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

[muzik]

You who haven't even played recently know everything.  Those of us that have been hear right along can see what is happening.

Yea, it's been a whopping 3 or 4 months since I've played, I'm so out of touch.

As a newer player (about a year), I'd like to offer my two cents:

I enjoy this game, and I don't see what the whining is all about. 

You're still a year away from nearing your learning curve's peak, it's not surprising you don't get it.

let me know when you've talked HTC into requiring players to attend War College.

I know right..... because who's dumb enough to think htc could reinvent it's 20 year old game model without a war college?   

[bozon]

You're still a year away from nearing your learning curve's peak, it's not surprising you don't get it.

I've played this game over a span of 13 years. I do get it. Nothing will be fresh and new for that long and players (myself included) do take breaks from the game. I came back every time because there is nothing that compares to it out there. In all that time there was only one other game (Mount&Blade) that kept my interest for more than a month or two. All those AAA off-line game, MMO RPGs and FPS lost me after a short yet fun time - but I got tired of ALL of them. AH keeps me logging in, months and years. Do I have criticism? Sure! but it still the best gaming experience I ever had.

[Ninthmessiah]

Aces High is a necessary life function, like taking a shower or brushing your teeth daily.

[NatCigg]

You're still a year away from nearing your learning curve's peak, it's not surprising you don't get it.

 

Its ok music, step away from the computer.  Put your knowledge and understanding on the shelf.  The way of the dweeb will return with time. first, we need to reset that perspective that has been chiseled through the years.  Remember, hoing another plane at 500 mph in a video game is relatively fun when compared to...well, anything else.   

 

[caldera]

I don't HO anymore.  I don't HO any less, either. 

[muzik]

I've played this game over a span of 13 years. I do get it. Nothing will be fresh and new for that long and players (myself included) do take breaks from the game. I came back every time because there is nothing that compares to it out there. In all that time there was only one other game (Mount&Blade) that kept my interest for more than a month or two. All those AAA off-line game, MMO RPGs and FPS lost me after a short yet fun time - but I got tired of ALL of them. AH keeps me logging in, months and years. Do I have criticism? Sure! but it still the best gaming experience I ever had.

Well good for you. And your response means what to me?

I never said anything about fresh or new.  I said it needs to be more. Yes that would entail some fresh and new, but changes aren't needed to make it fresh and new, they are needed to make it what it never was and always needed to be... more than just a boxing arena.

[VuduVee]

since this thread is already going i'll post a thought here instead of starting a new thread.  ive always known AHII is the best combat flight sim model going.   to me AHII wins hands down.   but ive always thought it lacked a great game to go along with it.   i think the graphics arent great either.   my dream game is the AHII flight model with maybe WWII online all around land ( ground forces, soldiering, etc) sea and air aspects with War Thunders graphics.   for me, the flight model is the only thing that keeps me here. the game part of it is boring to me.   there really doesnt have to be a strategy when you can just horde up.   we have all the tools to use strategy, but you just dont have to.   so, what i was thinking was that to win a map HTC sets multiple goals for each team on every map.   maybe one goal is, team A has to capture A1.   imagine A1 is at the back of the map, but it has no spawns or maybe a few untakeable bases surounding it.   youll definitely have to use strategy to get it, it'd be like trying to capture Berlin or something like that.   basically each team has a set of goals and the other teams would have to use defensive strategies to combat team A.   this means that a fighter squad could do legit fighter sweeps that actualy mean something.   or a bomber squad could bomb hangars at adjacent bases and it mean something.   which also means that this bomber squad will need escorts, which means people will need to learn how to properly escort.  maybe a goal is taking a base with gvs. there will be guys bombing tanks, so youll need fighter cover.  as it is now,  the gvers wait for bombs and attack aircraft to do all the work, then they drive on base, when its taken and tower, respawn to the next camp circle jerk.   there are so many strategies that arent used in the game that we could use.   we have all the tools to do it, but we just dont have to, because we can blunt force every base.  this is just an idea, its maybe not even well thought out. the guys who want everything handed to them and as easy as possible will not like it.   for me though, id like real true strategy and strategic objectives.  the flight model will not keep me here all by itself, and the reason is that most people in game are not interested in ACM, theyre interested in the game or just any kill any way possible.  i believe strategic objectives to win maps has something for everyone.   id like to debate the strategic objective ideas to see if it holds water.

[mthrockmor]

I first jumped into AH back in Sept of 2008. I remember doing the two week thing, I seem to recall doing it twice, though it is fuzzy. I was abit aghast at being shot down so many times because I knew I was more naturally gifted than almost everyone else here...reality check.

I remember one day upping a Spit 16, tooling around at 12k and hearing warnings over VOX about a raid. I started grabbing alt and then noticed specks. Soon the specs turning into icons. Some squad was doing a Navy Bird raid. Before I knew it I was bailing out of a busted Spit and while in my chute I remember counting well over 30+ Hellcats and Corsairs.

