Is Aces High II soon to become just a memory of good times past?

[BaDkaRmA158Th]

I think that's a good point, same ol' same ol'.


Doesn't matter what it is or how great, when you have had too much of even a great thing, your full.




Im retired from aces high, not because i don't like it, i love the taste, im just full. And i don't feel like paying for another plate.
Sadly i feel nothing can be done to get me back. -pukes up 1999 aircraft models- yup! still too full.

[RATTFINK]

When did the WWI planes come out?  Think I left shortly after.

[zack1234]

Game is very good and there is nothing up with it

Except the Brewster which is the devil incarnate

I miss you all

When AHIII  is out I give it 6 months and the ego boys will be talking about Air Warrior again.

[ghi]

imo the map auto reset time should change to 24-36 hours; this large maps are dead, no fights, almost impossible to reset with this low # and the increased base capture difficulty;  ;I'm not surprised people are abandoning the game; is boring simply boring ; look at this map running in MA today, was on for 6 days and 15 hours  ;!!!!!
 This game was more fun on H2H years ago, small map 2-4 bases and 8 players, I would trade the eye candies for a system reset to 2003, was better for tactic/strategic  gaming, more dynamic ;
 I used to work at sea  on cruise ships, we did same time 7 days at sea in trans Atlantic cruises from New York  to Lisbon; people would have jumped overboard without some entertainment, shows and various food menu every day;

[Zerstorer]

Games in general are fun... What other reason is there... A fun game is fair. A fair game is fun. Simple.

What makes it possible for the Muppets to do what you describe in the first place? It's not fair man.... we both agree.

If you are referring to the Rule That Shall Not Be Named...then yes we do.

[Baine]

I left because I no longer had the time to fly 20-30 hours per week. Only logging on a couple of hours per week, I had no interest in spending 5-10 minutes flying to a fight that I no longer had the skills to win and would lose very quickly. I commute in real life, I don't want to do it for "fun."
Also, it appeared to me that HTC was hellbent on eliminating the enjoyment from the game. Remember tank town?  Hundreds of people would spend hours jumping into a fight. Get killed, jump right back in. It was like eating popcorn and a helluva lot of fun. Then it went away. Now if I want to fight in a vehicle, I have to drive for 5 minutes to get killed by someone I can't see. Why bother?
Finally, HTC kept tweaking the rules, by the time I left I had no idea what it took for my country to win the war, and if we were winning, it was made so unpleasant that I'd log off rather than fly an old school bus armed with a .22 rifle that only fired on Tuesdays because my side had an advantage in numbers.
I miss my squadmates, but if I want to fly, I jump on IL-2, do a quick mission to get my fix and don't have to deal with folks who know better than me what I should be enjoying.

[TonyJoey]

imo the map auto reset time should change to 24-36 hours; this large maps are dead, no fights, almost impossible to reset with this low # and the increased base capture difficulty;  ;I'm not surprised people are abandoning the game; is boring simply boring ; look at this map running in MA today, was on for 6 days and 15 hours  ;!!!!!
 This game was more fun on H2H years ago, small map 2-4 bases and 8 players, I would trade the eye candies for a system reset to 2003, was better for tactic/strategic  gaming, more dynamic ;
 I used to work at sea  on cruise ships, we did same time 7 days at sea in trans Atlantic cruises from New York  to Lisbon; people would have jumped overboard without some entertainment, shows and various food menu every day;

(Image removed from quote.)

^^^ THIS ^^^

[SunBat]

Haven't flown in years!!  Sunbat has my CH gear and reduced to a laptop.  If I get a decent set up, I'll come back for sure.

RATTFINK!?!?!? I have your gear, it is waiting for you.  I still love this silly game. Don't get as much of a chance to play as in the good ole days but I'm around.  You must have lost my number; check your PM's.  Call me, we need to catch up.

<S> Old Friend

[Kodiak]

I left because I no longer had the time to fly 20-30 hours per week. Only logging on a couple of hours per week, I had no interest in spending 5-10 minutes flying to a fight that I no longer had the skills to win and would lose very quickly. I commute in real life, I don't want to do it for "fun."

