[Suggestion] Limit the ability of skyknights to dominate air.

Ok i know this suggestion will annoy many old A2A vets but if we want to treat PS2 as a non dieing game we have to think how to attract new players and new pilots and not only how to appease to the already existing player base.

"Skyknights",as the rest of us "peasants" call them,have put in the hours to master what has to be one of the most difficult mechanics of any PvP game and for that they deserve to WRECK anyone who opposes them.No doubt about it.

But this has to be happening in faction vs faction context and be related to what is going on on the ground.Try to farm VS infantry with a banshee/airhammer?Try to farm a2a newbs with your esf?Let THEIR skyknights wreck you and protect them.But NOT the other faction's skyknights.

PS2 is already a very difficult experience for new players with a lot of experienced salty vets.But at least on the ground you only have the pros of one faction against you.In the air though,nothing can stop a(for example) NC skyknight ganksquad from taking down ALL air miles away from their front in an irrelevant for them VS vs TR fight,destroying in the process mediocre pilots battling it out there.

Want more people to attemt flying?Limit the possibility of them being instagibbed by a vet by limiting the number of "eligible" vets to shoot him down.

Imlement a "restricted" area warning (the same we have on the outer bounds of the map/blurry screen-10 sec countdown)when any ESF is more than 2 hexes away from a faction owned base.Give new pilots a better chance to learn and enjoy.

I'm 100k exp close to br 100 and i never learn how to fly a reaver like one of this skyknights, because there is always a tr/vs Pilot who shoot be down shortly after i pull a reaver. Therefore i think that this idea does have potential




PS: Bevor you throw salt at me, i also like infrantry play more that driving or piloting. Get killed by mutch better pilots is just another motivator to stay on ground

Almost BR100 here, never like flying. It's just garbage. The learning curve is too steep to make it enjoyable, and many of yhe free perks given to ESF over these years didn't help (in some cases they instead widened the gap with veterans).

And above all I feel the biggest issue is aircraft should have never been allowed to hover like helicopters.

Problem is, esf's are no jets, they are harriers (at least that is the best fitting name because vertical take-off plane sounds like nanites)

A burster max has good range. A hovering craft makes a good target from a distance.
Unfortunately, there's little glory in it. You're not likely to get the kill, but I think it does help the team.

As for the OP though, some of the really good pilots may be willing to meet you in VR for training if you pm them. Some are just stat padding but definitely others out there would love a real challenge. They are roaming far from home not always just for lulz, but because they can't find a fight closer to home (imho).

Flying is easier than it seems in the beginning guys.Dont give up easily.The A2G role can be a really rewarding first step towards mastering the control of the ESF.(you need them kills to keep being motivated)

You just have to accept that its only fair that when you meet a guy with hundreds of hours of A2A gameplay on his belt,he ll take you down.You have indirect ways of countering him(like luring him in zones with a lot of friendly AA) but most of the time it wont matter.

What im suggesting does not alter that and imo it wouldnt be fair to take away the rewards for such dedicated training.But it will at least make it statistically less likely to meet such a pilot and will also encourage more flying giving newbies and mid levels like us the ability to hide in the pack or win through numbers advantage.

Right now though wth all 3 faction's skyknights roaming freely the entirety of the map any attempt to amass numbers is crushed in its birth.

I know!Most of them seem pretty decent and willing to help train but i think it should happen organically within the game.

I truly believe that if we make it "safer" to fly,even skyknights who would be opposed to my idea right now,will find that after a few months there will be much more pilots around to fight with.

Headshots should be removed because experienced players are too good with them. New players struggle to kill salty vets so we should close this skill cap, allowing bads like me new players to have a chance at the infantry game. It is not un-common for a salty vet to come along and farm new players endlessly, and this shouldn't happen. We should add a "restricted area" around bases whenever your K/D goes above 3, preventing new players form being farmed by vets.

Sounds crazy? This is how you sound.

You either havent read what im proposing or perception isnt your strongest suit.

Your proposal is utter **** is why.

