I don't know if it's just that time of year or a sense of nostalgia, but I am finding myself missing those winter themed maps from previous versions of World of Warplanes.
Although official word on the future status of Winter War, Hidden Airbase, Eastern Front and Arctic Region hasn't been announced as of yet, I do hope to see a few, if not all, reworked and brought back to the game.
In the meantime, I suppose I will spend my Holidays in the desert....
The last time I took to the skies in the tier V SNCASE SE 100 Heavy Fighter, I walked away with a win, but was very disappointed in my own performance.
For this outing, I was determined to contribute on the same or higher level from
before, but I also wanted to either reduce my death count or be at least
alive when the battle concluded.
Although I have decided to focus the Japanese Army Air Force in World of Warplanes, for some odd reason I gave into the urge to fly the only French aircraft in my hangar, the tier V SNCASE SE 100 Heavy Fighter.
That turned out to be a mistake on my part.
To be perfectly honest, Heavy Fighters were never really my strong suit, since most of them require a certain patience and skill that I don't have a grasp on. Although I did experiment and got "not bad" with the Boom and Zoom playstyle, I admit I was far from a proficient student in that art form. Plus, after flying more maneuverable Fighters pretty much since 2.0 launched, yeah....
Well, in all my time playing World of Warplanes, I have never experienced anything like this! Good thing the cameras were rolling, because I doubt many would believe me if I told them about it....
I am not sure where it all began, but a
lot of people in this day in age have this belief that if they invest
time, money and effort into something, it will only return positive
dividends.
There have
been a great many "encouraging statements" passed on over the years to
reinforce this mindset, such as "practice makes perfect" along with
"keep you eyes on the prize" and my personal favorite, "no pain, no
gain." However, reality isn't always a positively rewarding experience and something, or someone can come along and crush the dreams for those who are making their attempts. A bitter but wise Warrant Officer shared this nugget of perspective with me during my Army days, "The power of positive thinking won't shrink a mountain to make it easier to climb."
Make of that what you will.
Now, take this following battle and tell me if I was playing it for the fun of it, or was I trying to put in a Herculean effort to salvage a win?
Despite my usual, mostly positive attitude on the forums, I do get
frustrated to mad during a battle when things don't going according to
plan. I can accept, after the fact, when I am outplayed by a better
player, or the enemy team is luckier or more coordinated than the one I
am on. No words have yet to be invented for that experience when all
that "hard work" put into playing just evaporates into a defeat, but
after the battle is lost and I recompose myself, I try to remember to tip my hat to the victors.
Now, I have taken my first step up the Japanese Army Air Force line, to the Ki-43-II.
In all honesty, I don't expect this plane to perform too differently from it's tier IV version, since it's just more of the same as before. However, I do anticipate encountering tougher opponents and aircraft that come with tier V threshold and more complicated environments.
It's those complicated environments where the learning curve will lie, I believe.
The map on the left is what I was typically given to fly my sorties on with the tier IV Ki-43-I. For those who are really curious, it's Archipelago: Decisive Blow. After the initial novelty wears off, the environment is pretty straightforward with low islands, good viability and only three capture points.
The map on the right, Plateau: Advance Game, starts to shed away the simplicity seen from the lower tiers and moves a player into the realm of moderately more complicated gameplay. Deep canyons and towering rock formations that can wreak havoc, if one isn't paying attention to what is going on around them. Combine that with deadly aerial actions of combat, capturing and defending, can lead to a head spinning experience.
And, just to add to that, I bring in a brand new aircraft, an untrained pilot and just a vague idea what to do here....
If there is one thing I am looking forward to in a future update, it's the return of replays.
With the current limitations on free camera angles and a lack of a center zoom, my action shots that headline my little editorials are rather lackluster, in comparison with past projects. Although it doesn't take away from the content of my commentary, it's just more of an aesthetic thing, much like a dust cover on a hard cover book.
Anyways, another action filled battle in the tier IV Nakajima Ki-43-I Hayabusa, in it's natural environment....
