Shaftoe

Tbh I do agree with The Fundamentalist. Your unexpectedly rude behavior, as shown by that rant - which is totally uncalled for, is somewhat disconcerting. Apparently, this game means A LOT to you. But this is an open forum, we have our right to voice our opinions (especially given that opening post made by a developer specifically requests that) - regardless of what you (or anyone else) may think of it. If it is not clear: your, mine or anyone else's argumentation for or against something is most likely meaningless. I think devs merely estimate general direction and number of requests for some feature, and then see whether or not it's at all possible to start working on it short term, or if it'd be possible to address long term. In other words... Respectfully, there is no need for you to guard this topic every day, hissing on everyone who voices an opinion different from yours. As for "specific details" and "number of planes involved, roles covered, and actual efficiency in each case..." - you know, that does not matter. What is obvious is that you are demanding another user to dedicate time and effort to conduct a comprehensive research, expecting them to either refuse, or fail, thus automatically "validating" your points. But that's a fallacy, and should we refuse, we are not wrong, and you (or someone else) is not auto-right. If you truly want to know - please, go forth and do your research yourself. Or at least re-read contents of my post, yes, it's not very detailed, but there are some facts you requested nonetheless. Something is better than nothing, right? Otherwise, I would have to ask... why such dishonesty? Lol.

New Feature: Scout Planes Of course, I understand that this suggestion may not seem all that important, but I do believe it's critical, and would be a game changer that has real potential of making the game more interesting and enjoyable, opening multiple new avenues for ship and mission development. Let's start with some history: "Scout planes first made their appearances during World War I. Major naval powers, keen on developing the new medium of aerial warfare, converted a number of vessels as seaplane tenders for scouting purpose. Similarly, battleships began to mount short flight decks on top of gun turrets, enabling small fighter-type aircraft to take-off from them; these single-seater "scouts", having no floats to land on and having no landing decks to return to, either had to find dry land for landing, or else had to ditch onto the sea. After World War I, a more satisfactory (although still clumsy) solution had been found, in which catapults were mounted onto battleships, cruisers and seaplane tenders, used to launch scout planes; these floatplanes or small flying boats would land on water, and then be winched back onto the ships by cranes. Well-known scout planes of these type include the British Supermarine Walrus, the German Arado Ar 196, and the American Curtiss SOC Seagull. While the "traditional" role of scout planes was to spot enemy fleets, during World War II scout planes were essential for battleships and other surface warships during bombardment of land targets, as it was difficult to see an enemy position, even with binoculars. The scout plane, for the U.S., this was usually the Vought OS2U Kingfisher, which would fly over the position, giving the ship a latitude/longitude destination. The ship would then open fire on that area, thereby indirectly attacking the enemy, and allowing ground troops or fighter/bomber aircraft to access the area." - brief overview of naval scout planes history and development during WW1, throughout interwar period, up to WW2 (Wikipedia). While I understand that aircraft carriers and strike planes (and even seaplane tenders) are somewhat out of the scope of the game that is literally called "Dreadnoughts", I do believe that scout planes (specifically, shipborne floatplanes found on interwar/WW2 cruisers, battlecruisers and battleships) would make a fine addition to it. They could be integrated into the game to improve overall gameplay in a way that cannot be achieved by simple adding more hulls. Such improvement could apply to both skirmishes and (especially) the campaign, as it would add another layer of depth to the game. Of course, no scout plane would be able to win a battle by itself (which is a good thing), they have a number of applications other than long range scouting. For example, such planes could serve to increase guns accuracy, detect incoming torpedoes early, or spot a detached enemy force (or find and keep an eye on fleeing enemies that decided to spread). And if the game was to offer shore bombardment missions in the future, scout planes would be critical to aiming ships' guns accurately, thus achieving greater results at the cost of fewer shells. Scout planes would make recon easier to conduct. In addition to that, plane hangars, models, recovery cranes and launch catapults would present players with wider variety of ship design choices (and thus, strategy choices as well). Let's keep in mind that some of the most iconic warships of the first half of XX century (which I want to recreate) had very prominent aircraft-carrying features on their silhouettes.