if u want to keep players...

[Dichotomy]

Yours is one of the last real squads in the game. Plenty of squads say they work together, have ranks with in, promote team work and training, but JG11 is one of the last few that really does. 

And the best IMO... Miss it all the time 

[Patches1]

As a dusty old fart who only plays periodically now, I suggest that the largest issue Aces High faces is...instant gratification of the player base.

The time period in which I learned, back in the days when modems were "new" technology and game time could really only be afforded by adults, is now usurped by today's inexpensive technology and cheap access to the net.

The World has shrunk, net-wise, but the age gap grows larger each day, and those of us who learned to play when the net was new and expensive have given way to younger generations of players who were not raised with the same patience.

[FLOOB]

Well that and what's the point of wasting your time learning how to dogfight when the point of the MA is to take bases and win the war.

[Meatwad]

I dont have much time during the work week, usually when I get on im running field sups somewhere

[DREDIOCK]

Love this game. I must inasmuch as its the only game I play let alone pay to play.
but dont be fooled. Just because I dont play otehr games doesnt mean I dont see other games being played or know whats going on

I only speak as the rest of you do because I care

There are several problems going on. And they have nothing to do with 200 type ranters. Every game has those and always has. Its never been enough to knock a good game down
 
What is it that attracts people to new games? What is it that causes people to flock to a game in droves?
Its the WOW factor. Its the combination of graphics and gameplay, how immersive it is and what it has others dont.

Quite simply, AH has lost a lot of its WOW factor. Graphics are a small but real part of it but hardly is the entire problem. The immersion isnt what it needs to be. Its become old and dated. To a certain extent the players themselves havent helped the cause. Massive raids to take undefended or nearly undefended bases by one side while the other side is doing the same. Playing whackamole at spawns etc while fun for some is hardly what will bring new people in and keep them here. Those are just a couple of examples.

On the immersion front the design as mentioned before has become dated and/or in some cases overworked. There just isnt enough to get people t say "WOW"
Example. Other then HQ doesnt anyone really care if any of the other strats get bombed? Not really. And often they dont care about HQ until AFTER its been bombed!
The bases themselves have little meaning other then base count for winning the war. Those of you who were here for when we had zone bases will remember some bases were more important then others. And defending them became as important as trying to take them. "Someones attacking A42 its a zone base" And people recognizing the strategic importance or a particular base would respond. THAT is immersion and part of the kind of immersion that is missing. Just like real life. Some bases were more important then others.

Immersion is having a reason to do something, attack or defend other then just because its there. Taking A42 also puts and entire areas bases at risk of both supply and position. We didnt want to loose zone bases.

A suggestion that I believe would VASTLY improve the GV game would be to get rid of the spawns as we currently have them almost entirely.
Replace then with a meaningful road net where GVs would move faster over then if on open ground and make people fight their way to each others bases. We can do this by littering the way with  scattered and capturable villages that do not count as win the war bases but maybe if captured you can then spawn to that village and get GV supplies from them. Capturing a village would not be destruction based but rather controlled. Bombing the village to nothing for example would have no effect. auto defenses of villages should be limited at best (perhaps a squad of AI infantry that would have to be killed off first) so as to make for easy capture by either side if not physically defended by actual players They also shouldn't flash if under threat  If you wanna keep it. Defend it.

This would bring the GV game where it really needs to be. Fire and maneuver. Control of areas

Other suggestions I have mentioned before. Limit the number of planes that can be up from one base at any given time. No base in the world even now 70 years later has the logistics to support an unlimited number of aircraft. Nor should they here. This would serve to spread the front.

LST's for the CVs. Lets get some tanks from ship to shore.  This can be mission based Once a CV is within range or LVTs have established a beach head by safely arriving on land a player can create a mission and once people join let it spawn to the shoreline where people can drive off tanks.

For gods sake. increase the number of puffy ack  for them to make them and even more difficult and dangerous target to hit. But give some real meaning to the strat targets.

Im sure there are many others I can come up with and some of you as well.
Point is we need more immersion. More "Wow I can do that??"

[Latrobe]

I've been lurking around the web a bit recently looking at what people have to say about Ah2, and I've noticed a common occurrence. The vast majority of complaints that I see as to why people don't play this game is the $15 a month subscription. Makes sense too. There are tons of free to play games out there, one of them being a WW2 flight game (War Thunder). A lot of people seem to agree that AH2 is the best WW2 dogfight sim out there but they just don't want to pay the $15 a month fee when they can play WT for free or make a one time payment of $60 (or less if there's a steam sale) for games like Il2. I wonder if it's time HTC looked into reducing the monthly fee or doing something different with how people buy this game.

[FLOOB]

I doubt it. Two of them still have ah accounts, and are waiting for the ah upgrade. Once in a while I convince one of them to fly with me in ah.

They like the quick fights in the turd thunder "realistic" mode, which makes me think they won't even come back after the overhaul.

They don't fly in arcade, they hate the lead sight and the mousers. They only tank in arcade.