I remember just a couple years ago Swoops would do his Titanic Tuesday missions and regularly attract a couple dozen boxes of buffs and a dozen plus escorts. Attacking this mob at 20k+ would be a couple dozen, seems most German birds. And while many dozens of sticks squared off several hundred other sticks were doing other things.

I remember logging in and seeing numbers of 400+ regularly.

My first contact with AH was seeing this cartoon ads on the History or the Military Channel. I don't know HiTechs business model but it has clearly not kept up. The plan seems to be retool with eye candy. That will be awesome and I look forward to it. That alone will not save AH. They need to get in front of the airplane geek public.

Without it....I don't know how they can survive. I've seen businesses hit the tipping point before. 

[Scca]

I also found out about AH from a history channel ad. 

Been around since 06 I think.  I just don't have the time to devote that I use to.  I "want" to play more, but life has dealt me a rough hand, and I have a wife and kids that need my attention.  Add racing to that in the summer, and I am luck to get time to play more than twice a week. 

I don't think I am alone in this.  Due to the economy, I know plenty of people over the last 5 years who now have more than one job and a family. Free time is getting harder and harder to come by.

Things to in cycles.  I suspect after the latest eye candy enhancements, HTC will get on the advertisements again, and we will have a fresh set of new folks to teach how to play the game. 

Just my thoughts.
   

[Lusche]

I don't think I am alone in this.  Due to the economy, I know plenty of people over the last 5 years who now have more than one job and a family. Free time is getting harder and harder to come by.

The core of this is a natural cycle for about every player in every game. You get older, and either are tired by the game itself (quite nromal for any game), or the increasing real world requirements (career, family,...) start keeping you away more and more.
But that happend all the time, not just now. Even when AH was new many old (coming from AW and such) players were constantly leaving, with a stream of new players replacing them - and more.

[Scca]

The core of this is a natural cycle for about every player in every game. You get older, and either are tired by the game itself (quite nromal for any game), or the increasing real world requirements (career, family,...) start keeping you away more and more.
But that happend all the time, not just now. Even when AH was new many old (coming from AW and such) players were constantly leaving, with a stream of new players replacing them - and more.

a fair statement, but the economy has been in the crapper for a while now.

Add to that the instant gratification/power ups gamer, AH is a niche game. HTC needs to seek out that niche.

[Slate]

ive always known AHII is the best combat flight sim model going.   to me AHII wins hands down. But ive always thought it lacked a great game to go along with it. or me, the flight model is the only thing that keeps me here. the game part of it is boring to me.   there really doesnt have to be a strategy when you can just horde up.   we have all the tools to use strategy, but you just dont have to.   so, what i was thinking was that to win a map HTC sets multiple goals for each team on every map.   maybe one goal is, team A has to capture A1. there are so many strategies that arent used in the game that we could use. For me though, id like real true strategy and strategic objectives.  the flight model will not keep me here all by itself, and the reason is that most people in game are not interested in ACM, theyre interested in the game or just any kill any way possible.  i believe strategic objectives to win maps has something for everyone.   id like to debate the strategic objective ideas to see if it holds water.

  (edited for brevity)

     I am one who has not come from other flight sims though I love the flight part of the game. AH racing league is just pure flying and that's why it got my interest. I have always enjoyed strategy games from Monopoly to Risk and computer games with goals and objectives.
     I love the scenarios when I have the time to participate as each side has definite goals. I have never flown in FSO but hear good things about it. The MA does need an overhaul in the strategic sense and Vuduvee has good points. HTC has tried tweaking strats and such and they are not done. I am optimistic about the future of this game. Have you ever played through a console game only to be sad you went through all the levels and there is no more? What level are we on now? 

[Tr1gg22]

There never was much strategy in AH at all. Smaller towns and higher radar level just meant higher rate of captures per hour - but not more "strategy". It was and still is "grab as many random bases as possible", no higher strategy required or implied.
Actually, with the old war victory rules it was even less strategy, as you even did not have to fight against both enemy countries to win.

Yep

[R 105]

I was in MW for a change today. Reminded me of the EW of old - 0 players on Rooks (I was the first rook to enter), 3 on Bish and 6 on Knight.
Now guess where Bish and Knights were "fighting"...  


But more seriously, the fewer players AH has overall, the smaller the chance you get any players to the minor arenas at all.

I still remember 100 players in MW at peak times  

I remember when even EW had 30 guys or more on it. I was in EW not long ago and was the only bishop on with 5 knights attacking a base. I tried to engage two planes deacking the town and they ran away from me. They then went to another base to attack that was Rook so I couldn't attack them and even complained  I was messing up their fun on 200.

[Randy1]

Could be too an undercurrent of a problem is at hand.  As people leave the density of better, hardcore fliers increases making it harder for the average Joe to make a go of the game.  Kind of like the decline of the economic middle-class.

Some on this forum have the attitude, "Qu'ils mangent de la brioche."

Just saying.