WarBirds’ Golden Age?
By goebel
Many veteran players will sometimes reminisce about the “golden age” of WarBirds; an earlier time when gameplay was at its pinnacle. If you ask the old handsexactly when this presumed golden age occurred, you will most likely get several answers, however, all will be in the ballpark of the time when WarBirds was transitioning from version 2.77 to version 3. So, did a golden age of WarBirds actually once exist, or is it simply a case of some players looking back at the game’s past with rose-colored glasses? It seems an important question to examine, warranting an objective look back at the WarBirds of past, since the answer may reveal insights about how to make the game better in the present.
Perhaps the most tangible difference between the WarBirds of today and the WarBirds from the “golden age” is the graphics. The current graphics of WarBirds, with its beautifully rendered aircraft and terrains, makes version 2.77 pale in comparison. The original version of WarBirds 2.77 only used a limited palette of colors and had roughly hewn terrain features, with pointy mountains and sharp angular valleys. Neither the terrain nor the aircraft were textured, giving everything a flat cartoonish look. There was aPC-only version of 2.77 called WarBirds 3D which was a marked improvement over the original stock version, having smoothed terrain features with some texturing. However, even the “3D” version of WarBirds 2.77 didn’t come close to the refined graphics and artwork of the WarBirds of today. We also now have a host of “bells and whistles” which didn’t exist during the “golden age”, such as clouds, shadows, roads, custom aircraft skins, and better smoke, explosions, and tracers. So in terms of graphics, the WarBirds of today is far and away better than the WarBirds from the “golden age”.
Another facet of WarBirds where the current version wins out over past versions is the variety of aircraft. In version 2.77 there were only 43 fightersand 13 bombers from which to choose. In contrast,of the WWII-era vehicles currently available, players can select any of 66 fighters, 22 bombers, and 12 ground vehicles (with more aircraft types on the way). The TBF Avenger is only aircraft which version 2.77 could boast to have, which is not available in the current version of WarBirds. While the TBF was fun to fly, clearly the “golden age” of WarBirds was not defined by its presence. Nor was it defined by any of the few other game features present in 2.77 which have since been dropped; parked aircraft as targets, hazardous bomb craters, and side-specific rebuild times which could be affected by strategic bombing. While these features certainly added to the game (and I hope to see their return someday), it is unlikely that their inclusion is version 2.77 outweighed all of the advances in graphics and aircraft types found in the current incarnation of the game.
So if not game features, what DID the golden age of WarBirds have going for it? For one, WarBirds is perceived by many veteran players to have been more difficult in the past, with a learning curve which was both steeper and higher. Red-outs and black-outs came more easily. Aircraft were much less forgiving; with a stall or a spin rearing its ugly head as soon as the plane was mishandled by its pilot. New pilots were advised to start off flying the P-38 or Spitfire V because these planes weren’t quite as unforgiving as the other available aircraft. Not only did the increased difficulty provide pilots with more challenges, allowing more room for personal growth in piloting skills, it also created the perception that the aircraft hada greater fidelity with respect to the performances of their historical counterparts. Because it was more difficult to master, the game also seemed to have a greater longevity.
It may seem like a negative consequence of the steeper learning curve would be a reduction of numbers players as new might be scared away. And yet, the number of players flying online was at its highest during the golden age of WarBirds, which is the second major advantage it had over the WarBirds of today. During peak hours the WarBirds 2.77 arenas would reach their maximum of 200 players, forcing newly-logged in players to have to wait in the lobby until a spot opened up in an arena. The larger number of players facilitated more cooperation, coordination and strategy. At any give time there would be several mammoth battles of 40 or more aircraft raging over contested airfields. The larger player base also allowed for several historical events to be run each month with participation reaching 100+ per event.
Perhaps the biggest reason that some veteran players look back on the WarBirds of the past as a golden age of the game is because, quite simply, that is when they first started playing it. It is a truism that any game is most exciting and fresh when it is new, and WarBirds is no exception. Veteran players have a particular fondness for the WarBirds of yesteryear and look back with nostalgia because of the sense of wonderment and exhilaration they had when first flying around and dueling in the virtual skiesof the online arenas. It is also a truism that every game slowly loses its luster over time, but it is a testament to WarBirds and its community of players that some have been playing this game for over ten years.
The question of whether or not a golden age of WarBirds once existed seems too close to call to be able to answer objectively. Not only does nostalgia cloud the issue, but personal opinions will vary about whether improved graphics and more aircraft outweigh the benefits of more challenging gameplay and a larger playerbase. Instead we will have to be content to each draw our own conclusion about whether a golden age of WarBirds once existed.