Let me first say I can't quite recall two people who put the strangest twists or on what is clearly written by someone in my online life. You and Arlo take the cake. Literally.
"Surely you must look at where AH is headed with some apprehension."
Yes I do. In so much as all the "peeps" who used to be safely tucked away in thier AW RR playpens now must find a place to go.
But I welcome change and with no problem. In reality some folks like you do NOT which is quite evident in your posts. Change has been been a part of AH since day one and it is very refreshing after something so unchanging and stale. Well AW did experience change if you were an AW player but only in community turn over, in how AW was packaged and marketed (hey folks we got Bop Da Bunny, Kinasta and a wicked neat kEwL game called AW too! But wtahc your step, don't mind the GILS and look at the ads! ads! ads!) and of course a repeat of what I said earlier about "who" it had to attract. Numbers are quantity. Not an indication of quality.
Here's an very appropriate anlogy to think about. AW was like the old road side diner where there was a small core of loyal clientelle who didn't mind that they had meat and potatoes on the menu. Nothing on the menu ever changed. Meat and potatoes. Day in, day
out. Year after year. SOme custoemrs stopped by and when they grew tired of meat and potatoes they either asked for more selection, asked that condiments be provided or that the meat be cooked properly. It took Mohammed time from moving that mountain to help get anything changed in AW. (Spitfire wings rip? lol. That was a good change. Never mind the really porked FM's of several aircraft like the 190) But as long as you liked just meat and potatoes AW was home. Some customers never bothered asking for the meat to be cooked right or that they add butter to the potatoes. However managemment knew they could get customers if they gave the old diner a facelift. They tried changing the curtains, putting out a blinking neon banner saying all you can eat for $9.99, prettier paper plates, a kids gym (like MickeyDeee's) and a brand spanking new twenty foot tall blazing pink bunny with which to attract customers. Still all that was inside was the same basic meat and potatoe dish they 'd been serving for years. Customers wanted service and variety along with honesty and quality. Thier complaints on the driveway geting to the diner as well as being able to remain even in the parking lot fell on numb-eared, glaze eyed customer help. They knew the problems were always the customers, of course. And ultimately the customers received mere patronizing comments and assurances that indeed in just "two weeks" the diner would certainly provide customers with salt & pepper, vegetable side dishes, utensils, napkins and by god even some dessert choices. "The plan" was in the works. Well the people with "the plan" were canned because the new management had an agenda of thier own. "The plan" came years too late.
However the few remaining AW customers recieved noe more surprise when the original owner of the diner suddenly appeared like the cavalry and actually mingled with them for the first time in ages. Wiping down tables and asking the few left what they wanted. Assuring them that the diner was being still able to be remade after all into what the customers always wanted. They had a 'new' budgeted plan! One that had the sly thumbs up from the new management crew standing behind him in thier shiny green suits, wearing dark Raybans, snapping chewing gum and saying 'whatever ya want baby, whatever ya want". The customers just didn't see the eyes roll or hear the snickers from the "suits" when they talked amongst themselves. Well we all know they closed the diner today. The new managment saw AW as the loss leader it was and only the blind didn't see that coming when EA bought it up. It was only a matter of time before the windows were boarded up and the place was shut down. The new management wanted the pieces and what AW was sitting on. Not AW.
AH by HTC on the other hand is a clean, fresh place. Somehwere ALL of the customers are able to feel special and part of not just the AH experience but also in the development. A place where the cooks come out and mingle with the customers, where the management actively listens to the customers as to their wants and wishes, AH is a place where the customers opinion counts and problems are listened to and worked on. Variety and change are the staple at AH. Not stagnation and complacency. AH is not a place where customers have no resort to prodding, begging, having to get on thier knees to kiss a ring finger and basically grovel (for years too) to get something fixed or changed.
Reality sux for you guys huh?
Westy
[ 12-07-2001: Message edited by: O'Westy ]
