Hello Pilots, this is Tbar, Lead Event Manager for USAAC.
I would like to add some comment here .. not to point a finger at any squad or individual .. but to all of us as a whole in this fun loving community of AA.
Fist off and most importantly, this conversation/thread should be viewed as an intellectual discussion with a final result being a better informed community and to give pilots 'other' things to think about and consider. It is NOT about who is 'right' and who is 'wrong' .. it is about a 'better' tomorrow.
Secondly, in all the years I have been flying AA I've rarely found a pilot I didn't like or could not tolerate. As with any community or group, there is always one or two that would go to almost any length to disrupt the fun of others simply because 'they can'. These are very immature individuals who like to pull the wings off a fly just for fun .. . There is no age limit on these type of people, and fortunately there are not many .. and certainly don't reflect the majority of pilots in the AA communities. But, you know , there is always one .. so lets skip over the 'one' for now. I see that most pilots have problems with each other over a lack of true communication. Please .. don't try to draw a real conclusion about 'words' used in Coms. Although we all speak 'English', we don't all speak the 'same' English and the same word in one country does not always fare well for another country. In addition .. Coms never show us the 'smile' or the 'frowns' or the 'winks'... (Use Team Speak during Events .. it really helps)
Thirdly I feel strongly that the leaders of the community, old time pilots.. as well as some of the new pilots should strive to protect what we have. We love to fly this game, and we like the pilots. Given from time to time we are all human and not perfect, with that said each of us has done something we had regrets later for and don't really want to talk about that 'regret'. Beyond the occasional stupidity we are all guilty of something from time to time .. we .. make that a capital WE .. WE should all strive to set a good example. So we are not perfect, but we need to strive to be a little better in social skills as well as combat skills. This pays off 10 fold in the future. Social Pressure is what really makes pilots fall into line. "WE" need to carefully .. and I stress carefully carry the message to our friends, squad members, or those we have influence with NOT to be a jerk just because someone else is. Don't spawn kill in FFA. Don't Runway. Don't kill pilots just taking off or within 10 seconds of flight time .. trust me they will notice and give that curtsy back later .. trust me on this. Don't be a 'get even' type of player .. its not worth it and ruins your fun in the long run. In Teams things are a little different ... but you all know what is RIGHT and what is WRONG. Because some RULE does not specifically cover some situation .. you KNOW what constitutes being a 'butt hole' and what is "honor". Frankly cheap kills give me no thrill .. but that is another topic.
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More for those that like to read and think
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Try running an Event or League at any level. Try it once .. and you will understand the rest of this. The folks that put together UKAA, TAA, KAA, USAAC, etc .. you think that is easy? What do you think they get paid for that? What privileges do you thing they really get? NONE They do it for you, and so ALL can have fun and an interesting place to play ... to make the community better.
The folks that run an event have a very difficult time. First there is a LOT of work to construction of the event, testing the event, writing up the rules, posting the rules so all can read and understand, scheduling the events, setting up the arena's .. and then testing it all out again BEFORE you ever enter. Then once the event starts .. controlling said event and keeping it fun and worthwhile adventure is a challenge. Is it appreciated? Rarely. Rarely do we ever even get a thank you. No complaint, but that is the truth. Do we get complaints .. all the time. Do we get criticised for the calls we make etc .. all the time. Pilots are quick to point out errors or complaints for sure .. and rarely compliment etc.
During an event it is extremely difficult to keep track of ALL that is going on. Extremely difficult. An Event Manager has no other views than you do .. even worse is that most of the time they are on the ground and can only see the 'map' .. so they can't normally 'name' a pilot for violation. The Event Manager can only point out the pilots position on the map to give warning/reference to. Event Mangers can easily miss something, so without the help of the experienced and conscientious pilots, being an event manager is a tough job to get right. For the most part these Event Managers will manage many, many games all successfully .. but let them get ONE call wrong someplace and that is all that is talked about and remembered... or reacted too.
Now for myself, and LTS in particular it is very hard to keep the game under control and running smoothly. One does not have time to argue with players, make long explanations, etc. In the game of baseball if the umpire calls you out .. you are out. That is that. One has to have faith in the umpire as normally they make thousands of calls right .. to one wrong. The ratio goes with the umpire.
Tbar does not want to be a 'hard ass' with the rules, unfortunately that is what it takes in order to keep it running smoothly and on time. It has always been my process not to give the 'trouble makers' time to make trouble by long delays in start time .. or long time between rounds .. I keep a 'quick clock' so pilots are keep busy flying . .. instead of running their mouth with smart remarks, getting in verbal fights with each other, etc. So the secret is out, LTS moves quickly to keep pilots doing what they came for ... flying and fun; Not smart remarks, arguing with the umpire, etc. As for fairness .. I'm more than fair as history shows, but i won't tolerate being ignored .. or those that show "no respect for authority".
Appreciate what it takes to keep an Event going nicely and fun for all.
When I see a violation in the rules .. I post it .. numerous times long before I would take any action. I want this to be fun and not nit picking on the rules. When I see a pilot go out of bounds, I know they are busy flying and may not notice the map . .or even my warning on "map limit' . If that pilot is really in a close boundary area, I take no action other than the map limit warning. With that in mind when a Pilot ignores all warnings and goes 'way out' or 'way over alt limits' .. I have to take a firm action in order to keep order .. plain and simple. Do I want a pilot kicked.. or even banned because they didn't heed warnings, etc? NO, Not even if I 'know' they did it on purpose. So normally, I depend on 'social pressure' of that given team to bring that pilot into line. By making a team forfeit a round .. social pressure should bear. That given team needs to help 'police' its own pilots. Only Social Pressure brought to bear can keep order in the long run.
