What I'm hearing around the web

[Dichotomy]

Whenever I see someone that has an interest in WWII aviation online I always toss in a 'you should give hitechcreations.com a look.  Flying their platforms is a blast' or something along those lines. So in basic order of reasons people that used to play the responses are in order

'That's still around?  I played for a few years back in the day and got burned out'
'They haven't upgraded in forever and I got bored'
'I used to play but the lack of people on a regular basis it became a chore just to take off and be bored'.

People who have never heard of AH usually come back with 'Thanks I'll check it out'.

Now I don't know if Dale is just letting it sit as is and making some profit but not near as much as he used to and is okay with that, if he's working on another project that he's putting more of his energy into, or doing a massive behind the scenes upgrade (which is what I'm hoping for).

Either way my return date of Sept of this year is looking pretty solid right now.  New rig should be here mid to late August, then the CH gear, custom platform for flight controls and keyboard, and some time offline getting my setup right and my feel right.  Looking forward to it big time.

That said I've been considering coming back under a new moniker as I've pretty much quit using 'dichotomy' as an online nick and moved on to AlbusQ which has ties back to my last squad.  Thoughts on that?

[RichardDarkwood]

Thats an awful lot of preparation for Aces High. You're treating it like it is DCS which has a ton of prep work depending on the aircraft.

You don't need a badass PC to run this game.

Callsigns are overrated.

[yipi]

I noticed on Steam that its difficult to find Aces High. I tried different searches for ww2 and plane sims and even VR sims and it didn't pop up. Most new people especially with VR headsets i think would try it out if it was easier to find.  I think they can do the offline missions to try without a subscription but I'm not sure? When  they added the Offline missions a few years ago I thought that would help out a lot to get new players so they could have a way to learn.

[thndregg]

After recently coming back myself after a three year hiatus, I have had to (somewhat) alter my premise for playing the game.
As my main example, I used to thoroughly enjoy throwing together 30 flight buff missions. I still would, if the numbers were available. But they have not been for several years now. So, I've downsized, and I make do with what remains. I don't post those kinds of missions anymore. It's usually just me and remnants of my bomb group that are still around that get together at a tower somewhere.

The result has been, thus far, some good interceptor-vs.-bomber & escort action up high still happening. I'm fine with that. I salute the guys on both sides of the action that still have that amount of patience for that kind of immersion.

EGG

[The Fugitive]

I agree with the OPs assessment of how things are going. Unlike him I fear HTC is on cruise control until the numbers no longer cover the bills.

I would like to see HTC add a half dozen free planes to the MA for free for the new players coming in. This way "they" get the full experience of flying with the "group" while not worrying about a monthly bill. Hire a 3D artist to "pretty up" the explosions and hit sprits and maybe clean up the buildings and cut out a few trees. After that "fix" re-launch the game on Steam as the new and improved to try and draw a bit or attention to the game again.

I dont think it would be too much of a reinvestment for Hitech to do this, and could very well bring in a decent influx of new and old players. Some of the old tankers may come back if there weren't so many trees, Those "teens" from years ago may come back with prettier explosions and such. FREE game play in the Main Arena may bring back those that want to try it again now that they are older but have already burned their free 2 weeks. And a bit of activity on Steam surly couldnt hurt the search algorithms either.

I hope Hitech decides to "add" a bit to the game instead of letting it coast off into the sunset.

[RichardDarkwood]

I would like to see HTC add a half dozen free planes to the MA for free for the new players coming in.

What about all the planes that are in there now????
   All these planes that are in there and no one flies them.


Like I said on the Facebook post.....IF YOU DO NOT LIKE IT DO NOT PLAY IT.



And why are so many of you worried about another grown mans business for??????
Just because you have given $14.95 a month for years does not mean that what the owner does is any of your business.


Get over yourselves damn

[The Fugitive]

What about all the planes that are in there now????
   All these planes that are in there and no one flies them.


Like I said on the Facebook post.....IF YOU DO NOT LIKE IT DO NOT PLAY IT.



And why are so many of you worried about another grown mans business for??????
Just because you have given $14.95 a month for years does not mean that what the owner does is any of your business.


Get over yourselves damn

No, you misunderstand. Take 6-10 of the mid ENY planes and make them available to any player WITH-OUT a paid subscription all the time, not just free for 2 weeks.

This way they can jump in the middle of the fun and play along with everyone else. As it is now, once you burn your 2 weeks your only free version is a cutome arena or the training arenas..... not fun.

