three letters come to mind... WoT....
HAHA that was my exact thought as well!
I tried WoT and didn't much care for that interface at all. I much preferred the realism of the tanks in Aces High.
I'm torn about this. On one hand, it will lessen the learning curve a bit and may bring in people from FPS games (and WoT). More subscribers is obviously a good thing because it is job security for HTC's staff, and game security for us customers. On the other hand, it feels kind of like a 'sellout' decision on HTC's part.
It's hard to blame them for this decision because there is a HUGE market to be tapped when you can compete with FPS games. Heck, probably 90+% of multiplayer games that get released is FPS, and probably 95+% of teenagers and young adults prefer FPS games. I COMPLETELY understand this from a business point of view. However, one of the things that appeals to me about Aces High is that it is NOT a FPS game! The only FPS part about it is after you eject from a plane, and it is a very unsubstantial part of the game.
Another thing is that Pyro mentions that by not having to model the insides of the tanks, they can 'crank out' more tanks in no time flat! I don't like that at all. That's another thing about Aces High that I love... their attention to detail. I love looking around the inside of the tanks! I know it serves little functional purpose but it greatly adds to the immersion of everything. To me, this seems like yet another sellout move.
So then what next.. we start adding ground troop battles? I mean, with the new tanks things are already starting to feel FPSish... so might as well go all the way, right? Don't get me wrong... I'm not necessarily against AH having a FPS part to it, rather I'm actually interested in the idea! I probably wouldn't play it myself that much, but hey if it brings in a lot more business then why not? I'm just afraid that we'll be sacrificing what makes AH special in order to make it happen.
Personally, I feel kind of sad that things have to be 'dumbed down' in order to bring in the next generation of players. Yes I know it has to be done, after all we're not getting any younger here, however I don't know it just seems that there must be a better way without going down the path of 'making this just like that other game'.
I just hope the HTC is careful about choosing their path. It may start with tanks, but I'm concerned that it may eventually come down to all the planes looking like this, after all just imagine how many models of planes they can crank out if they don't have to model the cockpit and the internals of the planes!