new [Suggestion] Time for more pilots..?

[BackAnd2TheLeft]

Hi everyone,

 

With the huge amount of ground to be covered in the new map, along with availability of the Pawnee and jet, is it time for us to look at additional pilot slots - esp. when the server is set for 50 players?

The inclusion of the jet instantly reduces troop transport to 2, or even 1 helo, if a pilot decides to jump into the Pawnee at the same time.

 

On another note, I heard someone say today that flying in the co-pilot seat (when not playing as a pilot) = server ban.  Is this correct and if so, maybe this is something that could be reviewed, either as an alternative to the above, or in addition to it,  as long as only smaller helos are used by non pilots.

There is a lot of waiting around for many players - esp snipers, when they become stranded and allowing someone to whiz around and pick up stragglers would probably avoid heavier helos from being taken out in such pick ups (possibly losing many men at the same time).

 

Just a thought.

 

Rob (in-game)

 

[pach]

FYI:

 

>Server has 40 slots.

>co-pilot seat (when not playing as a pilot) = server ban==>Wrong. They are bugs but it's not a ban reason.

[Silens]

I have not played in the AW servers for a while so I am not sure what the environment is like, however, due to the addition of the jet and such, I would also suggest adding a CAS pilot only slot to balance things out. The CAS pilot being the only one able to of course use the jet and possibly the default spawn pawnee. 

As you mentioned, as soon as CAS vehicles are available, even in the past before the jet showed up, it seems most helo pilots abandon their transport duty to jump in on the CAS helos/jet. This leaves the infantry troops to fend for themselves and fly transport helos as copilots to get into the action or figure another way to move around.

 

The copilot thing, I believe is simply a request to not get in that spot due to the fact that a general Arma bug might cause the copilot player to desync, float around, and damge the helo causing it to crash.

However, as I have seen it reported across the community, this bug can happen in any position the desyncd player gets in, not just copilot. But in AW servers from what I can tell it is just a courtesy to make sure that it doesnt happen, and I am sure that AW would not ban anyone for such a thing. ( being as it is an arma bug and not being done intentionally by a player)

But if I am wrong, I am sure I will be corrected by the proper authoritaaaaas!

Have a nice day!

[Cain]

I fly using the co-pilot's seat if the transports aren't being utilized due to one of the pilots running CAS. 

 

And frankly, since snipers (they really should be all together in a cohesive sniper team unit) are independent of the main force, they should be using their own ground transports. Helos aren't there to be everyone's personal chauffeurs.

[BackAnd2TheLeft]

FYI:

 

>Server has 40 slots.

>co-pilot seat (when not playing as a pilot) = server ban==>Wrong. They are bugs but it's not a ban reason.

Hi Pach, well I wasn't sure about that, when it was said - which is why I asked.

Good to know - thank you.

I fly using the co-pilot's seat if the transports aren't being utilized due to one of the pilots running CAS. 

 

And frankly, since snipers (they really should be all together in a cohesive sniper team unit) are independent of the main force, they should be using their own ground transports. Helos aren't there to be everyone's personal chauffeurs.

Hi Cain,

 

I'm not sure I agree with all of that - yes, certainly I don't think pilots should be considered chauffeurs by everyone (esp as they want their fun too), but with the map the size it is, I have noticed many people (I mentioned snipers, as that was the specific case yesterday) stranded and alone.  No matter why, it is no fun for people facing a 20 min slog back to base, so I just thought if co-pilot seat is ok (which Pach says it is), then people should be encouraged to use small helos to do these sort of pick ups

[razgriz33]

I can confirm what Pach is saying, it is not an offence. HOWEVER if a pilot requests that helicopter back for good reason (e.g. his jet got shot down) you should give it back. It's all about being sensible with what we have.

 

We used to have 4 pilot slots and since the reduction in numbers have reverted to 3, I have also put forward the idea of removing a helicopter, namely the ghost hawk. This is to be discussed though.

[BackAnd2TheLeft]

I can confirm what Pach is saying, it is not an offence. HOWEVER if a pilot requests that helicopter back for good reason (e.g. his jet got shot down) you should give it back. It's all about being sensible with what we have.

 

We used to have 4 pilot slots and since the reduction in numbers have reverted to 3, I have also put forward the idea of removing a helicopter, namely the ghost hawk. This is to be discussed though.

