Great responses folks .
As Mars said…Very subjective and as two of you mentioned, it is a very fine line between gamers and simmers and also an immense grey area. I would think we all have the ability to do both.
From the responses, I have to agree that the line between the two camps is really fine, maybe trying to give one or the other a definition in regards to AH is an impossible task. That in mind, it must be said that there are clearly separate and distinctive views of the game shown by the majority of players, hence the polarization we see now. How some players views affect the gameplay of others and the subsequent direction of the game, is the million dollar question.
When Dok points out that with change at different levels and given the right environment, a pilots gameplay can be changed. Exactly, but back to the big question, are the players changing the environment, or is the environment changing the players? This is I believe one of the present points of contention.
When Moil considers himself a ‘simmer’ in a flight simm, even thought he may be in vehicles most of the time, is it not true that a ‘flight simm’ must have things like, GV’s, ack, and weather to be a true simm? Maybe for a simmer, but does the gamer deem those things necessary for the gameplay as they see it? Maybe not, but to an arcade style gamer , such things as limited gas/ammo, are a pain. Again separate camps.
I also agree with Arlo when he says AH has more depth then any online game, I’ll have to take your word on that Arlo, since I haven’t played many of the online games. The only difference I have , is I’d call it a simm, not a game, but again is that even a distinction that’s possible to make? Again, the million dollar question.
I understand HT saying that , in his view, there are three separate camps, splitting it right down the middle, one looks like a gamer view, one like a simmer view and the third a blend of the two. This may be , yet there is still a defining of camps, and pointing that out was my intention in this post.