MARCH 2013
Alpha Airlines flight review
by Logan, published: 02/03/2013
Alpha Airlines is a new airline, led by Drink and Rehabarians. They currently have one aircraft in their fleet, A black and red Nevada, sporting the tailnumber A-LPHA. This aircraft is based at Island 8. We feel that the airline hasn't had the attention it deserves since it's founding, so we took the chance to hop on a flight and see just how good SAP's only active airline is.
The flight AA010 from SFAP to ISL11, and AA011, the return flight, started out just like any other. Staff members Alan_Shadow, Drink and Rehabarians greeted players as they bought their tickets, and checked in to the flight. Luca.xvi held players at the gate until the plane was ready to board. Everything was running like clockwork, with no apparent problems. Nobody was left waiting too long, and nobody caused any trouble. When the plane was eventually ready to board, a surge of players stormed forward and flattened the security guard to get on the plane first.
Players were shown to their designated seats on the plane, and were told to stay seated. After a considerable amount of time, the pilot, Jordy, announced that the flight was to be taking off in a few short minutes. When cruising altitude was reached, the seatbelt sign came off, and the noise of everyone unbuckling themselves filled the air. Food and drinks were offered to players in a professional manner. A short while after, an announcement came through the intercom, warning players to get back to their seats, and prepare for descent and landing at Memorial Island, aka ISL11. Just after the plane had landed, and people were exiting, the unthinkable happened. The server crashed.
Several minutes later, players were able to reconnect. To avoid the trip again, everyone got back to ISL11 using the /go command at LVAP. A tour bus then arrived to pick players up to explore the island. All the famous landmarks were visited, such as the park, the beach, and the 9/11 memorial. It was then decided that players were to be treated to a fun go-kart race, which led to several explosions. The Alpha Airlines crew then decided to call it a day, and loaded everyone back onto the bus for the return trip to SFAP.
After a lot of confusion about which gate to go to at the airport, and being insulted by a certain staff member, the return flight was under way. Yet again, food and drinks were served in a professional manner, and due to unknown circumstances, Wild suddenly keeled over and died at one point. This will unfortunately harm the airline's reputation for safety.
The landing was also problematic. The plane was greeted by a firetruck, with none other than Wild at the helm, being driven on the runway. The plane was forced to go around, and try to land again, this time, successfully. Taxiing to the apron was no better either. Wild, in his infinite wisdom, decided that it was a great time to wash the plane. This resulting in Jordy losing a lot of visibility, and taxiing straight into the airport wall and exploding into a blazing fireball. This was an obvious signal that the flight was over.
Since the airline cannot be held responsible for the actions of other players, the overall flight experience was more than satisfactory. It is safe to say that Alpha has a fighting chance at joining the ranks of SAP's airline greats, airBanana, BoNo Airlines, and JMX Travel. This will hopefully encourage new startups, to bring airline activity back to what it once was.
Alpha Airlines is a new airline, led by Drink and Rehabarians. They currently have one aircraft in their fleet, A black and red Nevada, sporting the tailnumber A-LPHA. This aircraft is based at Island 8. We feel that the airline hasn't had the attention it deserves since it's founding, so we took the chance to hop on a flight and see just how good SAP's only active airline is.
The flight AA010 from SFAP to ISL11, and AA011, the return flight, started out just like any other. Staff members Alan_Shadow, Drink and Rehabarians greeted players as they bought their tickets, and checked in to the flight. Luca.xvi held players at the gate until the plane was ready to board. Everything was running like clockwork, with no apparent problems. Nobody was left waiting too long, and nobody caused any trouble. When the plane was eventually ready to board, a surge of players stormed forward and flattened the security guard to get on the plane first.
Players were shown to their designated seats on the plane, and were told to stay seated. After a considerable amount of time, the pilot, Jordy, announced that the flight was to be taking off in a few short minutes. When cruising altitude was reached, the seatbelt sign came off, and the noise of everyone unbuckling themselves filled the air. Food and drinks were offered to players in a professional manner. A short while after, an announcement came through the intercom, warning players to get back to their seats, and prepare for descent and landing at Memorial Island, aka ISL11. Just after the plane had landed, and people were exiting, the unthinkable happened. The server crashed.