I'm getting very close to looking for another ah squad.

If someone has an AH account and still prefers FRB WT, then they'll never like AH. Because AH, god willing, will never be anything like WT. And it makes me wonder how they played AH while they were here. Sounds like they were doing it wrong.

Every once in awhile I'll get a PM from a player and they'll be like "that was the best fight I've ever had" or "omg that is the most fun I've had in this game". And I'm thinking, "seriously? that? that was nothing extraordinary. That's what's supposed to happen." And the guy had been playing AH for a year. Which makes me wonder what the hell has he been doing in AH for a year that this little scrap wowed him so. And I have to conclude that this whole time he'd been doing wrong.

[LTARwolf]

I've been lurking around the web a bit recently looking at what people have to say about Ah2, and I've noticed a common occurrence. The vast majority of complaints that I see as to why people don't play this game is the $15 a month subscription. Makes sense too. There are tons of free to play games out there, one of them being a WW2 flight game (War Thunder). A lot of people seem to agree that AH2 is the best WW2 dogfight sim out there but they just don't want to pay the $15 a month fee when they can play WT for free or make a one time payment of $60 (or less if there's a steam sale) for games like Il2. I wonder if it's time HTC looked into reducing the monthly fee or doing something different with how people buy this game.

Or in my case. I just came off of being homeless. i Sacraficed everything i had to get back to my grandparents to care for them. Not that i didn't like AcesHigh I LOVE IT... just never had the money to repay for it. my last flight was 7 years ago.

[DmonSlyr]

I've been lurking around the web a bit recently looking at what people have to say about Ah2, and I've noticed a common occurrence. The vast majority of complaints that I see as to why people don't play this game is the $15 a month subscription. Makes sense too. There are tons of free to play games out there, one of them being a WW2 flight game (War Thunder). A lot of people seem to agree that AH2 is the best WW2 dogfight sim out there but they just don't want to pay the $15 a month fee when they can play WT for free or make a one time payment of $60 (or less if there's a steam sale) for games like Il2. I wonder if it's time HTC looked into reducing the monthly fee or doing something different with how people buy this game.

Duudee I know!!!! They refuse to put H2H back when it was perfect for grabbing new players. No steam access. No deals or promotions. Can't learn in 2 weeks. $15 Is not that much at all a month but it sounds psychologically expensive to the ears.  a 60 dollar game is 5 months of play to break even at the same cost. They should consider opening up to the market demands more to achieve recognition of the masses. Unless that just isn't the player base they want.

[zack1234]

I thought AH development team were putting an update together?.

It might be best to let them get on with it.

[Patches1]

You're kidding me, right? Fifty cents a day is too much to pay for this game? How much does it cost for your favorite caffeine drink per day?

Sheesh! The Math is easy:  .50 times 30 equals 15.00.

A single beverage, other than unaltered water out of your tap, will cost you two to three times the cost of playing AH for a single day, and I am being conservative.

There is no such thing as Free to Play...unless you are extremely patient, or you lie to yourself.

[Kodiak]

I really find the game play odd in AH.  I spend most of my time playing the IL-2 games because I can't find enough WWII in AH.  I love the FM's and planes but can't get excited about the fantasy maps, overall lack of mission based play (the heart of WWII air combat), and match ups like a 109 vs Ki-84.

With all the competition out there I think Hitech needs to decide if they want to compete with WarThunder or IL-2 type games as I just don't know if a three sided "Kung Fu ACM Over Fantasy Island" has the appeal it might have once had.  It really is a bizarre concept when you think about it and I've met a lot of players on the IL-2 side of the equation who just shake their heads about it.  Its a pill many can't swallow to get to the great FM's and plane set in AH.

Hitech gets my money every month right now, but I rarely play AH anymore for the above reasons.

[NatCigg]

i like kodics ideas more than the fighter jocks.  and who is jg11? never flew with them and i dont recall playing against them.

this game at 15 per month is better than all the other online games ive played; considering lag, cheats, stability, support, function, setup, use ability, and overall fun.

 
 

[Scca]

I really find the game play odd in AH.  I spend most of my time playing the IL-2 games because I can't find enough WWII in AH.  I love the FM's and planes but can't get excited about the fantasy maps, overall lack of mission based play (the heart of WWII air combat), and match ups like a 109 vs Ki-84.

With all the competition out there I think Hitech needs to decide if they want to compete with WarThunder or IL-2 type games as I just don't know if a three sided "Kung Fu ACM Over Fantasy Island" has the appeal it might have once had.  It really is a bizarre concept when you think about it and I've met a lot of players on the IL-2 side of the equation who just shake their heads about it.  Its a pill many can't swallow to get to the great FM's and plane set in AH.

Hitech gets my money every month right now, but I rarely play AH anymore for the above reasons.

Question. Have you ever flown in FSO?

[alskahawk]

Well that and what's the point of wasting your time learning how to dogfight when the point of the MA is to take bases and win the war.

 You forgot dogfighting in MA is all about the HO.