if u want to keep players...

[Tinkles]

Love this game. I must inasmuch as its the only game I play let alone pay to play.
but dont be fooled. Just because I dont play otehr games doesnt mean I dont see other games being played or know whats going on

I only speak as the rest of you do because I care

There are several problems going on. And they have nothing to do with 200 type ranters. Every game has those and always has. Its never been enough to knock a good game down
 
What is it that attracts people to new games? What is it that causes people to flock to a game in droves?
Its the WOW factor. Its the combination of graphics and gameplay, how immersive it is and what it has others dont.

Quite simply, AH has lost a lot of its WOW factor. Graphics are a small but real part of it but hardly is the entire problem. The immersion isnt what it needs to be. Its become old and dated. To a certain extent the players themselves havent helped the cause. Massive raids to take undefended or nearly undefended bases by one side while the other side is doing the same. Playing whackamole at spawns etc while fun for some is hardly what will bring new people in and keep them here. Those are just a couple of examples.

On the immersion front the design as mentioned before has become dated and/or in some cases overworked. There just isnt enough to get people t say "WOW"
Example. Other then HQ doesnt anyone really care if any of the other strats get bombed? Not really. And often they dont care about HQ until AFTER its been bombed!
The bases themselves have little meaning other then base count for winning the war. Those of you who were here for when we had zone bases will remember some bases were more important then others. And defending them became as important as trying to take them. "Someones attacking A42 its a zone base" And people recognizing the strategic importance or a particular base would respond. THAT is immersion and part of the kind of immersion that is missing. Just like real life. Some bases were more important then others.

Immersion is having a reason to do something, attack or defend other then just because its there. Taking A42 also puts and entire areas bases at risk of both supply and position. We didnt want to loose zone bases.

A suggestion that I believe would VASTLY improve the GV game would be to get rid of the spawns as we currently have them almost entirely.
Replace then with a meaningful road net where GVs would move faster over then if on open ground and make people fight their way to each others bases. We can do this by littering the way with  scattered and capturable villages that do not count as win the war bases but maybe if captured you can then spawn to that village and get GV supplies from them. Capturing a village would not be destruction based but rather controlled. Bombing the village to nothing for example would have no effect. auto defenses of villages should be limited at best (perhaps a squad of AI infantry that would have to be killed off first) so as to make for easy capture by either side if not physically defended by actual players They also shouldn't flash if under threat  If you wanna keep it. Defend it.

This would bring the GV game where it really needs to be. Fire and maneuver. Control of areas

Other suggestions I have mentioned before. Limit the number of planes that can be up from one base at any given time. No base in the world even now 70 years later has the logistics to support an unlimited number of aircraft. Nor should they here. This would serve to spread the front.

LST's for the CVs. Lets get some tanks from ship to shore.  This can be mission based Once a CV is within range or LVTs have established a beach head by safely arriving on land a player can create a mission and once people join let it spawn to the shoreline where people can drive off tanks.

For gods sake. increase the number of puffy ack  for them to make them and even more difficult and dangerous target to hit. But give some real meaning to the strat targets.

Im sure there are many others I can come up with and some of you as well.
Point is we need more immersion. More "Wow I can do that??"

Hmm a domination type gameplay setup for GV warfare. I like it.

[Kodiak]

Question. Have you ever flown in FSO?

Yes, I'm in VF-17 and they are a great bunch of guys.  I've been away for about 30 days due to real life but I'm having a hard time coming back now due to a lack of enthusiasm.  FSO, Snapshot, and This Day are my favorites, but they make up just 3 to 5 hours of game play each week, or miss the start time and you've got to wait a day or two.  I can always find WWII in the IL-2 games 24/7.  Of course you can't please everyone but just wanted to add my thoughts on why I don't fly in the MA much at all anymore.

[Scca]

Yes, I'm in VF-17 and they are a great bunch of guys.  I've been away for about 30 days due to real life but I'm having a hard time coming back now due to a lack of enthusiasm.  FSO, Snapshot, and This Day are my favorites, but they make up just 3 to 5 hours of game play each week, or miss the start time and you've got to wait a day or two.  I can always find WWII in the IL-2 games 24/7.  Of course you can't please everyone but just wanted to add my thoughts on why I don't fly in the MA much at all anymore.

Fair enough...   

[Driver]

I don't' weigh in much on the boards but feel compelled on this topic.  

I've been playing about 4 or 5 years and frankly would pay more if I had to.  I love this game.
Having said that I think Drediock made some good points about more immersion in the game.  There is not enough WOW in the game to attract new players.

Please Hi Tech update and make improvements soon, don't let one of the better games fade away. If this part of my life was to go away? OMG my poor family   this is my diversion from the real world.

I need it!
 Driver  

[matt]

Go back to 1 month free trial.

[Lusche]

Go back to 1 month free trial.

When was that?

[Citabria]

When was that?

before tour 1 the beta was free to play for beta tour 1,2,3. its been 2 week free trial ever since the beta ended in late 1999 or 2000 if i remember right. (15 yrs ago  )

[Lusche]

before tour 1 the beta was free to play for beta tour 1,2,3. its been 2 week free trial ever since the beta ended in late 1999 or 2000 if i remember right. (15 yrs ago  )

Ah, ... I knew that there wasn't a 1 month trial in AH2, but wasn't sure about that in AH1

[Threeup]

Love this game. I must inasmuch as its the only game I play let alone pay to play.
but dont be fooled. Just because I dont play otehr games doesnt mean I dont see other games being played or know whats going on

I only speak as the rest of you do because I care

There are several problems going on. And they have nothing to do with 200 type ranters. Every game has those and always has. Its never been enough to knock a good game down
 
What is it that attracts people to new games? What is it that causes people to flock to a game in droves?
Its the WOW factor. Its the combination of graphics and gameplay, how immersive it is and what it has others dont.

