I trolled thru half the thread and saw nothing new when it comes to peeps and their critiques and solutions for AH. It was the same stuff in FA. I'll bet its the same stuff in any game that has been around the block a few times.
AH is about ww2 air combat, that in itself can be a limiting factor, note I said can be. You must like the idea of propeller driven aircraft in the first place, advertising or not. This is the modern world, starting to push 100 years since ww2. Todays kids grew up with jets and nuclear ICBM's. Todays schools only teach a minimum of WW2 lore. Todays military use different tactics and teach such.
I once offered some suggestions, to AH, on places to advertise, I was promptly told, who was I to tell HiTech how to operate their business. Not by AH staff mind you but by some forum troll. You just cannot win with some types of peoples.
What is the majority of AH client base? I will hazard a guess, older people the baby boomers, military service men. I state this as a generality, there are young'ins, but they are few. In case no one noticed, there was in the recent past, a world wide economic fiasco, people lost their jobs, homes etc...
New games come out everyday, Android phones are gaming platforms.............the fact that AH is still viable as a game platform says a lot. The fact that its an MMO says a lot. War Blunder, last time I checked, I was a beta tester briefly, is not a true MMO, max server number is what 32? Even if its 64 players, ptuey. I stopped beta testing when I discovered the server numbers, this is the reason the graphics are so good, way fewer real time objects to render, arcade physics.
So stop worrying about the games end, its gonna happen eventually, but not today, or tomorrow, or this year, enjoy and have fun. The community needs to recruit new players. Get your friends and family involved. Instead of looking for fast and furious game play, consider real war tactics and employ them. Change what your game goals are and what your end game is.
How many in this thread stated they still paid for a sub, but rarely play.................play damit! Paying a sub so you can participate in a forum, tsk, tsk, play the dam game again, play even if its only an hour at a time. I could careless about other games as well, BF3, ptuey. WoW, yuk.
I grew up as an Air Force brat, I read all the books before I was 12. I luv ww2 aircraft. Its a great game, only one left like it. I suk at it, I'm a lousy pilot, I cannot hit chit, but as long as I can pay for it, I will play it. Like FA, I will be flying the game the night the plug is pulled.
So get the diddly in game, or you have nothing to say.
Oh and Hitech, loosen up your skin restrictions a bit. Let peeps come up with something other than historical reality, as long as they are quality skins, allow it. The more personal investment a player has in the game, the longer that player will be around.