I made this in the dev server section but I feel that it needs to also be on here since it just does not effect the dev server rather the whole current air rb mode.
I will also note I want air rb EC, but that would be a new mode if we are honest with ourselves.
So anyway I feel that a big chunk of balancing issues are made worse by the absurd amount of aircraft that take part meaning any given player is usually chased by 3 players at once, if we went to a smaller battle size of 8v8 (old limit was 12v12 and even that was too much) a good chunk of the issues we have seen with lack of team work and everyone flying low because otherwise at least 16 missiles will all fly at you, someone on the dev server very accurately put it into perspective with the Su-27 that is coming, 32 planes launching 320 missiles in one match.
Now doesn’t that just seem absurd?
Keep 16v16
Old 12v12
8v8
6v6 (what the dev server had for the first few minutes of it being open)
0voters
Now I will list the upsides of less players in one match:
Quicker queue times (gaijin loves this sentence)
A chance for the aircraft that rn are so far out of the meta they might as well not be ingame
Easier to add back semi Historical nation matchups to at least make top tier battles somewhat interesting again
Reduce the need for super large maps (I like large maps but they only got this large due to player count, a good middle ground between these and the old ww2 era ones would be great for 8v8 and 6v6) so they can be more interesting like Eastern City without being just flat and super open like Sinai
And for anyone that may dislike this idea they could simply move what current top tier is to air ab because at these BRs it is empty because air rb is basically the same with better payouts.
Please leave your thoughts below I am horrible at expressing my thoughts.
Yeah maybe quicker matchmaking will be what ends up convincing Gaijin. But best thing to do is to vote in the thread linked above my comment, as it’s a suggestion.
I got the Gripen on the dev server and 9/10 games I just trade missile kills with the first person that sees me. It is a complete waste of time to load in, fly 5 mins, and die instantly to an unflareable missile trade.
Smaller team sizes would just increase the time to find someone to die instantly against.
I say:
-Keep 16v16
-Lower spotting range
-Buff flares
-Give us air spawns closer to the battle
-Spread out the objectives
I am at the point where I am not going to grind out the new top tier jets when they come out because the ARB game mode just isn’t fun at 11.0+.
I am sorry but what you are saying to me sounds like you want a weird hybrid between AB and RB, I understand your sentiment, however you also have to account for the mentality that people have when they see less aircraft around, and 16v16 was also said to be bad when it was added, people have been against it for a while, revert to 12v12 sure but not this chaotic mode we have now
If not that, then adding a lot more bases and ground targets, spreading them around the map more, and adding at least 2 more spawn locations. 16v16 wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t all bunched up in the middle.
With the introduction of the upcoming update “air superiority” these new jets and the missiles they carry will make this problem so much worse we need changes made sooner rather than later! I don’t see myself playing top tier for much longer if nothing is done about it. The big EC maps that you see from 10.7+ I don’t actually mind 16v16 it is much less crowded and chaotic than the smaller maps such as (city) and (alternate history Spain) but I rarely see those larger maps in rotation which is another issue gaijin needs to fix (map rotation). On the smaller maps I think it should be 12v12 or 10v10 but we need more than just a player reduction, having all the ground targets and bases centralised around the middle of the map only exacerbates the problem even more.
EC is 100% needed, however air rb should just be capped to 8v8 at 10.7 and up, for the simple reason of lowering the amount of players can lessen the issues of any given plane because when there is less overall a players individual skill is more important and with 8v8 unlike 16v16 a sudden steamroll of a team is less likely to happen since a cascading effect wont be as bad due to multiple people attacking the same people like a swarm and suddenly the enemy team has 1 guy left and he has no chance of winning
Theres a whole range of ideas to improve WT that Gaijin dismiss saying “queues will be longer you dont want that” and despite us saying an extra minute to queue time being acceptable for a better game they still insist.
But with any luck we keep banging that drum maybe it will work. I’d personally say Rank VI onwards smaller games even as small as 8v8.
I don’t think so, in a 16v16 game, there are much more information and enemy to pay attention to, and requires more skills. top 16v16 now, needs some good pilots to kill enemy in first encounter and creating advantage in number.
and 8v8 will be more like personal fight. a missile duel.
Absolutely, fucking SICK of 16v16. Having to worry about 16 fighters is beyond stupid. Larger matches make it so if you have the longer range, self tracking missiles, you win. Its not about skill, you simply overwhelm the enemy. For planes like the Su-27SM, with comparatively worse missiles, an HMD with HALF the range of everything else, it just means that you have to wait for the match to progress, as you are constantly defensive, just waiting to be in range. Yes I’m ranting, because I am so fucking sick of being overwhelmed, and playing an absolutely skilless game mode.
Bad take. Watch a replay, someone in a 15C climbs, spams the AMRAAMS, and they get kills. I do it, just to prove a point. If one of those targets, has a chance to focus on the threat, then they employ SKILLS to evade, and retaliate. But no, theres actually 15 other aircraft, all doing the same damn thing. 1 missile is going to find its mark. So, planes with a shorter range, but other strengths, don’t get a chance to employ anything else.
Absolutely right on the meta point. I gave the example of the Su-27SM, short range, frankly, weak radar, and the shortest range (Because of their stupid airbrake fins) ARH missiles, it just doesnt compete with 16 F-15Cs. It’d be fun to employ tactics like 27ERs and flanking, surprising the enemy, but its not possible, because you 1, right off the bat are defending AMRAAMs, 2, are going to run into someone else flanking almost 100% of the time.
I played 1 8v8 game, and it was the BEST game of my 3400 hours of War Thunder, and its not like I aced or anything, but I was able to think clearly, and employ strategies, and have good fights, not running into 6 planes coming over a mountain top.