Claim realism %

[Broadside uda Barn 0]

After so many pilots who have died waiting for confirmations, and so much time writing claims so that they are confirmed, and taking meticulous notes for the claims (time, location, description), I've come to the conclusion that the claim form writing isnt fun.

Especially when I've spent so much time on a claim, to have a pilot die landing a plane at a super low speed, or some other silly death. All that time writing notes and making claims = waste of time.

 

Turning the claim form to easier (the second option, not the 3rd) seems to be the answer. No more writing or copying and pasting flight pilot names (which should be automated btw), pausing for location and description and time, and writing lots of data to get claims confirmed. Not every claim gets confirmed, but most do...

 

However, this option lowers the realism % by an insane amount!

40%

Let's put this in perspective:

 

Wind effects off is 10%

 

From "pilot die roll on death" to "pilot never dies": 10%

 

Flight model realistic, to medium realism = 50%

 

 

Please dont take this as a criticism, Oh mighty excessively helpful OBD Devs...but rather as a plea to reduce the reduction of realism % for claims. 20% seems fair. 40% is excessive IMO.

 

Not that it's a huge deal, what the percentage is. Fun is fun.

I dont want to mess with the mixture, and I dont want to die at 5 mph when I land and hit a tree or a building (I think there needs to be an option between "Easy Die roll on death" and Easiest "pilot never dies"...something like "pilot dies only in combat or crashes at 25 mph or faster)....if those two exceptions make my realism 70%, so be it.

But those two, and 40% of loss from normal to easy claims, puts it at 30% realism....which is the same as:

 

No wind,

No mixture,

and medium realism flight model

....definitely not an equal comparison of settings.

 

Is writing a claim THAT much a part of being a WW1 pilot?

 

I recall someone else making points toward this idea a while back.

Thanks for listening.

 

OFF is a terrific game! Thank you for making it.

 

Broadside

[+Polovski 415]

That's what the option is there for, and the only person worried about the number is you ;)

 

Claims took some time to come through sometimes, so if you don't live long enough to get all your claims, that's realistic. Also it increases your chances of promotion. Hence the value on it.

[Hellshade 110]

I can understand your furstation Broadside, but in the end, it's just a number. It took me awhile to get over it too, until it truly hit me that "Nobody else really cares what % Realism number your screen says is and, if they do care, I shouldn't care that they care because it's supposed to be about me having fun, not me comparing e-peens with the % Realism figure that other people might have 1/2 a planet away." The only number I worry about now is my heart rate. If the Beats Per Minute is way high after a mission, then I must be having fun. Do I agree that some of the realism penalties seem off? Sure. Does it matter as long as I find the sim to be challenging and exciting? Nope.

 

In a way, I wish they'd just get rid of it. Replace it with a choice of "DiD" which presets everything to that standard or "Custom" that lets you choose to fly however you feel is most fun. I think that would get rid of a lot of unnecessary frustration. "Reality" is based very heavily on ones own perception, which can vary considerably from person to person.

 

Hellshade

[Broadside uda Barn 0]

Thanks Hellshade and Polovski.

That puts things in perspective.

[Hellshade 110]

See a great many people have suddenly realized that a certain game out of Russia is a piss pot poor representation of how it was. So they have come running to OFF as an alternative. Then they are shocked to find, OFF is not a game, rather it's an attempted Simulation of the Air War during WWI.

 

If you wish to play it as a game, options are available. I'm not part of the OFF crowd, but I fail to see how anybody can have a 'bitch' about the claim forms, there is a selection in workshop which obliterates their need totally . . if that's your thing. But for the most part, they're accepted as a needed evil, just as they were in 1917.

 

 

Respectfully, I see no reason to make degrading comments about other flight sims. I far prefer OFF BHaH myself. But our beloved Devs have requested that we keep any comparisons between OFF and other sims respectful because of how quick and easy it can be to start "flame wars" on the forums. I'm not saying I disagree with your opinion, but it might be fairer to say that OFF has gotten a lot of new sales because folks who tried one of the other WWI flight sims felt they didn't really get the kind of game they were expecting. And yes, I also agree you can just turn off the claim forms in the workshop.

 

Hellshade

[Broadside uda Barn 0]

I was just going to ignore this comment, but it most certainly is inflammatory, degrading, and abrasive.

 

See a great many people have suddenly realized that a certain game out of Russia is a piss pot poor representation of how it was.

 

--This part above being degrading and inflammatory--

 

 

 

 

If you wish to play it as a game, options are available. I'm not part of the OFF crowd, but I fail to see how anybody can have a 'bitch' about the claim forms, there is a selection in workshop which obliterates their need totally

 

--This part is abrasive and inflammatory, insulting, and generally off topic.--

If you read my post, I was making an analysis, and a constructive argument on the percentages.

 

 

. . if that's your thing. But for the most part, they're accepted as a needed evil, just as they were in 1917.

 

This last part at least adds a comment about the topic. Not helpful, not needed, not wanted, but at least about the topic.

 

Be kind to people uncleal, you will be happier if you do. Might I suggest:

Edited August 8, 2009 by Broadside uda Barn

[77Scout 3]

Another solution is to just stop making it seem like 'work' by not writing so much detail into the claims. It is not necessary as far as I can see, so why make it a hassle. People will tell you that 'Lat' and 'Long' etc is required, and so on but I heartily doubt the claims code has anywhere near that level of complexity.

