Advice On Joining a Virtual Squadron
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I have several questions on when is the appropriate time to join a virtual squadron and what to look for.
1. I have seen the list here in the forums and there appears to be a great many choices. Can someone recommend one that is mostly U.S. EST (or GMT as I get off work about 2:30pm EST…would lag be an issue there?) and is accepting and wants newb pilots? I am 52 and don’t want to join a “kiddie” squadron, but based on the complexity of the game, I’m guessing there aren’t too many of those out there?
2. At what level of proficiency should one even ask to join a squadron? Obviously, different squadrons are going to have different standards. I ask because I keep reading advice on the forums to join one ASAP to further your learning curve.
3. Do any squadrons role play? Having been former USAF, that could be an interesting way to play the game, although certainly not my main motivation.
4. Being self-employed and working a really early work schedule, I tend to have pretty good amounts of free time. Are there squadrons who run persistent campaigns almost 24/7, or do most just run weekend ops and/or TEs? I would prefer one that is always active and runs campaigns.
5. Do most virtual squadrons fly vs. the AI, or are most flying against humans? There are pros and cons for each and I’m open to either.
While I know some may say “do your own research and find out yourself,” I’d really like at least a few leads first. I tend to stick with things I commit to (married 33 years in April, been in the same WW2 Online and Eve groups for over 10 years) and don’t want to do a lot of squad hopping. Thanks in advance!
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Here’s my take on being on the other side of the fence (the one that has to decide to accept or deny a guy)
please understand it’s my way, based on my experience, it’s not THE way
other may differ and rightly so.-1. i can’t answer. we are mostly Europe based and i know from past experience than it’s though for americans to participate in our flight schedule
-2. hardly is the decision based on experience or proficiency.
Believe it or not, i have seen guys with zero experience getting much better at the end than guys who started with a lot of experience. IMHO oldhabits die hard and i have no problem with guys who barely can fly because i know they don’t have learned bad habits yet.
the type of guy is most important than what he can do. the way he behave with other ppl, the way he will be motivated, the way he will commit.
what i look also is the hardware, the type of hardware the candidate has tells me how serious he is about simulation. We don’t take guys without at least a decent HOTAS and a head tracking device.
these are things mucho more important than what he can do. we can correct what he cannot do. but we cannot ensure his own commitment or his willingness to learn and/or dig into the minute details BMS can offer
bottom line, we do mistakes too- 3. yes a lot. for instance: Doing the EPU check is role playing, talking to atc is role playing. we do it because in the end, it gives us a better experience but this is highly squad dependant i guess
gosh sometimes we even make hand signs and then burst in laughter because we realised it doesn’t work. head shake works over MP though and we use them
-4 in small groups, campaign running 24/7 is an utopy and pretty unuseful if you ask me. Might be differentin larger group VFW, but that’s not our case.
We do campaigns but these are resumed hosted online when we want to join it. if we don’t fly for 3 days then at least it doesn’t run without participation. after the flight it’s shut, saved until next time
we do TE as well. No way are they both mutually exclusive IMHO. A campaign provides a flight without creating a TE. A TE provides a better planned scenario but needs a TE writer.-5. i guess both. We fight versus the AI, we train sometimes versus the human.
Within our VFW, we most of the time have AI in combat in front of us, unless we participate to larger event TvT style or intersquads. then we fight against humans. But that’s not the majority unfortunately
it’s a choice by design (quality over quantity)
we do train human vs human though. Intercept geometry can’t really be done with AI for instance. we do these fights with full human parties. Let’s face it is much more funHope that helps a bit
- 3. yes a lot. for instance: Doing the EPU check is role playing, talking to atc is role playing. we do it because in the end, it gives us a better experience but this is highly squad dependant i guess
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Both replies are very helpful and encouraging because while I suck as a virtual pilot right now, commitment is something I have in spades! Could a mod move this thread to the MP forum so I don’t have to spam another thread?
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If your looking for a 24/7 campaign that’s what you’re looking for http://falcon-online.org/forum/
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VG also has 24/7 campaign. http://veterans-gaming.com/index.php?/falcon-bms-433/
I am the CO of the 6thvfw. We take on new pilots. I will take passion and availability over skill and being inactive any day of the week. We are start somewhere and those will passion for the sim will do what is needed to be effective part of the team.
Our wing is a mix of active and retired military, army, airforce, and marines. We have F18 crew members, F15/F22 maintainers, FO/JTAC, former Patriot radar operator and more. We currently have 3 BMS flights a week (2 campaign and 1 training).
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VG also has 24/7 campaign. http://veterans-gaming.com/index.php?/falcon-bms-433/
I am the CO of the 6thvfw. We take on new pilots. I will take passion and availability over skill and being inactive any day of the week. We are start somewhere and those will passion for the sim will do what is needed to be effective part of the team.