We dont need any new planes or vehicles. Some eye candy for those who need that kind of thing would be enough to call it the "NEW" Aces High.

[Dichotomy]

After recently coming back myself after a three year hiatus, I have had to (somewhat) alter my premise for playing the game.
As my main example, I used to thoroughly enjoy throwing together 30 flight buff missions. I still would, if the numbers were available. But they have not been for several years now. So, I've downsized, and I make do with what remains. I don't post those kinds of missions anymore. It's usually just me and remnants of my bomb group that are still around that get together at a tower somewhere.

The result has been, thus far, some good interceptor-vs.-bomber & escort action up high still happening. I'm fine with that. I salute the guys on both sides of the action that still have that amount of patience for that kind of immersion.

EGG

I remember participating in a few of those with you sir.  Give me a few months and I'll up some buffs with ya. 

[Dichotomy]

Thats an awful lot of preparation for Aces High. You're treating it like it is DCS which has a ton of prep work depending on the aircraft.

You don't need a badass PC to run this game.

Callsigns are overrated.

you're right.  I don't 'need' it.  I want it.  After 8 years of denying myself things I wanted to keep someone happy with what she wanted I'm gifting myself my 'toys' that I've passed on.  Currently jacking around on six screens and two towers neither of which is VR ready or capable.  I considered just upgrading them then looked at my budget and said 'hmmmm... if I just wait X months I can go big and get totally ahead of the curve on equipment.  So that's what I'm doing. 

I'll still suck but it will be fun.

[Dichotomy]

Get over yourselves damn

Okay you completely misinterpreted the tone of my post.  It wasn't a 'complaint'.  It was an observation of replies I've gotten primarily on Reddit. 

I'll be just as happy to get going again as is BUT to continually draw a new group of players and keep the numbers high requires constant upgrading because the market that a business is attempting to draw has a LOT of competition. I can grab my quest right now and play a plethora of games if that's to my liking.   

Piggybacking on Fugis point a new marketing ploy may be in order.  For instance in Quest2 there are a number of games you can try for a short period of time then opt out if it's not to your liking without spending a cent.  I'm sure it's the same with other VR systems etc.  I had no idea that AH existed until one fine day I happened to stumble across an ad on the Military channel.  That was what? 10 years or so ago? 

I'm sure there are tons of people out there that would enjoy playing with us if we just spread the word a bit via social media etc.  But to retain those players is going to require updating the graphics, keeping content fresh, etc.. but I'm sure you know all of that. 

If you take a good long look at my history I'm not a 'complainer' by any stretch and, quite frankly, from what I've seen the graphics suit my needs and desires but there's a whole host of people out there that want as much 'realism' as they can get short of sitting on a 55 gallon drum of fuel, turning the temps in their gaming area below 32 degrees, and every time you get 'killed' the gas can blows up with you on it.  That goes a bit far for even me. 

[thndregg]

I remember participating in a few of those with you sir.  Give me a few months and I'll up some buffs with ya.

Yep. Look forward to it. At about the same time you plan to be back on, I'll be heading back to the Philippines. Hopefully shouldn't be offline too long.

[Dichotomy]

We'll figure it out.  Safe travels sir 

[lunaticfringe]

What I've read on steam in the past, is no one wants to pay $14.95 a month when they can download a game like
War thunder etc. for free and pay a onetime fee for a tank or plane or ship. Its a money thing

[Tig]

What I've read on steam in the past, is no one wants to pay $14.95 a month when they can download a game like
War thunder etc. for free and pay a onetime fee for a tank or plane or ship. Its a money thing

Yeah it's partially that, but it's also the problem of specialties. For the really hardcore realism oriented people, they all go to DCS. For the people who want tons of multiplayer dogfighting, they go War Thunder.
Aces High is in the middle, so it doesn't get as much attention. Plus 'ohhh but the graphics aren't that good.....' (imagine that in a nasally voice)
I love Aces High, but sadly people are too picky nowadays.

[BiPoLaR]

In todays gaming community's, no one wants to pay $15 a month consistently. People want to either pay a lump sum up front for never ending access or play the numerous F2P games readily available. AH is extremely dated. The graphics are something that is out of date by 20 years. Graphics are extremely important with gamers today. Visuals and gameplay are top of the list for them. The lack of players is another major issue. People want to play with others, not hours by themselves. And those that want to play alone make up 0.00001% of gamers. Any multiple server games you see, everyone is piled into the top populated servers. And trying to get into those servers there is always a very long queue.

So in short, $15 a month for a game 20 years out of date with hardly any player base is absolutely crazy.