PlanetSide Universe - View Single Post - Balancing Aircraft/AA with Altitude
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Old 2011-08-07, 05:17 AM   [Ignore Me] #45
Erendil
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Re: Balancing Aircraft/AA with Altitude


Originally Posted by DashRev View Post
That isn't really true. In a altitude tier system, you're going to see more low-mid range AA, if only because low-mid range aircraft have more of an effect on the ground. It then becomes really unlikely that you'll see any less low-mid range AA than you did in PlanetSide 1.
You're making a huge assumption there - and a shaky one at that. With an either/or tiered AA system like the OP suggests, high altitude aircraft will will have a huge effect on the ground and will become a lot more common than you think in the form of high altitude bombing runs and Reavers/Mossies who will make divebombing strafing runs from up high down to the low-mid altitudes to fire, and then AB back into high altitude to escape.

So if the concern then becomes that you don't see much mid-high range AA, you can evaluate it one of a few ways:

1) Is that even a problem? Are the mid-high range aircraft having such a meaningful impact on the ground that they need to be hard-countered?

2) Is the mid-high range AA not accessible enough? Are players not using it because it requires too much of an investment to train for or is too time-consuming to acquire and set up at a base?

3) Is mid-high range AA just not effective enough? Is it easily accessible, but just too ineffective to be worth it?

I can tell you right now that not having a high altitude counter would be a HUGE problem. Were you around before the Burster MAX could hit flight ceiling, but after they nerfed the Striker so it couldn't either? The TR had no weapons that could hit flight ceiling and just 2 libs could shut down a TR courtyard with little opposition because it was logistically impossible to get aircraft from other bases up in the air fast enough and often enough to constantly chase away the libs. And the NC/VS knew this and used it quite often to their advantage. So yes, high altitude aircraft do need a hard counter.

The problem that I see is not whether or not high-altitude AA is effective enough, but instead it's the speed/versatility of aircraft, compared to how hard/time-consuming it might be to switch from low/mid altitude AA to high altitude AA. I think it'd be way too easy for aircraft to exploit the low/high weakness and constantly shift their attacks such that ground forces wouldn't be able to adapt and switch between AA types quickly enough.

Aircraft are already the most maneuverable units on the board and usually they get to choose when and where engagements take place with ground units. I'm concerned that the only way to counter altitude-shifting aircraft would end up being forced to prepare for both altitude contingencies, which would require setting up a lot more AA than what is required in a system where at least some AA can be effective at all altitudes. This would be especially true against organized air Outfits, where they could all coordinate all of their attacks so they come in either high or low. Hence my statement about having to deploy double the amount of AA needed for the same protection, since you won't know at what altitude the enemy will be attacking from until they arrive on the scene, and at that point it'd be too late to adapt should you be using the wrong type of AA.




If high-altitude AA is just as effective at all flight levels, no one would ever seriously consider using anything but skyguards and flak addons.
That is outright false. In PS1 we already have high-altitude AA that is equally effective at all flight levels, in the form of AA MAXes, AA Wall Turrets, and Skyguards. And yet people still use cerb turrets, hand-held AV, and vehicle-mounted machineguns as AA all the time.

In the system I outlined (which incidentally is quite similar to what we have in PS1), the weapon systems that can hit flight ceiling each have severe limitations: Wall turrets are immobile, AA MAXes are slow moving and have weak armour, and Skyguards have weak armour as well. So people that don't want to put up with those limitations will choose other forms of AA.

For example, maybe a Prowler team mainly wants to concentrate on tank warfare, but they want to have decent protection against air while doing so. So for them, mounting a mid-height AA flak cannon on their turret is just fine for them, since they're not out to hunt aircraft. They just want the AA to defend themselves in the event they get attacked by air.

Last edited by Erendil; 2011-08-07 at 05:33 AM.
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