I have received a couple of questions about how and why invitations and game set up work the way they do.

Invites

There are two different types of invites: open invites and named invites.

An open invite is available to be taken by anyone who does not already have a named  invite to the game. An open invite is not actually taken until the player locks in a plane selection in the setup phase of the game. Once a player accepts an open invite it is converted into a named invite in their name.

A named invite is available only to the user it names. When a user creates a new game the first invite to the game is always a named invite for them. The game creator can also invite other specific users, creating named invites for them. A named invite effectively reserves a place for the user in the game.

These two types of invite allow for flexibility in the invite system. Users can set up games that are open to anyone on the site, challenge specific friends or have a mix of both. Named invites will also be used in campaigns when the system assigns players to a game.

Setup

When a player takes an invite they are sent to a setup screen for the game. Here the player can select a plane from those available and a starting position on the board. They can also see which planes and liveries have already been selected by other players, and how many available spots are left.

There are two restrictions on plane selection:

  1. Each invite to the game (including open invites) must get at least one plane.
  2. There must be at least one plane from each faction (Allied or German).

The system enforces these rules. Occasionally when selecting planes you may see a message saying you cannot choose another plane, or that you must choose from a particular faction.

Within these restrictions players can choose from whatever planes are available. They can choose to fly more than one plane as long as everyone invited gets one. As long as one player joins one faction everyone else can join the other. They are free to make unlikely or unbalanced face-offs. There is nothing enforcing game balance or plane selection except the common sense of the players.

To rein in that freedom a little the game creator, in setting up a game, can write a briefing note that will be seen by all players when they are selecting a plane. In this briefing note the game creator can request players make plane selections in a particular way.

In campaigns players will have pilots and the nationality of the pilot will dictate the faction they must select. Further in campaign games each player will only be allowed to pilot one plane per game. In this way the balance will be enforced in campaign games.