Etherlight

Dear god, the guy himself said that many of his problems arise from his own misstakes and control setup, it's just a video where he *gasp* actually shows that he's having a hard time and it's amusing to watch. He's not criticizing the Mirage product or saying that the devs did a bad job, apparently the Mirage just isn't for him. You fanboys can get your panties untwisted now, jesus...Don't like the content creator? Don't watch him. It's a really easy thing to accomplish.

My solution to the Spamraam-bullshit is fairly simple: flying Operation Blueflag, boom, done. Fun fights are to be had. The real cancer will strike when the F-18 is out with it's what? 10 Spamraams? Good Lord.

I've now played 6 missions and I gotta say this campaign is absolutely fantastic. Absolutely on par with the best campaigns around, like those of Ranger and Baltic Dragon. Before I bought it, I was a little hesitant about how a Huey Campaign could be all that interesting, since the amount of stuff you can do with it is kinda limited compared to something like an A-10c, but the diverse nature of the missions, the conditions, the storytelling and all that more than makes up for that. Some of the best $$$ I've spent in DCS, Greg, very well done. I hope you continue making campaigns. :)

To you, Sir, I present the Medal of Perseverance. May you find a few hours of sleep after release and not drown in the metrick ton of needless tears about problems which are naught. ^^ I hope the release sails smooth and we can all enjoy the Viggen over the weekend, provided everybody finds the button to change to the Open Beta in 2 clicks. Amen.

True, I'm actually quite happy that Blueflag is taking a break, considering that Storm of War is running in Cliffs of Dover and TAW is just finished in Battle of Stalingrad. ^^ Since I'm mainly a WW2-guy that is playing those Sims too, a permanent Blueflag AND all that would probably kill me sooner or later. :D If you guys need your flying fix outside of Blueflag, I simply suggest to branch out. Keeps things fresh and stuff.

Yup, that's what I think, too. And it is a smart choice. Blue basically had all the new favourite toys that people wanted to experience in BF-environment: Mirage, Gazelle, F-5. So giving one of those modules to Red should even stuff out a bit. I can understand that Blue guys are not happy to reduced to the F-15 as their single CAP fighter tho. Like a few people before me I'd actually say give em the Mig-29G.

I spotted this thread very late and just now immediately went into DCS to check the FBW Gain Emergency function. I could not even remotely reproduce this maneuver anymore, I guess that finetuning at the extreme end of the flight envelope did the trick, RAZBAM. It can definitely still perform some kind of crappy Cobra but the flip will just immediately lose you all speed and control. I tested some regular turning, too and in my experience FBW off might give you a slighty better turn for about...mh...0.23 seconds before kicking your butt into a stall without much control which makes it utterly unviable in a fight. On the one hand: A job well done! On the other hand: I want to be a tie-fighter D:

Well, yes, It is definitely an advantage to have a second pair of eyes and it makes shooting on the go with the Gazelle much more viable for sure, but you also have to consider that basically takes up a player slot. Is a second pair of eyes more valuable than a whole other Gazelle/Jet? Probably not. ;) From what I've read the Polychop dudes have already addressed the grass problem and you can even do sliding landings now since the last big patch. I didn't have a chance to try it, yet, so no promises. ^^ But even before I found it to be quite possible to land on grass, you just had to be ultra careful about it. Most of the time I just landed on roads/rooftops or something to be completely safe.

While I would not say that you need 6 Gazelles to have the impact of a single KA-50, I too think that it was a misstake to give the Ka-50 the ability to call in bomber strikes. Considering the power of the Shark's rockets and gun I always thought of the recon ability of the Gazelle als the balancing factor between the two. The other factor to consider is that Blue already has a (well deserved) advantage in sheer number of Helos that can spawn at a farp, thanks to the amount of different versions of Gazelles that get slots at a farp, which enables Blue to set up defenses extremely quickly and efficiently (which I consider the second balancing factor between Gazelle and Ka-50). I just see the Helo setup of Blue and Red as asymetrical. Red has a better offensive Helo setup (Ka-50/Mi-8 can kill a lot of stuff on the ground, travel faster to targets), while Blue has a better defensive setup (more Helos that can carry stuff, very maneuverable and with the Gazelles, especially the Mistral, very dangerous in Helo combat, even against jets now). TL;DR: Take away the recon ability from the Ka-50, let Blue keep a few more Helo slots than Red and we're peachy IMO. :) And with the L-39 Red can still call in bomber strikes, it's just a lot more dangerous but at the same time a lot of fun to pull off.

