Will SoW be boring and superficial?

[Feathered_IV]

Originally Posted by csThor

I've said before that I favor the "Red Baron II" style for a campaign. I don't really want "roleplaying" in the sense of the word, but I want to play the role of a pilot in WW2 - I get assigned to a unit, I get my mission orders, I fly, I try to stay alive and I rise though the ranks.

What happens if you rise in rank? Will you just get a warm fuzzy feeling and fly at the front of the group? Would a rise in rank from Staffel Kaptain up to Kommodore be completely meaningless in your SoW? How should such a promotion effect your game? How would it effect, "the role of a pilot in WW2"?

[csThor]

Rank per se doesn't mean you get more previleges. I mean you can be an Oberleutnant, but you're not Staffelkapitän when there's a Hauptmann leading it
Responsibilities should depend on position - wingman, element leader, flight leader, squadron commander, Gruppenkommandeur, ...

However with virtually nothing known on the campaign I prefer to keep myself from dreaming. Not expecting anything cannot get you disappointed

[Feathered_IV]

"Rank per se doesn't mean you get more previleges. I mean you can be an Oberleutnant, but you're not Staffelkapitän when there's a Hauptmann leading it
Responsibilities should depend on position - wingman, element leader, flight leader, squadron commander, Gruppenkommandeur, ...

However with virtually nothing known on the campaign I prefer to keep myself from dreaming. Not expecting anything cannot get you disappointed"


I know what you mean there.

I'm hoping that by keeping it in circulation, the powers that be might consider some wider options.

I guess being a Kanone of greater rank would have bestowed some perks that would translate nicely into a flight sim. Getting priority on equipment, aircraft and the like for the unit. A well serviced personal aircraft with less chance of mechanical failure than the latest sprog's. The chance to request a transfer (and maybe even have it granted). Or the chance to poach experienced pilots from other units. Your input on a tactical level would be respected and considered before a mission...

It's details like that that I support, certainly not cliched roleplaying, and geeforce-resistance player powerups and whatnot.

Bobb4, you are right about Il-2's offline experience lacking soul. That is why so many onliners are coming in here to say how much they don't care for it. They know it sucks and so do I.
I just don't think it has to be that way, and I don't want to see Luthier produce a half-hearted, makeshift, campaign experience for SoW.

[leitmotiv]

I recall an old Avalon Hill Sherman Tank board game "simulator" from the late '80's which had a campaign. You started out as a nobody in the company, in the lousiest Sherman version in the company, and, if you survived, did good, and rose in rank, you received a better Sherman versions. Exactly what F_IV is urging here. The best you could achieve was command of the company, and a late-model Sherman, with the 76mm gun, and the superior suspension.

[Bobb4]

Originally Posted by Feathered_IV

What happens if you rise in rank? Will you just get a warm fuzzy feeling and fly at the front of the group? Would a rise in rank from Staffel Kaptain up to Kommodore be completely meaningless in your SoW? How should such a promotion effect your game? How would it effect, "the role of a pilot in WW2"?

I think everyone is losing sight of the fact that this a Battle of Britain simulation. Taking place in a very short time period, only a few months at most.
So ranking up etc would seem a bit of a major stretch.
One would hope the SOW features stats recording server side and that this is expanded expecially as more campaigns (expansions) are added.
I honestly expect to see life (active ai) around the airfields in the initial release as this is a next gen flight sim and something that would be expected.
What is the point of running to AA guns if you are not protecting a living vibrant airfield.
Again this is purely a Battle of Britain thing where airfields were mostly permenant structures.
I would obviouly expect a pilots log book and lists of claims, confirmed kills etc.
But all this is purely me, me, me and somehow I doubt Oleg really cares what i want
This sim has been many years in the making and I trust the developers, publishers all know what works and what does not.
A sim like WOV Bob while stunning too look at, failed because they ignored the online community.
While it may be fun to shoot down ai at some point you will want to take down your fellow human and with the proliferation of broadband that is now possible.
I fly ADW from South Africa with a ping of 250-290 and still enjoy the ride. I shoot people down and get shot down often. Honestly once I flew online for the first time I never touched the game offline much again.
The only time I do is to practice take-off and landings in various planes and bombing practice.
This I can mainly attribute to IL2's totally lacking "soul" in offline play as one poster posted previously.
All