Old Soldier Welcomed Back by JCD

[drongo]

I would have posted this in the General Discussion forum but I seem not to be able to post there, probably because of my subscriptions status being lapsed, but I just wanted to publicly thank JCD for his help and encouragement and general good fun chats he showed me on Sat/Sun night (late late Sat for JCD and Sun for me in Australia).

I played WWIIOL pretty full on with the vANZACs from 2003 to say about 2008 until I ran out of free time. I pop into game every year or two to get my hit of being a target. I've been off work with flu at the same time as the 21st birthday celebrations so I jumped online and realised how much I've forgotten and that there are things that have changed in game.

I got on Discord (thankfully my old login hasn't changed), went and sat in the ANZAC channel and loaded up the game. People in-game were really friendly and helpful when I forgot how to hitch my AAA to a truck or jump on as infantry.

That was all plenty of fun and I managed to pad the stats of lots of Axis players like the good old days, but the session took a real turn for the better when JCD popped into the channel and we started chatting. I haven't spoken to a Rat before so I felt very privileged to hang out with one, and it turns out Rats are cool :-) as well as super helpful.

I normally would play as infantry (or "target" as JCD would probably call me) but he encouraged me to come flying with him (after we blew a couple of FBs which never gets old for me). He laughed when I forgot to pull up my landing gear and jammed my flaps, and we both laughed when I had him so distracted with my constant questions that he forgot to lift his landing gear and jammed his flaps as well :-) Pretty impressive actually to see how he simultaneously kept me entertained, performed leet aero miracles, and fielded sometimes intense GM issues all at the same time and effectively. I can barely chew gum and walk at the same time, so hats off!

We did a fair bit of bombing in a bunch of different aircraft on varied targets and I can say JCD has lifted my competence in a single session from being gawd-aweful to being moderately effective. And his advice on keymappings and aerial tactics opened the air game up for me substantially. He also talked me through a number of the new aircraft that I hadn't seen before in-game so I can pick the right tool for the job.

It's such a buzz to be back playing. I will have to resubscribe and find a way of having a day or two a week where I can play again. Using Discord makes such a big difference to the whole experience and it's where I get a real sense of the WWIIOL community which is a real hook for me.

I'm so happy to see WWIIOL still being my game of choice on the web, and again thank you JCD for making my Welcome Back Soldier experience so memorable!

Drongo (vANZAC)

[TEX64]

!S @drongo - you should be able to post in the General Discussions but very happy to see how you got on and back into the game with a little help from JCD.  Enjoyed reading your AAR and thank you for your continued belief and support in our project.

If you have not yet seen this info, the 2022 Road Map is a nice read . . . some of which has already become a reality.  https://www.wwiionline.com/game-news/development-notes/16913-2022-roadmap-for-wwii-online

!S,

tex