I've been discussing the lopsidedness of this game for some time now with several of the other players not only with my own squadron but with members of other squadrons as well. It seems apparent to us that most of the time that those flying on the Red side have a definite advantage over the Greens.
No, I'm not pouting because I got shot down, this is a trend that several other players have noticed to. And even more than just someone flying on the Red side, curiously enough it's usually a few specific players as well.
Other's flying on the Green side have wondered if these individuals, whom I won't mention publicly, may have found a way to "hack" the game so as to employ an algorithm that gives them an almost bulletproof ability against their opponents?
These Reds are apparently able to shoot us down with one or two pings from their guns while we on the other hand can continually pepper them with large caliber 20mm or 30mm and have no visible effect.
We've also noticed that even though we're both flying identical aircraft that certain Reds are still able to accelerate faster and climb faster and harder than us. We're also amazed that they are able to execute a manuever without any signs of a blackout or redout that others cannot copy without suffering the unwanted effects.
The apparent unbalanced nature of play in this game as it stands now has members wondering if they should continue paying their monthly membership. I'm sure that it would be appreciated if management would look into this to see if there is any validity to the gameplay having been compromised in some manner for which most of us believe that it has. Thank you

P.S. As an afterthought I would also mention the practice of deliberate HO's, (Head On Collisions). I'm not referring to a head on pass to gun an opposing aircraft before peeling off but one where as you deliberately collide with another aircraft.
As someone flying on the Green side this happens quite often as an intentional act, for what I can only imagine is because one does not possess any better skill or tactic. At any rate it appears to me and to several others that disproportionately the Red aircraft flown again by a suspicious few always, or at least most of the time will collide with you and then fly off unscathed without any visible damage. This is something that I'm sure most would agree would not happen in real life with real aircraft. And since it is my understanding that the flight characteristics of all of the aircraft that are featured are fed into the game then it's another question to be raised. Why is this allowed? Thanks

<S> hotroc

I understand how it can be frustrating if you are on a side that doesn't have the advantage in numbers.
However, it may be due to the times that you are flying. I will log on at times and see that it is quite the opposite of what you are experiencing and green has the advantage in numbers.

As for the getting killed with one ping vs, no potency with your guns, trust me WE ALL FEEL THAT at times. Some of that has to do with latency and while you think you are hitting someone many times, in reality they only feel one or 2 pings. And vice versa for getting killed. You hear one or 2 pings, and on their end they see many hit sprites. Both sides feel this, because I hear it on our radio all the time, that someone feels they shouldn't have been taken out so quickly. I do it myself at times. I don't believe iEN favors one side or the other, and I try to make myself understand there are lag issues.

As for "particular players" killing quicker than others, again, I also have a list of guys who fly green that seem to take me out almost every time in no more than 3 pings. Not sure if there is anything suspect going on, or perhaps the difference between their connection specifically, vs mine specifically, causes this. I try to tell myself there are no aimbots in this game, but one does have to wonder at times.

It's not a Green vs Red bias. Everyone has the option to fly for either side. Perhaps you should try flying red for a night or 2, and you'll probably notice there is no difference in how things happen as far as FMs, plane damage and gun effectiveness. There are a few ways you can record your sorties. If you do find proof of this I'm sure the community would like to see it. There are half a dozen guys I know of that fly both sides equally. Perhaps you should ask them if they notice a difference. (Prime, Caycam, Lehi, Robert, etc)

I use to bounce back and forth on sides depending on numbers to help the balance, however, I have pretty much stuck with one side now because that is who I team up with on TS.
Much like the reason you only fly green is because that is who your squad is associated with. There are a few players in here that do try to balance sides.

With the minimal amount of players Warbirds has, it is a small community compared to other sims. The side/color loyalty in here for the most part, as sad as it is, stems a lot from one particular squad CO and his method of playing the game. He sticks primarily with Green or Purple. His antics have soured many to the point they refuse to fly on the same side, hence we now have loyalty to specific colors. This of course is not the only reason, but it does carry weight.

Also, I've logged on to see a lot of greens outnumbering the reds, with this squad bombing field after field, then when the reds catch up in numbers and start shooting them down where they no longer have the advantage, many of this squad simply logs off. Leaving the side balance in favor of the red. Not sure if it is intentional or that it's just their normal time to log.

Just a perspective from the red side.

_________________
Swanee - NWO / AE

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There are 2 kinds of people in this world...
Fighter pilots – and those that wish they were.

Swanee- I have no complaints on the numbers. Hey, sometimes we have more guys flying Red than Green and vise versa. No, this is something different and as I put in my letter, and there are many others that feel the same way and wonder if the game play could have been hacked in order to stack the odds in ones favor. I'm not saying, or I guess that I shouldn't have implied if I did, that this pertains to anyone/everyone flying Red. But there are a particular few that always seem to have the advantage regardless of the aircraft that they are flying, etc. And to note, some of these individuals have compared computer speeds,( or whatever you call it), with myself and others and there was little if any difference that would make any difference according to those more tech savvy than myself.

