What an Ace is - and what an Ace is NOT

[QuinMantha]

I think your definition pretty well covers it, Sid. I consider players to be aces as opposed to characters, but it's easy to think of someone that way when they don't announce their alts, who may have worse stats and get slapped with some real ugly carnage. Everybody makes their own name for themselves.

 

For example, I've started flying Impside on Ebon Hawk. Now, Repside, I'm known as Rhint, a special sort of irritant that should be cursed to a long, slow digestion in a Sarlacc's belly. Impside, I fly as Tyraine, nowhere near as geared as Rhint is (Mangler isn't mastered yet), but I began to notice Repside players--players that I know--coming after me and my bitty cannon with a consistent intensity that suggested they were aware somehow of the damage I could do.

 

Part of that could be just 'GUNSHIP ARGHABLARGLE KILL IT'. I like to think it's these guys sensing how deadly I, as a player, as a pilot, actually can be.

[Sidenti]

I think your definition pretty well covers it, Sid. I consider players to be aces as opposed to characters, but it's easy to think of someone that way when they don't announce their alts, who may have worse stats and get slapped with some real ugly carnage. Everybody makes their own name for themselves.

 

For example, I've started flying Impside on Ebon Hawk. Now, Repside, I'm known as Rhint, a special sort of irritant that should be cursed to a long, slow digestion in a Sarlacc's belly. Impside, I fly as Tyraine, nowhere near as geared as Rhint is (Mangler isn't mastered yet), but I began to notice Repside players--players that I know--coming after me and my bitty cannon with a consistent intensity that suggested they were aware somehow of the damage I could do.

 

Part of that could be just 'GUNSHIP ARGHABLARGLE KILL IT'. I like to think it's these guys sensing how deadly I, as a player, as a pilot, actually can be.

 

As I'm sure you're well aware, it's probably easiest to tell who's a rookie GS pilot and who's just flying a stock.

 

(Side note: Flying Imperial now, eh? I might have to get a new character back into GSF now.)

[Gavin_Kelvar]

, I mean someone who's just complete garbage on anything but a particular ship with a particular build. There aren't too many of those, thankfully. -bp

 

I think it really depends on the context. If that 1 ship is the recognized FotM and they're obviously abusing the OP aspects to do so well then yeah probably not an ace. But if they're not relying on OP mechanics to do well I'd say they at least merit consideration.

 

Something I'd add to the "an Ace is NOT" list:

 

an ace is not someone who only makes a difference when they, by pure chance, happen to be at the right place at the right time and they never (or almost never) actively try to be in the spot where they can have the largest impact.

[QuinMantha]

Someone who knows best how to contribute to a win on a match, Gavin?

 

...I can agree with that! Sometimes, the best folks to fly with are the ones who are so confident in their skills that they don't go out of their way to show them off. Just winning is enough.

[Verain]

An Ace is a top pilot full stop.

 

 

He can be a jerk, he can spawn camp, he can do whatever. The term has always meant skill. Don't try to redefine it to gentleman or something. It's just a really good pilot.

[QuinMantha]

An Ace is a top pilot full stop.

 

 

He can be a jerk, he can spawn camp, he can do whatever. The term has always meant skill. Don't try to redefine it to gentleman or something. It's just a really good pilot.

 

I disagree.

 

And I don't see a reason to expound on it any further than that.

[Sidenti]

An Ace is a top pilot full stop.

 

 

He can be a jerk, he can spawn camp, he can do whatever. The term has always meant skill. Don't try to redefine it to gentleman or something. It's just a really good pilot.

 

No. It isn't that simple. If it were, any idiot who ran into a noobpile with a mastered ship is an Ace, and that's just patently foolish. XD

 

You closed with what you defined. "A really good pilot". And that IS a really good pilot. If you've stuck with something long enough to master it and spawn camp, or master it and fly ONLY it, or whatever, then yeah. You're "a really good pilot".

 

But the pilot in that situation can hardly be called an Ace. An Ace is the person who exploits the "really good pilot's" weaknesses. An Ace is the person who can and prefers to take down similarly-talented pilots because they know that will improve their own skill - not just pad their stats.

 

An Ace is a little bit better, as a pilot AND a person, than the common, run-of-the-mill "really good pilot". That's why we call 'em Aces.

[Sidenti]

I disagree.

 

And I don't see a reason to expound on it any further than that.

 

Got it covered.

[Fractalsponge]

Why does this question pop up all the time? Hasn't everyone understood by now that there's not going to be any consensus?

 

Sorry to be such a downer. Carry on

[Kalphitis]

According to Star Wars canon, 'aces' were top fighter pilots that were often invited to prestigious squadrons such as Rogue Squadron.

