High BR Air AB matches almost dead. How to revive them?

[__sparrow__ 167]

Unfortunately high BR Air Arcade battles (mid and late jets) are almost dead. Only at the afternoon on weekend days, you may get a few 10 vs 10 matches. At all other times you don't get into matches at all or you end up in 6 vs 6 matches with half of the players being from 4444 or VPO clans.

 

How could this be solved? Gaijin already tried to reduce the grind to increase player numbers, but that didn't help. Even reviving jets by introducing new supersonic planes only helped for a short term.

 

I can only think of 2 possible solutions:
1.) Add bots, as Gaijin already did for high BR naval matches.
2.) Replace the current Air AB battles for high BR by something similar to enduring confrontation. A game mode that still has the attribute of Arcade battles (instant action, endless ammo, ...), but does allow players to instantly join at all times.

 

I would rather keep the current Air AB matches, without bots. But we should face it: For high BR they are dead and something has to be done.

 

Can you think of other solutions?

[Pat_McGherkin 2,074]

Bots would only get you so far for so long and may put people off immediately anyway. Quite honestly, it's too late to fix things now and probably was a year ago, if not two. The issues extend beyond high BR jets and have never been addressed. In fact, each change only makes things worse, as Bots most likely would too.

 

Other solutions? Nope..not any more, sorry.

[CyberNapoleon 599]

It's very hard for me to get a game above 5.0, I don't know why. Every time I queued for a game in my 5.3 lineup (on all servers) I've given up because it's often 5 minutes or more with no games, yet below that, you can get games in seconds. 4.3 is no problem getting full teams and I sometimes see 5.3 planes in those matches - so what is it? 

 

I think they're going to have to add bots, it's hard to grind higher tiers when you can't even get a match. Perhaps fix some things about AB too like spawncamping, though that alone won't bring players flocking back. I don't really want bots, but if it's that or wait ages for a match every time, it's preferable. 

[Touched_Grass 758]

9 minutes ago, AethelingAlfred said:

I think they're going to have to add bots, it's hard to grind higher tiers when you can't even get a match. Perhaps fix some things about AB too like spawncamping, though that alone won't bring players flocking back. I don't really want bots, but if it's that or wait ages for a match every time, it's preferable. 

It is over for air arcade. The time to fix the game mode was more than a year ago. The biggest issues that are driving players away are:

 

#1. A lack of a serious rework for the maps and mission objectives.

#2. A lack any rework for bombers to get them to fly high and be escorted instead of suicide spam into the AI ground targets.

#3. Clouds that extend from 1000m to 9000m+

#4. Certain planes being so much more overpowered than every other fighter in the game that it becomes masochistic to play anything else.

 

...I could go on.

[__sparrow__ 167]

Oh, I didn't know that the problem starts as low as BR 5.0 already. Recently I only played either BR 3.7 or high end jets. Then it's even worse...

[Dodo_Dud 5,074]

They use bots in arcade jet battles for a long time now. Never noticed?

Edited June 10, 2019 by Dodo_Dud

[__sparrow__ 167]

I had it once, that I ended up in a 1 vs 1 player match (filled up with 5 bots on each side). But usually there is only one bot on one team, and the wait time is still horrible. And they would actually have to program some AI for the bots.

 

If they at least made Assault mode playable agin, then we could fly around in our fancy jets shooting stuff and still make some progress in the meta game. But as it seems, going RB is really the only way out :-(

[Dodo_Dud 5,074]

Bot games are farmers heaven...

[Pat_McGherkin 2,074]

59 minutes ago, Dodo_Dud said:

Bot games are farmers heaven...

 

But farming for what? If facing bots in the end game it's hardly encouragement central. Although, granted, there was never an alternative to the end-game anyway. You finish the grind because you do. Then what?

[Dodo_Dud 5,074]

50 minutes ago, Pat_McGherkin said:

But farming for what?

 

All the maps red riches belong to you and to you only. If the opponent is smart enough, you both walk out filthy rich...

 

In case you wonder, even the end game requires RP and SL.

Edited June 10, 2019 by Dodo_Dud

[DocProfit 2,663]

I've never felt the desire to play over BR5.3.

 

It's just a painful grind for modifications once you start getting deep into tier IV.

 

 

I play more RB these days. (has its own problems)

 

I got sick of 10 Ground Strikes in a row that are on the same maps with the same targets as 6 years ago.

 

I can't believe there have been no real updates to that mode since they introduced mini bases.

Edited June 11, 2019 by DocProfit

[Dodo_Dud 5,074]

11 hours ago, DocProfit said:

It's just a painfully grind for modifications once you start getting deep into tier IV.

 

I thought so too... but for many jets, the grind is surprisingly short, as you can harvest riches frequently. In fact, some T4 planes also spade quickly.

[FailBoatCaptain 439]

I only fly low tier planes in jet games ( when I have the patience to wait out the queue times )

[__sparrow__ 167]

Thanks for your opinions everyone.