Of course. :D And while I manage to talk to BST developers, I shall also get the pope to promote atheism and bring democracy to North Korea. ^^ Old joker you. Didn't know that that might be a thing BST would have to look into, since all other heatseekers can and will actually hit a Huey in my experience, but hey, never stop learning.

I tested the Mistral against all flyable Helos and I could not hit Hueys at all. The Missile will launch, get close and then basically fly a turn around the Huey before going dumb. Like a forcefield or something. ^^

Greg, I'm very disappointed in you. In my drawer here I have a contract that you signed with your own blood that all your server concepts have to bow to a very particular interpretation of realism by a select few on the forums and now this? We need to have a talk... :> In other news: I like the idea of a heaters only round, could make for some interesting, dynamic fights and the odd furball here and there. Much more aligned with my particular talents as a mostly WW2-sim pilot and a kind of setup I never experienced before in MP. Looking forward to it.

Big congratulations to BLUE for the victory against overwhelming odds. Never before has the AI been more decisively beaten. ^^

Generally I may have used SRS about 5% of the time and at least in REDfor whenever I played all the coordination happened in Teamspeak without any problems. I would even say that that's how most of our flexibility of reacting to the situations evolving happened. The quick switching of team focus and efforts between PAK 6 and PAK 4 for example was mostly done by decision as a group in the main TS channel. As long as people were a little disciplined it didn't even overload the comms at all. I mostly used SRS when I was in a 2-man flight with a specific goal that required a lot of communication but that rarely happens or matters. So I strongly urge the continuation of TS as the main tool of comms at least on REDfor, since it works very well for us. Also the fact that you immediately see who is on comms is helpful. SRS can be nice for in-flight stuff, but that can also easily be replaced by whisperlists, that's what they're for. ^^

The only one getting knocked out on his ass is the server right now. ^^

The current situation: Secret leader of BLUEfor: Perceived average BLUEfor player: Actual average BLUEfor player: :>

There's a reason I refuse to play with those numbers. ^^ It's just the best way to avoid getting salty and frustrated: Don't play with uneven numbers 2:1 or higher. I only join when there is meaningful gameplay to be had with halfway decently balanced teamnumbers. I suggest the same to you, since being the punchingball of a stacked team is not your job as a player.

While that kind of thought (willingness to join RED) is admirable and certainly true for you and a few others, I call bullshit on different aircraft-sets being the main reason for the slanted numbers to be honest. Let's remember round 6, when Blue and Red both had the Gazelle, the Huey, the Mi-8, the Ka-50, the Su-25T, the A-10C and the Mirage. The numbers were still completely onesided, that's why that crapfest was over in in a heartbeat. The truth is that people like to win and they like to win hard even more. Add to that the fact that there are some weird politics going around in the brain of some people and you get another reason why that occurs. People have been screamed at for being "unamerican" for joining Red for crying out loud. That is a level of retard I cannot even comprehend. We have all seen the nato fanboyism that goes around in this community, which is, to be frank, creeping me out. I just want to remind people that this is a game and sportsmanship should play a part in all of this. There is a reason why I joined Red after playing Blue in the test round. I would love to fly the Gazelle and the A-10C and the Mirage right now, I really would. But if I wanted to fly them in a PvE scenario I would just host a mission with my friends, I do not need Blueflag for that. I accept that the BS-Team will not enforce balance, I don't want to kick off that discussion again but that does not, at least to me, mean that balancing this event is not an issue the community itself can fix. You cannot do anything about lonewolves/newbies/randoms joining the stacked team. But I would expect better from the older guys, the ones involved in the community, the organised squadrons and groups. If even they can't bring themselves to take some responsibility for creating a fun and challenging environment, then we can just stop giving a **** about it altogether to be honest. Just to be clear: I do not talk about anyone in particular, so no need for anyone to feel personally attacked, but that is my observation.

Yup, we're all waiting for ED to fix the missiles. But that doesn't matter too much in a mostly PvE environment like Blueflag. Next time we could make it full PvE so everybody's in on the fun. :) Other than that if you want to fly RED I suggest evening times for GMT, the teams are somewhat more even at those times and you may even spot a slight numbers advantage for RED if you're lucky. Be quick tho, from the player number development we'll be stuck in the maykop/krasnodar cluster**** zone in a few hours or a day, which significantly decreases the amount of fun to be had.