 

These top pilots were able to accomplish extraordinary feats, such as destroying significantly larger and more powerful targets like Death Stars or Super Star Destroyers.

 

To date, I have not seen any player on GSF come close to destroying a capital ship. I propose that none of us are aces.

 

Instead of Aces, I recommend describing players in terms of their Zombie prowess. The more that a player dies and has to come back from the dead, the worse they are. A player with 33 kills and 4 deaths < player with 9 kills and 0 deaths in a TDM.

 

Which is not to say that Zombies aren't powerful in this game, they're able to come back to life in seconds, as opposed to Jesus taking 3 days.

 

Oh hey, happy Easter!

[Verain]

I disagree.

 

And I don't see a reason to expound on it any further than that.

 

I don't care. Everyone understands what an "Ace" is- a top pilot. Anything else is some whining crap added by someone who disapproves of some behaviors and wants to pretend that they aren't good. That's the only reason someone would bother pretending that they have a new definition for "Ace" that is exclusionary based on ANYTHING except skill.

 

If you've stuck with something long enough to master it and spawn camp, or master it and fly ONLY it, or whatever, then yeah. You're "a really good pilot".

 

Mastered? Mastered don't mean anything on pilot skill.

 

Now one other thing you hint at here is something that I've seen come up and I'm not really going to throw in on, is "Is a guy an Ace if he's only good at one ship?" I kind of would say yes, but I can see the other side too. More importantly, a guy who spawn camps you doesn't lose his "Ace" status because he's so much better than your team that he's just messing around, and someone who does meanyface things could be great with all the ships.

 

 

This thread is just a few people saying "we should take the word that means "top pilot" in real world and game, and redefine it to mean something different".

 

 

No.

 

 

No none of you get to decide that. Ace had a meaning before these forums opened, and it has nothing to do with being polite.

[Ryuku-sama]

I dunno about one-ship pilots. They're not very scary outside of their comfort zone for the most part. That's why I don't consider them "true" Aces personally. Suppose the parameters change again and their chosen ship type gets nerfed to the point that they're no longer as effective?

 

At that point, it's the ship doing the work and not the pilot in my view. And that's no Ace. -bp

 

just to put my 2 cent... I'm no ace but I'm a weird pilot... On Jung'ma and Ebon Hawk I piloted about all ships but the Imperium/Clarion. None are mastered. All are on different toons. All my toons pilot only one ships each. So... If I follow your definition, and I was good enough in my ships, I couldn't be an ace since no one would know who my alts are.

And beside, everyone say Aimbot, Leggogurl, ect is an ace. Outside his gunship he is pretty average. Same with Swansea on Ebon Hawk. He flies three ships only. The FOTM Flashfire, the FOTM Rempart, and the pretty good StarGuard. And both are ace in their ships. I can't try to kill them head on. If I ever want to take them out the fight for a while, not kill them, just force them to run. I need to carefully think about how I want to do it. And most of the time, it just end up in "Try to survive as long as I can in my almost tanky Bloodmark".

 

Food for thought... and your definition of "Ace"...

[Ramalina]

When you can start a fresh alt and get 5 kills with zero deaths. Take as many matches as you like to do this, but if you die before reaching 5 kills then you're not an ace.

 

I'd imagine that it's a lot easier to make ace on a gunship or bomber than it is on a scout or a strike, though with a fast scout and a paranoid mindset when it comes to defensive flying it might be reasonable in a scout.

 

GSF isn't really an ace making game though, it lacks the needed, "Pilot death final," checkbox.

[Verain]

When you can start a fresh alt and get 5 kills with zero deaths. Take as many matches as you like to do this, but if you die before reaching 5 kills then you're not an ace.

 

These two statements sound contradictory. But, why would this make someone an "ace"? That would be like if the WWII definition of ace was "and you can't be in a Mustang, because that plane is actually good".

 

How much of your time do you spend on low req- and definitely 0 req- ships?

 

The "fresh alt" requirement is in no way what people mean when they say "Ace". The term isn't defined in game beyond a throw to the 5 kills thing from real life. The generally understood meaning is a fearsome pilot who perform well. I'm sure we could discuss nuances- and many threads have been about that already- but arbitrarily talking about flying an ungeared ship, or gentlemanly conduct, is definitely not relevant.

[LilSaihah]

I'm sure we could discuss nuances- and many threads have been about that already- but arbitrarily talking about flying an ungeared ship, or gentlemanly conduct, is definitely not relevant.

 

Personally I'd say that going 5-0 in an unupgraded Rycer/Star Guard is quite a show of skill, actually, and that's what being an Ace comes down to- Skill.

