Flying aircraft in PS2 is suicidal

Which puts them on a more even footing with other AA options. RIght now, the stationary base turrets never last long enough to be a threat to anything. The new ESRLs can take them down in 2-3 hits. And if you read those patch notes more carefully, it says nothing about making them less immune to rocket pods.

(I still feel MAX units are a bit "too good". But that's mostly still about their render range and how far out they can hit compared to stationary AA turrets and Skyguards. Enlarging their CoF a bit would be a good tweak. They'd still be deadly within 400m and you'd just need more of them to be effective out past 600m.)

If a single AA turret that is repairable in short time could destroy a large airforce it would be too powerfull.
It can already deter any ESF that are not highly skilled and kill ESF that dont bother to run. The only time AA turrets get taken out if its outnumbered 3-1, or has a bad gunner, or no gunner at all. If the defenders man 3-4 turrets at AMP stations its a no-fly zone where everything gets obliterated... if the gunners are no newbs.
AA turrets are fine, they also have quite long range.
If Max couldnt be effective at 400m a lib could just camp over them at 410m and shoot the crac out of them without fear.

Is this like a legit thread

Even when Enclave came knocking at the SE warpgate, good pilots could still slip through and cause a ruckus behind all the bursters and AA rockets by diving into the canyons and breaking LOS

I'll concede the canyons are also one of the worst positions on the map, empire-wise, but you're a rate **** pilot who is blaming his lack of competency on the game

I have spent very little time on Miller, that's true. So I'm not really qualified to comment on what happens over there.
Woodman has been pretty busy recently however (I see you also have a character there, have you played there recently?).

Anyway, I'm not sure using the Skydock as a solid reason for why air is useless in organised play is particularly valid. I think most people know by now how heavily stacked that place is in favour of the defenders, particularly against air as they have pretty much no way to sneak up on that place.

We do have some well organised outfits here on Woodman too, though the larger long term population on Miller probably gives you guys an experience advantage there.

I still don't believe air is useless. There are certainly bases you can pack with AA and effectively become very difficult to get aircraft anywhere close to, but there are plenty of bases where that isn't as effective too. What I would say is that air is very notable when it is absent and not providing an active threat. Dropping a load of air on an enemy that doesn't have any air support of its own can still cause chaos among an enemy, even if they have ground based AA.

I think air still has its place, though you do have to consider when it will give you a tangible advantage.