first hour, they should not be obligated to have to do the same in the second sortie.

My 2 cents.

[Drano]

I just looked at the logs. Only 56 players? Think that's the prob right there. Back in the day that'd be two of the larger squads! Events like this need a couple of hundred otherwise it's just a good night in the AvA. That's what looks like to me had happened here. Given the lack of strategery due to the low count everyone knows where everyone else will generally be by the end of hour 1. A brief battle ensues and if you only started out with 56 players you'd be having a pretty short event. It is what it is.

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[Molsman]

  Come back Drano give It few events and I think ya  r able to hang. Hell. Can and my aim still sucks!!!!!! 

[Alpo]

I enjoyed the first hour action of frame 2 last night. It was interesting listening to events unfold while anticipating our upcoming bomb runs.

However, the 2nd hour was a bit of a disappointing lost cause. Even with a planned second massed assault mission, there was only 2 sets of bombers that were anywhere near each other and the third set was a sector or more out. That’s the sum total of the offensive force (not including our escorts).

Part of that was 2nd hour attrition and part was the nature of multi-life getting out of sync with 2nd hour plans. So, I’m starting to question what to do to improve things. Here are some possibilities I have thought of:

• We lose a lot of people in the second hour. Should we start limiting FSO to single hour events?
• Multi-life is one way to try to keep people hanging around for a second hour, but when the second hour requires another mission plan, the second hour mission is very difficult to carry off. I think multi-life works great for interdiction style frames where flight times are short, but missions with long flight times (> 10-20 minutes) really don’t benefit from multi-life as there usually isn’t time to get back anyway. So, do we try to limit our scenarios to shorter flight times and keep multi-life or not use multi-life on long flight scenarios?

Given the lack of numbers these days, I’m inclined to do a little of both. Limiting FSO to a single hour and not using scenarios with a long flight time while still supporting multi-life. I have no idea how much this would limit our choices though. What does everyone else think?

As one of the B25 sets that were up after a rather successful H1 mission  ... I've rarely seen a full blown 2nd hour mission come to fruition.  Guys in bombers for hour one just want some fighter vs fighter payback, flight time is excessive, or in the case of the B25... well, you are basically a target.

What I would really like to see... the use of a bomber airspawn for hour 2.  The flight time to target, if multiple sectors makes it tough to rally troops to that kind of H2 mission, IMHO.

[Alpo]

What I would really like to see... the use of a bomber airspawn for hour 2.  The flight time to target, if multiple sectors makes it tough to rally troops to that kind of H2 mission, IMHO.

LOL... just saw the Objectives email.  What a great idea!!