 

Absolutely - if an actual pilot wants a helo, it should be theirs - I just get in and take the controls...  

 

Remove a helo?!!

What about adding an attack chopper with some real teeth..?

(that being said, I did see someone take out the Mi28 with a Pawnee last night - twice, so need to give that a go...)

[MDCCLXXVI]

My thoughts, as a frequent pilot (Stallion 6-4)

 

 

 

1. Consider a CAS pilot slot. If there is a way to script this into who can/cant enter the CAS assets, that is worth considering as well. 

 

2. I have seen it done on other servers, where non-pilots cannot enter the copilot seat. With that in mind:

 

If it is possible to discriminate, script the big workhorse helicopters (Mohawks) to Pilot Only and not accept co-pilot flying. This prevents non-pilots from stealing them and leaving pilots using the smaller, less useful helicopters.

 

Leave the MH-9 accessible to Non-Pilots (copilot) flying, to hedge against beginner/bad/troll pilots in the Pilot slots, by allowing use of competent non-pilots to use them while the problems are sorted out. 

 

3. The Ghosthawk appears to be especially plagued by the co-pilot/desync issues which cause players to bounce into the rotors. Not sure how to fix this, except to lock the copilot seat. I notice it is the armed Ghosthawk that has this problem more often (something to do with the gunner seats perhaps?). Perhaps switching to the Unarmed Ghosthawk and locking the co-pilot seat will fix this.

 

 

4. (may require a mod)

 

One (extra?) pilot slot reserved for AhoyWorld-registered pilots who are trusted and competent. 

 

 

 

5. A bit extreme:

 

A mod that allows pilot to Force Eject certain players from the helicopter. It is annoying to have a troll on board that you know will plant an explosive at the destination and kill everybody before they can move away from the heli. This is not a frequent problem but quite disrupting when it occurs.

 

Maybe if the person had a few teamkills under their belt already, only  they would be vulnerable to Forced Ejection by the pilot, that would prevent pilots trolling.

 

Would be handy to be able to at least isolate teamkillers to base so they cannot disrupt field operations. Most stay at base anyways, but the most effective trolls use helicopter landing zones as their killing fields.

 

 

 

A necessary one:

 

Add plane re-arm/re-fuel/repair to a second airfield. I'd say about 1/3 of the time someone gets the CAS jet, it is destroyed at base by someone ramming a vehicle into it while they are re-fueling. 

 

If the CAS jet had the option of servicing at a different airfield (such as the AAC airfield southwest of the airbase), this problem would cease to exist.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Most of the above are not critical changes, and everything works pretty well already.

 

 

Absolutely - if an actual pilot wants a helo, it should be theirs - I just get in and take the controls...  

 

Remove a helo?!!

What about adding an attack chopper with some real teeth..?

(that being said, I did see someone take out the Mi28 with a Pawnee last night - twice, so need to give that a go...)

 

 

 

A competent pilot doesn't have much trouble using the AH-9 to take down an enemy Kajman if it can be lured away from its AA ground support. 

 

That is about the only real use for the AH-9 in the current mission. 

 

I am not sure what is going on, but the enemy AA defenses are pretty robust. If OPFOR infantry are able to pick up their fallen comrades Titan rockets and shoot them at helicopters with 100% effectiveness, I think that should be scripted out. It's hard enough with unseen OPFOR AA specialists lurking all over the AO. 

 

Right now there is no "Black Hawk Down" feel with helicopters orbiting above, due to the robust enemy AA. Maybe that is good, maybe not. Just a comment on the current reality. If they had non-locking RPG instead of Titan AA, maybe that would be a little more sensible. As it is, alot of the OPFOR are anti-vehicle specialists. Anti-air, anti-Tank is prolific and one careless moment in the open results in any vehicle/helicopter getting multiple guided rockets shot at them. Thats a personal gripe, but I think it has made me better/more cautious as a pilot.

 

It would be nice to fly over the AO without certainty of death though, thats a personal thing.

[wok]

I do agree that with such a big map sometimes it feels like there's no pilots flying even when the slots are all being used, but I am not sure if adding more slots will fix that, having good pilots that communicate a lot definitely does.

 

Since we are talking about helos, I want to add that I think it would be great if the pawnee gets the copilot seat disabled or something. I just hate when a non-pilot player takes it to transport 1 player and then just breaks the chopper in the middle of nowhere.