I have arrived

Place looks spiffy. I see standards haven’t dropped. Going to assume this is the “generic meeting place” area so I shall set foot upon it and plant my flag.

Great to see the forums up again. Nice job.

Place looks spiffy. I see standards haven’t dropped. Going to assume this is the “generic meeting place” area so I shall set foot upon it and plant my flag.

Great to see the forums up again. Nice job.

 Strike up the band.

I have also now managed to track down TWC's new online home, Fatal & Spook can't get rid of me that easily.  Now, if I could only work out this Discord thingy I might be in a position to return to my rightful place in the squadron (at the back forlornly shouting, "Wait for me, chaps."  and being shot down on an ever more frequent basis).  However, initial attempts indicate that Discord might just be too complicated for me to cope with.

I'll get a tutorial on how to set up discord on here tonight.

Welcome home Blind.  You will find Discord very easy after an hour or so’s use. Very versatile.  No dual channel capability (whisper) however, but otherwise great.

My dear Mr. Spook, i am truly grateful for your expression of welcome, even though I suspect it was given through gritted teeth.  I have truly missed reading your posts while I have been adrift from TWC comms.  May I say I also deeply regret this bifocuration of TWC into CloD and BoS factions.  I can understand it, but I regret it. Still we are where we are.

That also applies to this switch to Discord.  I fear you are too sanguine when considering my ability to master this new bit of kit, my continued attempts just leave me more and more mystified.  Further, the lack of, for want of a better term, "whisper" facilities if I do ever manage to get it to work, saps my enthusiasm to even try more than somewhat.  With no side channels, or whispers, how the heck to I talk with my wingman without blocking the entire channel for the rest of the squadron?  How does my flight lead tell me what he wants his flight to do without also blocking the entire channel?  How the feck do I scream, "Break right, NOW!" to my oppo whilst some fool, whose plane is fifty miles away, is telling a long anecdote about gliding in the Alps forty years ago? How will some, please God, future ground controller system ever work?  How will, if we ever, please God, once again get multiple flights/squadrons fighting over a large area, with different missions, ever effectively communicate?  Maybe chucking everyone into a single channel works in the world of BoS, I don't know.  What I do know, after years of experience, is that it doesn't damn well work in CloD.

In BOS we do not support multiple missions.  There is one mission and any TWC pilot who wants otherwise can depart our halls for other climes. The crew in BOS will tell you that I am very vocal and adamant on that.  (To the point where thunder bolts and lightning appear). It’s a pretty tight operation in BOS, the Comms is good, the flights are tight and for a new Squadron to that sim, we have quickly established our name and presence in that community by moving maps through combined force of arms and overwhelming cooperative numbers.  Better in my opinion than I ever saw in CloD.  

We have multiple flights, each with a specific purpose, but all support the one mission.  We have observed other groups changing tactics and adopting those employed by ourselves.  Whether or not this is a result of our operations is subject to debate but when the TWC fly, others do take notice and comment regularly on text Comms.  This has led to a stronger allied side and to stronger enemies who reply in kind.   When the TWC, the 69th and other CloD Squadrons of their ilk are working on the same side, maps are generally taken very quickly and the enemy struggles to regain the initiative.

I agree the abiiity to whisper is desirable for some. I myself consider it a complete pain in the ass and if I never see of hear of it again, it will be too soon. I am of the opinion that it destroys who we are as a Squadron and I wont be wishing for it anytime soon. I didn’t like it in Clod, I dont like it now and I will undoubtably hate its cold black unfriendly guts tomorrow.....but I digress.

That said, there are others in our BOS ranks with the completely opposite point of view to my own and as a Squadron, their view is every bit as important as my own. (As much as that may irk me  ) So there are work arounds with a flight tapped into both TS and Discord.  Again, I think that sucks donkey balls, but I am one voice and their reasons are not without validity.

So, while cumbersome, we lose nothing in terms of possessing multiple channel Comms.  No its not ideal but then I am probably the last person to advise on it, as I loathe whispering period. (Did I mention that earlier?)

The move to BOS was inevitable and necessary for those who went.  Without that move, some would no doubt have spread further afield in search of their ideal version of a flight sim, perhaps even left the TWC. Instead we rallied our forces, cheered our hearts with manly songs and broke new ground making our mark as a TWC Squadron element in hostile skies.

If CloD gets its VR act together and does recover its human population with TF5.0 we will likely return to CloD and I think the group as a whole will be better for it.  If that vision does not eventuate, then return is uncertain to that sim.  I dont think that the new desert version is particularly appealing to the majority of the BOS group so VR is the only thing thats going to make that happen and we know that isnt going to be present on TF5’s  release.  Those in BOS are not particularly interested in flying against AI or in servers where 10 is considered a good day.  BOS offers something new, it offers increased gameplay and fresh assets and perspective. It’s community is on Par with the Clod Community. (A large portion of the BOS community is the old CloD community including some of its largest Squadrons). We moved in with friends already present...and one or two enemies. We are by and by, very happy there.

We think of CloD fondly, we all hope for the best for its future and we recognise all thats being done, is being done, but CloD would need to pull some mega exciting content out of a hat and remedy the population problem to convince us to go back anytime soon.  TF5.0 as “we” know it is unlikely to be that lure.

Again, I dont have a crystal ball, anything could happen with CloD. I hope for all of us, that its all good.  

5 times I had to edit that post to get rid of unreadable grey text.  Rather than punch my IPad I made the text red.

Mr. Spook,

If I am reading you correctly to get fully functional comms, such that a flight can talk to each other without blocking the whole channel, one needs to run TeamSpeak and Discord.  Is that correct?  Such a comms solution may make sense in the antipodes but it seems bloody daft from where I sit.  I missed out on the discussion, if there ever there was one, on why the switch to Discord was such a good idea but I'll be b*ggred if I can see the positives.

From experience, one channel and more than, probably, six pilots means that only the dominant player(s) speak.  The rest are shut out, even when they have something important to say. I have been there, Mr. Spook, on many occasions, including once on a mission led by you where I gave up and disconnected because I could not get a word in edgeways even though I needed help (you were trying to coordinate a bomber mission with two diverse groups of fighter escorts).  

You may hate "Whispers", but unless there is effective communication in which everyone can contribute to and benefit from one might as well go single player.

Discord was a decision by the BOS TWC months ago for the BOS TWC.  There were a number of elements which dictated the move for us.  At first, I was unsure of Discord, predominantly due to my lack of knowledge and experience with it.  I had tried it once before very briefly and it did not endear itself to me at that time.  This time however, I was motivated to explore all of the options it provided as a user and I found it (Presuming the others did also) to be a very effective communications medium across a number of platform requirements.  ‘(Credit to TWC_Creep here who got off his ass and showed initiative. I take back all those nasty things I said about him).

No it doesn’t whisper, however it will communicate video for training, it provides a more effective private messaging system, allows transference of files etc .  In all, it offers a more holistic communication medium.  

As for Discord / TS, I agree 100%.  I wont be using TS Tho, nor will the pilots within my flight.  That’s a Comms medium setup for one of the fighter groups who are experimenting with the system as part of a project. Discord/TS appears to be resolving an early identified Comms problem or at least mitigating it somewhat. Maybe the setup will stay, maybe not.  That will be an individual pilot decision rather than a Squadron mandated one.

Either way, I do not see BOS TWC going back to Team speak for combat flight sims and that may include any future state with return to CloD.