Quite simply, AH has lost a lot of its WOW factor. Graphics are a small but real part of it but hardly is the entire problem. The immersion isnt what it needs to be. Its become old and dated. To a certain extent the players themselves havent helped the cause. Massive raids to take undefended or nearly undefended bases by one side while the other side is doing the same. Playing whackamole at spawns etc while fun for some is hardly what will bring new people in and keep them here. Those are just a couple of examples.

On the immersion front the design as mentioned before has become dated and/or in some cases overworked. There just isnt enough to get people t say "WOW"
Example. Other then HQ doesnt anyone really care if any of the other strats get bombed? Not really. And often they dont care about HQ until AFTER its been bombed!
The bases themselves have little meaning other then base count for winning the war. Those of you who were here for when we had zone bases will remember some bases were more important then others. And defending them became as important as trying to take them. "Someones attacking A42 its a zone base" And people recognizing the strategic importance or a particular base would respond. THAT is immersion and part of the kind of immersion that is missing. Just like real life. Some bases were more important then others.

Immersion is having a reason to do something, attack or defend other then just because its there. Taking A42 also puts and entire areas bases at risk of both supply and position. We didnt want to loose zone bases.

A suggestion that I believe would VASTLY improve the GV game would be to get rid of the spawns as we currently have them almost entirely.
Replace then with a meaningful road net where GVs would move faster over then if on open ground and make people fight their way to each others bases. We can do this by littering the way with  scattered and capturable villages that do not count as win the war bases but maybe if captured you can then spawn to that village and get GV supplies from them. Capturing a village would not be destruction based but rather controlled. Bombing the village to nothing for example would have no effect. auto defenses of villages should be limited at best (perhaps a squad of AI infantry that would have to be killed off first) so as to make for easy capture by either side if not physically defended by actual players They also shouldn't flash if under threat  If you wanna keep it. Defend it.

This would bring the GV game where it really needs to be. Fire and maneuver. Control of areas

Other suggestions I have mentioned before. Limit the number of planes that can be up from one base at any given time. No base in the world even now 70 years later has the logistics to support an unlimited number of aircraft. Nor should they here. This would serve to spread the front.

LST's for the CVs. Lets get some tanks from ship to shore.  This can be mission based Once a CV is within range or LVTs have established a beach head by safely arriving on land a player can create a mission and once people join let it spawn to the shoreline where people can drive off tanks.

For gods sake. increase the number of puffy ack  for them to make them and even more difficult and dangerous target to hit. But give some real meaning to the strat targets.

Im sure there are many others I can come up with and some of you as well.
Point is we need more immersion. More "Wow I can do that??"

Yeah, that's pretty much it  - well written and articulated and not a gram of malice. Great post.

[The Fugitive]

When was that?

When FA was going under didn't they give those guys coming over a month free?

[NatCigg]

Yeah, that's pretty much it  - well written and articulated and not a gram of malice. Great post.

a lot of ins and outs and whathaveus are missing. the post assumes that people will be playing a war.  Many here want nothing to do with a war, choosing to believe this is a fantasized furball arena that somehow continues to function, despite the fact that the war is What makes the game run (sure the dogfight rules supreme but if you have not noticed, most people find there own way to have fun).  Also, how do you get people together to have multiplayer fun. war turds and most other games stage rounds to accomplish this task. Aces highs op[en arena does not force wait times, therefore the player base is always on there own schedule, limiting the instances of player organisation.

the only real solution is to get more players so we can rejuvenate the base take vs. furball argument. 

[Changeup]

When FA was going under didn't they give those guys coming over a month free?

Its in the FA forum here.

[DREDIOCK]

the only real solution is to get more players so we can rejuvenate the base take vs. furball argument. 

And for that you need "WOW!"

[FLOOB]

I agree with a lot of what Drediock says. If you think about it, much of the behavior that people complain about is encouraged by the system that emphasizes base capture to win the war. Bombing and bailing, suicide jabos, hordes. Why rtb after you've dropped your bombs? How is that going to help you capture the base faster? Why engage enemy planes on your way to target? Just dive past them, drop your bombs and kill as many ack as you can before you die. Have all your country's plane's focus on one base at a time, etc. Why learn how to dogfight if it's not really relevant to winning Aces High?

It's no wonder these people get bored and leave the game when they've never had a chance to become adrenaline addicts like us.

I understand that the war is there to promote and provide an engine for the fight, but it seems to me that it has supplanted the fight as the most important thing in the arena.

So I'll pose a couple of crazy wackadoo questions.
Should kills and death's be factored into winning the war?
What if only the front bases were capturable?
Does the war really need to be winnable/losable?

[FLOOB]

the only real solution is to get more players so we can rejuvenate the base take vs. furball argument. 

Well the thing about that is, the new player doesn't come with the preconception that we had shaped by AW etc. So they see Aces High, at least the MA, as a war and the point of the game is to win the war. And why wouldn't they see it that way?