Matches take too long to start for BR 7 & up

[ryukikass 0]

Am pretty frustrated by how long it takes matches for my BR 7 & up planes that I either worked so long to get (and some even spent money for the premium ones).  When there's players, it's like about 2 minutes (fine) but when it's less busy, it's like 8-10 minutes!  Throw in some bots if you have to Devs! Come on.  

[NestleKitkat 1,404]

It is just my experience but, the player population decreases when the BR exceeds 5.3 in AAB.

How about switching the gamemode you play to ARB? ARB is still active in over 7.0BR too.

Edited February 7, 2022 by NoProps_In_JetRB

[bearteeth 139]

The AB jet scene is pretty dire, honestly. The BRs are all over the place because there's so little player data, and the flight models are even worse. Anything with an afterburner feels like absolute garbage since they decided to just carry over the "arcade afterburner" mechanic, which was a mistake. You can't build or sustain supersonic speeds if your afterburner cuts out every twenty seconds, and if you can't do that then why aren't you just flying a Sabre at the unbelievably low BR of 7.7? The Mig-21F-13 or PFM, which you'd expect to absolutely club at 8.7, turn out to be disappointments whose stuttering afterburners neuter their supposed speed advantage, and the Mig-17's presence above them at 9.0 isn't as wild as you'd think. Building lineups with 300k crew costs and 1m expert (which you need unless you're a fan of G-lock) is already a substantial barrier, but the realization that those T6 vehicles are barely more effective than the T5s you've already suffered through spading is what, I suspect, kills the desire to go any further in AB. The worst thing about this is that mods seem to have a bigger impact on AB flight models, so the mod grind is even more punishing, and anyone who's done a T6/7 mod grind knows that's where the real suffering is.

 

Above all, the matchmaking just isn't there; you've mentioned the queue, but there's also the game size. I happen to actually like 6v6 gameplay, but I suspect that with fewer targets you'll see fewer kills per hour, and therefore less SL/RP per hour. Worse, it tends to rapidly turn into something more like 5v3 due to one-vehicle players bailing out before the game has lasted as long as the queue. I think at lower BRs the advantage of grinding in RB instead of AB is substantially exaggerated by the community, while at higher BRs the community perception that you shouldn't grind in AB is much more accurate, particularly when you factor in the handful of players who actually stick with this mode being quite good at it.

 

Then you have to look at the competition, a click away: RB jets. The main reason I play AB is that I don't like spending 5 minutes AFK at the start of every round, or chasing spaceclimbers, and those aren't really a thing in jets. The better flight models (and functioning afterburner) make the development and retention of speed far more rewarding. A three-kill game with premium will unlock an entire module! I stood by AB for as long as I could, and I still think 2.0-7.0 air AB is some of the most fun to be had in this game, but in anything beyond the early jets it just can't compete with RB.

 

E: inspired by this post i've been flying my 8.7 soviet and 9.7 us lineups just now. I will say, it is so different from RB that it's kind of silly to even compare the two. One thing that particularly cracks me up is that I've spaded the Mig21-F13 since I last played it in AB, and it actually supercruises (supersonic without afterburner) in AB now? So yeah, the mods are totally out of control. One thing I neglected to mention that became very obvious is that, beyond the handful of people who stick to this mode being good, they also know each other. And squad up, or get autosquadded since they're in the same clans. You can imagine what this does to the team balance of a 6v6 match.

Edited February 8, 2022 by bearteeth

[ryukikass 0]

Thx for the replies.  Yeah, I'll stick around and even try ARB's.  I just preferred the "in & out" nature of arcade battles.  

[anyuser 5,136]

14 hours ago, bearteeth said:

E: inspired by this post i've been flying my 8.7 soviet and 9.7 us lineups just now. I will say, it is so different from RB that it's kind of silly to even compare the two. One thing that particularly cracks me up is that I've spaded the Mig21-F13 since I last played it in AB, and it actually supercruises (supersonic without afterburner) in AB now?

In AB all planes got 25% more engine power in all engine modes.

This will make many planes able to supercruise, as long as not red line is set, when the FM simply won't allow you to go faster. But that is nothing new.