Several minutes later, players were able to reconnect. To avoid the trip again, everyone got back to ISL11 using the /go command at LVAP. A tour bus then arrived to pick players up to explore the island. All the famous landmarks were visited, such as the park, the beach, and the 9/11 memorial. It was then decided that players were to be treated to a fun go-kart race, which led to several explosions. The Alpha Airlines crew then decided to call it a day, and loaded everyone back onto the bus for the return trip to SFAP.
After a lot of confusion about which gate to go to at the airport, and being insulted by a certain staff member, the return flight was under way. Yet again, food and drinks were served in a professional manner, and due to unknown circumstances, Wild suddenly keeled over and died at one point. This will unfortunately harm the airline's reputation for safety.
The landing was also problematic. The plane was greeted by a firetruck, with none other than Wild at the helm, being driven on the runway. The plane was forced to go around, and try to land again, this time, successfully. Taxiing to the apron was no better either. Wild, in his infinite wisdom, decided that it was a great time to wash the plane. This resulting in Jordy losing a lot of visibility, and taxiing straight into the airport wall and exploding into a blazing fireball. This was an obvious signal that the flight was over.
Since the airline cannot be held responsible for the actions of other players, the overall flight experience was more than satisfactory. It is safe to say that Alpha has a fighting chance at joining the ranks of SAP's airline greats, airBanana, BoNo Airlines, and JMX Travel. This will hopefully encourage new startups, to bring airline activity back to what it once was.
SANA Seasonal Awards return for a 5th edition!
by Logan, published: 15/03/2013
SAN FIERRO - San Andreas News Agency is proud to announce that voting for the 5th SANA Seasonal Awards is now open! We've been keeping an close eye on the community over the past season, looking out for anything that stands out, be it a spectacular event or an embarrassing flop. The season hasn't been all that much busier than the last, but there has certainly been a lot more happening, with every passing day bringing us closer to the long overdue Flights 3.0 update. Some of the old favourite voting categories return, while some new ones make an appearance. Get voting by following this link!
SAN FIERRO - San Andreas News Agency is proud to announce that voting for the 5th SANA Seasonal Awards is now open! We've been keeping an close eye on the community over the past season, looking out for anything that stands out, be it a spectacular event or an embarrassing flop. The season hasn't been all that much busier than the last, but there has certainly been a lot more happening, with every passing day bringing us closer to the long overdue Flights 3.0 update. Some of the old favourite voting categories return, while some new ones make an appearance. Get voting by following this link!
Most inactive period since records began
by Nodroz, published: 23/03/2013
SAP is currently in it's most inactive period since our records began in late August 2012. As you can see in the graph below, the average player count has been going downhill since early February. It has been continuously dropping, until it hit it's lowest point, at a measly average of 0.21 players not too long ago. However, it is not only the server itself that has become deserted. The forums have also seen a dramatic drop in activity in the past few weeks.
Our data loggers, [SAP]Walther and [SAP]Nodroz, will continue to log activity data, in the hopes of seeing a rise with the forthcoming Flights 3.0 update. As always, stay tuned for more info.
SAP is currently in it's most inactive period since our records began in late August 2012. As you can see in the graph below, the average player count has been going downhill since early February. It has been continuously dropping, until it hit it's lowest point, at a measly average of 0.21 players not too long ago. However, it is not only the server itself that has become deserted. The forums have also seen a dramatic drop in activity in the past few weeks.
Our data loggers, [SAP]Walther and [SAP]Nodroz, will continue to log activity data, in the hopes of seeing a rise with the forthcoming Flights 3.0 update. As always, stay tuned for more info.
