Discord server.

[FLS]

Please tell me, what was changed about the game .   Not talking software bugs or cockpit updates, talking about the game and how it is played?  The game is played today exactly as it was played on day one.

You are confusing the game with game play. Game play is a subset of the game. I said the game is constantly being improved. You said many aspects of game play are the same. Both statements are true.

[CptTrips]

Just pointing out that 10 years ago, a social media platform FaceBook was already being used to promote AH and is still going strong today, but alas, it did nothing to prevent the loss of players in AH,I doubt that tiktok would do much better.  I was not suggesting that going to social media will help, I'm saying that in may peoples minds, AH is old and stale, that is what is preventing a mass entrance of new players from downloading and signing up.

It's very hard to measure the direct effect of things like Social Media exposure.  How many didn't leave beause it at least looked like things where being tried?  How many old players came back because they ran across the FB page and got the bug again?  Hard to know.  I had almost forgotten about AH until I happen to see it listed on Steam when looking for VR games.  You never know what tripwire you extend out into the world might catch something. 

Will it make a difference.  I don't know.  But I'm a big believer in trying things, rather than giving up, sulking and waiting for the inevitable.  As long as there is time on the clock, I believe in staying on the court and playing the game.  You never know, sometimes you get lucky. 

We can't write the code.  Unless he open sources, no one can help with that.  But where the community could help, Hitech would be smart to leverage that free labor.  And Hitech seems pretty smart, except for that whole 3-sided thing. 

The question isn't whether it would make a huge difference, IMHO.  Really the question is does it really do harm?  And sometimes you get lucky.

It might take a little extra effort on Hitech's part to facilitate the effort, but would probably pay off many times over by setting up a system to off-load so much marketing work.  In the past Hitech has been pretty smart about putting a little effort up front to leverage huge resources in the community.

He made a community available terrain editor.  Where would we be if every terrain had to be made by Hitech alone?
He made tools for editing plane skins.  Where would we be if every plane skin had to be made  by Hitech alone?

All that took a little extra effort on his part to setup, but then he gets to enjoy the force-multiplication effect for years to come.


 





 



 

[ACE]

Keep trolling FLS, it's what you do best.

It’s better to put him on ignore. Save you some time for sure.

[Triton28]

5 BBS pages on a video game web forum to debate the merits of "official" usage of a communication platform that was designed specifically around playing video games, is free, and is in wide use around the world by players and developers alike is silly. 

Everyone arguing against this should go dunk their head in cold water, slap themselves, and go apologize to their friends and family for being obstinate and hard to get along with.     

[guncrasher]

Think about it, discord is the same as comms and bb so it doesn't really offer an advantage over what we have.

Pigs use discord in other games and guess what some have different names on discord than in aces high.  Then you have to choose to play in only one server, so do you log in to country, squad or all countries.

So what is the advantage?  I see none, we have better comms in game than any other game.

So if you want to have a discord server for aces high, go for it, nobody is stopping you.

There's way too many reasons why while good in other games, it may not be a good idea in aces high. I'll give you the simplest one, language, no way to report language back to hi-tech.  I'll even throw in my personal one, I don't have a button that is not used in aces high that can be used in discord.  Discord only sees one stick so it looks at my throttle and stick as the same. And if I have to press a key on my keyboard then it puts me at a disadvantage in some situations.


semp

[FLS]

Nobody is against it per se, the comments are about the downside for an official server. If somebody can't handle polite disagreement that's their problem.

[Lusche]

So what is the advantage?  I see none, we have better comms in game than any other game.

I don't think it's about replacing the in game coms. They are still fine for the purpose they serve.

It's an additional layer of communication, allowing players to interact with each other in different ways, be it in-game as well as off-game. In some way it's a combination of the AH text chat, voice chat, BBs, with additional features. And for many of todays gamers such a discord server is currently a standard feature (unlike bulletin board systems / forums, which seem to have fallen somewhat out of use in the recent years).

