Robert, I've been playing this game for 23 years. For about 20 of those years I've been a trainer.
I can play this game. And for 20 of those years the spit XIV was a piece of shit. Period. We finally get it to the point where it's useable- and it's made basically unavailable.
Truthfully, I actually don't fly it very much- but I like to have it available when I do want to fly it. It's the principle of the thing that pisses me off. Nobody put the KI84 at only a single back base when it was so overmodelled it could do half loops from rotation to 15 k and turn with anything in the game. But get the Spit 14 right, and it's suddenly too good for the game? Well. bring back the farging RPS and make it available only in the last few days.
But the SPIT 14 is NOT good at killing bombers, and it's not a very good gun platform- but at least you have a chance to get to alt and intercept them. It will turn, but it is very difficult to keep the ball centered in a turn and shoot accurately. I've shot down a LOT of spit14s in a spit V or 9. Neither of them are quite as pitch sensitive and are less susceptible to blackouts and red outs. It's a great plane, but it's not that great. WEP is extremely time limited and the engine overheats very quickly. Other planes- as I've said, like the ki84 and the LA5N were horribly overmodelled for years, and nobody gave a fiddlers damn about them.
I seriously doubt the average player has a big advantage in the Spit 14.
I have never threatened to leave the game before. I've taken breaks from it, but never have I threatened to leave. This time, I'm pretty serious about it-even to the point of ordering in an Oculus rift headset for play in a competing game. I hate learning new games and I LOVE warbirds. I was in on the closed beta test for it in version .80, and I've spent a lot of time and money helping with Flight modelling over the years. Just my long distance bills with SKYDVR would make a tidy sum. But I really have just about had enough- and it's not just the Spit14- that's just very nearly the last straw.


finn

and now as of today the Spit IXe is only available from large fields too? Care to enlighten us?

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When it comes to the previous La5F-N and Ki-84 that had UFO-like aerodynamis, I agree they should have been banned until fixed. They were a major grievance for everyone except the people who will fly anything just to win. The thing though is that at that time period there was pretty much no one at the steering wheel in Warbirds, no person in a position to take action and try to fix such things when needed. Now we have a group of volunteers who actually give a damn about the future of this sim, which is why the Spit XIV gets restricted accessability now, while the La5F-N and Ki-84 didn't back when they were a major game balance issue.

I agree the Spit XIV is not the best buff killer out there. It has decent firepower but only ammo for one buff then RTB. Being a fighter jock myself it's great to have a plane that can climb like a rocket when I spot an approaching bomber at the last second. Seeing it from a buff pilot's perspective though it's not really fun to climb to high altitude for 20-30 minutes and getting close to the target, if any fighter jock can take a plane like the Spit XIV from any field and get to 15000 ft in 3.0 minutes (from my test) and start peppering your buff in no time. If anything this would even more encourage bomber pilots to do NOE runs with lawnmover bomb n bail behaviour instead of getting altitude. Main reason for Spit XIV restriction though was from a fighter vs fighter perspective.

Listening to your feedback, sir, for this Atoll map the Spitfire XIV is allowed from two fields per side. This to give it a better accessability and prevent one side from instantly capturing the opposing side's only Spit XIV field like in the previous Tunisia map. The Spit XIV is now available from F17, F20, F23 & F31, with F23 and F31 being fairly close to the action.





Also for this Atoll map we are trying out Bollok's idea which seemed to be well recieved when tried out some months ago. While the Spit XIV is restricted to two fields per side, the top tier fighters of most fighter series, like the F4U-4, can only be flown from MAF/LAF airfields. As such MAF/LAF fields become somewhat more strategical targets than the smaller SAF fields. Hopefully this also helps to add to the diversity of fighter match-ups seen. The fighters available only from MAF/LAF fields are:
F4U-4, Yak-9U, Fw 190D-9, La7-2, La7-3, Bf 109K-4, Bf 109K4/R6, Spit IXe, P-38L, P-51D, Ki-84-Ia

Regarding RPS's they will be reintroduced next map. Each RPS will also have the top fighters of each time period restricted to MAF/LAF fields. As such one can fly a Bf 109E-4Aa from MAF/LAF's, while small SAF's only hold Bf 109E-1 and Bf 109E-3's in the 1939-1940 RPS as an example. The preliminary plan for RPS's is this:

--------------------------------------------------------------
RPS1 ~sep 1940
CARRIER BASED
A6m2, F4F-3

MAF/LAF ONLY
P-40B, Hurricane I, Spitfire Mk II, Spitfire Mk I, Bf 109E-4Aa, A6m2

ALL AIRFIELDS
Hurricane Ia *87 oct, Spitfire Ia *87 oct, ki-27b, i-16, Fokker D.XXI, C.200, Bf 110C-4, Bf 109E-1, Bf 109E-3, Hawk 75, P-36C, B-239, F4F-3

--------------------------------------------------------------
RPS2 ~sep 1941
CARRIER BASED
F2A-3

LAF/MAF ONLY
Fw 190A-1, Spitfire Vb, Bf 109F-2

ALL AIRFIELDS
MiG-3, Bf 109F-1, B-339, F2A3, Hurricane IIB
+ all fighters from the previous RPS

