Multiplayer - Giving your virtual life worth.

[ZachariasX]

Fly on Random Expert or Coconut's, the crowd is excellent on both. Wings of Liberty is just one way to enjoy it.

I must say, it's really funny to see how people are proposing a system where people need to work for new skins/modifications/aircraft as a silver bullet solution after the user base gave the developers a hard time for years when they added the very same system to the campaign

No silver bullets here. I also don‘t care much for the playing style of other sim pilots. Well, as long as it is not openly in destrictive manner. (The „wrong“ kind of destructive.)

 

Before, it was suddenly taken away what you had before. Much worse, it gave a massive disadvantage. On WoL, I suddelny had to fly a green plane in winter amongst mostly white ones.

 

You can distribute vanity items. But not things you really need for having an even playing field. One had to think of such things.

 

But as said, if some spend their time chute killing, while the other team wins the map, be it.

 

Also, why not make stats for chute kills? Just make another kind of „kill“. We have air kill and ground kill. Also AI kill. Why not add chute kill? Who wants to be on top of that list?

[HagarTheHorrible]

Fly on Random Expert or Coconut's, the crowd is excellent on both. Wings of Liberty is just one way to enjoy it.

I must say, it's really funny to see how people are proposing a system where people need to work for new skins/modifications/aircraft as a silver bullet solution after the user base gave the developers a hard time for years when they added the very same system to the campaign

The original concept of grinding for unlocks was quite rightly consigned to the dustbin (in my opinion), it was just a ball ache that limited access to things that you had paid for. I'm sure the original intention was well intentioned, it just didn't pan out as the developers had hoped or envisioned.

 

The closest my proposal comes to that is unlocking various skins as you gain points, or in the case of one or two skins not points but Ace status and, unlike the original game unlocks they serve two purposes, one it confers status, if only as long as a pilot lives that particular incarnation but it also helps opposing pilots to be aware of that status and act accordingly in their encounter. It should also be noted that, importantly, it only affects multiplayer and servers that wish to enable the concept in settings, so all players aren't denied any part of the game if they wish, or feel like playing elsewhere on other servers or in single player mode. Having higher status (more valuable) skins while it wouldn't be important for many, also acts as a double edged sword, nice to have but adds extra pressure to the owner, as it should. It also gives added satisfaction when you shoot one down, especially for the plebs among us, grinding away at the bottom of the heap.

 

I think, even just as a trial, it might be interesting to see if it could provide the concept of value to a virtual life without proving onerous and whether it could beneficially corral players to more cautious and considered behavior when playing on-line. I'm not saying it's a perfect concept as proposed or that it wouldn't need to be tweaked as flaws were detected but it still might be worth consideration.

[56RAF_Roblex]

Maybe the default skin changes. My squad use custom skins so everyone else just sees the default. I would also reset the skin to noob level each time someone dies

[HagarTheHorrible]

Maybe the default skin changes. My squad use custom skins so everyone else just sees the default. I would also reset the skin to noob level each time someone dies

I think no and yes.

 

First of all, with regard to a squad skin, like all else I think it should have a value placed on it, so while I think you should access it without grinding it should still have a base value and as such be made available, along with the mods, after completing the first task, death is rough at times but there you go, that's life for you !

 

Second point, yes you lose access to any skins and start again. Nobody said death was easy or painless.

 

My only other thought, today, is that maybe the requirement for achieving that initial upgrade, to access mods and something other than the default skin, like squad skins for example, should be less onerous than a full patrol or some such. Maybe it should be nothing more than simply taking off, climbing to a thousand meters and landing again. Short, simple and just enough to make people consider their actions. Just think of the benefits. People might think twice about piling up on the runway because they stupidly didn't check the space or landing pattern before gunning the throttle. Landings, especially after taking damage might become a more considered and fraught affair, maybe even choosing to bail out rather than risk dying in a pile up. Talking of which, it might be interesting to see if deducting a point, for a bail out, rather than chancing a landing might convey something of the dilemma facing real pilots and to add extra flavor the odd parachute failure might increase the tension.