^^^Truth^^^

An epiphany for many new players also.  "Do I focus all of my gaming hours entirely on this game just to rise above commuter skill level?"  Based on the falling numbers in the MA which would indicate falling new player retention levels the answer for many new players is probably "no."

Even a two tier system that separates noobs from the rest of the pack might have a dramatic impact on the "fun" factor for noobs.  Maybe two arenas: the K/D 1.00+ arena and the less than 1.00 K/D arena.  Hitech could figure something out if they put their mind to it.

Other games have tiered systems of experience...why not Aces High.  Most noobs don't want to hear about the "right of passage" and all that nonsense, they just want to have fun and would move up naturally to the higher tiered arena as they gained experience.  They don't need to be shot down in two turns by some guy with a 5.0 K/D to learn.  This "feed me baby seals, they will learn" rhetoric is baloney when a player is only able or willing to play Aces High 10 to 15 hours a month.

[guncrasher]

really zodiac. _put. a little more thought into those two arenas and imagine what would happen.



semp

[The Fugitive]

I think the two arena system would work as long as there was a limit installed. Newbs fighting newbs would be great for them to get the hang of things. The limit would have to be a certain number of kills, or a certain number of hours or something. This way you don't have sharks clubbing seals and they have to either move on the main arena or leave when they hit the limit.

[Kodiak]

I think the two arena system would work as long as there was a limit installed. Newbs fighting newbs would be great for them to get the hang of things. The limit would have to be a certain number of kills, or a certain number of hours or something. This way you don't have sharks clubbing seals and they have to either move on the main arena or leave when they hit the limit.

That's why I thought the K/D would work to keep the sharks out.  You can only change your in-game name once every 30 days (or something like that), so it would be hard to keep coming back as a supposed "noob" if you had to change your name or create a new account every time your K/D rose above 0.99 as determined when the score stats update each night.  There would be threshold players who would hover around 1.00 and bounce back and forth, but that might be a good thing as they start to venture into the veteran arena.  I'm not saying close the veteran arena to noobs, they can fly in it if they want.  But close the noob arena to anyone with a Fighter or Attack K/D of 1.00 or higher (or whatever Hitech determines the right number is).  This would reset each month, and sure a shark could fly in the noob arena the first time he plays each month when his stats are zero, but the next time he plays his score would lock him out.  It wouldn't be perfect, but it would create a fairly good balance between skilled and unskilled players.

[Slate]

  Many now will seek out free to play games. Perhaps a free to play arena with a limited plane set would get some to transition to a subscription after they got thirsty for more.    Why not open the WW1 arena to clean out the cob webs?

  This is a challenging game and not everyone is patient enough. Sadly many want quick gratification these days. Remember board games and how long they took to get going? Played Monopoly with my grandson for 3+ hours recently and that kid took all my money.  
 


  
  
  

[Baine]

I don't think a two-tier system is the answer. I think giving people a chance to up, fight, die and then up, quickly fight and die again is the key. This game was fun with smaller maps and quicker fights. I didn't mind enduring the learning curve if I was having fun while I was doing it. I mean, when I would up into a furball I could always catch someone -even someone with lots of experience - who wasn't paying attention and get a kill or two. That was enough to keep me going and learning. As I got better, I learned to take off from a base a bit further away to up my chances of survival. But it was my choice to make that longer flight.
When I last played I no longer had that choice. Someone decided they were going to make it for me and the choice was to fly - a lot.
What got to me is that, if I got killed, I was facing a long flight back where the fight was a lot less hectic and enjoyable.
Two flights like that a night and I was ready to bag it. Finally I asked myself why am I paying for this?
I remember back in old Tank Town, I would spend hours in what seemed like minutes diving back into the raging fight and laughing out loud because I was having so much fun.
Same thing with a really close-fought base defense or capture.
There are still those fights out there, but they are few, far between and hard to find. I just didn't have the time or incentive to keep taking the time flying around looking for them. I also noticed I was no longer laughing.


 

[Iamtheknight]

I don't think a two-tier system is the answer. I think giving people a chance to up, fight, die and then up, quickly fight and die again is the key. This game was fun with smaller maps and quicker fights. I didn't mind enduring the learning curve if I was having fun while I was doing it.

I agree entirely.

Listen, I just met you, and this is crazy, but we probably HAVE to DA sometime.