Skyyr

[Dadtallica]

I just meant boatload as the initial windfall from a new shiny thing on the market and it will also depend on how the price model work. I am not a fan of the way IL2 and DCS do it but it must be lucrative. I don’t like paying for each separate plane. Even if in the end I pay more for AH its still a better value proposition for me. I still contend they are not proper comparisons to AH anyway. If IL had a capture the flag aspect AH does then we have an issue Houston.

Also from what I’m reading other threads places like IL and DCS don’t have the same numbers the MA does nightly. Unless I misread it or it was exclusive to wwii servers. Which only serves the AH purpose better I guess.

If we take the consensus of the 800 subs or so still around then Dale probably nets about 100K give or take. If I could stick a hard drive in a closet and make that every year I probably would too. Plus I have no idea this man’s revenue stream so I’m just guessing.

How close did the AH single player get to completion? Anyone here on the rating crew and tell us how it was going to work?

[BigR]

I just meant boatload as the initial windfall from a new shiny thing on the market and it will also depend on how the price model work. I am not a fan of the way IL2 and DCS do it but it must be lucrative. I don’t like paying for each separate plane. Even if in the end I pay more for AH its still a better value proposition for me. I still contend they are not proper comparisons to AH anyway. If IL had a capture the flag aspect AH does then we have an issue Houston.

Also from what I’m reading other threads places like IL and DCS don’t have the same numbers the MA does nightly. Unless I misread it or it was exclusive to wwii servers. Which only serves the AH purpose better I guess.

If we take the consensus of the 800 subs or so still around then Dale probably nets about 100K give or take. If I could stick a hard drive in a closet and make that every year I probably would too. Plus I have no idea this man’s revenue stream so I’m just guessing.

How close did the AH single player get to completion? Anyone here on the rating crew and tell us how it was going to work?

I remember when they were beta testing the missions and the AI. It was actually pretty decent. I was bummed when it didnt pan out.

[CptTrips]

I just meant boatload as the initial windfall from a new shiny thing on the market and it will also depend on how the price model work. I am not a fan of the way IL2 and DCS do it but it must be lucrative.

Yes, but the point is that WWII genre will not stop a well executed product from making money.  As you note IL2 seems to have been able to generate nice revenue.  You may not buy it because you don't like paying per plane, but that is not the same as not buying it because you don't like WWII.  Apparently there are enough players who like WWII and are willing to buy per plane they, as you say, made it quite lucrative.

I agree it is not going to be as popular as more modern stuff today, but that doesn't mean there is not enough there to make it "lucrative" for a smaller niche company.  The VC investing in Combat Pilot believe so.

How close did the AH single player get to completion? Anyone here on the rating crew and tell us how it was going to work?

I don't know if it was ever seriously contemplated by HTC.  Other than singleton offline missions as a side game of the MP download.  The real purpose of the AI was groundwork for the Tour of Duty thing.

If I were king, I'd figure out how to leverage the existing AI system to cobble together a passible "value priced" indi-developer single-player sim with one or two campaigns, and release it on Steam.  14.95$ and comes with a coupon for a free month of AH Online.

Gives you another skew on Steam, another chance to make a first impression to a large gaming audience and consider it like the minor leagues as a feeder sim to channel players toward the Online subscription version eventually.  If they don't use the coupon, you still have the $15.

[Lusche]

If we take the consensus of the 800 subs or so still around

Nobody of us knows about the number of subs. I only can count the pilots, which is technically not even players. All stuff about subs is pure guesswork. 

[Dadtallica]

I remember when they were beta testing the missions and the AI. It was actually pretty decent. I was bummed when it didnt pan out.

That’s what I heard but never any details. It all went down in my absence. Too bad we can’t mod AH. That’s the only reason I still play IL2 1946.

[Dadtallica]

Nobody of us knows about the number of subs. I only can count the pilots, which is technically not even players. All stuff about subs is pure guesswork. 

Yup but it’s a pretty good framework. But yes we are for sure guessing.