For one, it would make construction even worse as bases behind enemy lines would actually be invulnerable so congrats on that.
Two, running away and not fighting at all IN A PVP GAME would be viable strategy, especially in larger aircraft.
Three, it makes what an already poor excuse of logistics we have in the game even worse, as you could quite literally never stop a galaxy drop with only 2 a bit hexes to intercept them.
Four, This wouldn't even help new pilots at all and put them right into flak or other better pilots, should they attempt to chase they an enemy get a nice "no your not allowed" sign.

if nothing wont keep air in check then your proposal is to let the air vets to rule the game, nothing more and nothing less

idc if they add an area with only air so they could enjoy all they like
but getting them to dominate ground is unacceptable as already good enough players can dominate skyguards with enough kiting and good piloting... air is already annoying as fU2K when you fight for example vs X tr and a ***&ing reaver comes to ruin the day

yeah he doesnt belong there
yeah he is just a vet thats bored and want to get more exp and to make even less pilots fly in the air

all i say is FK air and Sky guards should control them

At least now you re not resorting to irrelevant analogies and you counter the argument instead.

Points 1 and 3 are not important.Hives are about to be removed and Valks/Libs can be excluded from the restriction.Galdrops cant usually be prevented anyway.

Points 2 and 4(which is the same thing really) sound reasonable.Perhaps 2 hexes is too strict.Make it a 4 or a 5.
The desired result will be achieved even with this arrangement.(prevent ESF from reaching far away battles between the other two factions)

I believe that what i propose will lead to more air.And more A2A oriented ESFs will lead to less A2G farming.Because A2G equipped ESFs are easier targets for A2A pilots.

Also that annoying Reaver WONT be able to come and ruin your fight.

So the answer to get more air play is to lock out the experienced knights anywhere.
This just extends the safe fly zone from the warpgate to 2-5 hexes from the frontline, this gets more people people in the air, true, but it does not solve the problem.
You may stop the Reaver in a TR and VS fight. Any new pilot that goes near the frontline will get their craft chewed.
Learn? There is no escape it, want to get better at anything they will have to fight the aces, and each time you have something to learn.

Of course you wont be able to avoid being taken out by an ace and you shouldnt hope to avoid it in the first place.This just gives you better odds.

See too many NC aces tonight?Perhaps the TR front is clear.
See too many TR aces?Perhaps the NC front is clear.

Too many aces everywhere?Well i guess you ve run out of luck!

And the main problem is that until you reach at least a 10-20% percent of their ability (which is VERY difficult) you dont learn anything from your encounters with them.

You'd basically would have pilots likely off themselves by accident..
And it doesn't help them in the A2A situation -- Let alone if a Hex is cut-off, you end up with more problems.

Reverse-Maneuver comes to mind, for A2A based on Pilot comments on it.
Which is what A2A outside of ganking is apparently, the sole deciding factor: Skill of using it.
Which doesn't actually help with -- This also makes those Pilots more gank-happy, as their targets can't escape as easily, or they themselves can escape any inferior pilot with an invisible barrier.

There are definitely some things that need to be done to help newer pilots, but air is one of those things you have to really dive in to understand, which is why Wrel doesn't have a clue and why so many ground guys on the forums and Reddit propose things that would actually make the situation worse. Get some help and 1 on 1 training in game. Any sort of safe space just doesn't belong in PS2.

The hovering aspect(reverse maneuver,evasion etc) is easier to master than it seems.What differentiates the elite is their aim.

Ever heard of inverse-skill curve?
If it was simply aim, you'd think marksmen would go fly an ESF, which has the speed, firepower, and cost that is more effective than any land-vehicle while being a sololist vehicle..
Rather than said marksmen, staying on the ground.

Infantry aim is not translatable linearly to ESF.The combination of pitch,roll and yaw aiming along with projectile drop make it a completely different beast.

You think you re half way to become decent at A2A when you re able to reverse maneuver and face your opponent but THEN you realise that was only the beginning(or even a small part of it).Trust me.