Solution for the low numbers???

[DmonSlyr]

  As others have said, this seems like a no-brainer.  But Hitech once said that he had spent a lot of money advertising at airshows, with very little return.  It seems counter-intuitive, but you can't argue with experience.

You are right. Airshows don't have that many people. Then they forget about it when they get home.

Tv Commercials and Online advertisments go a long way. If I recall many players found this game from the military channel.

One fine commercial on the history channel would attract a lot I bet.

There's so much that AH offers that doesn't get marketed, especially on steam.  It's a weak spot for AH. Heck if you could find someone to volunteer to update the current website once a week with cool vids and events. That would probably attract more people.

[1stpar3]

I think the idea is not to give away something that can create a permanent class of free play part timers. Who know when they create a free trial account every few months, it lasts up to a month. Or a new one every tour. They will have a highly competitive late war ride waiting for them next time they get the itch and come into town. In the old days you sold cut rate drinks down stairs with girls walking around keeping company but, the girls up stairs were full price for more than a chat. Here in the USA and in Europe and the Common Wealth. Probably why Hitech keeps it to two weeks in the MA. Even FPS games follow that down stairs, up stairs rule with lots of smoke and mirrors, and why they are really freemium.

I wonder how many would admit if Hitech did a 30 day trial account where the P51D was the bird, they would cancel their accounts and play when they really got the itch knowing a late war ride would be available for 30 days? Any speculation on how the numbers would drop off as a result? Or is that Hitech's headache to work out. It's so easy to spend other peoples money until it runs out.

Not arguing..but while my Pc was being fixed, I went ahead and set up my ex wife's youngest son an account. It was on my new pc and already had AH on it and played under MY account. So figured he could start HIS 2 weeks on my pc...wouldnt do it, 2 week trial was expired Maybe its ISP based? If so, wouldnt that be alot of trouble just to keep getting free play?

[FESS67]

The OP has posed the question to solve the low numbers and many have jumped on a better / longer free trial period as the answer.  That may be an option.

However, HTC has openly said that a massive majority of new players do not stay even past day 1 let alone 2 weeks.  Why do they leave so quickly and what is the solution to that?

I was a veteran of AW, WW2OL, Fighter Ace before I came to AH.  I struggled to get the plane over 200 mph in my first day.  I got slaughtered time and again.  Only my love of the concept of fighter combat kept me going.

Of the 6 squad mates that came to AH from FA, only 1 remains.  Most were gone before the 2 week trial was done.  Nose bounce accounted for a few of them, flight model the rest.

I make no judgement either way, but these were the reasons they left, not the cost or the length of the free trial.

[BOBO]

2 words.

David Wales

<S>

[edge12674]

Rather than free planes or longer free trial period how about increased training for new players before throwing them into a multiplayer environment.  We have a great group of trainers and some helpful tutorials on the AH website, but how about offline training where the drones do more than just fly in circles.  Having offline play with adjustable difficulty would allow new players to start shooting drones flying in circles, then basic ACM with non-firing drones, then advanced with drones firing back.  You can market it as a "flight academy", because this is a "serious" combat flight sim. Once a new player has reached that level they are more likely to stick with it in the MA, because they at least know WHY they got shot down.  This tends to be the way new games with multiplayer options are going. 

[Shuffler]

Do a stock split..... that will instantly double the numbers.

 

[Rich46yo]

I was going to read all 5 pages of this but then remembered how many like it I’ve read thru the years. All the same. I know every piece of advice I ever offered was ignored. I knew nobody was going to tool around in a WW1 plane, despite what they said. I said the big maps were a big mistake when the numbers started dropping. They would have been better off keeping uterus on 24/7.

Honestly I don’t think HiTech and a lot of players want anything to change. 1/2 seem happy getting on once or twice a week with old squaddies and chatting while launching tank rounds across the map. They don’t mind new players as long as they are compliant and easy kills but they don’t want anyone new on their squad channel or in their squad.

Compared to when I first joined the game has gotten inhospitable to new players.

Lastly the genre has been on the decline for awhile and doesn’t draw squeekrs like it once did. Kids always want the newest thing and dot want to play with old croakers like us. They want to see brain splatter in FPS games and don’t have the patience for a game like this, nor a credit card #.

Pity, except for the big maps AH has always been well written and had a good flight model, and excellent customer service.

[Vraciu]

The OP has posed the question to solve the low numbers and many have jumped on a better / longer free trial period as the answer.  That may be an option.

However, HTC has openly said that a massive majority of new players do not stay even past day 1 let alone 2 weeks.  Why do they leave so quickly and what is the solution to that?

I was a veteran of AW, WW2OL, Fighter Ace before I came to AH.  I struggled to get the plane over 200 mph in my first day.  I got slaughtered time and again.  Only my love of the concept of fighter combat kept me going.

Of the 6 squad mates that came to AH from FA, only 1 remains.  Most were gone before the 2 week trial was done.  Nose bounce accounted for a few of them, flight model the rest.