That being said, I don't think it would do much for AH in it's current state. If there ever was a full reboot of Aces High however, a discord server (official or 'acknowledged') should be one of many improvements, features and changes.

[Shuffler]

5 BBS pages on a video game web forum to debate the merits of "official" usage of a communication platform that was designed specifically around playing video games, is free, and is in wide use around the world by players and developers alike is silly. 

Everyone arguing against this should go dunk their head in cold water, slap themselves, and go apologize to their friends and family for being obstinate and hard to get along with.     

Did someone say you can't use it?  I do not think anyone is arguing in this thread period. Calm down Francis.

[FLS]

The advantage to an unofficial server is that you can ban everybody that doesn't jump on your bandwagon. 

[Shuffler]

The advantage to an unofficial server is that you can ban everybody that doesn't jump on your bandwagon. 

LOL this is true.... and the way some would handle it.

[hitech]

Is that really true?

Yes it really is true, You simply define any improvement you do not like that others do is not an improvement.

You want to narrowly define game as only items you consider game.

If you wish to define game as you enter an arena, fly fight bomb things and capture territory as game. Then you are correct, you did those things when AH started, and you still do those things in the Melee arean.

Oh BTW you also want to define AH as only the Melee arena. You miss other sweeping game play changes that you may not like, as in match play, mission based play. 
You argue against your self by saying game play things were changed that you didn't like.

Your free to have your opinion on what you like and do not like. You are not free to your own incorrect facts for the sole purpose of trying to disparage HTC.

HiTech

[Triton28]

Did someone say you can't use it?  I do not think anyone is arguing in this thread period. Calm down Francis.

That is a terrific clarification to confusion nobody had. 

The debate is not whether I can use Discord or not. I do.  The debate is whether an official Discord server and it's prevalence throughout the gaming world could positively impact Aces High.  Given that it's free and not nearly as difficult to maintain as some suggest, I say yes.  There is virtually nothing to lose by having a Discord server if you're a developer or wanting to grow a video game community.  The setup is actually the most challenging, and even that is less complicated and probably quicker than showing a new AH player how to properly map and calibrate his setup.  There's also plenty of help articles and YouTube videos to help the DIY Discord owner.     

That being said, I don't think it would do much for AH in it's current state. If there ever was a full reboot of Aces High however, a discord server (official or 'acknowledged') should be one of many improvements, features and changes.

I agree that it wouldn't result in a massive influx of people or "save" the game.  Going forward though, it's hard to think future new players wouldn't see it as a valuable resource. 

[Ack-Ack]

It's very hard to measure the direct effect of things like Social Media exposure. 

 

It is actually not difficult at all, it can be expensive though, depending on how much the module will cost.  Pretty much all CRMs have, for an additional cost, modules that allow companies to track their product through social media.

For example, the CRM we use at work for our online games allow us to track in real time exactly what you think is difficult.  It also allows to track a multitude of other data through social media.

[Shuffler]

It is actually not difficult at all, it can be expensive though, depending on how much the module will cost.  Pretty much all CRMs have, for an additional cost, modules that allow companies to track their product through social media.

For example, the CRM we use at work for our online games allow us to track in real time exactly what you think is difficult.  It also allows to track a multitude of other data through social media.

Another part of the so-called free experience for the user. Just your information is sold.

[Spikes]

It is actually not difficult at all, it can be expensive though, depending on how much the module will cost.  Pretty much all CRMs have, for an additional cost, modules that allow companies to track their product through social media.

For example, the CRM we use at work for our online games allow us to track in real time exactly what you think is difficult.  It also allows to track a multitude of other data through social media.

Even our Events FB page tells me how many people the post reached and who interacted with it, etc.

At least the use of social media, in and of itself, is free advertising. We have people who post 30 times a day about nonsense on this forum. Take two of those posts and have them post information on a Twitter or Facebook page about the game in some fashion...now you have publicity.