More LOCERF suggestions . . .
Mission start time will be what it will be. Those that would like to participate must do what is necessary to try and be there. I’m confident that the organizers are doing what they can to try to accommodate as many pilots/squads as possible. That being said, to further encourage participation from as many “serious” pilots as possible, I’d like to suggest we consider an overall mission time of approximately 5 hours. I realize this creates an additional workload on whomever monitors the event, but it will allow for larger community participation. A few of the things I’d like to suggest for future events are:
• Each pilot or squad would only fly a maximum of 2-1/2 hours with 20-30 minutes being allowed prior to mission take-off time (assigned task/objective) to join the server and work out any connection issues (as suggested by Breakshot or Breadfan, I forget whom, sorry). The only exception to this would occur if a pilot failed to show. In that case, those already flying would be given the option of continuing and fulfilling the role of the assigned task.
• Pilot/Squad must take-off or taxi within 5 minutes of assigned task take-off time thus beginning their first sortie.
• If for whatever reason pilot/squad can’t taxi/take-off within this 5 minute window, they must withdraw from that day’s competition.
• No spectators should be allowed. I suggest this not to be a hard-ass, but instead to maximize the server’s performance for everyone flying by limiting the amount of pilots on the server at any given time.
• This would also encourage more “serious” pilots to participate that are not in squads. I’d hope that the intent is to open LOCERF up to as many pilots as possible as a “learning from a shared community” experience, without penalizing those that are not in squads. I suggest “serious pilots” because yahoos that would only join to cause mischief and mayhem is something we definitely do not want. Maybe screening would be necessary and I’m sure Fudd has a good handle on this (although, he may need some help if the number of interested pilots becomes too large).
So, potentially, a chart posting join time window, task take-off time, mission completion time and exit from server time could be posted for all scheduled participants, allowing for upwards of 60-75 pilots, but only a max of 40 or so would be in the server at any given time. A matrix can be worked out to better illustrate this suggestion.
• An ATC (another 504 suggestion) should also be in place for each side to ensure the above ROEs are followed. Violators will be reprimanded by being dropped from server (or flogged) whichever is more appropriate.
• Once the 5 hour mark has arrived, Red Flag concludes and scores are tallied.
• Rules on R&R, IMO, should be based upon the mission design and the squads that contribute the mission for that LOCERF session. ROE and Tasks/Objectives should clearly state what is appropriate and be discussed and reviewed by all participating pilots/squads. Everyone needs to take responsibility to know what’s going on. No excuses! You get severely penalized for not properly reviewing the Rules of Engagement regarding Rearming and Refueling.
• A severe penalty for Team Kills (-150), great idea.
• -5 points instead of -10 for missiles fired that don’t hit a target. -5 because, -10 would almost certainly guarantee a negative score for most participants flying fighters. A plane carrying a payload of 6 would potentially end up with -30 points instead of -60. If that plane scored a kill with the last missile fired, at least that pilot would end up with a score of +5 or +15, instead of -20 or -10. It would potentially end up being an even lower score for fighters carrying a payload of 8, 10 or 12 weapons. And keep in mind, this is just for one sortie. If that fighters role is to perform a CAP and maintain a defensive front he would most certainly be penalized attempting to effectively do so, or if the fighter is merely using his weapons in an attempt to survive. I do agree with the penalty for employing weapons that hit nothing (they cost $ right?), however I think -10 is a bit too severe in light of the score recieved if one of the missiles actually hit the target.
Remember, these are only suggestions and obviously open for discussion. Fudd can make the final decisions.