I see both sides of this new requirements situation and I don’t want to take either side (for fear of losing my job 😉) but I have to say both sides are putting up very compelling arguments.
One the one hand pilots (like myself in this respect) who are under the new restrictions but know every procedure and have rarely if ever had issues with any other pilots or controllers themselves feel they are being punished for the crimes of a few pilots. I agree it is harsh and you will see some people leave the forum and such because of what they deem to be “to much”! Already I have seen two members quit and leave because of this. Why? Because it takes time to play and rank yourself up! it takes time out of your day to do touch and goes for twenty minutes. Yes it can be frustrating to fly alongside nimrod pilots who don’t know the difference between L and R or who think out of the blue that the taxiway morphed into a runway…yes that’s frustrating I completely understand and agree! I’ve had to ghost because of people just taking off on taxiways or landing on the wrong runway! It happens! It’s life here in IF! And it will continue to happen no matter how lax or lean the mods and devs are on new players.
On the other hand I can see the point @Joe and @Carson are trying to make. It is wrong to make very good and obedient pilots have to suffer through the clown show that is taking over Expert. They want to ensure that pilots such as myself and every other single member have the quality they desire out of a simulator. I don’t know about you but I want to have a better expert server where pilots obey. It’s quantity versus quality here people. In order to bring back the strictness and obedience the expert server is known for you must implement new procedures.
Now before I start a full fledged war let me raise my hands here to say I’m not taking either side. I’m just summarizing both sides viewpoints and if you look at it logically you will see BOTH sides have their good points. Is compromise out of the picture? (I have no idea since I’m not a mod lol)
I see mentions of a test pilots must take to get into the server. I say that’s a wonderful idea. However the pilots must be willing to take it every week or something to that effect.
I see several people mentioning just flying in patterns to earn XP. Let me stop that right here by saying if you go to a deserted region and do touch and goes till your hair turns grey that will not increase your knowledge of interacting with ATC! Part of the reason for these new procedures is to TRAIN pilots. So grab a handy member who wants to be a controller or ask for an IFATC like myself or others and practice touch and goes, practice coming inbound, practice doing transitions. Train yourselves. Become the better pilot you want the training server to show. Teach the low grades what it means to be a serious player. Don’t just give up because you think it may be to hard. What’s the point in flying at all then?
So my hope for you is that you will read this and see exactly what sort of a situation we are in…and start acting! You all know where the report user button is?? I dare you to use that button every time you see a dumb pilot doing backflips in a 747 while requesting taxi to parking…it’s happened don’t laugh lol. Report as a community. You are doing this to clean up the TS! Instead of just complaining about it do something! So many pilots would rather complain about the decreasing knowledge in the TS and not go out ere and make it a better place. Rome wasn’t built in a day (yes I’m sorry for using that cliche)
I hope you see my flying in the TS1! I for one am going to start on this road. We need better pilots and more concerned pilots who are willing to actually do something. So what’s my ending message? Don’t rant and fuss at the mods for installing this new restriction. Take this as a clear message to help clean up the training server and learning new instructions!
Go out and fly under ATC you know you can trust, learn the ropes! You’ll gain XP back in no time and in a couple weeks you’ll be back in the expert server with loads more knowledge and a smile on your face! “That wasn’t so hard”! Not only will you have increased your XP but your knowledge will have increased!
Safe controlling and landings everyone! Clear blue skies to all!
-508