9 replies to this topic

[davistev]

I have noticed that one particular player has saturated a route with over 5,000 seats between two regional USA airports. The demand is only 4. I think this sort of practice distorts the game and really lowers the "experience" of playing.

 

How often does this happen?

Am I wasting my time trying to run an efficient airline when a competitor resorts to tactics that in the real world would lead to their bankruptcy?

[christophera]

I believe these are what forum members often refer to as "spamlines." They're at least common enough that people have noticed the trend and given it a name, so take that for what you will.

 

I'll also offer an answer to your question:

 

 

Am I wasting my time trying to run an efficient airline when a competitor resorts to tactics that in the real world would lead to their bankruptcy?

 

Yes. To be more specific, it's a waste of your time to try to run an AE airline in a way that would be efficient in the real world, no matter what your competitors are doing, because AE is quite different from the real world. I'm also very new here, but I've already learned the following three things:

1. The most fuel efficient A340-300 (CFM56-5C2) is more fuel efficient than the most fuel efficient A330-300 (Trent 768). And that A340-300 is also more efficient than the 787-9 and 787-10, and only slightly less than the 787-8. I don't know what's going on here, but this really can't be true in the real world.
2. We can basically choose how many passengers there are in our route. Consider a route from my current game: PEK-PVG. Should have 4136 daily economy passengers, but there are actually 7879. Or consider PEK airport, which (the game itself says) should have 93 million passengers a year. But there are actually 233 million in the game. Where did these passengers come from?
3. Maintenance costs. We don't know what they before we make a purchase, and they don't seem to make any sense to me. But more than having no pattern, they seem to fluctuate randomly. In previous games especially, I've noticed that the same airplane fleet (e.g., all the A320s) will cost (for example) $300 in maintenance one month, $5000 the next month, then $700 the month after.

There are many other reasons this game isn't very realistic too. Point is, in spite of the terrible UI/UX and numerous bugs, it's free, so we can't complain too much. There are several alternatives, some of them are paid, and some of them are much more realistic. For me, as long as I'm playing AE, I try to just play it for how it works even if it's unrealistic, and not take myself too seriously.

[Maestro69]

I have noticed that one particular player has saturated a route with over 5,000 seats between two regional USA airports. The demand is only 4. I think this sort of practice distorts the game and really lowers the "experience" of playing.

 

How often does this happen?

Am I wasting my time trying to run an efficient airline when a competitor resorts to tactics that in the real world would lead to their bankruptcy?

 

Yes you are correct in that there is certain members who play certain AE worlds, which have found an exploit in flying short routes with dramatic overcapacity, which seem to cause a glitch in the background and make millions of profit and ruin the game experience. It is something that the AE dev should look into but i am not sure when or if it will be done.

 

 

I believe these are what forum members often refer to as "spamlines." They're at least common enough that people have noticed the trend and given it a name, so take that for what you will.

 

I'll also offer an answer to your question:

 

 

Yes. To be more specific, it's a waste of your time to try to run an AE airline in a way that would be efficient in the real world, no matter what your competitors are doing, because AE is quite different from the real world. I'm also very new here, but I've already learned the following three things:

1. The most fuel efficient A340-300 (CFM56-5C2) is more fuel efficient than the most fuel efficient A330-300 (Trent 768). And that A340-300 is also more efficient than the 787-9 and 787-10, and only slightly less than the 787-8. I don't know what's going on here, but this really can't be true in the real world.
2. We can basically choose how many passengers there are in our route. Consider a route from my current game: PEK-PVG. Should have 4136 daily economy passengers, but there are actually 7879. Or consider PEK airport, which (the game itself says) should have 93 million passengers a year. But there are actually 233 million in the game. Where did these passengers come from?
3. Maintenance costs. We don't know what they before we make a purchase, and they don't seem to make any sense to me. But more than having no pattern, they seem to fluctuate randomly. In previous games especially, I've noticed that the same airplane fleet (e.g., all the A320s) will cost (for example) $300 in maintenance one month, $5000 the next month, then $700 the month after.

There are many other reasons this game isn't very realistic too. Point is, in spite of the terrible UI/UX and numerous bugs, it's free, so we can't complain too much. There are several alternatives, some of them are paid, and some of them are much more realistic. For me, as long as I'm playing AE, I try to just play it for how it works even if it's unrealistic, and not take myself too seriously.