I make no judgement either way, but these were the reasons they left, not the cost or the length of the free trial.

The single worst thing about AH3, IMO.    Wish I cou,d find a way to tame it.

In any case, getting people to stay is the most important thing.  A welcome tutorial would help.   

[DmonSlyr]

The single worst thing about AH3, IMO.    Wish I cou,d find a way to tame it.

In any case, getting people to stay is the most important thing.  A welcome tutorial would help.   

Try stick scailing. I know that helped for some players.

[pembquist]

AH is a niche game. People only stay 15 minutes because they are not interested in flying they are interested in playing a game. Steam leads are cheap but they are people looking for a video game not a niche flying simulation with bullets. People who have computers that can play AH probably aren't that interested in playing it. A lot of people who might be interested in trying AH and would end up playing it probably don't have a computer that can play it let alone a joystick. Quandary.

Immediately I think the maps, gameplay etc. has to be rescaled so that it works better for low numbers. IL2 is considered busy when 25 people are on, here depending upon who is playing it can get miserable with 30.

The best part of AH I have always thought were the special events, there are less of them now. Maybe they needed more facilitated attendance then just word of mouth/volunteerism. I have no idea. AH racing was fun but it was always at the wrong time for me, a new player wouldn't know it existed until they found out about it on their own same with scenarios and FSO and Snapshots etc.


 

[puller]

AH is a niche game. People only stay 15 minutes because they are not interested in flying they are interested in playing a game. Steam leads are cheap but they are people looking for a video game not a niche flying simulation with bullets. People who have computers that can play AH probably aren't that interested in playing it. A lot of people who might be interested in trying AH and would end up playing it probably don't have a computer that can play it let alone a joystick. Quandary.

Immediately I think the maps, gameplay etc. has to be rescaled so that it works better for low numbers. IL2 is considered busy when 25 people are on, here depending upon who is playing it can get miserable with 30.

The best part of AH I have always thought were the special events, there are less of them now. Maybe they needed more facilitated attendance then just word of mouth/volunteerism. I have no idea. AH racing was fun but it was always at the wrong time for me, a new player wouldn't know it existed until they found out about it on their own same with scenarios and FSO and Snapshots etc.

I was gonna say that about IL2...It's really busy with 20 or so players on...AH is busy with 15 or 20 players per side...You just have to know how to find the fights or create them... People running to ack disheartens long time players and makes them rage quit... Attacking a town only for it to be resupplied disheartens players and makes them rage quit....There are no easy answers...

[b4o2s9s]

Here's a couple ideas to keep the new members a bit longer. Will it work? Who knows. Newbies are a fickle group, but it's so very obvious that the current tactics and attempts are NOT working at all. Time to shift gears and start looking for changes.

Free to Play

100% on board with the other folks. Open up F2P in the main arena with a limited selection of planes and vehicles. No more than 10 planes and 1-2 vehicles. Let them take it all in, create a desire to move up to the better stuff.

Purchasing Perks

Go for it, by all means. I honestly don't care if someone wants to whip out the credit card and buy 5,000 fighter perks and fly those rides all the time. Most perk planes are relatively easy to counter if they are flown by someone new. And this also means more money for HTC to keep up their business, hire some new hands, whatever. It is in no way game-breaking, it's really not pay-to-win. Make it happen! $0.05 a perk!

Information

Information in-game is just not as readily accessible as it needs to be. For example, someone who knows absolutely NOTHING about airplanes or guns or bombs, they are really just left on their own. There should be more stats about the different planes and their loadouts. Have the speed/climb charts change with the different loadouts. Have a description of the plane show up when you select it. Information on the loadouts, what a bomb radius is, etc. Make convergence more noticeable, what it is, recommended settings (rather than the default in-your-face stuff).

The way to get information used to be outside of the game on wikis and all that, but that’s just not how things are done in the gaming industry anymore. Yes those things are all still used, but a gamer should never HAVE to leave a game to get information unless they are looking for tutorials, videos, or crazy in-depth information.

There needs to be more tool hints and things of that sort for the new player. An actual first-time setup walkthrough. A first flight coached by a computer (with realistic voice that doesn’t make you want to put a knife in your own ears). NEWBIES NEED HANDHOLDING, especially today’s caliber of newbie (for the most part, there are great exceptions).

Honestly I don’t want to hear the old “well that’s not the kind of player we want anyway” because THAT kind of stuff is why the game is dying. We can get 5 of the players the old-timers want and the game continues to die, or we get 1,000 new players, those 10 old guys leave and the game stays alive and healthy. This is a mindset change for all of the players, old and new, and the developers. Stay with the times or get left behind, it really is that simple. Sucks, but it is the fact of the matter.

Squads

I think default newbie squads led by volunteers isn't a bad idea, but I do think squads and squad visibility needs some work done. Right now the only way to find out about a squad is by coming to the forums and searching through to find a squad, see if it's even active, MAYBE they have written a wiki article about themselves.