 

I write only a short blurb (e.g. craft seen to catch fire and crash). I certainly do not stop the game to get location info (to me that is totally unrealistic), nor do I generally even bother with specific witness names (I often just use 'wing man', 'flight leader', 'ground troops', whatever). I am getting about 2 out of 3 approved.

 

Just my take on it.

[Gous 0]

I find the claims to be much fun. I see them more as a diary, writing every single detail of the flight in them. I then go back and read my entries and remember the good old times. (If you see my claims there are like 3/4 of a page in length).

But apart from that...

 

I dont want to mess with the mixture, and I dont want to die at 5 mph when I land and hit a tree or a building (I think there needs to be an option between "Easy Die roll on death" and Easiest "pilot never dies"...something like "pilot dies only in combat or crashes at 25 mph or faster)....if those two exceptions make my realism 70%, so be it.

 

Now here is an idea...

[Fliegenhund 0]

The claim form is another immersion factor in this sim. It can be frustrating to get alot of rejections, but it was terribly hard to get them in the "real" war, for an authentic sim such as this it should be so. It is another added challenge to make sure you have wingmen who witness kills and if not making the best descriptive report you can.

 

Can you imagine the real pilots fighting for their very lives and earning a kill then getting the red stamp REJECTED on their claim form? It must have been crushing.

[Olham 164]

Broadside, don't get too upset about Unc; he always was like that, and I think he is the only one who

could get away with it for so long. If he'd suddenly follow that book, no one would recognise him any-

more, something would be missing. You'll get used to it, as you know who it comes from.

 

You are not flying this sim since long, so I would recommend to you: switch things on 'easier' as you

want to make it enjoyable. I have suffered through the first 6 - 8 weeks all on 110 %, and only since

June I have become good enough to enjoy it really deep. And now, I wouldn't want it any other way

but the whole authentic claims proceedure. Does that make sense to you?

[Olham 164]

Well, UncleAl, even when you are not trying to be inflammatory, degrading, and abrasive,

you are often just like a hard*ss in a thistlefield, you know? I can live with that, and Bub

will hopefully get used to it, seeing, it's coming from you.

For you, we often make an exception here.

[Rickitycrate 10]

It's all there in the workshop settings. First thing is have some fun, okay. Set things up to suit yourself. You bought it, it's yours The realsim number is just a number. Guys report thier experiences on this forum all the time without referencing the realism number. We don't much care about it. You have a great flight, successful, interesting or unusual... the number does not dictate the fun nor our interest in reading about it in a post. I've been flying QC, pilot never dies for the last 2 weeks after mostly flying DiD campaigns previously. The claims are what you make of them and I never worry about my claims and have not for a long time. It's kind of like the whole FPS thing when first released. We all wanted that high number for fps. Some of us might have gone a little goofy in pursuit of steady 50's but when we got it running smoothe enough we forgot about the number. When I fly at 50% real the number is not on my mind. Just my HO.

[cptroyce 0]

C'mon guys..That IS NOT uncleal being inflammatory, degrading, and abrasive, that's uncleal being diplomatic! Where's everyone been for all these years...

 

Royce

[buddye 1]

As long as I have options for my personal taste, I am OK with what ever players like/enjoy.

 

For me I do not like paper work, never did like it and never will like it. Paper work is not fun so I do not do claim forms. I want the PC to do all the paper work for me.

 

Fun for me is always priority #1 in my game play.

 

OFF3 seems to offer me the key options for my personal taste which I thank the OFF3 developers for.

Edited August 8, 2009 by buddye

[Broadside uda Barn 0]

If you're so easily offended, my advise is don't post on a public forum, for there sooner or later you will find inflammatory, degrading, and abrasive views

 

Actually, I'm not offended by you or your comments, even if I do find them abrasive. I appreciate your helpfulness, when your comments are directed that way. However, as Hellbender brought out, making degrading comments about another flight sim, or it's pilots that find their way to OFF, is an easy way to start a flame war. Whether this is your intent or not, is inconsequential.

And that was why I pointed out your remarks, since you didnt think they were out of hand.

 

And back on topic, my claim percentage is high. Actually, since adopting the "post everything you can think of" strategy, every claim has been confirmed. So it's not the frustration of lost claims, but rather the time involved in making the claims. Some good points made by all regarding %s and fun factor. I think OBD did a nice job with giving us these options.

I still think the % for easy claims is too high though.

Edited August 9, 2009 by Broadside uda Barn

[Mr. Lucky 0]

Good advice to follow: Play OFF so as to get the most fun out of it for you. The realism percentage or anyone else's opinion matters not. I like the claim forms myself, and since I navigate by paper maps, I've developed enough situational awareness, that after combat, I can usually mark the area on the maps just as they did back then and in the movies.

I think I've only lived long enough to have one claim confirmed, so just surviving is still my first priority. But, to each his own.

[Duce Lewis 3]

I find the claims to be much fun. I see them more as a diary, writing every single detail of the flight in them. I then go back and read my entries and remember the good old times. (If you see my claims there are like 3/4 of a page in length).

I do much the same but about 5 or 6 senteces usually

Wow! 3/4 of a page, have you posted any of these reports?

Sounds like a fun read