 

Skins, or unlocking tranches of skins, as you progress or achieve various distinctions is really just fluff of no value other than in the mind of the player and as such doesn't really need to be included but that said it might be a useful tool to ratchet up the pressure and value one places on one's virtual life. The initial hurdle is the important one, it can be as simple or as complex as one likes all it needs to achieve is a bare minimum of value to the recipient that it's not thrown away with a careless indiscretion.

 

As a side note it would also make chute killing a far more interesting affair rather than the, at present, pompous posturing and howls of indignation.

Edited November 2, 2017 by HagarTheHorrible

[56RAF_Roblex]

First of all, with regard to a squad skin, like all else I think it should have a value placed on it, so while I think you should access it without grinding it should still have a base value and as such be made available, along with the mods, after completing the first task, death is rough at times but there you go, that's life for you !

 

I am not sure that can work  or should work.   Our squad skins are only visible within the squad and the server does not have any control over what we, the squad members, see beyond stopping people from using custom skins entirely like WOL etc do.    As for not allowing anyone to use a custom skin until they have earned it,   the whole value of having skins that show you have been staying alive is for other people to see them and know you have or have not survived X sorties.  Squad members seeing their squad mates with custom skins has no impact on that as everyone else, the people that matter, are seeing the default skin.   Besides,  we use a squad skin to keep track of who is who within the squad while flying so having some people in squad colours and some in default colours defeats the whole object of squad skins so we would just fly elsewhere or not use squad skins at all in which case there is no point restricting it..

Edited November 3, 2017 by 56RAF_Roblex

[JG7_X-Man]

Very interesting topic! I don't mind squad skins  - but with everyone or some flying around with 4K skins, the server will get pretty laggy. Remember not everyone around the world has a 1000GB down/250MB upload speeds.

Like many have noted about VEF, Bellum Wars, DED, SEOW, VOW war days, chute killer were the scorn of the earth.

 

That said - If anyone knows of an Online War, I want in!

[KaC_Richard_Rogers]

Very interesting topic! I don't mind squad skins  - but with everyone or some flying around with 4K skins, the server will get pretty laggy. Remember not everyone around the world has a 1000GB down/250MB upload speeds.

Like many have noted about VEF, Bellum Wars, DED, SEOW, VOW war days, chute killer were the scorn of the earth.

 

That said - If anyone knows of an Online War, I want in!

Skins are not downloaded from or uploaded to the server. Skins are installed client side.

 

As such if I have and am using a skin you do not have installed on your computer you will not see that skin, you will see the default skin for that plane for that mission. This is fun in winter where the default skin is not white.

 

 

Unlike Rise of Flight BoX does not have validated user created authentic/historical add on skins i.e. skins that have been created by the community and then 777 have packaged these up with a checksum so no one can substitute a skin with an altered skin i.e. see through plane

 

This is why WoL do not allow customs skins, as I could create or edit an existing skin so that it has a transparent nose, wings and the likes. If you did not have that skin then you would see the default skin or if you had that skin on your computer then you would see the valid skin (sitting on your computer) because skins are not downloaded from or uploaded to the server.

[JG7_X-Man]

Skins are not downloaded from or uploaded to the server. Skins are installed client side.

 

As such if I have and am using a skin you do not have installed on your computer you will not see that skin, you will see the default skin for that plane for that mission. This is fun in winter where the default skin is not white.

 

 

Unlike Rise of Flight BoX does not have validated user created authentic/historical add on skins i.e. skins that have been created by the community and then 777 have packaged these up with a checksum so no one can substitute a skin with an altered skin i.e. see through plane

 

This is why WoL do not allow customs skins, as I could create or edit an existing skin so that it has a transparent nose, wings and the likes. If you did not have that skin then you would see the default skin or if you had that skin on your computer then you would see the valid skin (sitting on your computer) because skins are not downloaded from or uploaded to the server.

That does make sense - there were cheats in online wars with that in IL-2!