AW was a community that built itself up over time, and the game tried to keep up.
AH has the game, and the community is building itself up.
That does not mean that the AH community isn't good. There are some fantastic people here. The AW crowd just grew together, through the garbage, through the 256 color, through the newness of multiplayer and into the mass market. There is a bond that formed, nothing personal to anyone who didn't form with it, in 8 or 10 years this AH community will be loud and strong and pining the old days before virtual reality games put you really into the seat and made you throw up with the turbulence because you ate that last burrito before squad night.
AW was never about the graphics, and was never about the realism. The fact that so many people attack anyone who brings up AW with rants of "game sucked" "flew on rails" really missed the point of what the game means to some people. That's not a bad thing, but it is what it is. It is not unlike 2 mid 40s guys walking into a coffee shop, after not seeing each other for a couple of years, and just looking at each other, and saying something like "bannana soup" and both start rolling on the floor laughing. No one is going to think that was funny, unless they were there. Try and explain it, and the just won't get it. It's like my wife not understanding that I really really do like the 10 year old Lazy Boy, and Yes, I know the new one has a cup holder, but the old one just....well....I don't know, It just fit's my butt or something. The new is great, but sometimes you want familiarity, you want memories, and you want the kinship that only time, not clever graphics, can build.
This game has tools and features we only drooled thinking about in AW. Unfortunately, experiencing the meager turnouts in Rangoon scenario just reminds me that the really good stuff took effort and imagination. That is lacking here, simply because the crowd didn't "grow up" with all the goodies. Our events and immersion came from the comraderie of a full blown mission, the chatter, preperation, effort, planning, map building and all the other things the game couldn't provide.
Now, the old school and new kids really need to take the tools that are in front of us, and make the game what we want. We tried to tell AW that we didn't need gimicks, we needed unbugged maps, that's all, nothing really more. There are a great many who think the Game designers can build the community, but they can't, and frankly, I don't want them to, it wouldn't be ours.
If there was one single thing I would ask for, it would be the lockable briefing room. And that really isn't a formal request, because frankly, with all the tools at our disposal, there are ways to work around that. But once the old gang from AW AND AH get together and really start ramping up the reason we fly to begin with, the game will change.
I'm back in scenario mode, MA is just practice for events as far as I'm concerned. But they won't be nearly as much fun if as many people as possible don't participate. And, a few years from now, as the new kids stream into AH9.5, we all will beat them into oblivion for coming in to "OUR" game and daring to critique what they don't know anything about.
