(comments) AirwaySim v.1.3 news, previews & info

[dasherhalo]

No, not correct ..

The anti-monopoly fee has been there always, and it kicks in when airport is slot controlled (no or very few free slots), and only if one airline (you) owns more than 50% of the slots, all slots - taken and available ones. The cost factor has been increased a bit in that case, that is the only change - the principle here has not changed at all. And that cost too is relative to the amount of slots you own, so it's not "5 million more at the minute you have 50% slots". So unless you own 80% of LHR's all slots, it's not an issue to worry of.

If your "slot share" is 100% but there are free slots, there are no changes. (= mostly the case for a small airport)

(no or very few free slots), is that a hard figure? A certain percentage? I ask, because I don't think even half of the slots are used at my base, and my slot fees just quadrupled in certain spots (uncertain about exact figures - I admit I was just happily creating routes when I was quite surprised to find that my money had ran out!).

[JumboShrimp]

As most other changes have been orientated towards going back for some time !  What is needed is a "brutal" level of game where all these silly restrictions that protect lesser active players are lifted and those who want to be in a proper battle and end up being massive can do so....but enter at your own risk !  I for one would love that  

For other changes in the past, it was only a side effect.  This is the only change that I am aware off that intentionally punishes a player from being successful.

There is no determination of slot abuse.  Flying a Beechcraft into a large, slot constrained airport is just fine.  But outgrowing the competition, reaching 50% of slots?  Smack!

[Sami]

  But outgrowing the competition, reaching 50% of slots?

again, this slot cost metric has been there always.

[Maarten Otto]

What is the purpose of a 'beginners world' if any game world is slowly transferred into one?

Don't like you can't get LHR slots... THEN DON'T BASE THERE!!!! Join a beginners world if you need protection and can't face people who know how to run an airline in this game.

[stevecree]

What is the purpose of a 'beginners world' if any game world is slowly transferred into one?

Don't like you can't get LHR slots... THEN DON'T BASE THERE!!!! Join a beginners world if you need protection and can't face people who know how to run an airline in this game.

Now we're getting to the point IMO !  It is obvious that the worlds biggest airports will be slot locked by big airlines.  Don't like it - don't base there !  But what is happening is just a few airlines are moaning forcing Sami into changes that are just not needed which now brings displeasure to many !  Maybe Sami should have just sent the moaners a PM saying "That is what happens at JFK. Why not try beginers world, or basing somewhere where which will not be obviously slot locked !"

[Maarten Otto]

Remember ABCBA.... Lost for over 2 years now.... or was it 3?  That could make expansive slots at least a bit more financial viable as the BC section could come in relatively cheap compared to the home base slots.

But I believe asking the return of some freedom of the sky ABCA and ABCBA is like asking the pope to say kicking a homosexual is a sin.

[LemonButt]

Now we're getting to the point IMO !  It is obvious that the worlds biggest airports will be slot locked by big airlines.  Don't like it - don't base there !  But what is happening is just a few airlines are moaning forcing Sami into changes that are just not needed which now brings displeasure to many !  Maybe Sami should have just sent the moaners a PM saying "That is what happens at JFK. Why not try beginers world !"

Yes--airlines at slot restricted airlines should enjoy a monopoly with no competition from the outside world.  It's not even a matter of the airlines that are based there, but those that aren't that make it literally impossible to compete against those who are based there.  Heaven forbid they actually have to play the game and compete against other airlines.  If all you want to do is click/deploy without using any brainpower, there are plenty of other games on the net you can play.  I'm pretty sure sami doesn't want to dumb the game down so that 4th graders can dominate though.

[LemonButt]

Remember ABCBA.... Lost for over 2 years now.... or was it 3?  That could make expansive slots at least a bit more financial viable as the BC section could come in relatively cheap compared to the home base slots.

But I believe asking the return of some freedom of the sky ABCA and ABCBA is like asking the pope to say kicking a homosexual is a sin.

ABCBA would be helpful, but should be restricted so that A = base airport (not HQ) and C = base/HQ.  This would make it possible for an airline based at small airports to deploy long haul aircraft where one base can't support it, but collectively all your bases could.

[exchlbg]

Moaning (like right here now) was not by beginners, but always by other experienced players who where not lucky to win the LHR race.
Why not giving it a try and just wait a little time before grabbing new slots because new system is time sensitive and prizes drop if you make a pause inbetween two grabs.

[Maarten Otto]

Moaning (like right here now) was not by beginners, but always by other experienced players who where not lucky to win the LHR race.
Why not giving it a try and just wait a little time before grabbing new slots because new system is time sensitive and prizes drop if you make a pause inbetween two grabs.

Thank you for being so short sighted. I am an relatively experienced player and I NEVER lost the LHR battle as I do not wish to take part in that kind of stuff. And do you have any thoughts about how it can be financially viable of operating a 30 seater while 'waiting' for cheaper slots? That overhead will kill my airline.

Oh yes I forgot.... "Why not run the usual monkey 373 airline'

[schro]

I think the root cause of the MT9 fiasco is the incredibly slow pace that slots have dropped thus far in the game world....

[Maarten Otto]

I wouldn't call that a 'fiasco' as everyone knows that slots will run out and those that are available become expansive. Strategies have been based on that when this world started.