 

In regards to your points:

1. Seems that some aircraft values currently in AE, are either incorrect or have not been adjusted accordingly. Because as you mention, the 787 or A350s should be more efficient than the A340-300.

2. In regards to the airport passenger numbers, that is attributed to perhaps the way the game calculates passenger demand for each route. For example, in regards to PEK, i might open up PEK-LIS, which in real life has no airlines flying said route, but this game does. 

3. In regards to maintenance costs, age of the aircraft does have a factor of the increases of these costs over time. Is it simple as that in AE? no, but the best way to look at it for the moment (maybe down the line, these costs will be more detailed for us players).

 

 

And lets be honest, AE while over its lifetime has tried to reflect the real world, it is not a real world scenario and thus allow for a more elaborate airline, from where you can have a spamline to a realistic attempt are recreating real world airlines in AE.

[Airboss777]

Are you wasting your time? No. Not at all.

 

If they're a smart "spamline", they'd not only be dramatically over-supplying capacity, but dramatically over-charging for it too. And the passengers that fill those 5,000 over-priced seats are all connecting passengers from other routes due to the extensive use of hub networks. It's not an exploit or manipulation; it's an Easter egg in the design of the game.

 

What this means for you is that he's not even touching any of the normal passenger demand for any specific route. They're all still there for you at default fare prices. So you should still be able to play your own game & run your own airline quite profitably. The two of you will be operating on completely different levels of game play simultaneously. He's not taking all your passengers - he's literally bringing his own!

 

But can I also say that if you're trying to run a "realistic" airline, why are you even bothered about a regional route with 4 pax a day anyway? How is that profitable for you, even if there was no competition?

 

The fact is these guys target these routes with very low or even no apparent demand because "realistic" players shouldn't be here. The problem is, you're in their territory now.

 

Good luck. Don't give up. Keep learning the game.

[Stevphfeniey]

 It's not an exploit or manipulation; it's an Easter egg in the design of the game.

 

One man's Easter egg is another man's broken game mechanic.

[Jamesthomeson]

It's not an exploit or manipulation; it's an Easter egg in the design of the game.
 

An Easter egg? How is it an Easter egg? Anyone can open a hub. There is a game tab that literally says "Hub" management. If you click on it, guess what you can do? Just guess. Believe it or not, you can manage hubs. If thats an easter egg than the devs certainly did a horrible job of hiding it. That easter egg is so obvious that it's a mechanic.

And one can also notice that hubs only serve one purpose in AE and that's connecting(blue) pax.

[Airboss777]

An Easter egg? How is it an Easter egg? Anyone can open a hub. There is a game tab that literally says "Hub" management. If you click on it, guess what you can do? Just guess. Believe it or not, you can manage hubs. If thats an easter egg than the devs certainly did a horrible job of hiding it. That easter egg is so obvious that it's a mechanic.

And one can also notice that hubs only serve one purpose in AE and that's connecting(blue) pax.

 

Sigh....Professing themselves to be wise, they become fools....

 

Yes my friend, the Hub tab is very obvious, & yes, they do indeed connect the blue pax. I commend you on your knowledge of the game. The point is, they can connect LOTS of blue pax, & that's the thing that most people playing this game "realistically" never discover. I can see by the number of trophies you have that you haven't either.

[Stevphfeniey]

 that's the thing that most people playing this game "realistically" never discover.

 

Oh I take full advantage of lots of blue pax when I run a "realistic" (in this sense getting as many things down as I possibly can in this environment, including a rip-roaring 5% profit margin) airline. So for example in my major US airline, almost all routes operated by my express division (which in-game is just folded into the main airline because bull**** reasons) are made entirely of connecting passengers. Which if you think about it is a pretty realistic way of going about doing things. 

 

It's just that some of us use this feature (and it is a feature by the way to anybody who says otherwise, a broken and easily exploitable one, but it is a feature) to create airlines with 40,000 fleet airlines, and some of us essentially LARP as a "realistic" airline using its little minion airlines to feed larger hubs. I prefer the second option because if you look at the bar on the top you'll see under "AIRLINE EMPIRES" it says "SIMULATOR", and I believe in the German definition of the word in a gaming context. 

[davistev]

Thanks for explaining the concept of Hubs / blue passengers / and thousand of seats between two hubs.

[davistev]

Thanks for explaining the concept of Hubs / blue passengers / and thousand of seats between two hubs.