Where is everybody?

[Sid]

Sorry boys, it has to be said. This is crap, where are the Dogz....on a Tuesday night....

Too many options, not enough support for the core game. Makes me want to go and do single player.

Get a grip boys, the Dogz will go under if we don't.

[Bob]

Hi Sid 

summer will always be difficult for me when as bowls matches are in the evenings, was at a match last night and not home until 9:30.  
 

For me it’s the squadron flying is what I like best, P38 missions are the most fun. We fly together as a team, become familiar with a plane and learn to fly it well, have a great time, whilst also taking the mission a bit more seriously. 
 

IL2 nights are more difficult and can be frustrating, I’m not the best pilot out there and tying to flying all the different aircraft well is too hard and I don’t have the time to learn them.  I’d rather fly a few aircraft well, than lots of aircraft badly.

I always love the banter and flying with you guys is the best, but the P38 mission is what brings me back each fortnight. Although with it now only being once a fortnight I need to squad up on the live servers to get my fix in a P38 or spitfire.

Please, no one take my words as criticism they are not meant to be, the work that the core members to in hosting and maintaining the group is genuinely appreciated and thanks to you all.

Bob

[Painless]

This has been coming for a long time, our group has splintered for a number of reasons which was always going to dilute the numbers.
Speaking for my self I have had quite a few real life issues in a row to bumble through added to the last campaign mission I did where “team work” was entirely absent. I miss leading the 485th and the rivalry with the 402nd, that was fantastic fun.
I have simply got out of the habit of flying the usual evenings and for that I apologise.

Having said that I miss flying, it’s been 16 years and I really do miss it.
I love flying with Sidly and the old gits because we are birds of a feather, our skill levels are similar and the conversation has common ground. I’m sure this can be said for each of our “splinter groups” .

Still on day 9 of being Covid positive but apart from feeling tired I feel fine. Up for flying tomorrow morning if you are about Sidly ?
 

[delta7]

I have noticed numbers falling off, spoke with crash about it and it seems DC's has taken the regular numbers down , I also think the guys who do the morning session s must be getting maxed out. No way to force guys to fly , everyone has their preferences and we don't have numbers to support all our slots. 

I'd hate to see the Tuesday and Sunday il2 disappear to me these are the core and history of the squad and I'll fly these as long as possible

[Bob]

1 hour ago, Painless said:

This has been coming for a long time, our group has splintered for a number of reasons which was always going to dilute the numbers.
Speaking for my self I have had quite a few real life issues in a row to bumble through added to the last campaign mission I did where “team work” was entirely absent. I miss leading the 485th and the rivalry with the 402nd, that was fantastic fun.
I have simply got out of the habit of flying the usual evenings and for that I apologise.

Having said that I miss flying, it’s been 16 years and I really do miss it.
I love flying with Sidly and the old gits because we are birds of a feather, our skill levels are similar and the conversation has common ground. I’m sure this can be said for each of our “splinter groups” .

Still on day 9 of being Covid positive but apart from feeling tired I feel fine. Up for flying tomorrow morning if you are about Sidly ?
 

What!!!!!!!!!!!!!! we even have groups dedicated to ars, hang on, must stop speed reading, my apologies its splintered, not sph, oh never mind

[Pooka]

I'll be here tomorrow morning.  I remember BG warning us not to get into other venues.  

Hope you can make it Swep.

[Crash]

Would it be worth PM-ing some who used to fly but now only visit the forums to find out what if anything would entice them back. I do think that if you get out f the habit of doing something regularly it is hard to get going again. I can think of quite a few people who I would love to see back flying with us. I will stick with it and if numbers continue to drop maybe look at a different format.

[Crash]

Was it just 4 last night?

[Crash]

I dont think the DCS is to blame as it does offer a different style of flying, I can understand wanting the challenge of a more complex sim and if people want to do that its fine with me. Maybe we could change what we do to attract and retain players. I also think that if someone has some bad stuff going on in their life it can be a good thing to make some time for themselves and flying with the Dogz can be a good therapy.

[Friar]

I am working on doing a mail shot to all Dogz / members who have been on the forum over a recent period (not sure exactly yet) to drum up support.

[Crash]

Might it be worth doing re-spawn coops? Late comers would not be an issue and if people want to land, again no problem

[FoolTrottel]

2 hours ago, Crash said:

Might it be worth doing re-spawn coops? Late comers would not be an issue and if people want to land, again no problem

That's a good idea... 

And it could be a bit of challenge to decide when the mission is complete ... And to have the EMG generate dogfight maps? I don't think that'd work, and to edit each generated Coop to convert to DogFight? Lots of work ... 

 

Maybe focus on shorter coops, and really focus on Teamplay, so only one side, and use a theme for an evening, kinda like a very short coop campaign - I am  thinkin' here from what the EMG can deliver us: On one Map (ie. Stalingrad) it can give us like three 'fronts' ie three different stages over the war over there.

