There are many reasons that older players have dropped their subscriptions (such as myself) and they are not HT s fault.
Society changes. Many such as myself were intrigued by the history of WWII. Our Fathers served during WWII. When we were younger we were enamored with that era because of what our parents went through during that time. We grew up on movies such as flying leathernecks' etc. It made us curious. Our Father would take us to the Youngstown Airport just to watch Airliners and Fighter Jets take off at the airport. Back at that time the Airlines were prop driven planes with companies such as Capital Airlines, Eastern Airlines, and TWA were flying regular flights to and from the Airport. The ones we really liked to see were the landings and take offs of the Jets from the Fighter Group that was based at the Airport. We saw a generation of fighter technology change from F-86 to the Voodoo, and the Delta Dart Fighters. We also saw many "Flying Boxcars" land and take off with Personnel and supplies for the group. It influenced a dream in us of that generation.
When flight sims became popular in the early 80s' we were all in! We were in our 30s' by then and we couldn't get enough of it! It was a dream come true! Flight Sims were popular then. We could virtually fly anything we wanted! However, flight sims were popular for a time (boxed Sims) but they take a great deal of finances to produce. They were expensive to say the least and the developers were hard pressed to make a profit from them if they could at all. Then for me and many others, Air Warrior was introduced. Dream come true! Fighting in the virtual skies with players from all over the world at any time of the day. The History is what intrigued us and still does to this day of those of us from my generation.
I've quit and come back at least twice in my participation. What discourages older players from staying is the low participation. In the 80s', 90's and early 2000s' there were many, many more participants then there are today. If one, such as myself does resubscribe we hoped the zeal of the earlier era of MMOGs' was there. We soon become disappointed because of the lack of players which translated to us as a loss of history. The genre now has turned into an instant gratification sim....... a point and click game. My favorite, the Scenarios have fallen from 300 plus participants to, if we're lucky 50 players. Thus maps have had to be smaller, tactics are limited and attacks have to made in a direction that could easily be seen and much easier to defend. Brooke and the other CMs have done a lot of work for a long time to make a Scenario an event. Sadly now it has become a skirmish only limited by the amount of players that participate. We used to see hundreds of Bombers in the virtual skies as well as defending Fighters and escorting Fighters. I don't have to tell you what it has degenerated into now. Not the CMS fault at all, it's the Community at large.
So......as an older participant, one of three generations that could have played since I entered the virtual skies there is a general lack of interest.
Now what could HT do? The game already has more then enough fighters and bombers modeled, as well as gvs! And some are never used! This takes into consideration that most vehicles and aircraft were voted on to be included! The Players themselves had a hand in selecting what should be included. It was a lot of work to model these aircraft and vehicles! And so what. It was a waste of time. I don't know what HT could be thinking. I don't know what HT has in mind. There is everything in this game now one could want! Why bother to spend time and money for no gain? It doesn't make sense.
So to me it's today's society. Different generations. No one right or no one wrong. Time passes on. The game still has the tools. These are some of the reasons why I stopped participating.
Time passes on and there is nothing we can do to stop it. The state of the game has passed me by. That is why I no longer wish to participate. My fault for being so old 
"Back in the day", Hajo was one of the players I encountered numerous times a day, day after day after day. I concur with his post.....back when I started in AH, coming from WB's, it was an opportunity to live out the actions of the pilots I had read about since junior high, doing combat in a WW2 fighter.
Seems back then, the game was more "pure", as many of the players were very well versed in the aircraft modelled in the game, the variants, strengths vs weaknesses, tactics used, etc. The goal was having fun while attempting to simulate tactics and learn, what to do, when to do it, how to do it, what not to do, and even the guy who just sent me back to the tower would offer tips on how to do better.
Not saying no one ever offers to help anymore, but when you try to offer tips, the reply you get, if you get one at all, from my own experience was.....less than polite.
The game didn't really change, I have to admit after a year or more away now.
We the players changed. Some of us burnt out sooner, some just lost interest, some got tired of what they were seeing, some passed on from this life, some just moved on with their lives and found new hobbies and interests.
I spoke with Dale on the phone a few times when I was on the fence about finally leaving this game that had been a huge part of my life for 20 years. He was supportive, and understood that sometimes it's just time to move on.
Combat flight simulators are a niche game. What was a huge and popular niche back in the late 90's when I began, has trended down to a tiny sliver, and what the younger generation that I have contact want isn't a steep learning curve, or a campaign, or taking a long time to find combat. The games all of them play are in relatively small arenas or maps, no room to much but fight or die, running isn't an option, action is quick and constant.
Time will tell what the future holds for Dale and HiTech Creations, Inc. I hope it's a good one, and he is able to look back and realize how wonderful this virtual world was for some of us.