Curtains close on the 5th SANA Seasonal Awards
by Logan, published: 24/03/2013
It was awkward moments-galore, and players' hard work and dedication were rewarded with modest cash prizes and userbars at the latest edition of the SANA Seasonal Awards. We kept some of the same categories, and replaced some with new ones, to keep things interesting. More votes were cast than last season, and the ceremony seemed a good deal busier too. If you were not present, you can catch up, and see the winners below. We hope to see pictures of the occasion shortly.
It was awkward moments-galore, and players' hard work and dedication were rewarded with modest cash prizes and userbars at the latest edition of the SANA Seasonal Awards. We kept some of the same categories, and replaced some with new ones, to keep things interesting. More votes were cast than last season, and the ceremony seemed a good deal busier too. If you were not present, you can catch up, and see the winners below. We hope to see pictures of the occasion shortly.
Best Airshow Act
8-Red Ancients 5-[SAP]Gz0r's inverted Nevada 2-Hydra Crossover 2-Military Demonstration (Team Red vs Team Blue) 1-Airport Car Race 1-Latvian Flag Formation 1-Mass Parachute Drop 1-Military Flyby 1-Team Jizzy Most Active Organisation 9-Civil Aviation Club 7-Alpha Airlines 5-Aerial Warfare Club The Craziest WIN 2-[SAP]DPhelps becoming SAP Commander 1-CraHeX getting unbanned again 1-Drink & Rehabarians founding Alpha Airlines 1-[SAP]Egert's performance at the SAP Airshow 1-Every player going crazy during the SAP Reunion 1-Gamer landing an Andromada at the new ETNU 1-[SAP]Gz0r (no reason stated) 1-[SAP]Gz0r's performance at the SAP Airshow 1-Joe owning [SAP]John on the forums 1-[SAP]John getting backstabbed 1-Jzeero getting muted on the forums 1-RonLopez being a real pilot 1-[SAP]Torran updating the server to 0.3x so quickly 1-Trento winning the SAPRC Derby continuously |
Player of the Season
8-[SAP]DPhelps 5-[SAP]John 3-[SAP]Torran 2-Drink 2-Jzeero 1-Rehabarians Best December Event 1st-SAP Airshow & Reunion 2nd-JMX Last Flight/North Pole opening 3rd-SAS Stunt Race The Most Epic FAIL 4-[SAP]John overreacting 3-Wild blowing up A-LPHA 2-[SAP]Livisor overreacting 1-[SAP]Andy getting his plane stuck in a house 1-[SAP]DPhelps becoming Commander 1-Joe being a *CENSORED* 1-[SAP]John & Joe having a massive argument on the forums 1-[SAP]John not becoming SAP Commander 1-[SAP]John trying to land on buses during the SAP Airshow 1-Jordy taxiing A-LPHA into the terminal wall due to water 1-Jzeero starting a multitasking argument 1-[SAP]Torran crashing the server on the day of the SAP Reunion 1-SAP Council getting torn apart |
Aquila follows Alpha Airlines to fill the void in the airline market
by Walther, published: 24/03/2013
PUFFIN ISLAND - Another airline joins the competition today, bringing the SANA Seasonal Awards ceremony guests back to San Fierro on their first flight since becoming official. Known as Aquila, the airline remains among the most secretive organizations ever founded, choosing to hide the ambitious plans until the release of Flights 3.0 - a risky gamble that in the end might be worth the effort.
The airline is run by the trio of Logan, CraHeX & Schwarz, who together form the Head Board, and continue to maintain that the organization has no defined leader. Considering they have only one non-leadership member, that makes it an unusually high figure of 75% members being a part of the airline's leadership. As a result, they had to be interviewed simultaneously, hopefully shedding some light on future developments.
PUFFIN ISLAND - Another airline joins the competition today, bringing the SANA Seasonal Awards ceremony guests back to San Fierro on their first flight since becoming official. Known as Aquila, the airline remains among the most secretive organizations ever founded, choosing to hide the ambitious plans until the release of Flights 3.0 - a risky gamble that in the end might be worth the effort.