[hazmatt]

If I were king for a day...(these are just a few ideas off the top of my head)

If it were my sim I would be actively involved and would log in and play for myself to see how thing were working and to see if there were ways I could improve it based on what I saw taking place in the game. (this means I wouldn't have to take 3rd hand info to find out what was going on in the game)

I would listen suggestions and criticisms from players in the game and give their ideas a try to see if anything panned out. Maybe 30 days to evaluate. Say the playerbase wanted early late and midwar arenas. Since it shouldn't be too hard to configure I would set it up and let it run for 30 days to see if it was worth keeping.

I would offer a recruitment bonus like WoW for example when you bring a new player on or an old player back to subscribing you get a month free or something.

I would do like Walmart and have a greeter. When somebody new comes on for the first time, greet them and ask if they are new and would like assistance getting started. This could be a staff or volunteer potion.

I would have a feeder squad for new players that people were auto enrolled in as soon as they started. Other players who wanted to grow  the game could volunteer for a position in this new squad and would get an achievement or something for contributing here.
 
Instead of having mods who appear to mute some people for saying something but not others, I would have people who would offer assistance in game to other players in real time. There are already tools like the ability to squelch somebody if you find yourself getting butthurt. I don't think the muting thing adds anything to the game and certainly takes away from it when it is not administered without bias.

I would have SOMETHING free to play in the main arena to get more numbers and to build perk points. The use of the free to play planes and vehicles would build up perk points but you couldn't cash them  in until you bought a plane or a subscription.

In addition to the subscription model I would. Add some sort of upgrades for one time purchase. As a parent I may not be willing to pay $48 a month for my 3 kids to play a game such as this but I might be willing to spend $10 on each of them on their birthdays or at Christmas to buy them a plane (kinda like IL2).

I could go on and on. I think there are many good ideas about, however, I get the feeling that Dale would rather play poker and spend as little time as possible dealing with the thing in the "broom closet" Maybe Dale will write a multiplayer poker game? 

[AKIron]

Also from what I’m reading other threads places like IL and DCS don’t have the same numbers the MA does nightly. Unless I misread it or it was exclusive to wwii servers. Which only serves the AH purpose better I guess.

No idea about IL2 but just about any time you can find hundreds of DCS multiplayer servers online. Don't take my word for it, take a look.

I just checked, currently 1,721 servers on line with 3,252 players. Of course the bulk are not WWII.

[Icer]

No idea about IL2 but just about any time you can find hundreds of DCS multiplayer servers online. Don't take my word for it, take a look.

I just checked, currently 1,721 servers on line with 3,252 players. Of course the bulk are not WWII.

Talk about dilution, so if every server was occupied (w
hich a large percentage aren't) that ~2 people per server..

[AKIron]

Aces High still offers something the others don't, a persistent server with a relatively large user base. Which is why it still exist after more than 20 years.

[AKIron]

Talk about dilution, so if every server was occupied (w
hich a large percentage aren't) that ~2 people per server..

You can look at the servers and see the numbers. They are not going to be spread uniformly. As I just mentioned in my last post Aces High does offer something neither DCS nor IL2 do. Which is why it remains.

[Dadtallica]

No idea about IL2 but just about any time you can find hundreds of DCS multiplayer servers online. Don't take my word for it, take a look.

I just checked, currently 1,721 servers on line with 3,252 players. Of course the bulk are not WWII.

Ok must have been WWII ones then. For me I’m not interested in jets or helicopters and I still have an old copy of FSX if I get that itch someday.

[AKIron]

I long enjoyed Aces High and others like it before but sometimes I want to fly and deal only with my own ego and drama. A few friends against an AI is useful for that.

[AKIron]

Jets and helicopters require a greater investment in learning and training for sure. Many don't have or want to spend the time needed to master them. Many do though and find it rewarding.

[CptTrips]

Hitech should merge with IL2 to form an new company to resist the Borg (DCS). 

Use IL2 graphics and assets and client and SP campaign capability, HT's persistent sandbox  arena server code.

With a limited FTP planeset and a two week trial to all planes.  Two week trial can be repeated once a year.

Now that would be interesting.

[Edit]  Of course the price would have to go up to $24.95\mo.