Tyferra wrote:
ComradeWho, I like your writing. You have a real style dude. That was an enjoyable read, but try paragraphing it next time - makes it a bit easier for everyone involved. Don't listen to airbourne, he's obviously not used to reading anything aimed above the 5-10 age group. The grammar was fine, punctuation maybe needs a little work.
First off, the AA was weakned. It dosn't pack the punch it used to. It's lock however is the major change. In the old patch, I used to shoot aircraft with small arms, because I knew that in the long run, they'd have more effect. You prayed for an unexplainable ping surge to rid you of pilots who just had no way, besides crashing, of coming down.
Easier for less experianced players? No, see you're seeing it from a different perspective. Another perspective is this: it is now harder to fly and be effective. And besides, the AA isn't perfect, in my opinion it works just as it's supposed to. A lock on an aircraft, when coupled by firing a missile gives you about an 80% chance of hitting. That's one missile. Now couple with this the fact that it takes a minimum of three missiles to take down a plane. Adding to that, you have to be locked on to a pilot who will not try to avoid the missiles, the pilot must not go back to the airfield/carrier to repair, and more importantly, the person on the AA must not die. Taken all into account, AA takes a mixture of skill, luck and timing, as do most things.
Before however, the AA was meerly decorative. Most soldiers simply looked for cover every time a jet or chopper came near. Now it actually works. You can hit an enemy aircraft, as it should be! Now there is a way to counter air superority, which is fair enough because there sure as Hell wasn't any before.
Being able to fly does not mean your skilled. Look at me, I can barely fly a paper dart, yet with or without AA, I can 'own' in my own way. No one likes being shot down, which is why so many jet pilots were upset by the changes to AA. yes, it has made your jobs that but harder, but honestly, it wasn't that hard to begin with. All you used to need to know was how to achieve level flight and know when to release the bombs. Now, we'll see who the real pilots are. This new AA won't show us who the newbies are, they'll show us who the true aces really are.
See? As I said it's all a matter of perspective.
I second that.
With AA lock and air-to-air missile lock improved, it is now even more important to actually be a good pilot to avoid getting a lock on your plane in the first place. Also, missile damage seems reduced ( according to Tyferra ) which means even if you get hit by a missile you will in most cases be able to fly home for repairs.
As has been said before, most pilots I have heard from lately have stopped complaining about the patch now.
They have figured out tactics to either avoid AA or attack it before attacking anything else ( which btw is what real pilots would also do ).
there are some bugs in the 1.2 patch, but those are not related to gameplay issues. I bet no one at EA tested the missiles by shooting them into the oil towers. As soon as those bugs are fixed, the game should be fine.
I wonder though, if they are going to change something about the AA again, or simply give the choppers more hit points.