Instead, I would make squads more accessible in-game. For example, there is already a squads option in the O'Club, but it's worthless if you aren't already in a squad or you aren't trying to create one. Have the squads page display a list of active squads available. Make them clickable so a potential recruit could click on a squad they like and get information about it. What side the squad is on, total members, squad leadership, a squad description written by the CO/XO, and include a newbie-friendly checkbox that a CO/XO can select for their squad that is also displayed on the information page so a recruit knows whether or not it's a bunch of old farts who don't like new people or it's a squad willing to put in some time helping their new member along.

Missions

The mission system isn't that bad really. I've been going through it, and I like the setup. I would like to see a country-wide advertisement when a mission is created, much like when someone successfully lands a sortie but with a different color so you KNOW it's a mission.

Make missions count for something. Maybe an extra perk modifier, like 15% more perk points, with a mission requiring minimum 5 players or something to that effect. And let the mission creator set the destination (doesn't have to be visible to others) so if someone joins the mission and flies halfway across the map away from the mission track, they don’t receive the bonus, or they get kicked from the mission at X distance. This could also be another draw for subscriptions, F2P members don't get the extra perk modifier.

Website and "Play for Free" false advertising

Please god update the website. There are plenty of people who have stated that the website looks old and it's very rarely updated. Add some flair to it, make it more attractive, add some larger pictures and make it seem fun.....

If this game is not going to actually have a Free to Play option in the main arena, even with a limited planeset, get rid of all the "Play for Free" stuff. That seems to have made many new players angry to get fooled into getting the game, only to find out it's not free at all after the trial. Read the steam reviews and that's EXTREMELY evident. It's deceitful, and that is their first impression of the game and the devs, that they are out to deceive the players.

The gamer has changed over the last 15 years quite significantly and they expect a lot more. They expect up-to-date information, flashy websites, devs that listen and respond to community feedback, value for their money, in-game resources for information (not relying on forums alone), ease of use, and fun. This website and forum was just fine 15 years ago. Today it's just not up to standard, not even close.

Subscription price

This will probably be the least favorite if the devs are even reading any of this post and considering player feedback, but I’ll state my opinion again.

This game is just not $15 a month material, not compared to everything else out there. $7.95 a month MAYBE. Personally I would recommend a discounted system, like this for example:

-Monthly: $10 a month
-3 Months: $27 lump sum ($9 per month) with $3 savings.
-6 Months: $50 lump sum ($8.33 per month) with $10 savings.
-12 Months:  $90 lump sum ($7.5 per month) with $30 savings.

Conclusion

The time has come for HTC to step up and try some new things. Time to get gimmicky, branch out there and get creative. We've been behind the times on this for well over a decade now, and if there's any hope of saving Aces High, it will require a significant break from this stagnant and out-dated mold we've become used to. I really hope we can come together and figure this out, the new players need serious attention, but a lot has to come from the devs in order for that to stand a fighting chance. The community can help some as well, but the game itself needs changing, and we as the players are pretty powerless there other than to offer our suggestions and hope they are heard.

[puller]

Add to my last post...

In IL2 people don't complain about attacking buildings and stuff because it's part of the mission to win that match or whatever...AH doesn't have this...In AH you do what you want...This isn't a problem with it makes it much more awesome...

Unfortunately people with no since of purpose in a game don't want to play said game because they don't have a purpose in it...squads make the game have purpose...Squad leaders gave guys stuff to do...I give my guys stuff to do when I'm on...We have fun like that...But when you have to pay for something you don't know what to do with...You have problems...

Add to that... People don't want to pay for anything anymore...We are all growing old and more cranky...Nothing is what it used to be back in the day...I can go on and on...It's a hard nut to crack...

[b4o2s9s]

AH is a niche game. People only stay 15 minutes because they are not interested in flying they are interested in playing a game. Steam leads are cheap but they are people looking for a video game not a niche flying simulation with bullets. People who have computers that can play AH probably aren't that interested in playing it. A lot of people who might be interested in trying AH and would end up playing it probably don't have a computer that can play it let alone a joystick. Quandary.

If you don't have a computer that can play AH, you probably don't have a computer that can run Microsoft Word hahaha. But in all seriousness, there has to be a point at which the devs have to leave people behind. If you haven't upgraded in the last decade, it's on YOU to keep up. I realize computer technology changes like twice a year, but nearly any computer from the last 5-8 years can run AH. The community and devs cannot cater to the 2% of the crowd that can't/won't upgrade.

[b4o2s9s]

Unfortunately people with no since of purpose in a game don't want to play said game because they don't have a purpose in it...squads make the game have purpose...Squad leaders gave guys stuff to do...I give my guys stuff to do when I'm on...We have fun like that...But when you have to pay for something you don't know what to do with...You have problems...

This is also very true. While it can be fun to just do your own thing for a bit, you really need a sense of purpose to hold interest. I'll play things like Rocket League and WoT occasionally for the quick fun, but the games I enjoy the most are games where I have a reason for being and can make a difference. Where I can have goals, help my squad accomplish the squad-wide goals and objectives, feel like I'm contributing. Without that, interest falls off quickly.