What is spam really?

[Stormich]

Unless official servers are changed i don't think changing viewscale should be used, it's the main reason why I don't use NE servers, sure it might be better, but it's hard to get used to different scales every time. Also, spam occurs in most action games, spamming missiles and grenades in fps is a normal tactic. Maybe just make the high damaging spam shots a bit slower.

[Sarah Palin]

I would support changing viewscale too, I really like the NE server.

the reason that there is spam is that we can shoot farther than we can see

Again I'll note that one of the reasons spam is so effective is because people run away from graphics of bullets/lasers/shots even when those graphics cannot hurt you (assuming all players have good ping).

One good example is people run away from an offscreen whale rocket in an open space. Whale rockets are not collidable so you can fly right through them, in fact that's the best tactic since whale players only detonate rockets a) when they have a visual b) when they know the rocket is entering a choke, so there is a good likelihood of having a target.

Similarly people will fly away from offscreen loopy missiles because they fear tracking, without understanding how the tracking works. Tracking is directed from the Loopy plane itself not the missiles. The loopy has to get a nose lock on the enemy plane for tracking to start; the further away the enemy is the tinier the arc segment that you must put your nose into to track. In other words, offscreen loopy fire that isn't already tracking is unlikely to start tracking you. You can fly right past it.

The best way to fight spam is to play all the planes for a week so you understand exactly how all the weapons work.