Our wing is a mix of active and retired military, army, airforce, and marines. We have F18 crew members, F15/F22 maintainers, FO/JTAC, former Patriot radar operator and more. We currently have 3 BMS flights a week (2 campaign and 1 training).
Sounds like a good place to be. I went to your site and noticed your BMS ops are at 2300 EST during the week? Been awhile for me in the USAF, but I seem to remember that is 11:00pm start time, which would be much too late for me as I go to work at 6am EST.
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The 1st VFW might be a good fit for you.
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The 1st VFW might be a good fit for you.
Biased, but agree.
We fly several nights a week, either planned or ad hoc, plus a standard weekend flight. It pretty rare you can’t find someone to fly with if you want to go up.
It’s hard to be semi-serious/realistic and have fun at the same time if it’s a ‘kiddie squadron’. I don’t think there’s a lot of that around (kiddie squadrons). The sim is too detailed and deadly. The age range I’ve seen is broad, but the maturity level is pretty high. Plenty of 50-somethings out there, mixed in with 20, 30 and 40-somethings. Lots of ex-military too …. all branches and many aviation specialties, as well as general/civilian aviation enthusiasts or professionals.
Basic flying proficiency … Ramp start, take off, land. Able to air refuel and employ basic weapons is a plus (mostly for you as the learning curve is a little less steep).
I don’t know what ‘role play’ means to you. Do we have planned flights with fairly detailed briefs, brief each flight before and after, attempt to use brevity and good radio comms, attempt to employ realistic/semi-realistic procedures based on real-life principles, etc.? Yes.
We run a variety of flights … campaign and TE’s. Just finished a weekly campaign flight the flew every Friday night for about 14 months. 24/7 requires not only a dedicated server, but support (and BMS can be fickle). Not to mention resetting the campaign every week or so (whether anyone flies it or not).
I think most versus AI, except when Falcon Online runs PvP events.
Edit:
Check out some websites and YouTube vids from different US/East Coast squadrons and see what you like.
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Biased, but agree.
We fly several nights a week, either planned or ad hoc, plus a standard weekend flight. It pretty rare you can’t find someone to fly with if you want to go up.
It’s hard to be semi-serious/realistic and have fun at the same time if it’s a ‘kiddie squadron’. I don’t think there’s a lot of that around (kiddie squadrons). The sim is too detailed and deadly. The age range I’ve seen is broad, but the maturity level is pretty high. Plenty of 50-somethings out there, mixed in with 20, 30 and 40-somethings. Lots of ex-military too …. all branches and many aviation specialties, as well as general/civilian aviation enthusiasts or professionals.
Basic flying proficiency … Ramp start, take off, land. Able to air refuel and employ basic weapons is a plus (mostly for you as the learning curve is a little less steep).
I don’t know what ‘role play’ means to you. Do we have planned flights with fairly detailed briefs, brief each flight before and after, attempt to use brevity and good radio comms, attempt to employ realistic/semi-realistic procedures based on real-life principles, etc.? Yes.
We run a variety of flights … campaign and TE’s. Just finished a weekly campaign flight the flew every Friday night for about 14 months. 24/7 requires not only a dedicated server, but support (and BMS can be fickle). Not to mention resetting the campaign every week or so (whether anyone flies it or not).
I think most versus AI, except when Falcon Online runs PvP events.
Edit:
Check out some websites and YouTube vids from different US/East Coast squadrons and see what you like.
I applied last night. I can’t ramp start right now and noted so on my application. I also live in a small town and bandwidth max is 15 down and 2 up, with the up sometimes falling to 1-1.5. Waiting to hear back.
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I applied last night. I can’t ramp start right now and noted so on my application. I also live in a small town and bandwidth max is 15 down and 2 up, with the up sometimes falling to 1-1.5. Waiting to hear back.
Good luck with the app.
Bandwidth is a good point. We do look for (?) 5 up and 2 down, but have some legacy members that are probably a little below that. Main reason or a requirement is that we run out MP flights with clients at 1024 in the comms/connections setup screen. 2 Mb/s up gives a little overhead on that. Although I’m not certain, I suspect some other VFW’s have a min BW as well.
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Think you got it backwards A_B
-Minimum internet speed of 2 Mbps upload / 5 Mbps download
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Good luck with the app.
Bandwidth is a good point. We do look for (?) 5 up and 2 down, but have some legacy members that are probably a little below that. Main reason or a requirement is that we run out MP flights with clients at 1024 in the comms/connections setup screen. 2 Mb/s up gives a little overhead on that. Although I’m not certain, I suspect some other VFW’s have a min BW as well.
Not going to happen I guess due to bandwith requirement. Wish I lived somewhere with better service!
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Think you got it backwards A_B
Yes, I did.
Minimum internet speed of 2 Mbps upload / 5 Mbps download