Originally posted by hitech
Kev you have just proved my point. When we start AH
The flowing online flight sims all had a lot of players.
AirWarior
Fighter Ace
Warbirds
The direct competitors today are.
Fighter Ace
Warbirds
Target Ware
You saying that they are not real competitors , because you do not like them, is my point about beating the competition. But you just want to say they are not real competition, because we are better, and that is my point, the way we got to be better is doing exactly like we have always done. Continually making changes when we think the changes are for the better. Even at the expense of a period of costumer base complaints.
HiTech
HT,
When in the last 6 years have any of your changes threatened the squad base? Of course, you're always going to have people complaining, whenever a change of any kind is made - that's human nature.
But breaking the arenas up into smaller caps is already forcing squads with strong squad ops gatherings to either switch to another arena if the one they're flying in becomes full, or split the squads into pieces, with some people flying in this arena, and others playing in another. Even if you assume the LW Blue arena is going to become full sometime in the evening, and switch to another arena, you're then flying with very small numbers, and the massively multi-player environment that has made AH such an amazingly unique sim is lost. Add to that the fact that you will be forced to fly a different plane set, giving up your favorite ride, and a whole bunch of the fun goes out of it.
Now add an artificial balancing restriction, when even moving to another arena is no guarantee that you can keep your squad intact for the evening. This is a set of changes that attacks the very core of the reason many of us subscribe to AH in the first place. I can tell you with strong confidence that, had these restrictions and complications for squads been in place when AW squads were looking for a new home, we never would have moved here.
I know you don't agree with me, and maybe you think I'm trying to manipulate you in some way, but I'm a loyal customer, and my family's 3 accounts have poured thousands of dollars into your coffers over the years, not to mention my squad mates' contributions, and I don't want to see the foundation of the game suffer, due to lack of consideration for what I believe to be the backbone of AH - the squad. I can't speak for other squads, and I know some people on these boards think a squad is just an artificial, virtual collection of individuals that means nothing in the real world.
But the truth is that for many of us, what began as an online, virtual collection of people has grown over the years to extend into the real world. We've all become friends, and visit one another, we're there for each other in times of sickness, good times, bad times, computer problems, birth, death, weddings, divorce - hell, sometimes we even take up a collection to help a squaddie pay his AH bill, when times are rough.
Here's something else to consider: Maybe you don't realize it, but the squad tends to keep people flying, long after they might have moved to some other game. The camaraderie and esprit d' corps is stronger than the lure of the particular game for many of us. What does that mean for you? It means cash flow from people who would otherwise have long since canceled their accounts, but for their squad mates.
So, HT, my unsolicited (and probably unwelcome) advice to you is:
Make all the changes to the game you feel you need to make, but don't screw with the squads. Squads are your dinner table, and you don't want to crap where you eat.
This is said in all sincerity, for the health of AH and on behalf of my squad. We will move as a group if we have to, to keep our squad and our extended circle of friends intact. We've done it before, and we'll do it again if we have no other options. Please don't put us in that position.