[JumboShrimp]

Yes--airlines at slot restricted airlines should enjoy a monopoly with no competition from the outside world.  It's not even a matter of the airlines that are based there, but those that aren't that make it literally impossible to compete against those who are based there.  Heaven forbid they actually have to play the game and compete against other airlines.  If all you want to do is click/deploy without using any brainpower, there are plenty of other games on the net you can play.  I'm pretty sure sami doesn't want to dumb the game down so that 4th graders can dominate though.

The competition would be there if the airport has enough slots to serve all of its demand and then some (for competition).

Creating competition, a horse race, by shooting the leading horse is not exactly the best way to go.

[JumboShrimp]

I think the root cause of the MT9 fiasco is the incredibly slow pace that slots have dropped thus far in the game world....

And the 50% slot reduction at the start of the game world.  I always thought it was a bad idea...

The busy airports would still get slot constrained by 2nd, 3rd, 4th year of the game world.  But why move up this problem and have most airports slot constrained within the first game year?

[LemonButt]

The competition would be there if the airport has enough slots to serve all of its demand and then some (for competition).

Creating competition, a horse race, by shooting the leading horse is not exactly the best way to go.

I think we're talking about two different things and I agree that shooting the leading horse isn't the solution, but forcing them to play smarter versus harder is the solution.  It goes back to opportunity cost and economics being the study of how businesses use their scarce resources to maximize their profits.  Slots are more expensive now and thus more scarce for players, therefore they have to work smarter to maximize their profits using those scarce resources.  The current system is I get a slot to everyone else's detriment.  As long as that is the rule of the land (versus an exclusive slot pool as I proposed with terminals), you have to do something to make sure players aren't hogging all the slots and making it literally impossible to compete against them.

[LemonButt]

And the 50% slot reduction at the start of the game world.  I always thought it was a bad idea...

Again, slots taken by players at the detriment of others, so the only way to ensure availability is by a gradual release of slots to give everyone a fair shot.  It goes back again to giving each player an exclusive slot pool via terminals.  It's like democracy--it's a terrible system, but it's the best we've got.

[Infinity]

Slots are more expensive now and thus more scarce for players, therefore they have to work smarter to maximize their profits using those scarce resources. 

That's a lovely idea, but it doesn't work for a player like me who has already allocated his ressources in a formerly smart way, and is now screwed by an unannounced change. It simply doesn't work that way. What do you think would my employees say if I went to them and said 'Hey, it's unfair that those who spend the longest hours in the office got paid the most, I decided that you have to pay to come to work'. Seriously? It's no different. The insertion of this change in a running game was a mistake and needs to be rectified.

Decide about changes beforehand and add them in new game worlds after testing them in a dedicated test game. If I am not much mistaken that was the way things were handled when I joined the game 2 years ago, it is sad things took a course to the worse.

[Maarten Otto]

Indeed. Sometimes there were BETA test servers and things were introduced when a world started.

It is not only a good way to see how things develop (and can be fine tuned) but also respectful to players who pay REAL MONEY to play this game. As a paying customer I agreed to the terms and conditions of this game world. I can't remember seeing a disclosure  telling me this game world would face the introduction of a new or changed slotting system DURING the game. If that would have been told beforehand I would have chosen another tactic for this game world and INDEED started out of LHR for a change as It might have brought some more chances of fair game-play.

But it is not to late for the lead developer to come to senses and Re-introduce this thing in a proper way, at the start of a game world.

[JumboShrimp]

I think we're talking about two different things and I agree that shooting the leading horse isn't the solution, but forcing them to play smarter versus harder is the solution.  It goes back to opportunity cost and economics being the study of how businesses use their scarce resources to maximize their profits.  Slots are more expensive now and thus more scarce for players, therefore they have to work smarter to maximize their profits using those scarce resources.  The current system is I get a slot to everyone else's detriment.  As long as that is the rule of the land (versus an exclusive slot pool as I proposed with terminals), you have to do something to make sure players aren't hogging all the slots and making it literally impossible to compete against them.

I agree with all that, but if one airline has to pay $4m for a set of slots, and the next airline is going to pay 100k for the same set, it does not lend itself to the most efficient use of resources.  I have no problem with higher slot prices, to make the scarce slots ever harder to acquire - as long as everyone is playing by the same rules and pays the same price.  That's just the beginning.

If you want more competition at an airport, facilitate it by greater capacity, allowing increased supply (through airport expansion, more slots) rather than by selective restrictions on the supply.

[loziobiz]

Sorry guys but Sami wrote this:

Examples: If he would have taken 100 new slots (from this given airport) during last 2 game days and another 120 during last 60 game days cost would have been $800k per slot instead of $570k (120 during 60 days), and base cost in this example (no new slots in 60 days) is the mentioned ~470k. (And 120 slots means 1 new operation every day, 17hrs/day which is very much, and 100+120 (the first $800k example) is already a huge amount...). These numbers are just single examples though, just to show the scale. But in practical terms nobody is ever getting 200+ slots in 60 game days really, so the first example (about 1.8x of original cost) is rather theoretical.

How can this be such terrible?
This is not killing the leading horse, this is trying to avoid slot hogging that is simply unfair.