 

Conclusion so far: There is no hope :-(

[_retro__gamer_ 400]

Same here. I thought that the big economy update of some months ago would allow me to start with jets and it turned out to be the opposite. While before the patch I had regular waiting queues of less than two minutes for the 5.3-6.7 bracket, now the usual waiting times vary between 4 and 8 minutes! And given that I play 1 hour or 2 a day tops, those times are not acceptable, so I usually go to lower tiers and take op lineups to do the daily tasks as fast as I can and then quit. I'm even having trouble to find matches for the newly added 5.3-6.3 planes.

 

This is taking a sad direction...

[blastedryan 967]

nvm

Edited June 12, 2019 by blastedryan

[ArthurBloss 633]

Well, some people are just not interested in higher BR's. For example: me. I don't want to fly my Me 262 vs. Korean war jets or phantasy stuff like the Horten. 5.3 is usually the upper limit. If it wasn't used in WW2 I don't want to fly or face it.

[clar1ty 77]

15 hours ago, ArthurBloss said:

Well, some people are just not interested in higher BR's. For example: me. I don't want to fly my Me 262 vs. Korean war jets or phantasy stuff like the Horten. 5.3 is usually the upper limit. If it wasn't used in WW2 I don't want to fly or face it.

I'm more or less the same.  But like, i'm willing to give to give a by-ball to likes of post-war props LA-9, P-51H, and Tempest 2 etc.  If it's got a prop pointing forwards, generally I'm fine with it.  But yes, to me the jump from late-war/post war jets to korean stuff, with fantasy wonder weapons in the mix looks like a horrible cluster I don't really fancy at all, especially with the massive queue times and stock grinds.  

[Elvis_Bombley 13]

High BR Air Arcade suffers also because of the high cost associated with buying the planes, crewing them, and for newer jet players, the discouragement that comes from being seal clubbed by experienced jet players (aka VPO). At least lower the SL costs, or just let high tier AB die a slow death.

 

I myself find AB above BR 6.0 discouraging due to long queues all by itself.

[Tidsloop 271]

On 11/06/2019 at 17:52, __sparrow__ said:

Thanks for your opinions everyone.

 

Conclusion so far: There is no hope :-(

The developers shouldo ask themselves this question:

"What would make war thunder the best it can be"  - and listen to (some) of the players. I´m gonna keep coming with improvement suggestions here:

https://steamcommunity.com/app/236390/discussions/3/1651045226237923747/

Maybe you got something too to add to the list.

The game can be great, but if they want players to return and not drop out from this cause there simply is much more pleasant and enjoyable things to do...The player base is gonna decrease.

 

If they don´t remove the common and some much very simply fixed reasons for frustration, (like keep resetting the daily log in timer, not giving us enough presets, not fixing the assist/kill system (no it´s still broken), not granting us to play some new modes when they do have some great ones. (Enduring confrontation(!!!), speedball, tank football, etc) then that´s just a very poor move. .

 

Edited July 9, 2019 by Tidsloop

[ArthurBloss 633]

On 12/06/2019 at 12:51, clar1ty said:

I'm more or less the same.  But like, i'm willing to give to give a by-ball to likes of post-war props LA-9, P-51H, and Tempest 2 etc.  If it's got a prop pointing forwards, generally I'm fine with it.  But yes, to me the jump from late-war/post war jets to korean stuff, with fantasy wonder weapons in the mix looks like a horrible cluster I don't really fancy at all, especially with the massive queue times and stock grinds.  

 

I'm fine with those refined WW2 designs. But then there is stuff like the Wyvern ... luckily, they seem to be very unpopular. But whenever I try to enjoy a late war prop some F-84's ruin the fun.

[Pat_McGherkin 2,074]

How to revive top BR games? Get rid of them and make top BR a BR that people actually play. That's it. That's all there is.

 

Not going to happen of course. Modes will probably be culled before too long and players will be moved around. That might help or it might hinder, time will tell.

 

 

[sardinha08@psn 3,179]

So how was today's official Thunder Stream: Arcade Jets?

[erintim@psn 183]

It seems like very few people care about the high tiered jets that they put so much effort and ballyhooing into.  It's too bad they don't do real polls to see want players want before committing to things we don't care about.

[Bramborough 376]

On 17/07/2019 at 13:25, *erintim said:

It seems like very few people care about the high tiered jets that they put so much effort and ballyhooing into.  It's too bad they don't do real polls to see want players want before committing to things we don't care about.

 

100% agree.  Years ago I grinded hard to get to the first few US jets (was still the P-80 then). Got a couple of Brit jets as well.  Flew them enough to spade.  Haven't touched 'em since.  And also pretty much stopped grinding for progress in the other trees as well, as I have no desire for more jets (or even high-BR props, for that matter).  I won't say it was a "waste of time"; it was a goal I set for myself, something to achieve, and I learned a lot doing it.  But when it was done, well, I just didn't want to spend the majority (or even a significant portion) of my WT time flying in those battles.

 

It's said so many times, it's become a tiresome cliche....but it's true:  For many, perhaps most, players, WT is simply more fun at low and mid BR's.  Difficult to imagine any effective way Gaijin could change that.  They'd have to do a pretty radical game-changing shift; "tinkering" wouldn't do it.  That would be very risky, and could very well wind up being a case of "cure worse than the disease".

Edited July 20, 2019 by Bramborough