How have we lost so many people to this wonderful game?

[FESS67]

Bowlma is horrendous during off hours. So difficult to find a fight when you have to fly across the oceans. All teams can't fight against each other. Everyone spread out. Just too damn big.

I'm telling ya, it's base distance and being able fight all sides at the same time that is key.

Who wants to sit there and fly for 5-8 minutes across the oceans to fight maybe 1 or 2 guys in P51s at 1am? It's just too slow.

Even with smaller maps, far distances defeat the purpose.

There should be a concerted effort to make as many maps as possible (and promote them outside of the forums so people know).

I no longer play.  The slow pace of the game is one of the major reasons why.

I spend my time in World of Warships now.  I buy the premium account and spend on camouflages, special ships etc.

My gaming experience is:

• Wait around a minute for a battle, up to 3 minutes in off peak
• Manoeuvre for a couple of minutes to get into position
• Fight like mad for 5 to 10 minutes
• Rinse - repeat

20 minutes per match on average and most of that is spent actively fighting.  As soon as my guns reload I am firing again.

Compare that to the AH experience where I could go 30 minutes without really engaging an enemy.  I was finding that more and more I was doing low level jabo runs against towns getting ripped up by AI guns, augering and going again.  If I was to fly home that flight would have taken 20+ minutes just to drop a couple of bombs.  Very large maps (relative to population) does not promote active fronts and the result is low combat density and since I play these types of games for the fight not the scenery I finally gave up on AH.

[Ramesis]

Damn I feel old knowing what your talking about. 

Great flick. 

I'm feeling old as well Cpt... "Vanishing Point" was the flic one of my
first dates to... hold it! … the Drive-In 

[CptTrips]

I'm feeling old as well Cpt... "Vanishing Point" was the flic one of my
first dates to... hold it! … the Drive-In 

OK.  I'm not THAT old.   

I remember watching it on the late night TV movie years later (~'75-76?).

[Drano]

That the one where the bulldozers won in the end?

Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

[CptTrips]

That the one where the bulldozers won in the end?

Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

Not really.  The dozers weren't trying to stop him.  They were trying to make him submit to the MAN! 

Not quite as good as Cool-hand Luke, but along the same vein. It was the 70's. 
 

[skillet83]

I spent some time reading through parts of this thread, thought I would throw my 2 cents in here as a 17-18 year paying member. When I joined up here, I think it was through a free FFA arena that was available. Had to pay to get into the main arenas. It was through that free FFA arena that brought me over to the pay side. There were a lot of people in there and was a lot of fun. I recall it was instant action, everyone against everyone, some had unlimited ammo options. I know it had a watermelon ton of players.

At one point someone hacked HiTEch and started dropping nuclear bombs in the arena, literally. A few days later it was shut down.  Maybe if there was a way to bring that back, I think would result in a percentage of those players would convert to the pay side. Just a thought.

[Arlo]

I spent some time reading through parts of this thread, thought I would throw my 2 cents in here as a 17-18 year paying member. When I joined up here, I think it was through a free FFA arena that was available. Had to pay to get into the main arenas. It was through that free FFA arena that brought me over to the pay side. There were a lot of people in there and was a lot of fun. I recall it was instant action, everyone against everyone, some had unlimited ammo options. I know it had a watermelon ton of players.

At one point someone hacked HiTEch and started dropping nuclear bombs in the arena, literally. A few days later it was shut down.  Maybe if there was a way to bring that back, I think would result in a percentage of those players would convert to the pay side. Just a thought.

[Lusche]

(Image removed from quote.)

He's talking about the old player hosted arenas.

  Maybe if there was a way to bring that back, I think would result in a percentage of those players would convert to the pay side. Just a thought.

They are back for many years. "Custom Arenas"

[Oldman731]

They are back for many years. "Custom Arenas"

True. 

Many people, some who are active, some who are not, have said that they started out in the old player-hosted arenas.  Is there perhaps something more to be done to let noobs know that they can still do that?  Or is it simply an absence of people who are hosting those arenas?

- oldman

[CptTrips]

True. 

Many people, some who are active, some who are not, have said that they started out in the old player-hosted arenas.  Is there perhaps something more to be done to let noobs know that they can still do that?  Or is it simply an absence of people who are hosting those arenas?

- oldman

The arena can't be left up continually, so they have to happen along when one is running. 

Simply being on another tab.  I'm serious. Especially a tab labeled "Player".   

[Mongoose]

True. 

Many people, some who are active, some who are not, have said that they started out in the old player-hosted arenas.  Is there perhaps something more to be done to let noobs know that they can still do that?  Or is it simply an absence of people who are hosting those arenas?

- oldman

I was suggesting something similar some time ago. I have even tried it a couple of times.  Use a custom arena to host an event for new players or potential players.  My problem is I can't find a way to get potential players to come to the event. 

[DmonSlyr]

Custom arenas need to be named:

Free For All
Team deathmatch

I have not seen this. Only TAs room does this. Naming is important, map choice is also important. 

It would be great if hosters could log off and keep their arena open. I find one of the biggest problems is that there is no consistency in custom arenas staying up. If there was a FFA or team death match that was always open on a good map, I recon a lot more people would check it out.

We greatly need a substitute for the Match Play.

Arenas like the old H2H work, just no one has ever made a custom arenas similar, accept TA, and that's normally only open late at night.

[streakeagle]

I have been playing Aces High for quite a long time... from late 2000? or early 2001? I had way more fun in the original free HTH before it was turned off than I ever had in the Main Arena. There were regulars playing HTH almost every night. Some of them were subscribers. Some of them were top-notch pilots known to the Main Arena and forums. The one good thing about the main arena was the incredible number of people flying/fighting at the same time. The current numbers are horrible. Too low to have the kind of fun the Main Arena is supposed to provide. In its present state, I rarely play AH. If I log in nearly every night, I only have fun maybe 1 night in 10. Whereas I can have fun every single minute of every single night playing DCS World or even the IL-2 Battle series.

While the VR implementation is top notch, I don't see Aces High changing in any way useful or fun to me. When my prepaid 6 months runs out, I will certainly cancel. Unless there is some kind of radical change/massive growth in the community, I doubt I will ever subscribe again.

[Shuffler]

I am always curious as to how many folks one person can fight at a time. I was in H2H for some time before I subscribed. I used to do terrains there and host. Was fun. The mains still have fights. One can sneak around easier now if they try.  More is almost always nicer but it is still fun.

[CptTrips]

I am always curious as to how many folks one person can fight at a time. I was in H2H for some time before I subscribed.

You can have fun in a 8 person H2H arena, no doubt.  But that is not a massively-multiplayer-online-game, which what people used to be paying for in Aces High.    If number get down to 50 players, you might as well be a IL2 lobby.  Numbers decline are recursive.  As more people leave, more people leave because more people have left.

I'm not saying that to criticize Aces High or embarrass Hitech.  I'm sure Hitech in private would admit a continued numbers decline is an existential threat. The current numbers trend is not sustainable long term.  It has to be reversed.  Period.  Full stop.

I'm not saying it to be a downer.  I'm saying it because the people who see no problem are often the most resistant to any significant change because they see no need for change.  If everything is peachy-ducky then you just keep doing what you've always been doing, forever.  That approach will not end well, and the status quo will not reverse the trend.

I'm not at the level of doom Streakeagle is.    I think the game still has some runway.  It better use it.