Future Online Tours

[SeanTK]

Online hoplist users,


I have begun the preliminary phases of choosing and crafting another route for possible inclusion in the future. However, events in the past few weeks have led me to question whether or not doing so is worthwhile.

While I am not looking for accolades for coming up with what are in my opinion interesting routes, and I'm sure Shane is not looking for constant everlasting recognition of his valuable work in getting it into the server.....we have noticed a particular thing that at least has been bothering me a little bit.

Most of you who will read this are currently working on the Alaska/Pacific Northwest tour, consisting of over 100 hops. This tour was designed to do certain things:

1. Show off the amazing scenery/geography of the State of Alaska, along with the Pacific Northwest region of North America.

2. Encourage group flights together to challenging destinations, while using bush aircraft that some say are synonymous with Alaska itself.

3. Last long enough to keep users busy possibly until the new year or at least around November.


While I understand that the very northern parts of Alaska were kind of bland (such is the nature of the state in that region), it seems as if most users simply want to motor through the entire list as fast as possible, usually while using a fast turboprop or military jet aircraft. The hoplist status page shows users quite literally all over the map, resulting in their flying alone throughout the tour.
A couple of users are even close to being finished with this tour, which was only activated in the last days of June!

These factors seem to have perpetuated a mindset that this tour should be seen as an obstacle, rather than a tour. Users flying at 20,000ft at mach 1 over the scenery was not what I had in mind (except for the first few hops over tundra). It seems as if the new goal is to get these things done as fast as possible, rather than enjoy the flying experience. At this point in time, most of us can't even flying online together (in a formation sense) due to the fact that everyone is so spread out. I also thought that this would primarily be a weekend thing.

The above has indicated to me that hoplists such as this are more of a bother than an enjoyable experience for most.
We have some ideas for a future tour, but if it's simply going to be seen as an obstacle, I don't know if we'll see one online for a while...at least from me.

Let me know what you think of the current situation please. Good, bad, average, etc?

Thank you,

-Sean K.

[ShaneG_old]

I was hoping this one would last at least as long as the Pacific Islands/Australia tour did, but it seems as though most users will be done within the next week or so. 

Maybe it's time to bust out that 1000+ stop around the world monster tour we've been debating on.   ;D  

[ShaneG_old]

Andy, did you see any of the hoplist?   

120 hops covering almost 6,000nm in only 4 days is crazy!  :-/

What on earth did you use to fly it all with?  :-?

[B-Valvs]

Since people are flying so often, I woulnd't say they see it as an obstacle. I think it's a lot of fun to go through the list with people. The issue that I agree with you on is the part about blasting through at mach 1. For a while we were flying together, and now since I stuck mosty to the Baron, I find myself trying to catch up to some people to fly with them. I is much more fun when we are at the same point in the list.

However, you can't expect everyone to feel this way. There are going to be people who take a year to complete it and there will be people who want to do it in a day. However, I would say most people are in between those extremes.

Maybe people just fet addicted to it. I think I am. 

8-)

[SubZer0]

[quote]Andy, did you see any of the hoplist?

[ShaneG_old]

I'm dying to know how you managed to land that in some of these places! 

I've lost count of my crashes with the Baron in some of these 'holes' in the ground with a runway in them. 


When 85knts is too fast to stop a Baron 58 on a 900ft runway surrounded on all sides by hills and cliffs,
you know you've got a problem. 

[SubZer0]

With the F/A-18 at the right speed, you can make it drop like a rock or climb like a rocket if you need to. Come in at the right attitude and speed and you're good to go.

I imagine it'll be 10x harder with the Baron 58.

[Fozzer]

I'm thoroughly enjoying the Hops.... [smiley=thumbsup.gif]...!

The beautiful scenery makes a pleasant change from my familiar California Scenery!

Being at home 7 days a week gives me ample time to fly the Hops day by day, throughout the day, which means its possible to complete them quicker than normal... ...!

My choice of Aircraft makes a good all-rounder to cope with the various obstacles in my way, (except for very deep holes in the ground!)... ...!

So, there you go Chums, I'm personally enjoying the Flight very much, and am able to keep in touch with the rest of the Pilots en-route, via the Chat Window, and my many thanks to Sean and Shane for the work they put into it... ...!

Paul...G-BPLF...FS 2004...FS Nav...and a big smile!.... ...!

P.S...thought about "Password Protecting" future Tours?
..it was done in the past......!

[ShaneG_old]

P.S...thought about "Password Protecting" future Tours?
..it was done in the past......!

Looking into that right now. 

[Fozzer]

P.S...thought about "Password Protecting" future Tours?
..it was done in the past......!

Looking into that right now.

[SeanTK]

Thank you very much for the feedback, guys.

This current tour is obviously going to be going on for quite a while yet...at least 2 more months I'm thinking....but we'll see what the overall progress looks like near the end of this month.

Shane and I have narrowed down the next theme to a couple of choices, and once we finalize that, I'm going to start crafting a route, probably during this weekend or into next week.

Just throwing out some thoughts here, but I think it would be nice if the next tour would be a weekend-only thing.
I know that a few of us here have time during the Monday-Friday week to fly at least for a couple hours, but I believe that part of the point of it being a multiplayer tour is for us to actually fly together....not just be online at the same time.
Just a personal opinion, let me know what you think.

Also, if anyone has any ideas on how to get more people involved in the multiplayer tour experience, or if you want to get more involved yourself, let me know. It could be anything from making a custom repaint for the tour, choosing locations/destinations, or anything else.
Currently, I create the hoplist routes, and Shane does the programming work for getting it into the server.

With this in mind, I just want to remind everyone to be sure that your connection/port forwarding stuff is squared away. Details are in the stickies at the top of this forum. If you are introducing someone to SimV online, we'd all appreciate it if you mentioned the connection requirements to them. Most people that are active on the boards here are in good shape though.

This current tour is certainly a long one, and while we are looking at an option of similar length, most other themes on the table right now are shorter. If the next hoplist is a shorter one, just remember to pace yourself, because it will be up for a while.....thus allowing anyone that is interested to complete it generally at their own pace.


Thanks for your understanding. Let me and/or Shane know if you have any issues/suggestions for Simviation hoplist operations.....and we'll see you in the online skies!

-SeanTK