--------------------------------------------------------------
RPS3 ~sep 1942
CARRIER BASED
Seafire II, A6M3

LAF/MAF ONLY
Bf 109G-2, Fw 190A-2, Fw 190A-4, Spit Vc, Hurricane IIC

ALL AIRFIELDS
A6M3, Bf 109F-4, P-38F, P-39D, P-40E, P-400, Mosquito NFII, C.202 S.III, Typhoon IB 1942, Hurricane IID, P-51Mk1, F4U-1, Ju 88C-6a
+ all fighters from the previous RPS's

--------------------------------------------------------------
RPS4 ~sep 1943
CARRIER BASED
F4F-4, FM-2, Seafire III, F4U-1A, A6M-5a

LAF/MAF ONLY
Spitfire IXa, Mosquito VI, P-38G, P-47D-22, P-51B, Bf 109G-6, Bf 109G-6/RVI, LA5-FN, F4U-1A

ALL AIRFIELDS
A6M-5a, F4F-4, FM-2, Ki-43-II, Bf 110G-2, P-47C, Yak-9D, Ki-61-1b, A-36, C.202 S.VII, P-40N-1, LA5-F, P-40N-5, P-40F, Mosquito NF30
+ all fighters from the previous RPS's

--------------------------------------------------------------
RPS5 ~sep 1944
CARRIER BASED
F6F-5, F4U-1D

LAF/MAF ONLY
Bf 109K-4, F4U-1D, F6F-5, Spit IXe, P-38L, P-38J, P-51D, C.205, N1K1, Ki-84-Ia, Fw-190A-8, P-47D

ALL AIRFIELDS
Yak-3, P-39Q, J2M2, Ki-61-Ic, Fw-190F-8, Ki-44-IIb, 109G-14 ASM, Typhoon Ib 1944
+ all fighters from the previous RPS's

--------------------------------------------------------------
RPS6 ~sep 1945
CARRIER BASED
F4U-4

SPECIAL 2-3 REAR FIELDS PER SIDE ONLY
Spitfire XIV

LAF/MAF ONLY
F4U-4, Yak-9U, Fw 190D-9, La7-2, La7-3, Bf 109K-4, Bf 109K4/R6, Spit IXe, P-38L, P-51D, Ki-84-Ia

ALL AIRFIELDS
J2M3
+ all fighters from the previous RPS's


<S>
/Robert

This is fine Robert and thank you for the heads up. Maybe next time let us know changes are coming before the TOD begins so everyone isnt asking each other WTF in the arena. Also, suggest you keep the new RPS system on smaller maps for now as flying long distances to find a fight with the early war planes can get quite tedious..

_________________
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I agree with the first part of the sentence and disagree with the second half. Tedious...no, essential...yes.

_________________
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~Sakai - 坂井
daimyosakai@gmail.com
Tainan Kokutai - 台南

Akatombo | White 576 | Curtiss AVG

^ I'll take 50%. Point being that by the time you get to where ever there is a skirmish, with the low numbers, by the time you get there its gone. But just my $.02 worth..

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OSX 11.5.2

The numbers are to low for a RPS. USA prime time this Friday had under 20 people on; it was less before and after. When there are only a few people on, about the only thing to do is bomb and capture fields, and the early warplanes carry small bomb loads. If there is nobody to fight, and you can't take a field, what is the reason to stay logged on? I consider myself active in the game; it is interesting to see advice from people who rarely play Warbirds.

Umm. I dont see anyone who isnt active in the game commenting here. Who are you referring to?

_________________
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AMD Radeon Pro 5700 XT 16 GB
OSX 11.5.2

Well before you guys flip out in the buffer, you might want to be sure which spit model you were shot down by. Many times I've heard complaining about the Spit 14 being too uber after I've shot someone down while flying the Spit Vc.

Remember there are many different skins in the game and many similar skins are offered on different plane versions.

In the case of Spits, look at the length of the nose, and the radiators under the wings.... the Spit9 has a radiator under both wings, the SpitV has only 1 radiator under one wing.

I need to learn more about the 109 variants myself....

Salute

_________________
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Pak - JLo would be correct if he is referring to me.

I have two or three sorties all summer. And what pisses me off is that I was excoriated for rolling in the rear to attack two enemy near a town. I saw two allied dots near there so in my mind it was a 3v2 situation. But no...as I get over the enemy, there are no friendlies around and my 1v2 didnt last long. And as I regroup and read the buffer, I was blasted for fighting over 2 allied M5s trying to sneak into the town.

I logged shortly after that. Whats the point of flying when you get bitched at by disgruntled Ground Pounders.

And for the record, and as I said in the buffer as a response - I don't give two chits about the ground war, capturing fields or dis-proportionate maps. This is supposed to be an air-combat sim. I think too many have lost that focus.


@nooky - Thank you for those tips on identifying the Spits. For the 109s, from As to Es you can ID them by the horizontal stab support bars. The mid year models can be distinguished by the vertical stab/rudder size and with some late models there is the Erla Haube (sp) canopy. There are other distinguishing elements, but these are off the top of my head.

_________________
~S~
~Sakai - 坂井
daimyosakai@gmail.com
Tainan Kokutai - 台南

Akatombo | White 576 | Curtiss AVG