Horatius

My theory for that bug is that both players can hit the start button, not just the one who creates the game. If only one hits start, all is fine, if both do it the elements get mixed up. I came up with that theory after a game where my opponent created the game and i hit start, we aborted and tried again. The second time i did not start and all was fine. Haven´t tested this theory so it could just be my imagination , but maybe it´ll help. If not dismiss my rantings

Sixx, you are sexy but your manners are deplorable. And the Allies will win in the end! Just wait till i get my revenge for the 9-0.5 you inflicted on me

Don´t feel too bad, i had only one defence card for the leader (an ace) in the first two turns,so it would have made no difference at all And it is a very effective tactic, even if you had a 6000 pilot against a 3000 And finally: I would have done the same in the tournament, escorts are hard enough against humans !

I´ll second that! He even has his base in russia, so hes the right man to lead the allied effort ´ By the way, whoever ends up playing against me: I will be away from an internet access from monday till friday, so we we will have to schedule our missions for the weekend. i hope that´s no problem.

Since Sixx is pestering me to not only tell him that i´ll play but write it down: Count me in, i´d like to fly for the soviet side...all these shiny new planes...i can´t resist !

Well, some of the comments seem to have drifted a little bit off topic I´ll add my thoughts about the changes and refrain from commenting on the merits of different planes (...my vote for best fighter would go to the late war cannon-armed corsairs or the FW 190Ds ): Overall i like them, but there is room for improvement. The damage bonus is a very good idea, but i really hate the fact that with a -1 bonus 1/1 IMS cards are useless. This is a huge penalty, you often get 2-3 useless cards in a hand of 6 or so in addition to the fact that you do less damage with the better cards. From a gameplay perspective this is bad, and i don´t think it is historical (except maybe for the planes armed only with two small calibre machineguns). A possible solution would be to let all cards inflict a minimum of 1 point of damage, this removes the useless 1/1 IMS and still gives those planes a disadvantage. Another possibility would be to give those planes different decks without 1/1 IMS. The +2 damage bonus planes are slightly too deadly in my opinion, especially if they draw a 3/4 OTS. Maybe a damage cap of 4 or 5 would be a good idea? I am still undecided about this. The heavy cannon rule seems to work, but occasionally you get weird amounts of kill cards. I had 5 in one game with a Mosquito, that is statistically nearly impossible . Maybe a limit of one or two converted cards per game would help? I hope to have provided you with some food for additional thoughts / comments

The Dewoitine 520 was better then the Me 109E ? That is the first time i heard that, why would it have been better? And for politicians.....simply become a politician yourself, then you can do a better job

Hi CSS, first, i want to tell you that i understand how you feel after you lost some of your top pilots (it happened to me some time ago but you tend to remember things like that...), but i do not think your conclusions in this and your other thread are right. I have played the game since the beta test (although not as intensively as some others)and i have never bought the IMS:2 Destroyed card since i always thought it took the challenge out of the game. Without it, middle level (ca. 200 to 500 XP) dogfights can be a real challenge for some nations and high level dogfights are often decided with the first attack because turning a game around after you lost a plane in round 1 is nearly impossible. But in my experience the changes in the last update made dogfights a bit easier on average, since you can always get lucky and the bot you are playing is weaker than you are or is flying an older plane, a thing which could not happen under the old system. On the other hand now you occasionally play pilots who are exceptionally powerfull...but i found that no great change from the old days when you always fought top pilots in the best planes . Maybe you should just take it as a string of bad luck and buy a couple of vertical rools or an ace pilot whenever you fly without escape death....at least that is what i do. P.S. If your break lasts for some days i wish you a happy new year. Horatius

