I can still fly my ESF fine, how about you?

Yup, still coping just fine. I'm a terrible pilot though, so I usually die to rocks and trees while dodging enemy aircraft and AA X3. Still getting a positive K/D, and that's generally vehicle-hunting as I'm too bad a pilot to fight enemy ESFs and infantry are not as important targets. I'd rather help out my team by hunting down sunderers and MBTs!

Only problem is that some times you face clusters of AA-launchers, and as the sound is bugged you tend to not notice you even get locked if your in a busy moment. Have died a couple of times to that and I hope they fix it.

How would you feel about aim-assist on infantry and a crosshair that tells you where your shells will land on tanks?
How about no.

Isn't the point of good competitive game design to make skill and effort be rewarded? If you deliberately remove those elements that require skill and practice (exactly such things as judging the lead distance correctly) then you are doing it wrong. Lock-on missiles are a great example of this BTW.

Having a high skill-ceiling for various parts of the game is a core pillar to what gives it depth and longevity because you have something to master and become better at. If all you have to do is put the computer-assisted crosshairs on the enemy and fire then you are one step closer to just letting the game play itself.

no thanks.
-Stigma

I think I directly cover'd how they are effecting my gameplay. "Cant hover spam" "Must run away once pop flares" "flying low to the ground is the best bet now" "cant really fight in big battles"
Im sorry if I didnt make it clearer, but my playstyle has drastically changed. Im just pointing out that even tho things are changing, skilled pilots can still have a great time playing.

i call myself a dedicated pilot, (and im happy with a 3.09KDR) but that doesnt mean I dont ground pound with my outfit when necessary. I like to play all aspects of the game, but still have 130+ hours in my mossie. (also, i play way to much)

I dont fly A2AM. They are so bugged and cheap I cant stand them. (but they are fair game on Libs, obviously)

So just hit and AB out?

I actually feel guilty using people as bait for my scores these days.

The ground pounders rage about it because it is basically a crap ton of them out there doing it. As much as the air jockeys make it sound like they are dropping like flies because of the Lockons and buffed AA, the simple fact is, infantry die more from everything. 0 cost, infinite resources amounts to squat when you die from a rocket pod, from a cannon round, from f-in joe schmoe infiltrator sniping you while you are trying to shoot down an air craft or a tank. Smart Air jockeys and tankers will back out and go repair when dealing with infantry, and find a new direction to strike infantry. And more vehicles and air can still overrun infantry, even with the rendering issue, because it only takes a few smarter pilots and tankers to find a way to also get at infantry in return.

Just as Engineers and LA can take out a tank by being careful not to tip their hand, the same thing can be done with vehicles.

I know, how is that possible? Ask the several liberator pilots who attack Crown flying up along the cliff, flying sideways to let their gunners spam the heck out of things and duck back down before AA or lockons happen.

Let's see... You want competitiveness...

Ok... Ground pounders can give up their Lockon weapons... As soon as infantry users, not just MAX armors, can fire back with flak as infantry.

No? Our guns should be good enough? Then you don't need rocketpods, cause that is also 'good enough' to kill infantry and tanks too.

Oh? It takes skill to kill with the rocketpods? Last I checked, the only skill involved in rocket podding is, supposedly, one run killing a tank and supposedly requiring a low angle, which I have seen proven incorrectly.

The argument, time and time again is "skill". I'm sorry, skill is not the determining factor in using an ESF or in a tank, or even gunning in a lib. This is about reaction time and adaption. Air jockeys kept telling the infantry to 'suck it up'... To field AA... To work in groups to deal with air. And when ground pounders start using the AA they have... You whine about the non-rendering, the 'skilless' lockon use, and gripe about the flak denying you x hexes away when it is less than x....

Sorry... If you want to claim 'skill', the "skill" is dealing with it just as you told the ground pounders to.

And FYI, Real Pilots and Tankers also sort of have to deal with this in general. Except most of them don't get to complain about how 'skill-less' those RPG or lockon weapons are to them. Just as infantry gets ripped up by air or tank support. But at the same time, there are several things that infantry, air and tanks do that we don't do in game either.

I'm probably not nearly anywhere as skilled as you... I think my highest streak in a Scythe is maybe 20, and that was mostly ground spam I tend to get shot down by enemy ESFs a lot... though I'm getting better!

Anyway, post-patch I've felt that ESFs are fine... I do find I go down more quickly to flak (I've only got level 2 flak armor though) and the lock-on bug gets me quite often, but more-so I find I just die to higher skilled ESF pilots who can keep their cross-hair on me better, or because I screw up and crash into something while evading

In short, I don't have any problems with the current state of ESFs.

Sounds about right.

I can confirm that the quoted headache is a darn good pilot and also fights as an infantryman. I've received my fair share of rockets in the backside of my tank from this guy and I've stopped his shotgun shenanigans a few times. He's a real nuisance when in that mosquito and I only wish I had the time and will to bother learning to fly a scythe that well.

Anyone claiming that his flying skill is suspect based entirely on KDR is simply uninformed and/or a dolt. When you are in an outfit that actually tries to achieve anything one simply cannot say "No" when infantry is needed. Infantry is absolutely essential. Without infantry, ground simply does not get taken. With no infantry you'll eventually lose all ground...it really doesn't matter how l33t your air or armor might be. Since this is a numbers game and an outfit regardless of size is working on a limited supply of manpower, dedicated vehicle drivers of all types are going to be called on to fight the ground war eventually.

Those that spurn this call are simply not very good players and ultimately a detriment to their outfit. They are no more useful than the nth "dedicated" tank driver in the zerg, circling Jaegers Fist and searching for an unoccupied location to fire into the fray. Sure over time that guy might have an absurdly high KDR, but it ain't because this driver was being particularly helpful or taking on any real risk.

Crazy Airborne is an asset to his side and an elusive target.

-[D3RP]Scorpomancer

Thanks Scorp. Thats like the nicest post Ive ever read on the forums. Makes me believe there are stil people out there who play the game to have fun and are a good sport/respectable.

See you on the battlefield dude!