Is CoD worth getting?

[ATAG_Snapper]

Furbs, what you describe (the 19 + 10 .....and more...) in a COOP format is great. I'd be the first to sign up for a spot. But I disagree that anything short of a COOP format is merely "a dogfight server". That implies absolutely no organization; a virtual free-for-all. That does NOT describe what I regularly see on the two ATAG servers of late. As Chivas mentioned, I see groups on both sides organizing themselves, via Teamspeak, to form bomber flights with specific server-defined targets as objectives. At the same time, calls go out over Teamspeak for fighter pilots to either provide escort OR to patrol over defined targets (ie radar towers at G7 Dungeness and I12 Ramsgate plus Comms HQ at G10 Canterbury) to defend against possible enemy bomber & fighter formations. Not all 40 or 50 players on the server wish to participate - but that's OK since that introduces a dynamic randomness to the respective missions. In fact, that "unexpected encounter" factor adds to the tension, just as undisclosed triggers in a formal COOP mission should have.

I see COOP as one means to bring a group of players together to reenact a particular scenario, with a defined start time. A good thing, to be sure, but by no means does that one format exclusively emulate the Battle of Britain. Those who are holding off from buying or playing CoD "because there's no COOP" are failing to grasp the huge capabilities of such easily utilized organizational tools such as Teamspeak, email, and these forums to get like-minded groups of players into their aircraft in the same theatre of operations. Farber and the JG/27 did it on a large scale, small groups of us do it on the fly every day. And for us, this is as much a virtual Battle of Britain as a formalized COOP mission(s) is a virtual Battle of Britain for you.

[furbs]

Originally Posted by ATAG_Snapper

Furbs, what you describe (the 19 + 10 .....and more...) in a COOP format is great. I'd be the first to sign up for a spot. But I disagree that anything short of a COOP format is merely "a dogfight server". That implies absolutely no organization; a virtual free-for-all. That does NOT describe what I regularly see on the two ATAG servers of late. As Chivas mentioned, I see groups on both sides organizing themselves, via Teamspeak, to form bomber flights with specific server-defined targets as objectives. At the same time, calls go out over Teamspeak for fighter pilots to either provide escort OR to patrol over defined targets (ie radar towers at G7 Dungeness and I12 Ramsgate plus Comms HQ at G10 Canterbury) to defend against possible enemy bomber & fighter formations. Not all 40 or 50 players on the server wish to participate - but that's OK since that introduces a dynamic randomness to the respective missions. In fact, that "unexpected encounter" factor adds to the tension, just as undisclosed triggers in a formal COOP mission should have.

I see COOP as one means to bring a group of players together to reenact a particular scenario, with a defined start time. A good thing, to be sure, but by no means does that one format exclusively emulate the Battle of Britain. Those who are holding off from buying or playing CoD "because there's no COOP" are failing to grasp the huge capabilities of such easily utilized organizational tools such as Teamspeak, email, and these forums to get like-minded groups of players into their aircraft in the same theatre of operations. Farber and the JG/27 did it on a large scale, small groups of us do it on the fly every day. And for us, this is as much a virtual Battle of Britain as a formalized COOP mission(s) is a virtual Battle of Britain for you.

All that is true Snapper, and ive seen large missions happen on dogfight missions a few times over the years and it was great to see even if it was a little discouraged , but the one thing that gets in the way is time.

COOPs allow for missions to be set up and run in a very short time scale.
Setting up a 30 man mission on a DF would be a once a night thing and quite tricky to get right....i know ive tried it with 8 and its like herding cats!

COOPs allow you to run them 3-4 times a night and with re-starts if the plonker forgets his bombs! it also allows large formations to be placed 10 or 15 mins away from the target, on course, at the right height and with all the right bomb load, with the escort sqd in place above.

Im not running down what can happen on ATAG Snapper, like ive said they do a great job and im sure it will get better, but we really do need the COOPs to get sqds involved in a regular way, online wars and other things.

Ive been told all the great things CLOD can do with triggers and missions and stuff, im waiting still.

Anyway Snapper, i will pop on ATAG TS later this week and have a look myself.

[ATAG_Snapper]

Furbs, thanks for the detail on the COOP's potential -- "like herding cats" is so true with us bunch! LOL

Also, I think I've been quibbling over semantics earlier since, really, what you're asking by way of COOP's would be a huge asset to a complex sim like CoD; count me as a full supporter!

I'm hoping that if you do drop by the ATAG Server one fine evening that our bomber guys are there as they are the foundation (in large part) of the impromptu missions that occur. That said, frequently when it's just us "fighter boys" we've responded to the "radar sightings" to set up high altitude ambushes for incoming bomber raids on our side.

The way the ATAG servers are set now, the briefing tab lays out each side's primary & secondary targets, plus the fighters' assignments accordingly. There are periodic updates on each side's status (objectives achieved), plus when a target is destroyed all players see a big announcement to that effect. The side that first destroys all designated targets "wins" with a big announcement across the screen. After about 5 minutes (with one-minute-interval warnings), the server shuts down and resets.

As I mentioned earlier, not everyone on the server wants to play and that's fine. Many just want to do their own thing, including "Airquake-style" dogfighting or airfield suppression (vulching) which is OK. Many of us, by necessity, have learned how to effectively deal with organized field suppression tactics and actually welcome it as a warm up to the real missions.

Hope I run into you on the server, Furbs!

Snapper