You are joking, right?
There is a reason why those games have high system requirements, and it is not just the eye candy. The flight models are far more complex, and while not perfect all of them certainly reflect flight and combat conditions far, far better than Aces High. One regular viewer of my stream called AH "sim light" and I tend to agree with that assessment. That isn't to say AH is not fun, but in the end it is at best gamey, maybe even more so than War Thunder. I also think that is the crux to the question why many AH players never branch out: those other games are too complex and not gamey enough.
This is your second comment which suggest that AH is more gamey than WT, which is entirely false. WT doesn't compare in any realm to AH in terms of flight, scenarios, combat situations, and arena setups. It's a flight sim for beginners. Even comparing these two to each other leads me to believe that you and your friends who think it's similar have not taken the time to learn AH, and have very miniscule perceptions about AH that are not accurate.
Secondly, you believe that the amount of buttons it takes to turn on an engine makes the game more of a "simulator" where as games that cut out that aspect are not. I disagree with that assessment. AH provides more realistic combat scenarios, situations, and historical "simulations" that make this game an actual simulation. No other game brings this type of realistic (to an extent) combat. That tells me that BoS is not more complicated or as accurate as AH in terms of combat, which means they are both simulating different aspects to a simulation of the real thing. Ie two different niches.
Thirdly. You are wrong about "branching out" . AH IS the hardest simulator. The majority of people leave this game because it is just too hard and takes too much time. The people who have stayed enjoy the constant challenge and strategy that no other flight sim offers. People don't have the patients. They fly for 30 minutes and die to a puff ack shot to the face and quit. It's the most unforgiving of them all. People leave because the fights do not start off fairly and they are stuck dieing over and over again because they don't have the skills yet. They have to fly 20 minutes to a base hoping to find action and die instantly. It's tough and takes strategic understanding to find the fights and win them. AH is one of the most complex because you actually have to utlize ACM and SA in fighter combat situations with or without the E advantage, with or without friendly help. This game required more skills because you actually have to know what you are doing in more types of fighter situations than any other game offers.
Now, let's talk about aspects to the game that really turn people away.
A lot of people who have played for 10_15 years have made very valid points over the years, that simingly get passed over. You've been here for like 3 months and have some valid points, but I think your lack of ACM and fighter understanding in AH limits your perception about the game. If you get shot down all the time, you obviously don't understand the flight model or flight characteristics as well as you say. Ive never seen you in the game, and have no #s to judge, so it's very difficult to assess your knowledge about AH.
If you want to bring players back, it's not about the graphics, (they look good in AH3), it's not, let's make the planes harder to fly by pushing 90 buttons, it's not let's set up 8v8 h2h matches, it's not free to play.
After 13 years of me playing this game. Do you want to know what it really is?
It's Base Distance.... it's all about how long it takes to get to a base, and whether it's worth it to roll. That's it. That's the big secret.
I come top 5 every month because I know how the game works. I know how people fly and I know the full potential of all the planes in AH. At this point it's almost on accident. I don't care if it's bragging. What I'm pointing out is that I actually do know the flight model and gameplay better than most, so when I see people making irrational game play assessments, I chime in because I know what I'm talking about.
