Demographic change? Peak vs off - hours

[Lusche]

Balderdash! There is no true competition for AH.

  

There is a dam lot of competition out there, because  game A does not have to be the same or even just very similar to game B to draw customers away. Long time ago, there were hardly any MMOG's out there, online gaming was very underdeveloped.
Today, you have a vast sea of games to choose from, many more accessible, more attractive in what is commonly called "candy" and with a theme that's much more fascinating to the majority of gamers than AH. And yes: AH is a game too. 
And even within flying games genre (to avoid the word "sim" for a moment), there is serious and massive competition out there. It doesn't matter if "we" do have this or that which "they" don't, if their overall appear is still higher in the end.

[SmokinLoon]

I'll be beginning my 5th year in January and what is starting eat me is the constant base "rolling" via hordes and the lack of dynamics.  By lack of dynamics I mean there is too much "same-same" in AH with regards to month to month occurrences and settings.  I for the life of me do not understand how or why HTC simply does not test out new settings.  New things to do and accomplish will help keep people here, guaranteed.  If a P51D, La7, or even a190A-8 can no longer gun down a concrete reinforced ordnance bunker in 1 or 2 passes, stop and think how that alone would change the game.  Since the horde is the new thing (yes, THIS size of horde is a new thing), getting rid of the flag and making the towns %95-98 down for capture would give time for defenders to arrive from a different field. Etc Etc. LOTS of little things change the dynamics of the game and change things up, it draws attention, it creates new challenges.    

Radar settings, hardness settings, ENY settings (some aircraft should be lowered *again*), OBJ settings (Ju88 gets worse credit for bombing than a B17?), town capture settings, no tiered system for barracks, ammo, and not enough for fuel, lack of non-base or industrial complex targets to attack (think old strat system), etc. Also, I've been experiencing some very odd and numerous disco's, and my ISP says it is not them but rather the HTC server.  It happens w/o warning.  That too is not sitting well with me.

I just hope something changes soon for the sake of AH.  I enjoy playing the game and the simulation of the combat as there is nothing out there that can match the modeling of the aircraft, etc, but unfortunately some things are starting to add up against my patience in terms of dynamics.    

      

[coombz]

There is no true competition for AH.

Agreed. Yet.

But if there ever is a credible competitor in the future, what is there to keep people playing AH instead? The gameplay is as stale as the graphics. I imagine the numbers would drop even more drastically.

[nimble]

Well, I've only been back a few days, but the difference I noticed is that there really aren't many people wanting to fight air to air as much as there used to be during offpeak hours. In the before time, the long(notso) long ago, you could usually find a small furball fight. If there was one or two dots on dar around a field they were generally guys in fighters looking for some low-numbers fighting. Since I've been back, those lonely dots are bombers padding score. This happened before, but you could still find someone to fight. If there is a bigger dar, it's people looking to rush undefended bases. The last few days there have been 50-60 people on, but it's hard to find a fight because they are dropping hangars. General landgrabbing stuff I generally avoid because it's boring to me.

Then again, I've only been back a few days, maybe it's just been bad luck. TBH tho, if it stays the same, I'll probably play other games till the server gets 100 or so people on.

[Krusty]

Lusche: not all games compete with each other. To suggest so would imply people only play one game at a time. I know this is not the case as almost anybody I have ever talked with has played many games. I know I have a collection of different games on my computer.

To compete would require a game in the same genre (ww2 flight sim) and with regards to AH's online presence there is no other alternative.

Coombz: I wouldn't jump to that conclussion. AH has staying power. It's shown that. Nothing lasts forever, but just because an IL2-based MMO pops up (for example) doesn't mean people will leave AH and flock to it. AH has certain standards and physics fidelity that other games haven't shown.

[Noir]

I'll probably play other games till the server gets 100 or so people on.

Welcome to the club!

[coombz]

AH has certain standards and physics fidelity that other games haven't shown.

Indeed, that's why I highlighted 'true' from your previous post

[Lusche]

Lusche: not all games compete with each other. To suggest so would imply people only play one game at a time. I know this is not the case as almost anybody I have ever talked with has played many games. I know I have a collection of different games on my computer.

To compete would require a game in the same genre (ww2 flight sim) and with regards to AH's online presence there is no other alternative.

Even different genre's do compete for each other, as they all try to capture the attention, time, and money of the gamers. Once there was not much than you could do in online gaming beyond AH and a few similar games. Today's situation is much different. AH on the shelf must compete with all that other titles in the store, even if they are no "direct" competition. This is even more important if you think about other factors contributing for example lack of a joystick or, particularly important: Disinterest in the theme of this genre. Just like in real life, some genres do have their high times and sometimes even fade away. Literature, arts, movies, and non-computer games .. same thing.

I have already experienced two of my earlier gaming hobbies fading away... 

[dkff49]

Also, I've been experiencing some very odd and numerous disco's, and my ISP says it is not them but rather the HTC server.  It happens w/o warning. That too is not sitting well with me.

I haven't had hardly any discos and the ones I have had were clearly on my end from my PC locking up from other things running. I would not always believe the ISP when they say it can't be them. Most of the tech people you talk to in those places don't have much knowledge and simply read from cards to find their answers. Back when I did have problems with discos I was using Comcast and when I switched over to Embarq that all cleared up.

To my knowledge (other than a few times the server would clear everyone out) there haven't been many issues stemming from server problems. Besides, I am not an expert but if it were a server problem wouldn't the whole arena get booted? My guess is if you are getting frequent discos, you will need to look into your system (modem, pc, router, or cabling). Just a suggestion.

[M0nkey_Man]

lack of advertising? havent seen an AH add in 2+ years. I remember they were pretty common when I first did my 2 week trial(2007)

[Yeager]

Lusche: not all games compete with each other.

They all compete for the players time.  The trick is for AH to be interesting enough to come back to when game B, C, and D, start burning out the player.

[Butcher]

My biggest problem with "Off hours" which is generally anytime after 2AM EST and before schools out - there is absolutely very little fighting going on.
Generally speaking its a few base takers vs no defenders.

I usually will pop on during lunch like now and check out the map, and see whats going on - maybe fly a C202 or something.

Honestly the lack of interest in the off hours moved me to start a new PBEM in War in the Pacific that will solve my off hour issue.

Also just picked up Galland's book "The first and the last", reading has been enjoyable while watching the map move snail speed.

[Lusche]

lack of advertising?

Advertising is a great way to spend huge sums of money without getting something tangible in return    


Which reminds me how glad I am that I'm not the one in charge of a company and having to ponder such matters 

[Noir]

advertising in the US would probably not help off hours....but in Europe that's another story.

[Butcher]

advertising in the US would probably not help off hours....but in Europe that's another story.

we don't have guys that have a "night ELF female" character, this is the problem.