Back when I started playing AH in 1996 it was free on AOL and on Compuware (I think that's what it was called). I'm not sure I'd have ever started any other way. Even at that I might never have found it without reading a review on it in a PC magazine. I had my first computer and barely knew what the Internet was but I had an AOL account and AW was free in the gaming area. AOL was the biggest ISP on the planet at that time. According to rumors the AOL and Compuware people played on different servers and never saw one another but I'm not sure if that's true or not.
Lots of people played AW on and off. Many came and left. Even free on the biggest ISP there were only 5-6 arenas each limited to 50 people.
You could jump right into the relaxed or full realism arenas but there was also a beginners arena of sorts. Once you scored 10,000 (?) points you were no longer allowed to go there. Realxed realism outdrew full realism (still not as realistic as AH) by a good 10-1 or more. People generally don't want a steep learning curve. They want to play a game. The guy who lead the development of the NASCAR Racing series of games by Papyrus (Dave something) explained this in exquisite detail in an interview I once read. Simulations are, in general, a niche in the gaming world.
So, you see, many of your ideas have already been tried in this genre. I can't blame you for your enthusiasm and I do believe there's an untapped market out there but finding the right approach to it without upsetting the current subscriber base is a tricky situation and that untapped market likely isn't nearly as large as you believe.
I spent over 20 years in the music industry. We congratulated ourselves on a gold or platinum seller (500,000-1,000,000 units sold). In my opinion those weren't very impressive numbers based on world or even U.S. population. How many actual people even saw Avatar? Entertainment marketing has to take a very targeted approach to cost effectively maximize the potential audience. You're competing for liesure time with games, movies, music, sports, tv, etc., etc., etc.
On a slightly different note, when I moved from AW to AH I went to the TA to find out about a few things that weren't in the game documentation. There wasn't a trainer to be found so I left and never went back until a couple of years ago when I set up some time with MtnMan to work on my merges in preperation for the dueling tournament. I suspect I'm not alone.
Finally, I see on the BBs that Midway gets a lot of crap for spamming, etc., etc., etc. I admit I'm not around as much as I used to be but I just don't see it. I see a kid that's enthusiastic about the game we all love and think we need more like him. Keep dreaming Midway. One day you'll have a great idea that will make the game better for all of us.