No order .. and Events will cease to exist.
New pilots .. or pilots that don't bother to read the rules before they come in .. I don't want to spank them .. I want to bring them in line, You have all seen how this is handled, we tell the pilot to crash and wait for next round .. join GE.SU as appropriate. You have also seen how the some purposely ignore that .. constantly. USAAC wants new pilots to experience the fun of team flying ... especially in a competition environment, but we also want those that are there flying within the rules not to have their game spoiled. This situation is a delicate one there are many factors right down to the pilot not reading English (although if they can register in English they should be held to reading it within the game.. another topic I might say).
War is the unknown coming at you. We can't and don't always have each team perfectly balanced. I assure you it is watched carefully. We also not pilot talents. so sometimes I'm not concerned when the teams are 10 and 14, four pilots off on the winning team is just another challenge (most likely I know who is going to win the event .. so flying with 10 on the winning side is no complaint). Very close games .. I ask for someone to change sides. When no one steps up to change, I name a pilot to change.
I can only call.. what I see. When I see a pilot go to the extreme end of the second square .. I make an announcement telling the pilot he is out of bounds, to crash now and not reenter the battlefield. In last weeks event, the pilot ignored 3 orders and enter the battle arena and engaged the enemy. What can I do at that point? I can only make his team suffer for that .. and the team will put the social pressure on the pilot for blowing the round. In sever cases, I would ask a sysop to boot the player (these boots are normally only 15 minutes .. time to think). Booting a player is last option.. ..
Some thoughts from comments above:
GE team had 3 pilots chase an SU pilot out of bounds. Ge team had to forfeit. No problem.
GE does NOT have to break the rules because an Su broke the rules by running out of bounds.
GE had one pilot that was afk..He didn't even engage anyone and went 2 grids out.
But before this, SU had 3 pilots out of bounds and not engaged. But GE had to forfeit another round.
Even though we won it fair and square.
AFK .. land/crash. Take care of RL then re-join when your free. Don't keep flying, you will end up penalizing the entire team. IF SU was out of bounds, it is simply something I did not see and GE when they noticed should have said something. GE forfeited the round for something I did see, the pilot ignored warning, etc .. and it was a flagrant violation .. not something on the 'fringe'. Normally I don't call a round for slight oversights, etc. If a pilot is responding and returning within bounds that is normally good enough for me. Anyone can loose track of where they are from time to time.
I pulled my team out of the event in protest because Tbar was being a real hardass with the rules.
Tbar will always be a hard ass with the rules, but again I point out I'm more than fair BEFORE I have to take action. I would comment that pulling out really does not punish me .. but the other pilots fun time. Think on this: If a round is in protest or dispute .. we can gladly re-run it at the end of the event-rounds IF it would affect the outcome. GE was going to win regardless in this case.
As a Sysop and a referee I look at the situation and make a call. If I made all the rules set in stone and didn't bend a little then a lot of people would have to be removed or rounds forfeited.
I'm glad I can say that I give them a chance and bend the rules a little to make a fair game.
I could not agree more .. and when I make a call.. it is not for some petty infraction or a gray area .. it is for flagrant violation. In all the LTS or other Events I have managed, I give the pilots many chances to get it right, if they ignore me, I feel I have no choice but to take action or loose control of the game-event.
It's good to bend the rules just a bit, especially since no one follows them completely anyways. But when you're not the event manager, just go with the rules. I agree Tbar is pretty strict with rules sometimes but then again, it's only a fun event, not a 2squad match.
Again I don't' bend the rules and will always be 'hard ass'. And again, I give those pilots plenty of chance to get in line or respond positively. I don't call 'rounds or forfeits' based on gray areas or "close boarder-line" .. its only for flagrant violations. I always get shot down right away because I pay more attention to the map and alts then I do on staying alive. It really does take a lot of eyes on all the pilots to keep things up and up .. I can't see it all .. and can only call what I see, or is brought to my attention.
On the other hand, there needs to be a fairness about it too. Let's face it......this is suppose to be a FUN Event. Go to a 2 square limit. Plus, we don't need a policeman (sysops) to oversee the event and throw the pilots into jail if they break the rules.
I have to agree 100% here also. I am fair, but can't see it all, all the time. The game is designed for fast and furious action, if we went to 2 square that would make the game-rounds take longer. Besides, with a 2 square limit .. the issue would be the pilot went to the 4th square. So the answer is not changing the rules, but follow what we have. Each team needs to help police their own side. Coms.. i.e. 8.. talk to your team mates on team comes .. remind them of the rules. When you get shot down .. don't you watch the map and talk to your own team mates on Team Coms?? If not .. all pilots should do so .. not stupid chatter .. but important stuff.
I say let's drop the whole last Wednesday thing! Let's get back to killing again and work out those aggression egos. Yep. Kiss and make up!
I agree again 100% to 'drop it' as to a controversy, but I also say lets not drop the discussion of rules and social pressure. Yes, lets forget about the individuals involved, etc .. but lets do continue to teach all pilots the 'Right thing to do" and the "right way to play this game".
I hope the intellectuals here at AA will read through the 'individual aspect' and see the bigger picture of keeping a peaceful community and enforcing the rules thru social pressures. I feel .. its starts with the squads. When we have grips .. these forums are the right thing .. talking it out ... and seeing the perspectives of all. In the end things work out better for all when we 'discuss'.. rather than fight and name call.
