when i stopped playing ac6 for the most part, people where complaining about qaams, novice, type of planes people use. and when i play it on a rare occasion people are still complaining about qaams, novice and the type of planes you use. the last time i played ac6 people got mad at me and viper because we beat them the mobius 22. we played them in 6 or 7 rounds i used regular,novice, multiple different types of planes and still won. we won in almost every type of way that you can. if you complain then you should be able to back it up in some type of way. but if you can't back it up some type of way then you simiply need to get better. i flew 22, 47, 18, 33 and still won using all of them. the first two rounds i used novice on them using the 18 and 47. the rest of the rounds i used 22, 47, 33. and won. i even told them that i was using novice on them in the first two rounds. and i was using regular on the rest of the rounds. them main reason why i stopped playing the game is because of all of the whining.

Well, here is my humble opinion on the whole “Novice controls” issue. Some of those who use them are close friends of mine, so I hope they will allow me my opinion. I have never whined about people using them, I don't honestly care if they do or not. Just don't go spouting off about how great you are if you do, because the playing field isn't even as long as they are in the game.

I have flown with both control schemes, but my experience with novice is limited to around a dozen matches. I tried them for a short time to see what the difference was and to hopefully learn a little about the strengths and weaknesses of them. This is what I discovered;

They call them “Novice” controls for a reason, the plane (with a little practice) is FAR easier to keep under control. It is WAY easier to know exactly what is going on around you, because you are nearly always right side up. Novice in this way does not include the spacial disorientation that you can easily get with regular controls. This explained to me how it always seemed that a pilot using novice seemed to have a “sixth sense” and always knew immediately who was shooting at them. Well this sixth sense is due to a way better visual of the battlefield, much harder to determine using standard controls. If you are ever even slightly disoriented you can always just release the stick and the plane rights itself,not nearly that easy with regular controls.

And from what I noticed, despite not being able to barrel roll or turn the plane completely on its side or back, you are still able to turn just as sharp using novice as with standard, and the planes are equally as fast. No disadvantage there. In fact you can perform maneuvers that would be impossible with standard, I found myself able to nearly turn on a dime and take off in the opposite direction with the right amount of turn and roll, something I always wondered how some pilots could do and I never could. It simply defies all laws of physics.

Another HUGE advantage I noticed was when attacking ground targets, you can skim really close to the ground with WAY less danger of crashing. You simply stick over and you turn sharply but you are in no danger of losing altitude. Try that with standard controls, you have to maintain control in 3 dimensions which is far more treacherous than in 2 dimensions. This same 2 dimension advantage also helps a lot when firing MSSL's, much easier to turn and line up a “SHOOT” when you don't have to roll on your side and try to maintain your vertical trajectory at the same time. It was simply easier to maintain control, the whole point of novice controls to begin with.

Now I can't explain why I always had a more difficult time hitting those who flew with novice, but I did notice one thing. I was hit, especially by QAAMs, far less than I should have been. I was still learning the control scheme, not maneuvering nearly as much as I would normally using the standard controls, and yet even with multiple planes lobbing QAAMs at me, I lasted way longer than I ever expected. I could be wrong, but is it completely unfeasible that they would program the novice control scheme with a slight built in defense making them harder to hit on average? Not unfeasible at all really, after all they are named N-O-V-I-C-E for a reason, if they weren't intended to be easier to use, why would they not name it “Alternate controls”, or “secondary controls”?

My summary in the end was simple, from that day on I graded all pilots that fly with novice controls on a curve. They do in fact have multiple advantages was my conclusion. I can't say its an “unfair” advantage because I could have continued to practice with them and become a more effective killer myself, but it ruins the flow of the game for me, and further diminishes the sense of flight because it was more like driving a car. HOPEFULLY they will get rid of this control scheme in AC7, or at least allow hosts to turn it off for online play. People who whine about them actually do have a legitimate complaint, standard control users shouldn't have to switch to a dumbed down version of controls just to maintain a fair playing field.

Just my opinion.

~ FeRo

Personally, I don't enjoy flying novice, but do I enjoy the variety it brings to the game.  Every game has its sweet spots on the curve, and the Su-47 Novice Idol is definitely one of them.  But so are many of the other plane mixes.

If we want to get picky, a true "even" match is impossible.  If I've played 3 more months than my opponent, then is it unfair?  Yes.  If your internet connection is faster, is it uneven?  Yes.  If your thumbs are the perfect size for the standard controller and mine are too big...if your momma dropped you on your head... this could go on forever.

Different strokes for different strokes.  People trying to convince other people to change their favorite color isn't ever going to get solved.

That said, I agree that the game would be better if novice could be turned on and off like many of the other options given to the host.  Not because Novice is some kind of proven objective fact of evil, but simply because some people don't like it.  Just like how some people (me) would usually rather not play Star Wars (CFA) while in a modern jet game.

One option that might work is for the host to let new arrivals know that this is a novice-free room, please.  We used to do this in Blazing Angels 2, when we wanted to fly biplane-only rooms.  Sure, there was a rude jerk once in a while that got off on flying better planes against us, or someone who didn't understand English (not their fault), but mostly people would go along with our big biplane mash-ups and it was fun.

i don't complain to often. i just don't like it when i am going up against 3 or 4 novice 47 fliers at once. i don't care if a person is flying novice while they saam. i do it.