SoW proposal: Merging different realism preference players online

[MikkOwl]

Originally Posted by AndyJWest

The way a pilot acts in a sim will be influenced by the particular 'scoring' he is eligible to receive. Pilots on 'easy' settings will always be more likely to take risks, simply because they have less to lose. If you try to 'level the playing field' by adjusting the scores, you will just end up with people attempting to find the 'easy way' and exploiting the inevitable limitations of any practical simulation.

I must disagree. One cannot generalize all pilots on easier settings (and this is a pretty wide range of settings we are talking about, including even quite hardcore pilots). Their motivations for flying with the aids they have is probably mosty because they cannot handle more at that point in time, or lack the hardware setup necessary to do it properly. Then that some will care about scoring, yes, that is true. But then if they cared so much about scoring that they would take more risks to get it, then they are likely to choose having less aids to maximize any score they get. In this sense, this proposal is unlikely to change the fact that some pilots care a lot about score while others do not. The proposal's only challenge is setting the ratios correctly so that there is no ideal sweet spot setup where one gets the most score.

Personally, I'd rather fly on a simulation that attempts 'realism' even if it means I'm always on the losing side. It just makes the occasional kill more enjoyable.

Me as well. Been flying mostly old Bf 110 G-2's versus 1944 Tempests, Spitfires and P-47's online. There are plenty of us like that. We can easily co-exist with those others who might prefer lower realism for the sake of some gain. They will suffer performance penalties (in a sense) as well as other penalties while not really giving them an advantage over us.

EDIT: I want to clarify that the lower realism settings (having aids) don't really give them benefits over those who understand how their plane works and how to fly it. It will never make them aim better or maneuver better. It will only help them avoid the kind of specific mistakes that the initiated avoids anyway, like blowing one's engine or crashing on take-off.