I see what your saying. In this day and age, it would be naive to think that any game is cheat proof. There are many out there that hack into government sites. So a small flight sim doesn't seem out of the realm of possibility.

Like I said. I have a list of those I find very suspect in the game. Ironically they mostly fly for the green side. Perhaps that's because I fly predominately red. It's a matter of perspective. I would say IF there is any code enhancements or cheating by anyone, it would be a global issue, and not just by one side or the other.

_________________
Swanee - NWO / AE

---------------------------------------------------------
There are 2 kinds of people in this world...
Fighter pilots – and those that wish they were.

As an afterthought I also have to wonder if the Greens that your also seeing this issue with are ones that also fly as Reds from time to time. There are those that switch sides occasionally.

I will have to agree with hotrocks comments regarding the game play and am wondering if some individuals managed to get the dot commands that work during training mixed and allowed to use them during online gaming .

I can recal a scenario that we had and this is not from the same squad but from different squads we had cornered a tank we kept shooting the individual with 88m and nothing took him down i shot him around 30 times other greens shot him many and he would get everyone in one shot kill . In the end this individual said its boring and left .
He also plays green and maybe swanee could be the person you mentioned in the green side .
The same person keeps talking about frame rates anyhow i dont understand how this individual can be flying the same aircraft as i and i cant catch him in the straight line and would keep increasing distance and this is on full web but when he geets on my six catches me in seconds and not even in a dive.
I would happily name the peson to a moderator through a private message so they can keep an eye on him unfortunatly i dont have video evidence as i domt know how to record in the game or were i can retreive it as evidence . I have been playing this game for over 5 years and never had this happen .

Also i would like to say about the HO collisions i think nboth aircrafts should be destryed during a collision as thats what would happen in real life dog fights but usualy the oponet keeps flying even though they dive at you you shoot the all rounds at them and they collide and you droped dead and they keep flying . They keep saying your warping at 60 frame rate i dint think so with fast internet .

Anyhow the game needs a major graphic revamp and updted a bit .

Ah yes, the game does need a graphics upgrade and iENT is well aware of that. But, that requires money and to get that money you need revenue from players. If you had cutting edge graphics, you would likely get more players but you need to the money from players first.

iENT is in the middle of a little fundraising campaign and passing the hat around so a person can invest in those better graphics and improved game play. But, hang out on these forums long enough and you will see that there is disagreement as to "what this game really needs to improve".

Go read the forums for competing online WWII era aerial combat sims and you will find many similar complaints. Makes one wonder if there are shortcomings inherent to the computer platform that have not been figured out yet...and may never be.

<S>

Nick

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"Tod von Oben"

To be honest,

It is highly likely that "net lag" causes most weirdness that people encounter.
eg: 1 ping kills, collisions, D range etc.

Don't forget that some people like to be inflammatory and will write all kinds of nonsense in the radio buffer.
Some people are only ever killed because... blah blah (add the excuse here)

I typically ignore such people and fly my own game...

If you do have a particular issue or valid concern, please do report it to the powers that be for follow up.

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On the numbers side...

It is generally always been the goal to try to increase the overall numbers (and also the frequency with which existing customers play.)

Unfortunately Warbirds lost most of its European squads & players some time ago.
Seems to have been mostly some political issue and everybody jumped.
Therefore outside of USA prime times, the arenas really struggle for people.

iEN seem to have done very little in way of trying to redress this situation, which is a huge shame.
Europe is a huge market for WW2 gaming.
If we could get as many people online at normal EURO times as we to at USA times, it would be a huge boost.

>S

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to my knowledge, there are no cheat codes in termes of dot commands (which would have to be created by the original programmers) or any codes that would influence lethality, plane performance eg.

I see funny software behaviour every now and then, but not in a way which could be used by a gamer to his advantage.

The quality of internet connection is a different story. There is software, even freeware, to reduce data bandwith, call it "bandwith limiters". It could have the same effect as the old "fone cheat" at dial-up times in warbirds 2.xx, people lifted the fone to interrupt data flow from their dial-up connection to produce instant wharp. I think it is rather unlikely that a gamer can use such a software to his advantage, IMHO.

If you define "cheating" in a broader context, you would find gamers, who have access to game relevant information easier and quicker than others (because they have a tight communication network). Even, using advanced knowledge of how warbirds works, or about aviation, could be felt as unfairness. I believe that this category is the most relevant in WB today.

As many other have pointed out before, I see too little effort of the plattform owners to maintain the game, in respect of balance, grafics and reward system. Volunteers are allowed to tweak arena settings, to create new maps or refine aircraft performance data, and i appreciate it very much, there is a lot of private work, the only reward is our appreciation. As soon as professional coding is affected: no joy. For instance, the collision modell could be refined our even reworked, volunteers cant do it (as far as I know).

PS, about one ping kills: the software doesnt transform every hit into a vocal "ping", so when u hear a ping, you are allready hit by several times.

best regards, greenx