Plane unlocks in single player - now more relevant than ever

[simfex]

Sure on your side, try this thread and we can unlock all theese planes together
http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showthread.php?t=9875

[Axe99]

Originally Posted by simfex

Sure on your side, try this thread and we can unlock all theese planes together
http://forum.1cpublishing.eu/showthread.php?t=9875

Great thread Simfex - I'd join ya, but I'm on PS3 . But highly recommend doing something like this on both 'sides of the fence' .

[Aruberikku]

Am I the only one who actually doesn't mind the current unlocks?

Yea they require a lot of work, but at least not everyone will have them. Which gives them an extra value.

[Lexandro]

Originally Posted by Aruberikku

Am I the only one who actually doesn't mind the current unlocks?

Yea they require a lot of work, but at least not everyone will have them. Which gives them an extra value.

Then whats the point of them? Thats a gameplay bias towards online play that some people cant or wont do. Some of the unlocks are just plain rediculous, such as the IL2 starting with no bombs but requiring strike wins to gain. Others are over the top in the amounts required for many players.

The whole point of the game is to be FUN! Its no fun going online and getting creamed every time just because someone else (who may have a lower skill level) has played the game online more and gained (what is effectively) an unfair advatage. The unlocks are not about stroking your e-peen, its supposed to be a reward for dedication to the game.

All these players are asking for is a way to unlock them in single player mode, to allow them a level playing field when going online. Thereby still giving the same dedication to the game as online players.

[Axe99]

That's exactly it - I wouldn't mind at all if there was an achievement for 1000 kills, or 200 CTA wins, or something like that, to reward the uber-keen, and give them that sense of accomplishment and elitehood - this isn't about bringing everyone down to the elite few who have the time to spend waiting in lobbies for games - but the planes that can be unlocked are seriously fun planes to fly, and are seriously handy to have in a scrap, and it seems a bit strange that (particularly given the current state of the online) that they're effectively locked off from the vast majority of gamers who are unable to find enough games to play. It also means that the people that got them first are harder to beat, so those that don't have them actually have a harder run of picking them up (try playing strike online if the bombers on your side are He-111s and the bombers on the other are B-17s - all else being equal, you lose, through no fault than your own).

It also creates a terrible incentive to boost. It's against my nature, but I could take turns with a mate to win strike games in 1v1 3 minute battles, and we'd both have the B-17 (or any other plane) far quicker than through normal play. Clearly, it's fair enough to make a friendly suggestion about tweaking the game design to make online a more level playing field and therefore more fun for everyone, and to discourage boosting.

[Cwl]

Originally Posted by Axe99

That's exactly it - I wouldn't mind at all if there was an achievement for 1000 kills, or 200 CTA wins, or something like that, to reward the uber-keen, and give them that sense of accomplishment and elitehood - this isn't about bringing everyone down to the elite few who have the time to spend waiting in lobbies for games - but the planes that can be unlocked are seriously fun planes to fly, and are seriously handy to have in a scrap, and it seems a bit strange that (particularly given the current state of the online) that they're effectively locked off from the vast majority of gamers who are unable to find enough games to play. It also means that the people that got them first are harder to beat, so those that don't have them actually have a harder run of picking them up (try playing strike online if the bombers on your side are He-111s and the bombers on the other are B-17s - all else being equal, you lose, through no fault than your own).

It also creates a terrible incentive to boost. It's against my nature, but I could take turns with a mate to win strike games in 1v1 3 minute battles, and we'd both have the B-17 (or any other plane) far quicker than through normal play. Clearly, it's fair enough to make a friendly suggestion about tweaking the game design to make online a more level playing field and therefore more fun for everyone, and to discourage boosting.

boosting always happens when you've got hard to obtain online achievments or a rank involved.

COD2 didnt have any online achievments and it was fun to play.

[Ancient Seraph]

I agree with most of it, although I would hate to see that the planes will just be lying there for the taking. I mean, the planes that can be unlocked now through single-player, don't require a difficulty setting higher than arcade, and let's be fair, arcade is easy for most of us. The more valuable planes should be harder to achieve, say, certain Single Missions or Campaign Missions on realistic or even Simulator. This would exclude a certain part of the players, since some are unable or unwilling to complete those missions, but they can just use the online unlocks. These are not so much hard as time consuming. In no way should the planes be available as easily as 'Complete this mission'.

[Axe99]

Originally Posted by Cwl

COD2 didnt have any online achievments and it was fun to play.

It did, but the CoD's aren't heavily biased against less experienced players - there's no "B-17" strength CoD perk or unlockable weapon, whereas the B-17 in strike is unstoppable, if the other side doesn't have one as well, assuming equal skill and loadouts elsewhere.

And Ancient Seraph, _Fully_ agree - I'd love to have to complete mission/chapter X on difficulty y (sim ) to unlock Plane Z - deffo not asking for all of the planes on a plate, just making them available at all. I'd much rather a good challenge for it - I'm just looking for a challenge that's practical.

For example, here's some basic maths on the time it'll take to get some of the IL-2 unlocks given the current state of online - estimated time of a game is 15 minutes (about the average, games are split roughly 50/50 at 10 and 20 minutes), and estimating that people will win 50% of them (which, on average the will), and that the time taken in a game that is completed is roughly the same as the time taken in lobbies and in games where the other side quits/there is a DC (so total time is gametime x2, which is around what it's been for me):
B-17 - 100 games at 15 minutes x 2 = 50 hours
He-111H-3 - 20 games at 15 minutes x 2 = 5 hours
IL-4 - 20 games at 15 minutes x 2 = 5 hours
Ju - 87D3 - counts towards B-17, so already counted
Spitfire XVI - Say you average 3 kills a game (probably a little optimistic for most - we're talking about what it takes for the average player to get these unlocks, not Black Death ) - so around 17 games, or 8.5 hours
Bf-109G10 - 40 games at 15 minutes x 2 = 20 hours
Fw-190F-8 - 20 games at 15 minutes x 2 = 10 hours
Bf-109K-4 - As per Spitfire XVI, 8.5 hours

So to unlock the planes, assuming average luck and that you can get on enough while there's still a good body of people playing online, you're looking at around 77 hours of play and lobby time.

Then you go onto the loadouts - I won't detail these, but the loadout requirements are far more online-game intensive than the planes. Which gives you a time requirement of probably 200+ hours for planes and loadouts. This is a _huge_ ask, and one of the most time-intensive unlocking processes I have _ever_ seen in a game - most MMOs don't take that long to reach the top level and max out your character. I actually wouldn't mind so much if it wasn't for the fact that around half of that will be time spent sitting and waiting in lobbies, or playing games that end half-way with the other side quitting out - if the online ran you from game to game quickly, and there were appropriate benefits for not quitting/penalties for quitting, you could cut this time in half, but as it stands now (and assuming there's no drop-off in player numbers over time, which is optimistic), unlocking every plane and loadout is a pretty tough ask, and one that is greatly disproportionate to any unlockables set I'm familiar with, particularly given the amount of non-game time that needs to be put in (the game time itself is very, very good ).