The current system for Air Events in Ground AB can often feel unfair, both to those who started it and for those who choose to intercept.
Sometimes you grab a bomber only to have a plane with excellent cannons placed less than a kilometer away, completely perpendicular to your trajectory such that you are instantly shot down with no hope or counterplay. On the other hand, perhaps the intercepting player is given a slow plane and placed too far away to ever reasonably catch up the bomber.
The problem with this arises from the fact that interceptor type, distance and angle are random. Exactly how this can be remedied is what I’d like everyone to discuss in the replies, but my proposal is to have the distance and angle linked to how quickly players grab the interceptor after the Air Event is started.
For example, if a player grabs the interceptor just 2 seconds after the Air Event starts, they will spawn very close to the bomber/strike aircraft and on a favorable trajectory, but if they grab the interceptor with just a few seconds left until the Air Event starts, they’ll be more likely to be placed further away and directly behind.
This system would have two additional benefits, first that it will favor players who are already in cover and ready to grab an interceptor (such as SPAAs, who don’t have to worry about running to cover before the air event starts) and also punishes those who grab it at the last second in the hopes that the player who starts the air event will not notice them and thus fly carelessly.
What do you think? I think it’s quite a simple fix, although what counts as a “favorable” or “unfavorable” intercept spawn may be a little arbitrary. Let me know if you can think of anything better or any ideas to improve this.