Hmm, all of the changes sound interesting. I like the fact that you want to encourage more human vs. human play, and i hope that you will succeed (although i still have my doubts ). As i see it, the two main problems why most people play against the AI are: 1. The number of players online at the same time is between 2 and 12 or so most of the time. If you subtract the ones flying campaign games, those playing the demo version and those with radically different pilot levels your chances of finding an opponent are not great. It is easier for beginnning pilots, but once you reach pilot value 20+ the number of possible opponents declines sharply. 2. The way the game works the good (experienced) pilots get access to the good planes. Right now it is impossible to even the odds by giving the weaker pilot a better plane. Granted, the better pilot can take a weak plane but that goes only so far. If your way of recalculating the value of a pilot works against humans the same way it works against the AI it should get easier to find an opponent, we will just have to wait and see . Now for some comments on the changes: 1. Change in the matchup logic: Like i said above that one is a great idea, i wondered since the beta phase why all the wasted or unused XP is factored into a pilot´s value . 2. Reducing the number of skills a pilot gains: While i do not like the idea of loosing all my hard-won skills i think that one can potentially be good for the game. A major factor will be how steep you make the "skill aquisition curve". When will a pilot get the first skill? How will the costs change (both initially and after each skill you have bought)? This is not easy to do, as waiting too long for the first (or the next..) skill will discourage players. 3. Awarding one-use skills: Why not? I doubt this will make much difference, but it is a way to keep the skills no one will buy in the game. 4. Reducing the XP for AI pilots: I do not know if this will be good for the game, depends on your success in encouraging human vs. human matches i suppose :confused: . 5. Shared XP between leader and wingman: Sounds like a good idea for training up a new wingman after the old one gets killed . I would like to see the leader progress a little bit faster than the wingman, after all he is the more important of the pair. Well, that´s it. I hope i did not ramble too much

Oh great and divine emperor, glorious leader of the japanese team, fellow pilots: I have not quite managed to achieve a full success against my british opponent toorey, the game ended in a draw. In a shrewd move my honourable opponent used his hurri 2s mainly in malaya, racking up two victories there (two times 4 VPts). I only managed two win two bombing missions (6 VPts) and one dogfight (2 VPts, so the end result was 8 VPts all. It was great fun, even if i failed to lessen the british team´s advantage in VPts.

Good Work! I just tried Midway and i must say i like the changes to the campaign system, especially the new variable bomber ratings. I wonder how that will affect other campaigns. Singapore comes to mind, maybe that will make help the japaneses team a little bit. The fog of war effects are a good idea, too. I had three of those in my campaign, two times it was no target, the third time a U.S. carrier. With luck a good target appearing out of the blue can turn a campaign, the added element of uncertainty is nice.

Excellent work on the Ki 102 Randy, a very worthy addition to the japanese plane roster, finally a plane that can absorb some punishment (and 2 bursts are nice, too)! But i have to agree with Stalin's Organist, the light green you gave it is awfull, it looks like a sick grasshopper Please change it, a darker green like the Oscar would be nice!

Congratulations! I won the VC with one of my british pilots (Loyd A. Trigg) 2 weeks ago for shooting down 4 Japanese planes in an escort mission while loosing both my bombers at the same time, so you could really say i swept the sky clean off ALL aircraft . And that meant no chance of a military cross anyway, so they had to give me the VC! By the way, as the proud holder of the cross you can now call your pilot Jack Hillard, VC as an official part of your name, maybe we can convince the DIF team to change the names of all VC holders (just kidding).

Sorry oh esteemed leader and glorious comrades of the japanese host, i have to report mixed news: In my match against JabbaVHutt i only managed to achieve a (costly)draw. The beginning was extremely promising, i got a 1/3 shipping target in Singapore and managed to shoot down&kill the Hurricane 2 leader. He shot down a Kate, so that mission´s result was a draw . The patrol target was no problem, i won it easily in all three rounds. But in both turn 2 AND 3 i got Force Z (the 3/5 naval target) in Singapore. In turn 2 i managed a draw, but lost a Betty (pilot killed), so i had to send the Kates in turn 3. I lost that mission in turn 3 (both Kates and both Oscars shot down...), as i had dreaded. To gain a draw both Kates would have needed to remain alive, an unlikely thing against 2 Hurri 1s and 1 Hurri 2. So the best i could do was a draw with 6 VPts for both sides. At least this way no side makes any gains...and we are currently ahead a few VPts.

Just make sure that boost to your honour enables you to win kuroi As the leading japanese Ace you deserve it, now i am very interested in our opponent´s roster!