I know this seems to be an issue with some players coming in. I think a better solution would be to have 6-8 planes and vehicles be free all the time in the MA. You want to fly the uber/popular rides, get a subscription. This way would keep HTC's money coming in, add more player to the arenas so the numbers would look better, and take the pressure off the new guys kmowing they could fly every day, once a month and not "burn their free time". While not EVERY free player would transfer over to a subscription player, I think youd get more subscribers than you are getting now.
I think this is a great idea.
- P51B
- Spitfire V
- B25C
- 109-F4
- A6M3
- C47
- TBM-3
- C.202
- F4F-4
Boom. Just competitive enough to gain people's attention, and make them want that extra bit more. Hell, you might get some old timers like myself to come back and add to the overall pool of targets. I don't have the time to dedicate to play to justify a subscription, but I may pay for a month here and there as I do have time.
This is basically what Eve has done. Allowed people to play their lower class ships without a subscription.
Outside of that, I don't know what to say. Subscription based games are mostly dead, and a thing of the past. There are two other routes Aces High could go down:
Free game with easy grinding and lots of "extras" to buy.This would be more like the League of Legends model. Join the game, certain aircraft are free each week. You play these to earn free credits. You can use Free credits to buy specific vehicles that then become available to you all the time. Alternatively, you can use money to buy premium credits. Then use the premium credits to outright buy vehicles/skins without having to grind for them.
Heavy Grinding GameThis would be more like War Thunder or World of Tanks. You get free base level vehicles (Hurricane I, P40B, etc.) and grind out more advanced vehicles. You use real money to buy premium vehicles (not Pay to win, just unique "XP" earners) or premium time that gives you XP grinding bonuses. Basically in this model, you use money to buy skins, or smaller grinds.