So, maybe two missions per front, switch to next stage, two more. All the time using a similar set of aircraft ... like for Stalingrad - Axis: 109 + 110. Thus fill one session of cooping... Next session... Rheinland map, Allied... P51 and P38 ... and so on...

I dunno, really.

 

 

[Crash]

From Leon Portier

Respawn Coop Missions

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fight for Velikiye Luki PVE

Description:
Tanks are preparing to assault the city of Velikyie Luki. Fly and complete 6 different objectives from ground attack to intercept mission types with your friends!

Since this mission is set up as a dogfight one, it allows respawn, plane selection and join in progress as seen in regular dogfight server. Only the blue team is AI controlled. Fight for Velikyie Luki is also designed to be hosted from the Multiplayer Menu in IL2 from regular Personal Computers, making DServer optional.
Available Planes: 
IL2 1941 / 42, PE2 s35 / 87, I-16, MiG-3, LaGG, P40, Spitfire V, Yak s67, LA5 s8, U-2VS (Spotter)

Recommended player count:

2 - 12
Map:
Velikyie Luki

Hat auch deutsche Übersetzung!

¡También tiene traducción al español!

English Briefing

German Briefing

Get it here, it goes into the Multiplayer\Dogfight folder: (Release: 28.04.2019, last update: 31.08.2021)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/9to54xrc65rd6ql/fight_for_velikiye_luki_pve.zip?dl=0

 

Special thanks to JP, Sketch, Chad, RoyRoger, Dorf, ResonantCard and the 216 SAD for helping and testing!

[BadAim]

I'd love to fly more, but it's not in the cards right now. I hope to get my life to a point where I have more time for things other than work, the Dogz being one of the more important things (Probably the only thing more important is to get to the Grandkids ballgames). In the meantime I hope to get by for a Dogz Sunday every once in a while. Unfortunately I just don't have time to keep up with the "event" type stuff. (especially formation flying, I suck at it so bad it's not only not fun, it's downright painful).

I do miss you guys. Love u. 😪

[BluBear]

Hi chaps, I understand the frustration and concern shown here; as Mick says I think it's been a while coming but I believe there are appreciable and understandable reasons:

Firstly, we'd be remiss not to consider the effect of the pandemic, both positively and negatively. The lockdowns of 20/21 prevented us from doing so many things, but it did mean we could all spend more time here; which sure was a blessing. Simultaneously, we had the Lightning Strikes campaign that brought us all together for a common purpose with some friendly rivalry; even attracting some new members to the squad. I think what we saw during this period was a boom; we were seeing numbers those Tuesdays and Sundays frequently well into double figures.

But. What we're seeing now, is likely the pay off for that boom. Understandably, as the world has opened up and we've got our lives back to as close to normal as we can, people are catching up on all those other things we were forced to forgo, away from a computer screen and outside of the house! The P-38 campaign has for sure lost its momentum, with the cutting back to every other Sunday it's easier to miss out on if the RL planets do not align, which is a shame. Though, attendance had dropped before then anyway. DCS has been on the scene for about 14 years and rightly occupies its own slots during the week as we decided a number of years ago, but even that is quieter now than last year. Thursdays will be lucky to see 3-5 Dogz now.

Personally, since Christmas I've had some RL things to deal with that simply have to come first, so I can't always plan to be on. When the Lightning Campaign cut back to once a fortnight, I tried to keep the original routine up in order to attend some Co-ops and crucially catch up on the good ol' Dogz banter that I'd been missing. Even this is proving difficult as RL keeps insisting on getting in the way.

I'm sure there are other factors, other online temptations and I'm not entirely sure what we can do about it, but anyway. That's my tuppence.
I'm not going anywhere, but I can't commit as often as I did, not right now. 

 

 

[xTbonex]

HI Folks, sorry for being away so long... I had pretty much lost track of time, I only went out for the papers.
I sort of left for a spell and never found my way back.

And here come the excuses...

Like BadAim says above, I'd love to fly more, but times of the meets dont always work with everyday life.  having 2 kids is not helping, plus theres a whole list of other things that tend to get in the way. as is normal with life I guess. Another thing getting in thw way is my eldest son, who is now of an age where PC is cooler than Xbox, so I have to fight him off my comp when he wants to play Banner Lord 2 for 17 hours at a stretch, he doesnt have his own rig and I cant afford to buy him one atm, I was going to get myself a new rig and donate this one to him, but thats sadly been mothballed thanks to Herr Putin, and BOJO De Pfeffel... That said I have had urges to do some flying, but I havent got to a point where I set up the VR and actually do it.

I too also prefer the more casual co-op missions to event or campaign flying. not interested so much in tanks, its 100% flying for me.

