"Operation Husky"

[MACADEMIC]

Hi everybody,

I thought the first mission was pointing in the right direction, but still needs refinement. In the second we were a bit divided about which way to go, I must say I'd insist on every mission starting from the chat for the exact number of people who participate. Here's a few suggestions I'd like to make:

1.) Assign team leaders who make strategic and tactical decisions, lead their teams

2.) Every new mission should be preceded by a recon mission so that everyone is familar with all locations he needs to know. This could be even done in realistic fashion by sending a scout plane high above and taking aerials which must suffice for getting familar with enemy locations, at least for the first 'real' mission; would add immersion

3.) Keep the Social group for general mission discussion, and start two new ones to which only the leader and his team have access. Here the leader can discuss and make public his strategy.

4.) Start every mission from chat, without exception. It proves just much too timeconsuming to open a lobby for an estimated number of participants - it will fill up, but not necessarily with people who have the briefings. Start a lobby for the correct number of people. As I said before, there are people who want to play and not spend so much time in the struggle of getting newcomers up to speed - it just doesn't work.

Keep the general mission outline public, make it real accessible to people to join either side beforehand, point people in the direction of the forum, but who shows up without previously registering cannot participate. I'd be real strict about that.

5.) Make it a rule that the text chat is purely reserved for players who are going to play in the next game. By your presence in the text chat you're confirming that. Should you have just finished a mission and don't want to play another, leave. This will make it possible for the host to tailor his next lobby.

6.) Team leaders should create a separated text chat for his members in order to pass orders during a game, in case the radio (mic) doesn't work, and other in team communcations.

7.) Let's stick to the one life rule. Engines don't quit without reason, and landing accidents are usually the result of training deficiencies. Team Leaders should require their staff to be proficient and assign practice dutys before missions. Any team leader should be responsible for who he admits to his team for a specific mission, since he knows what the mission requires and what his people are capable of. If he admits people who kill themselves before they even get close to action, it is his mission that is jeopardized. He should therefore carry that responsiblity.

8.) There's no reason for KIA to hang around in a game, except for the host. KIA should quit the game, and if they want to participate in a follow up game they should remain on stand by in text chat.

9.) In order to keep track of a team's status, every KIA has to report back in text chat and update the remaining team strenghts. Since we're not using a map it's otherwise impossible to know when a team has been reduced to 0. Example: before the mission, the leader announces his team strength: Team A 5/5. If a member of team A gets killed, he quits the game and updates the number in the chat: A4/5 and so on.

10.) If the host gets KIA, he stays in game. In order to make clear that he is not participating, he lowers his gear and retreats to a corner of the map, awaiting the end of the game. A plane that is flying along with a lowered gear must not be engaged. It should be forbidden to use this as a trick, however lowering the gear during a dogfight in order to suddenly drop speed should remain allowed.

Preparation, organisation and discipline will enable us to create and play satisfying and immersive missions in the future. The effort is, in my opinion well worth it. There's so much more this game can be than just the random dogfights - it's up to us to make it happen.

MAC

P.S.: Posting this here since the social group doesn't allow a long post.