The airline is run by the trio of Logan, CraHeX & Schwarz, who together form the Head Board, and continue to maintain that the organization has no defined leader. Considering they have only one non-leadership member, that makes it an unusually high figure of 75% members being a part of the airline's leadership. As a result, they had to be interviewed simultaneously, hopefully shedding some light on future developments.
[SAP]Walther: The forums seem to lack much information about the airline. And you have been rather secretive about your plans. Can you share some basic facts about your organisation?
Logan: Well, our initial plan was to reveal our plans on the release date of 3.0, but unfortunately, we were unable to do so, because we were refused a release date, which is reasonable enough. In regards to lack of information, we only acquired the forum board several hours ago, and have not yet filled it. CraHeX: We have put some aspects of the airline in public already, but some features really need to have a wait till 3.0 has been released. The already public made features were the normal, casual Aquila flights. We usually announce them with an AQA flightnumber, these are totally regular flights. But as any other airline we couldn't do without an Express service in our schedule. So we added Aquila Rapidus, it's basically an AQA flight, which is based upon different classes. For example for an AQA flight there are 2 (sometimes 3) classes used: Economy and Premium. We can decide for a AQA flight to launch Economy Saver. But that would depend on certain aspects to be available (for clearance, AQA-numbers are regular flights, AQR are Rapidus flights). Rapidus doesn't offer Economy seats. Only Economy Saver and Premium. W: So what are the differences between the classes? C: Normal Economy will get certain features, they get food offered they get basic entertainment onboard a flight. Economy Saver will bring you the flight for the absolute lowest price, but that will mean you will not receive food and certain entertainment will not be offered. It's basically the bare trip, but on an Express flight that's rather good, because there hardly will be any time in the air so people won't even get hungry aboard because of time. Premium offers a new world of flying. We're trying to reach for one of the best Premium services if the conditions allow us to. Thinking about a newspaper upon departure, high class food and extraordinary types of liquor and other drinks. Sometimes we might launch speedy gates and boardings for Premium passengers. But also, if conditions allow us to. W: You mentioned a newspaper. Is it going to be published periodically, and made available on SAP Forums as well? C: The newspaper service hasn't been launched yet, but we're looking forward a cooperation between SANA and own articles. But it's an in-flight service, we aren't going to send people out to the forums while they're in our flight. That would spoil the whole in-flight experience. L: We will publish articles regularly published in our forum board to keep customers updated on what's been happening in the skies. |
W: You focused a lot on the in-flight experience. However it is also important what happens on the ground. I saw you offer a bus shuttle service. On the other hand, I was surprised when you opted not to use the terminal interior during your flight today. Is it to cut the costs and operating time?
C: This was a rather special flight because we were departing from ISL8. We have got a contract with SFC, to use their services such as their kiosk desks and security and boarding services. And we're paying them annually a fixed price to get that sorted out. Because today's flight was rather incidental, we couldn't agree with the leadership of the airport and we had to cut the costs radically because we were offering a free experience for once (becoming official). W: You seem to have many ambitious plans. What if the release of 3.0 will make them hard to implement? L: We will strive to do our best, no matter what the circumstances may be. If the features released are different to what we expect, we will adapt to them. W: How do you plan on attracting new crew members? Whoever joins the airline will by default be at a lower position than yourselves. L: We plan on offering reasonable payment plans, and real wages to our crew, unlike other airlines. I don't mean real-life wages of course, in-game wages, but regular payments depending on rank, which I believe is a first for any airline in the community W: Where would you stand in terms of pricing? C: Because we're on such a small scale at the moment, we don't require much costs to do most tasks so we're definitely on the cheap side, for all classes. We're certainly going to expand out businesses, but we'll try to keep pressure on the price. To have the price low, but not have to cut on other important sides. W: Well, I wish you success in implementing whatever plans you may have, and hope you don't keep delaying the biggest changes until 3.0 - although the work is well underway, there will never be a set release date until it is done. L: Thank you for your kind words. We realize that there is no release date, and if we feel that we genuinely cannot hold back any longer, we will release all of our features and ideas. Until that time comes, we will slowly drip-feed plans to the community. |