While its not good for other countries, this is US based. Prime time is US based. No matter the sim, mornings were almost never maxed out in numbers. School, work, summer day time, etc.. that problem is lack of players in those countries. Again, it has to be advertised to draw people in.
Things like xbox took hold. That would be a part of daytime crowd.
When my son was around, he played AW and AH on my account just because my gaming machine was there. As soon as he got xbox he really just stuck to that. He’d be 32 this yr. If he were around he’d prolly pick it up as nostalgia of what he played at 13 on dads pc.
There was/is more ads for other games by scavengers coming here to entice them to go there, its not working the other way around. That should flip. Gold and diamond dust, but not as fun. They really are bait and switch money pits.
Point being, a lot has changed in the industry since 2000. The game itself us sold, just less known. Very few are getting the word out.
AW was the trunk of the tree for gameplay, then WB and AH near the trunk. The further the tree branches the thinner the gameplay.DSC gameplay is below these standards. Beautiful house on the outside, not so great on the inside. Lot if players unhappy with direction. That glitter is getting old, WT, Dcs, IL-2 numbers are slowly dropping. Remind those about AH. Those are our return players. Fact is DCS is a sim, AH is a sim played as a game. Graphic mediums must be made to accommodate numbers and data flow. Less players per server more graphics. Pick your poison.
I’m just glad I lived long enough to play my nostalgic game again myself. Call me ignorant and gullible and too old skewl. <shrug> I’m a return player, and I understand why I returned.
Smaller maps, more numbers, with HT onboard, we could squeeze 5-10 more yrs, if we try. 2-3 mid size updates could help. A lot of us are willing to help. As we used to. Dale is not alone, we’re just waiting for the green light. Until then I’ll try with vids.
Complaining while doing nothing is noise.

<S>
That doesn’t change todays issues. My vids may be just O K, but I put the date on them and try to tap into the former players. New players are harder to draw, they have other machines. Just getting former players back COULD start a cycle. Numbers breed numbers. Spread the word, save yourselves. I think enough numbers may encourage more updates, which could press the gas pedal.
I’m just one guy with ideas. Nothing more. It would be great if others got onboard. Nothing ventured nothing gained.