**** Approaches podium and climbs up on soapbox ****
Normally, this is not the type of thread to which I would respond; however, in light of some of the things said, I cannot help but speak up.
First... Thank you HTC for the great game which we all (or most of us) enjoy. No, it is not on the level of Blu-ray disc PS-3squared to the 10th power. But many of us are content with a modest escape from reality for just an hour or two a day (maybe even a few hours a week). Therefore, we (or I) don't get overly worked up because I can't see when my pilot is picking his nose and farting in the cockpit. I am perfectly content to fly my cartoon plane and fight other cartoon planes. It would not make fiscal sense for me to go out and upgrade to a high end computer simply to play a game for a mere few hours per week. My computer needs to handle the tasks for which I use it most. Anything after that is wasteful spending. HTC recognizes that and chooses to provide a game that my 'reasonable' system can handle and permits me the much needed escape I enjoy.
Second.... to the person(s) who seem to think that HTC can upgrade and it is up to the rest of us to go out and SPEND SPEND SPEND... maybe you should graduate High School and get into the real world before you so liberally assume that earning money is as easy as asking Daddy for more. To equate that anyone with $15/month in disposible income must also have cash to pony up for a new computer is about the dumbest, most ridiculous statement I have ever read in any publication or online. That statement alone indicates you are either wealthy beyond imagination to the point that you fail to comprehend the value of money; or, you are so far out of touch with reality that you must be a child. Please let me enlighten you with a simple statement $15/month is significantly less than $700-$1000 (just for the bare minimum for the "new standard" for which you are asking). Then even after buying this new system, you must still pay the $15/month to continue to play. Those of us in the real world, cannot justify that sort of expenditure just for the 'experience' of AcesHigh.
Third..... Thank you Skuzzy for responding to the posts of this thread. To explain your business model even as much as you did is going beyond the call of duty. I (as well as many others, I am certain) appreciate what you do and the lengths you have gone to to ensure that we can remain in the game. While, I realize it is in your best interests - financially speaking, to do so, I still appreciate it just the same.
Finally.... to those people who conisder playing AHII their full time job and spend 75 hours a week in here.... I am sorry that there are more of us lowly common folk than there are of you. As long as 'us little' people are the majority of the business, the game will likely remain available to us. That means you will have to get your mega-graphics playing W.O.W. or whatever else trips your trigger. But as an afterthought, you might consider getting your eye-candy in the real world. Maybe you should turn off you computer once in a while and GO OUTSIDE. After all, there are no graphics or colors as vivid as that which God provides if you would only go out and see them.
**** Climbs down from soapbox ****
My apologies, and thank you.