Well, apparently there are dynamic maps for DCS available, where you can pan, zoom and show coordinates and stuff (assuming i read the feature list correctly here: https://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/de/files/599103/). If it's about your personal experience, then this should cover you.

Yeah, I'm baffled, too. It's almost like...like people are not focusing on being tryhard all the time and actually value the social aspect of Blueflag more than efficiency. All hail the communications masterrace. :D

Like BodyOrgan said it is virtually impossible to enforce this, because I would simply mute the bloody thing and be done with it. Or change channels. Even if the channel selection is automatic, there would be another problem: What's with the parts of the playerbase that are not speaking English? You want Russian, English, maybe even German or French speakers talking over each other on the same frequency? Good luck with that. And there is quite a difference between prohibiting something in the gameplay department in order to provide a balanced and enjoyable gameplay experience for everyone and forcing a specific mode of communication down people's throat who simply do not wish to use it. Like you said: It's a hobby for everybody involved. If you wanna use it: Fine, but that's no reason to inflict it upon the rest of use who do not. If that would be attempted I would need to boycott and circumvent that...not because I really hate SR, because I do not, but out of principle. But since Greg already said that this won't be the case, I can probably rest easy. Can we please return to enjoying the game like we used to now? To each his own and stuff? That would be highly appreciated.

@Ciribob: I understand that it can be used in addition to TS and I have done so briefly in the past, but I found that to be very counterproductive, because people start stepping on each other without being aware of it. ^^ I really get why people like SR and what you have envisioned for it, and I would never personally discourage someone from actually using it. It is just that I personally, with my attitude and expectations towards Blueflag, have not much to gain from it, other than sometimes using it for the lulz. Thing is that I would probably even use it if 90% of the people (that I like) are on it, but as long as the social environment I spoke about is still on TS? Nah. ;)

Why I don't use SR? There are a few possible answers, but I'll give the most important one: I don't want to. I do not see it in any way enhancing the experience I want out of Blueflag. Blueflag, for me, and for many other people, has never been a hardcore simming experience. It's hard to get into that state of mind with the, quite frankly, ridiculous bugs, stupid missile behaviour, unfinished modules and downright weird gameplay DCS sometimes (often) puts on your plate. TS gives me all I need: GCI, friendly chatter and banter, interesting discussions (if there is time) and generally a social environment. SR does not. I cannot talk to specific people, I HAVE to talk or at least listen to everybody on my frequency (Yes, I mute people on TS if they get on my nerves) and it generally limits the amount of communication, beside having a way worse audio quality for me. It's cute for using the radio sound and having a little session with 2 or 3 people when you want some flair, but all the time? Nah. Don't see a single reason for it. And when it comes to brevity? Honestly most people don't give too much of a damn about it. Not everybody in DCS is a hardcore simmer. I'm not, never will be. I know a few words for most of the combat actions that are being taken, but it does not go further than that and I have exactly 0 interest in learning it much further. I'm here mostly for the flying and fighting experience, which means operation of the aircraft and systems. I have no interest in meming the "real pilot", because I never will be, it's wasted effort. Quite a lot of people on Blueflag seem to share the sentiment or something that amounts to the same outcome, considering the low and shallow amount of brevity used. And then of course there's the fine detail of Blueflag being a public event that does not impose restrictions upon joining as of yet. Therefore I would strongly reconsider on going all "elite hardcore simmer" on the thankfully (as of yet) quite large playerbase. You want a GCI that uses SR, brevity only and flight elements that do so, too? Just open a thread and ask for kindred spirits that share your joy for that kind of thing. Get your own little group established in the playerbase that plays along those rules and maybe give the "public" TS CGI a headsup what you're gonna do when you get out with your guys - everybody is happy. In short: There is no reason to force something upon people that they do not want to adapt to naturally, except of course you're coincidentally an admin and decide that this is the way your server is going to play out. That's their prerogative. Look for people who want to do your thing, but don't go the way of "everybody has to do this the way I personally like to experience it". Nobody gains something out of that, except for those that like a good flamewar.

Is it just me or did something happen with the Buddyspike Teamspeak? I apparently do not have the rights to join any permanent Channels anymore.