What am I missing?

[DBrim]

So, this weekend, I booted up Altitude for the first time in four months. I started at level 34, and now I'm at 57, and I've been playing on the "new players server".

I'm concerned about what happens in three levels. I'll hit 60, and instead of playing with schlubs like me, I'll be playing with pros like you. And with schlubs like me, I'm not exactly doing great (I know k/d isn't the greatest metric, but mine's been between 0.8 and 0.9).

I spent the vast majority of my time leveling up in the biplane, but earlier today I realized that I should use the opportunity to try out some of the other planes, so I've been playing a lot with the loopy now, too.

What this post is about is that I'm concerned that I'm going to start being way less useful and therefore have way less fun when I hit 60. Instead of supporting a tbd team or a ball team, I'll be hurting them.

So, what's the best way to get better without pissing all of you people off?

[innerlyte]

It's really not as hardcore as you make it sound. There is a constant flux of new players filtering in and out of the official servers, so most vets are used to playing with people of all skill and experience levels. You certainly don't have to wait for level 60 either. For the most part, as long as you don't do bomb waste or camp, you should be fine. If you act respectful toward everyone else, people will treat you fairly.

[nesnl]

I'd say you won't have a problem if you play in the other servers with all the level 60s as long as you don't do these few things:

*Drop the bomb randomly as soon as you see an enemy plane.
*Circle the bomb spawn everytime waiting for the bomb.
*If you are on the ground with the bomb and are aimlessly holding afterburner (which will never work) you activate the bomb instead of dying and letting a teammate pick it up.
*Make it your mission to suicide by attempting to kill all the opposing turrets.
*Shoot the ball at your own goal.
*Hold the ball and never pass.
*Flop on the ground with the ball until you die and never attempt to pass to a teammate.

Generally, if you like the ball mode then you won't have much trouble fitting into that crowd even if you aren't very good. It's a faster game and not being a great flyer or great killer isn't going to get you yelled at. Also, players in ball just seem to be of a lesser skill level due to a lot of factors. If you like TBD games then I suggest just trying to mimick other players in the game. Work on things like map control and escorting a bomb carrier. Even if you are 10-30 but you are still taking the lead on a bomb escort people are still going to respect that. Even in TBD we have our fair share of less skilled players, but it really only becomes an issue when you can tell they are making no attempt at playing with the team and are actually hurting the team by essentially making it a man down situation. I say just try the servers out (even now) and see what you think. I think you will be surprised at how good you probably are compared to a lot of the people who play there. And the fact that you are actually asking what to do in order to fit in shows that you are mature and willing to learn, which is something people are going to notice and respect. Sure, you might do something dumb now and again and some of the more hot-headed 'pros' will say something like "wtf noob?" but that happens all the time, even to some of the more seasoned players. As long as that doesn't bother you then you should do just fine.

[zwanglos]

However, people will find reasons to yell at you even if you're not doing anything wrong.

[ryebone]

On a slightly unrelated note, don't blindly assume that people who have high ace ranks are necessarily better. There are many elite players who don't ace, and many bad players who have high ace ranks because they play too much.

[elxir]

Do what nesnl said.

Also, fail-proof counter: if anyone says anything to you, just reply with "no u"

every.

single.

time.

they will likely end up raging hard and it will be hilarious.

[classicallad]

yeah that works!

or 'Your Mom' usually has the same effect.

[breakfastsausages]

I would encourage you to try out all the various planes. Even if you ultimately end up coming back to your first loved biplane, practical knowledge of how each plane performs can be a vital bonus in fighting against it.

My #1 tip though is not to wait til you are 60 to try out the unrestricted public games. The easiest way to gain a new skill is to learn it from someone who already knows.

[tgleaf]

If kill/death ratio is your main concern, spend some time in TDM or 1DM servers getting better at dogfighting. And not just with biplane, but with all planes.

If strategy/knowing what to do when is your main concern, you can either spectate a bit with more seasoned players, or read up on some of the Guides that have been written.

Agreed, though, that the fact you posted this shows you're considerate enough to probably not annoy people on the 60+ level servers. We all realize that players go through stages in their skill development, so most of us won't criticize you (memorize that nesnl post). Also feel free to ask questions in-game. Some players get yelled at for doing something and then either clam up or verbally attack other players. If this happens to you, ask questions of the other players in the game. "What should I have done?", "Why was that bad?", etc. It's humbling, but it will improve your game and gain you respect.

[number 3]

I am happy to see that there are people helping this poor fellow. Nobody helped me until I played for 300+ hours and eventually learned everyplane. Then people wanted to give me tips and pointers. All u have to say is, altitude is meant to have fun and a good time. Not all about how good you are or what team your in. If you enjoy playing a plane that you absolilutly are horrible at, well play it. Oh also never drop unnecisarry bombs. That's the easiest way to get people to hate you

[Anhi]

Originally Posted by ryebone

On a slightly unrelated note, don't blindly assume that people who have high ace ranks are necessarily better. There are many elite players who don't ace, and many bad players who have high ace ranks because they play too much.

This, im ace 3 and i suck :P

[DBrim]

Thanks for the help, guys. I reached Level 60 shortly after that post. When I posted that, I already was trying out loopy, and I kept at it for most of the week. I'd say I'm slightly better at it than with biplane on the "big kid" servers, but only just.

I've been playing around with explodet, too, so I'm slowly trying to "learn" the planes. I'm doing my best to be a team player, but I have to say that it's hard to think that I'm helping much, especially when I'm trying to learn a plane. I played explodet all of tonight, and I averaged a 1/2 K/D. I'm a bit better on loopy, but it depends on the match. I'm not particularly consistent.

I've also started to play on normal wall servers for the first time, to try to teach myself better flying habits. I'm still crashing around a lot, but not as much as a few days ago.

On an unrelated note, I've noticed a lot of people are very verbose when playing, and I'm kind of curious as to how. I know how to chat in the game (press y, talk), but it seems like some people chat when they're flying? Is there any voodoo to this or am I seeing things?

I'm up over 40 hours total... a lot for a single game for me, but I'm still only learning.

-DBrim

[Luke]

If you hold left or right arrow (or D too, if you use miranda) and then open the chat (then you may release the key) you can type while keeping flying in circles/reversing/anchoring.

[tgleaf]

Some people do "spin and chat," but most players type messages while waiting to respawn. And yes, players do type (limited amounts) while flying.