Several players have noted that the current average level of skill in the MA makes it difficult for a newbie to survive long enough to learn the game. How about a "Practice Flight" option that would enable a new player to fly around in the MA and get into the action without being immediately slaughtered.
Checking "Practice Flight" would establish these conditions:
Identifying icons: Dar icon would be something separate from the "fighter" or "bomber" airplane shape -- maybe a small or large dot. The in-flight icon would also show identifier: o P-51. So everybody would know that a player was flying in Practice Mode.
Restricted Comms and Fleet control: During a Practice Flight a player could only transmit on the Help Channel, or VOX channel V. He would still see and hear other comms. He would not be able to take control of a fleet.
Nerfed weapons: During a Practice Flight a player's weapons would have no effect on other players or the environment. He would still see sparkles for gun hits, and get host messages for objects destroyed or an enemy "shot down", but there would be no damage done. He would hear pings from other players' guns and see host messages of damage, but would sustain no damage.
Nerfed collisions: During a Practice Flight a player would see host messages for collisions, but no damage would be done. Friendly fire would not produce killshooter damage.
Aircraft and vehicle choice: Practice Flight would be unaffected by ENY but perk rides would not be available.
After mission statistics: After landing a Practice Flight the player would see statistics for hit percentage, objects destroyed, and "kills".
Practice Flight could be restricted by time in the game, time per tour, accumulated points, or some other metric; or be available to all players all the time.
I know a lot of these conditions are available in the TA, but it is mostly empty and people want to be where the action is. It would be a "safe" way to experience the MA while still encouraging new players to join the fight for real.