Edited April 20, 2014 by LilSaihah

[Altheran]

Personally I'd say that going 5-0 in an unupgraded Rycer/Star Guard is quite a show of skill, actually, and that's what being an Ace comes down to- Skill.

 

What about a 15-2 in a Rycer with one component changed but no upgrades ?

Does that make him uneligible to the Ace title because of the component swap ? Because of the 2 deaths ?

 

5-0 @ stock ship, isn't enough to judge people.

Actually, trying to judge people with so few numbers and "evidence" won't work very well.

[QuinMantha]

I don't care.

 

...yeah, that...that was kinda the reason I figured I didn't need to expound on it.

[Zoom_VI]

No none of you get to decide that. Ace had a meaning before these forums opened, and it has nothing to do with being polite.

 

^^^this

 

This thread should really be titled "Qualities that would be nice for GSF players to have."

 

In all of history I cannot think of many examples that I know of people becoming exceptional in a field because they where polite, manners are completely and utterly unrelated to skill.

[TrinityLyre]

Personally I'd say that going 5-0 in an unupgraded Rycer/Star Guard is quite a show of skill, actually, and that's what being an Ace comes down to- Skill.

 

Wait, it isn't the ability to select Burst Laser Cannons or Slug Railgun before you enter the match? I've been lied to all this time!

[Verain]

Wait, it isn't the ability to select Burst Laser Cannons or Slug Railgun before you enter the match? I've been lied to all this time!

 

Don't forget seismic and interdiction!

[TrinityLyre]

Don't forget seismic and interdiction!

 

Why have you lied to me? WHY?

[Verain]

Personally I'd say that going 5-0 in an unupgraded Rycer/Star Guard is quite a show of skill, actually, and that's what being an Ace comes down to- Skill.

 

I actually disagree with even this. Not dying in any ship isn't a big deal if you play defensively. Mostly your performance will depend on the enemies. There are plenty of fish out there waiting to be hooked. Meanwhile, what if you snipe kills? What if your kills are sniped?

 

I'd say that whomever is able to contribute above a certain amount on average would be an ace. While some of those skills would map to the 5-0 challenge (which would be trivial to cheese for most pilots, let alone aces), most do not.

[Morgrid]

Don't forget seismic and interdiction!

 

Pffft, I've been making people eat my mines since 2.6 dropped.

 

It's not my fault they chase the bomber.

[Ramalina]

These two statements sound contradictory. But, why would this make someone an "ace"? That would be like if the WWII definition of ace was "and you can't be in a Mustang, because that plane is actually good".

 

How much of your time do you spend on low req- and definitely 0 req- ships?

 

The "fresh alt" requirement is in no way what people mean when they say "Ace". The term isn't defined in game beyond a throw to the 5 kills thing from real life. The generally understood meaning is a fearsome pilot who perform well. I'm sure we could discuss nuances- and many threads have been about that already- but arbitrarily talking about flying an ungeared ship, or gentlemanly conduct, is definitely not relevant.

 

I'm coming at this from a 'real ace', or if you prefer, a very traditionalist perspective. You start your combat career in what ever craft you're assigned, and in order to become an ace you have to do two things.

 

First off, you have to not die. Sure you can bail out if you're lucky, but the reason most pilots never become aces in real life is that they either die or they're spending so much time and energy avoiding getting shot down that there's not much left to devote to shooting down opponents.

 

Second you have to shoot down 5 opponents. Most of the real life barriers to this don't exist in GSF, so not really that hard.

 

The reason that I mentioned stock ships is that that's what you start in, and given the nature of GSF you're likely to either make the 5 kills in your first match, or get shot down and therefore disqualified. The limitation is on getting shot down really, not on the ship upgrade level. I just think that very few GSF players are patient enough to fly completely safely for enough matches to accumulate enough req for serious upgrades while maintaining a zero deaths record.

 

**Edit: As opposed to the historical record where even top aces frequently would have kill rates averaging less than one per mission.

Edited April 21, 2014 by Ramalina

[Jasa]

For me Ace is someone who can take me down in my mastered ships when I'm really trying or take so many enemy pilots down with consistency that I can't understand how s/he is doing it and while preferably can do it with different ship types can atleast do it with something else than gunship or bomber. Someone who can ocassionaly carry underdog team making difference in both deathmatch and domination.

 

Flying unupgraded base build ships againts noobs who may have some upgrades, but can't focus on two things at same time can give you a good score, but doesn't really mean anything. Againts experienced players you may have a chance if you are really good, but still upgrades do matter more than some people think. If someone can really make difference with unupgraded ship againts skilled team I want to see it. As someone who has been lately flying zero upgrade ships on underdog side I know I can't do it then again I have never had any delusions about being ace so that doesn't mean anything.