If you think that the majority of the player base have screamin' high end systems, you are sorely mistaken.
Think it through a bit. What is the avg. age of the players in AH??? Would you say that most of the players are older? What percentage? Do people in the older generation(s), let's say 30+, update their computers every other year?, or tend to buy one and hold onto it for many years. It would be a safe assumption that many of the players, a LARGE group of the subscriber base, are older people, with older systems. That said, why would one produce a product that would not work smoothly on a large chuck of their subscriber base?
Look at WldThing. He's an old timer, that has flown these sim's for many a year (as have I), and he has a much older system. It stands to reason, that MANY of the players have med, to low end systems, and are suffering from the "eye candy" that is being added. We shouldn't be stuttering through furballs at 10fps or less. An exercise in frustration.
Skuzzy, your office system, (and this was already asked) where do you have the detail sliders? How far out can you see nme ground vehicles? How far out can you see ack? Create an I.D. and fly for a coupe hours keeping that in mind. Do it in the MA, not offline, or any other arena. Go attack a field, and try to de-ack it with your "office" system. (for a lark, use .50 cal.'s and tell me how many passes it takes) Are you able to see ack? How many times you die before you could de-ack the field? Take your "office" system, and go ground vehicle hunting. Are you able to spot them? How far out? Does not being able to spot nme gv's untill you are right on top of them make bombing them difficult? How about shooting them? Would you consider being right on top of GV's, and ACK's playable? Take said computer, and try some take offs and landing on a CV when it's on fire, and especially with many contacts near. GOOD LUCK landing if buffs are nearby. When nme buffs are near, and CV's on fire, and buffs inbound dropping eggs, what are your FPS? Is that playable? Would you consider that stable?
Work with me here Skuzzy... What I am saying makes 100% sense. When HTC is planning an upgrade, keep these factors in mind. I'm not asking for much. I DO appreciate the fact that many of the new "eye candy" is optional, and that DOES help out alot .
