Pilot survival and aircraft timer.

[StylezXP]

I'm not sure if this is at all possible, but I think adding an incentive for pilots to survive would make for an interesting meta-game. Here's the idea:

If a pilot is in a badly damaged chopper or plane and is killed, the normal 10 minute respawn timer applies.

If the pilot bails and survives (be it support from a rescue team, or by hiding out) then the respawn timer for the aircraft would be cut in half.

As it is there's no reason for a pilot to value his life after being shot down, and while I have no idea if such an idea is feasible (tying respawn times to a particular player) I just wanted to put the suggestion out there.

[USA-Forever932]

I like this, either cut the respawn time in half or just make it so that you don't lose the 10 tickets for bailing out. Which could represent a search and rescue team saving the pilot rather than him escaping or not having to call in another highly trained pilot. Or, you could just give the pilot a large point reduction (zeroing out score) and/or a long respawn time maybe five minutes. This would make the pilot's choices as follows

You decide to bail out.

• You spend 5-10 minutes in a frantic run as you try to escape being detected, killed or possibly captured by the enemy.
• You also save your team 10 tickets and your jet respawns a lot faster, it should be back by the time you finish your walk.

On the flipside
You instead decide die in your jet like vbf2

• Your team loses 10 tickets along with your ticket (11 tickets)
• Your jet gets a longer respawn time
• You have a massive 5 minute respawn time
• Your 1337 score from all that CAS goes down to zilch.

Maybe disable sucides for people with a pilot kit? The main reason for suicides now is for me to remove glitches or to regroup with my SL after joining a new squad mid game. The pilot shouldn't run into any glitches if he doesn't try anything wierd and should have to practice escape and evasion as he is a downed pilot. Besides, what was his business flying over the Kashan Desert MEC main and north Outpost in an A-10 anyway? Should have been closer to the buddies supporting!

[Alex6714]

On the flipside
You instead decide die in your jet like vbf2

• Your team loses 10 tickets along with your ticket (11 tickets)
• Your jet gets a longer respawn time
• You have a massive 5 minute respawn time
• Your 1337 score from all that CAS goes down to zilch.

Well,

Most people don´t think of tickets in that situation, its fine to say now, but not when you have a missile in your face.

That massive respawn time just means a good time to get some drink, food and check some forums until you respawn, since most of the time people wait anyway.

I wouldn´t be at all surprised if the scores are removed in future versions in game as being discussed in another thread, so the score issue isn´t a bad point.

If the pilot jumps out and his jet gets a shorter respawn time, thats fine, but then its rare that someone will go and pick him up (either because they are busy doing other things, can´t get there or simply have to their advantage that: ) so he will be stuck in the middle of somewhere, either having to suicide of lose his jet again, when it goes to respawn (whether you consider that a good or bad point, ie, letting others use the asset, it won´t make him jump out more often).

If you think that, to be picked up in time you will probably need an airlift, but airlift or not, where he went down is probably a hot area, therefore making a successful pickup even less likely, probably wasting more tickets in the process.

I am not against more people jumping out, but it just seems like something that will never happen in a video game unless you are playing with a group of friends, plus 80% of the time its insta kill, no chance to get out.

Its not "oh, I think today I will jump out of my jet", its more like *beeeeep* *tries to evade* *BOOM*. There is always the feeling that you still can save your aircraft from having to respawn again.

[Durkie]

I like the idea of sending out a rescue team to bring a shot down pilot safely home like behind enemy lines. But the reality is that people only pick up a pilot when he is at the place a squad will go too anyway. The only way to make people do it is to reward them whit something that is larger than the effort it takes to rescue a pilot. I think this will help but there should be more behind it maybe some sort of ticket lose for the enemy when you safely recover a pilot but that probably will result in a pilot hunt.

[JohnTheRipper]

Well,

Most people don´t think of tickets in that situation, its fine to say now, but not when you have a missile in your face.

That massive respawn time just means a good time to get some drink, food and check some forums until you respawn, since most of the time people wait anyway.

True, thats what i do when i mow a down a civilian who i think is a sapper.