The campaigns, while fun, are perhaps a bit too long winded for me. Both in mission length and campaign length. and for a creature who likes flying a variety of planes, being stuck on one can get a bit tedious. There are plus sides, having taken part in the P38 campaign for a spell, it taught me how to really fly the machine, and it wasnt necesarily one I would pick from the list if I was casually flying. I would definitely like to learn to fly some of the other planes better... there are some I love but havent quite mastered, and they arent necesarily all of the glamourous ones...

Besides this, the campaign nights can be a bit 'too' serious. and thats a bit of a buzz kill at times. even if my focus generally is at a higher level.

I'd like to do more campaigns, but maybe with a slightly different format, perhaps on a shorter campaign, that allows us to fly more aircraft, learn them, have some fun then move on to the next. I know its a difficult one to cater for, but I far prefer flying the early/mid war planes as well, whereas a lot of guys here like the later war gear. I just find the early and mid war planes are a bit more hands on, and thats fun for me. and also dare I say, I also love WW1 as well, which I've never got to fly with the dogz, well not entirely true, but only for a few minutes before being raped by an FW190 A4. lol

The Co-op nights, I have no complaints about. the missions are good and I've had fun times taking part in them. and realistically if the session is too long I have the opportunity to leave earlier, Not that I ever have.

Just a small note though, on the warmup DF server, it would be nice to have most if not all planes unlocked, as some that I own as DLC are often excluded such as the Macchi Fulgore and Yak 9.
I know its done in the interest of 'theme' for whatever the map is, but I dont think thats entirely necesarry in a casual DF scenario.

I will pop on on Sunday evening, and have a fly, dont mind what we do... I guess a large part of this for me is getting the buzz and the addication back.

just to wrap up, I know how much work goes in behind the scenes, to create events, missions and campaigns, and to cater for as many people as possible, and I also know thats a nearly impossible task. So I tip my hat to those of you that take on this burden. My suggestions above are in no way intended to cause offence to those who create and run this fabulous club.

Tbone.

[xTbonex]

Oh yes... one other thing, as BluBear rightly points out, having been under house arrest for 2 years pretty much, I have been catching up on the things I couldnt do, but with 2 kids im obliged to also encourage them to do the same, as they wont choose to do this by themselves. and thats a massive disruptor for me. as its usually the weekends that take the beating.

 

[Painless]

I think we can muddle through and there is no “magic bullet” which would cure all of our issues. We are still a great bunch of chaps but like in all friendships there are phases of the moon shall we say.

The plandemic has undoubtedly played its part as Chris has said, especially when it comes to getting together face to face from our own shores and abroad. The many years we have had doing Duxford and other events will always be extremely precious memories and who is to say we won’t find something similar in the years to come.  I intend to keep that “DD55DOG” number plate on my car until I pop my clogs. 

[Crash]

Please speak up if the time slots need tweaking.

[xTbonex]

its not so much the time slots, you cant beat sunday evening for availability usually, but alas, thats also the most popular day for family gatherings., things are a little unpredictable. Tuesdays were always difficult for me, due to my job as are any week night to commit to regularly.

for my part at least i hadnt planned to be away so long as I really enjoyed the last sessions I attended, I just fell off and then got distracted by other things. and after all this, I have still only decorated half the house. lol. been here a year now. but hey ho, marathon, not a sprint...
 

[wingflyr]

 

Message to all the Danger dogz. But more Direct to the Danger Dogz administrators

 

My apologies for not showing up on weeknights your time.Whether it's IL 2 bos or DCS.

Reason being for my absence is due to this selection of work I have chosen for this spring sheet.

I tried my best to fit a flying schedule.

 

However, the good news is that this sheet is almost over.

I have  holidays coming up, and then the new sheets starts. 

So I will have time because my selection this time gives me a bigger window of opportunity to join you fellows.

 

I truly value the time With the dogz, whether it be more of a serious mission or a fun get together.    Looking forward to our next get together.    Cheers Dennis AKA Wingflyr.                            

 

[Sid]

1 hour ago, wingflyr said:

 

I truly value the time With the dogz, whether it be more of a serious mission or a fun get together.    Looking forward to our next get together.    Cheers Dennis AKA Wingflyr.                            

 

The feeling is very mutual Den  Look forward to seeing you mate

[Jabo]

Sorry Sid, there's just too much going on to be able to commit as much as I'd like. There's a whole raft of RL issues which conspire to use up my available time, energy and resources to the point where I just lose the urge to drag all the gear out and get set up to fly - in fact, the last time I picked up a joystick was when you and I spent a couple of hours in MSFS a month ago and before that, I can't even remember. Even the rig is in bits at the moment as I had started to do some upgrades which didn't happen and I've not even put the bloody thing back together - the parts are under a dustsheet here in a corner of the office as I speak. That said, the Dogz have been a central part of my life since that chance meeting in the Red Lion back in 2006 so I will do my best to get back involved again.

N

[FoolTrottel]

GET BACK IN HERE ASAP JABO!!

[Crash]

What he said! I do think that when times are tough, it is good to have something to do that completely gets you away from the real world.