Where have all the players gone?

[skorpx1]

I might be a bit late to the party, but i'll give my reason.

The gameplay never changes. I still come around once a year but no more than a single month sub. to the game. Its always the same, get a plane and kill someone then get shot down or land. The worst part is that 90% of the opposition is in a Runstang/La7 or some other stupid fast bird. People just dive in and dive out, no attempt to fight and when you do get a decent fight its always screwed over by some dooshnozzle.


That is why people leave and go on to a better game.

[Mister Fork]

I've seen a lot of other games come and go... yet Aces High remains.

And yet, here we still are...playing a very similar game to Warbirds and Air Warrior and Fighter Aces.  AND, Aces High is almost 14 years old from Beta 1.0 (where GMan and I started). Still playing the same type of game.  What is it about this game that makes it such an appealing franchise?

So yes, our numbers are down, but not to the point where Dale and Doug need to shut the doors (right Dale & Doug....right?)  

H O W E V E R.  PC's are lasting longer. PC's don't need to be replaced every year. PC's dont' need to be refreshed as often which is WHY PC sales are still in the healthy segment.  PC sales are declining yet there are still a very HEALTHY number of PC's in peoples homes that can run Aces High.

If D&D want to increase #'s, perhaps they need to attract more tankers and ship lovers and rebrand Aces High as a all-around WWII combat simulator?

[SirNuke]

Bozon has a point here

While being an excellent simulator ah misses a few features to make it an interresting/funny GAME. Loads of players nowadays are here to have FUN, the heresy.

[Grayclif]

I guess they all get tired of me shooting them down..

[Arlo]

Funny ... game? 'You Don't Know Jack' is a 'funny' game. 

Now, we have some funny players. I believe that counts for more. And as far as interesting goes, you get out of AH what you put into AH. What 'interesting' stuff do you want coded that players can't do with what's already coded? 

[Kazan_HB]

I love AH2 too  , but my question is. How many players need HTC to exist and develop?
Time may be coming when the number is no longer enough

[Arlo]

And yet HTC hasn't changed it's business model or raised it's rate. Makes me feel like the sky's still where it's supposed to be.

[Zacherof]

I guess they all get tired of me shooting them down..

been here since I was 14. I'm now 20 turning 21 in November. I guess I'm kinda old school in that I don't care about the graphics. I've never had the latest in console gaming. My friends did.
New xbox/ps comes out? Whoopty doo!

I frequently play for 24 hours in one go cause I find this game so entertaing.
I remember AH1(still have I on my cp )

From what I understand the flight models are spot on, guns are spot on and it's hard to kill other players(sometimes)

I'd play every day, it doesn't get boring(unless I'm on a 3 hour start raid)


Now would it be awesome if the side swith time was diminished? Absoluetly.
Would awesome graphics be cool?yeah.

Is that why I'm here? No. I'm here for the combat, the exsperiance, the kills, and the players online.  

And for the most part I am here to stay

[Arlo]

You're a good egg and a bright shining exception to your generation, Z. 

[moot]

H O W E V E R.  PC's are lasting longer. PC's don't need to be replaced every year. PC's dont' need to be refreshed as often which is WHY PC sales are still in the healthy segment.  PC sales are declining yet there are still a very HEALTHY number of PC's in peoples homes that can run Aces High.

If D&D want to increase #'s, perhaps they need to attract more tankers and ship lovers and rebrand Aces High as a all-around WWII combat simulator?

All around sim means more CPU budget (correct me if Im wrong), which would mean increased PC reqs.  Aren't AH gfx what they are so the flight physics get a max of cpu budget?

[titanic3]

My guess to why people return to AH is because it's the only game in its genre. A balanced mixed of realism and gameplay with WWII planes. I've said it before, Rise of Flight is the only flight sim that comes close to AH in terms of gameplay but it's set in WWI. War Thunder is too arcadey, Il-2 Cliffs of Dover is either too arcadey or too realistic depending on what settings you choose, and even with mixed settings it's flight model isn't fluid like AH is.

Take AH, give it Il-2's graphics, and a tank town sized map, and bam, you got a A+++ game. I don't need 20,000 yards draw distance. Halve that, add in some nice fog to cover up the reduced draw distance, and fill in the "leftover" graphics with some nice modern effects. Hell, make it a seperate game but keep AH alive. The new game can follow a free MMO style while the current AH can stay the same for those with PCs from 1999 and prefer the base rolling for $15.

[Wiley]

If D&D want to increase #'s, perhaps they need to attract more tankers and ship lovers and rebrand Aces High as a all-around WWII combat simulator?

I personally think that's the worst thing they could do.  The tank/ship aspect of the game is the weakest point of the game because the terrains are so low def, and the resources needed to make them all crispy and shiny don't appear to be being committed.  The tanking here is the weakest part of the game, which is confusing me as to why it's so popular.

If it were me, I'd be looking to improve the flight aspect of the game as much as possible, as that's really where the game shines.  A more detailed damage model would be the top of my list, also more better clouds (the new ones are an improvement but it could still be better).

Bozon has a point here

While being an excellent simulator ah misses a few features to make it an interresting/funny GAME. Loads of players nowadays are here to have FUN, the heresy.

It allows people to do as they please with few restrictions.  This is both attractive and horrifying at the same time, because you're free to do as you want, so are your opponents.  For me, AH just wouldn't be AH if it went to some kind of round based instant action type thing like the other games.

I realize what the majority seems to want is some kind of fast, give me a goal I can accomplish in a few minutes
style gameplay, but that just doesn't appeal to me.  I want the freedom to decide what I want to do and the ability to make it happen.  I think there's a fair number of people in the game who are the same way, and it's probably mostly long time subscribers.

Kind of seems to me they're painted into a corner in some respects.  Fast action to be popular for the new style players, or open world no restrictions which is really hard to come by these days.  I don't see a way to have one without the other unless they were completely separate arenas.  And, if they did that, I don't think the open world arenas would survive for long.

Wiley.

[Copprhed]

This was all discussed ad nauseum by the Fighter Ace players before it ended. When you have players who don't pay or play giving their 2 cents in, when you have apologists for those who shade, game the game, HO, ram, RUN WAY and then run their mouths about real life or it's not against the rules...you end up with ....nothing. A game should be played with sportsmanship and honor. No cheating, no gaming the game no running of mouths about I PWNED YOU!!!! Frankly( and I don't care if you like me or not....if you don't PAY AND PLAY, you should keep your freakin mouth shut as to what's wrong with the game.

[Kazan_HB]

This was all discussed ad nauseum by the Fighter Ace players before it ended. When you have players who don't pay or play giving their 2 cents in, when you have apologists for those who shade, game the game, HO, ram, RUN WAY and then run their mouths about real life or it's not against the rules...you end up with ....nothing. A game should be played with sportsmanship and honor. No cheating, no gaming the game no running of mouths about I PWNED YOU!!!! Frankly( and I don't care if you like me or not....if you don't PAY AND PLAY, you should keep your freakin mouth shut as to what's wrong with the game.

exactly

[JohnnyHeelz]

I think we are worried about the wrong things here.  The lawsuit against HTC filed on July 5th is the biggest problem we have moving forward!

But... The other side to the question is,    what can be done to improve things in game, other than graphics and gameplay "norms?"   

And how can we help do that?