well, since we now have the new brs for the f15s i have decided to make this post.
i would say the compression area begins at 11.3 up to 13.7 but other people may disagree.
the thing goes like this: play f4J/S → get uptiered and die to the f20 or f/a-18a → play the f20 or f/a-18a → die to a f-15a ->play the f15a → die to the su33 → play the su-33 → die to the premium su30s.
or well, skip all that and : play f4s/j → get uptiered and die to the su-33 or one of the 13.0 planes that have arh missiles with a plane that has a PDV HDN radar.
there is literally no point on playing aircraft that arent op broken because they get clapped by planes you cant do nothing about.
now, lets compare some planes, the 12.7 mig-29 and the 12.7 f-15, the mig29 gets 6 missiles, the ability to carry 2 r27ERs and 4 r60s, the f15 gets 4 aim7Ms and 4 9Ms.
back in the day the mig29 was fine with r60s and 27ERs since its rival the f16ADF had 4 9Ls and 2 7Ms, but now the mig29 is literally running one of the worse IR missiles of the br againt planes with irccm and sometimes ARH missiles.
and before saying “the solution is to move the mig29 down”, that is not a good solution since moving it to 12.3 would just make compression worse.
the more planes you compare in that range the more you realize how bad it actually is
the major problem is fox3 carriers facing sarhm carriers
from 12.0 - 13.7 imo is where the most compression is because planes with not so good rwrs and missiles like sparrows , super530F /D or no radar missiles at all are forced to fight planes with aim120s , r77 , pl12 , derby etc
trying to close the gap and get within range to use your sarhm means that if the enemy spots you , they can just shoot a fox3 that already has better kinematics and tracking than your fox1 and turn around meaning if you try and guide it in you just die and if you break off your missile instantly goes stupid and they can turn around and shoot more missiles at you till you die with no counterplay. moving any of the 13.0 sarhm carriers down in br just means more compression for the lower brs and the cycle continues.
Not to forget the su30mk and mkk with 13.7 worthy avionics and loadout yet somehow still 13.3
f16A which doesnt even have sarhm and only aim9l has to face arhm from 13.0 to 13.3 and you get full uptiers very often more than same br matches or downtiers
Hot take but I think any plane that is limited to SARH should not face any plane with fox3. There is a huge gap in performance and play style that warrants this. Why should I fly my f15 stuck with sparrows at 12.7 when I can hop in my phantom at 13.0 with aim120s?
This is basically why I only touch top tier at the moment in ARB, you cant be uptiered at top tier. At least not yet. That could change in a few months.
There use to be a number of aircraft id enjoy the odd game in at lower BRs, but these days, I see 0 point playing them. At all. Tornado GR4 for example, use to have a blast, now I cant be bothered to fight Su-30 premiums every match. How the hell the F-15J is only 0.3 better is totally beyond me
I did switch to ASB for a while, as uptiers could be controlled, but that gamemode is so stale, that ive not played it in months
Id say it starts about 6.0. (not that the lower BRs couldnt do with decompressing still, but the jump between aircraft capability is a lot more subtle) 10.0+ got a minor decompression previously, but 6.0-10.0 never got even that much and its terrible. 8.3-9.3 is especially poor at the moment and it has a knock on effect of forcing certain 10.3/10.7 aircraft to be higher than they probably should be as well.
I would not be opposed to them putting a soft cap on 12.3s facing 13.3s- limiting uptiers in that region so that 12.0s can only see up to 12.7s, 12.3s and 12.7s can only see up to 13.0, and 13.0 can only see up to 13.7. Because 12.0-13.0 is the worst compressed range in game
It would be similar to way back when with the 9.7-10.0 hard cap, where 9.7 would never see 10.0 and vice versa, but its a softer cap that still allows people to be up tiered, just not nearly as much. It might be a better solution so that A. you still get uptiers and downtiers and B. you don’t struggle against the Su-33 or F-15A or the Premium SU-30s (although the Premium Su-30s are massively undertiered, given at 13.7 is the F-16C which has worse ARHs and carries less of them then the SU-30s)
The only issue I see with the rolling bracket is that, much like in ASB (which I only have limited experience in- but it’s something I have seen), people will flock to the vehicles that are ‘good’ and anybody with any bit of choice will either A. not play the bracket or B. play the ‘good’ vehicle at that BR.
As an example, the F-16s. If for two days straight the bracket is 11.7-12.7, who would play anything other than the Netz or F-16A OCU? Maybe the F-15A, but that is about it. Why would anyone want to even try playing the MiG-29? Or any 12.3s or 12.0s or 11.7s? It wouldn’t be fun. Sure, you’d have your two days, maybe (unless you are a crappy vehicle at the BR, like the MiG-29), but then for the next 6 you are straight out of luck. Obviously their are a few exceptions, but it isn’t universal enough for me to feel comfortable with it. But thats just an opinion
But at least some days of the week some airplanes will be playable. Veteran players can easily switch nations and planes while people with only one tree can just switch to an entirely different br tier. I think his rolling bracket is a good idea to try out than what we have with constant uptiers or downtiers.
Yeah, but the point is the what is “good” changes. At the moment some vehicles are never good and others are always good.
With rolling brackets, the “good” vehicle might become the worst vehicle for the bracket in the next one. And now what was bad is good.
I would suggest a smaller interval if it came to ARB, like 8 hours. But using that example, why would anyone risk playing something weaker, like the 12.3 F-4s, or the GR4/SLE, etc etc. Let alone the terrible 12.0s. Because if you get even the smallest uptier, you are screwed. If instead you got a period of time where you werent being uptiered anymore, and actually stood a chance, then people would play said aircraft a lot more.
British Phantoms for example. Completely DOA vs basically any 12.3. But if they got a 11.0-12.0 bracket… Might be worth playing in ARB again
Because it’s the only planes they have, or because they enjoy/want to play those planes. I don’t want to have to wait till the BR bracket is 11.7-10.7 to play the F-111F, for example.
I understand the brackets might be nice, but even on an 8 hour cycle I am not a huge fan. I have to sleep 8 hours of the day- so their is one bracket I can’t play. I have to work 8 hours of the day- their is another bracket. Effectively, assuming I give all my time to the game, I can only play 1 bracket a day. If that bracket isn’t the bracket I want, I have to wait four days to play the bracket I want. That’s hardly fun or worth playing in my opinion.
Whilst the 10.7-11.7 bracket would be the optimal bracket to play the F-111F, there is no reason why you cant play it in others, but at least you know what you will be facing before you hit play.
Ive had a dozen games in a row full uptiered and it was a chore. No choice, no control, just match after match of being screwed by the MM.