What would get AH growing again

[Animl-AW]

Jim Davidson meets Bernard Manning.  dO WIMMIN drivers next 

100+ in the MA last night  I was  as rusty as a very rusty thing that has been left out in the rain by the ocean for a month.  Its that or I have forgotten how rubbish I am. When I got a wee bit frustrated I got on the 8 inchers and blew up someones town 

No excessive running and people were willing to take on a Spit 9 in a 47 and I got reversed twice.

 I can now run all the features on my PC.  It all looks good and I have played Cliffs and DCS.
8 incher woop woop 

People need to know how good AH is 

Again, don’t talk here, talk there:) take it outside the bubble.

[Shuffler]

Fact.....

Zack played the part of Pipi Longstockings in a stage play at King James Academy, Royston back in 1983.

[Yarbles]

In the UK you goto jail for three years for writing a email…fact
In the UK a pervert BBC journalist news reader was caught being a nonce…two years suspended jail sentence and £300k pension…fact
The UK Prime minister is a former human rights lawyer.

Too many people in Jail 

Ask Zack he knows 

What is the food like inside Zack ?  Get back into AH and try and stop nicking thermal underwear. in July. We all want to do it but we play AH instead 

[Yarbles]

Again, don’t talk here, talk there:) take it outside the bubble.

That's it 

U Tube AH Spielbergs do your think 

[nrshida]

U Tube AH Spielbergs do your think 

I wondered when we'd be arriving at the point where a solid block of unpaid and thankless work would be delegated to some poor technically-aware but gullible sap primarily for the benefit of others. How perfectly Homo Sapiens.

Cobblers! 

[Yarbles]

I wondered when we'd be arriving at the point where a solid block of unpaid and thankless work would be delegated to some poor technically-aware but gullible sap primarily for the benefit of others. How perfectly Homo Sapiens.

Cobblers! 

 

Appen is it really tut Angel or an Old Lad wearing is flat cap. 

Mickle of muckle. yow boogers, i'll sith the in toot U tube. .

There is more to life than ale and whippets 

ya daft munkeys

[nrshida]

Appen as likely as not t'Orange-fella is reet an coin is t'only way betwixt work and want. Cobblers to community and contributions sunder soverigns. Let's put wood in t'hole on that whole back-passage of nonsense and g'f'rth with nowt-but no-pay-no-play road. 'Nuf chelpin’ old-Yarbles thee can make t'first Utoob promotion and see what comes of that ba’ht farthings. Ope thee has a reet grand time and not get brayed with t'copyright faffin’ 

[Yarbles]

Appen as likely as not t'Orange-fella is reet an coin is t'only way betwixt work and want. Cobblers to community and contributions sunder soverigns. Let's put wood in t'hole on that whole back-passage of nonsense and g'f'rth with nowt-but no-pay-no-play road. 'Nuf chelpin’ old-Yarbles thee can make t'first Utoob promotion and see what comes of that ba’ht farthings. Ope thee has a reet grand time and not get brayed with t'copyright faffin’ 

Chuufin heck 

Seriously old chap put in about 6 hours yesterday. I will do anything to keep this game going it is my retirement plan now 

You understand it as well as anyone. Tell us what to do wise one 

If we could find a way to let more old fellas have the opportunity to play a low computer spec, mutli player, multi vehicle and plane set with clear objectives, there would be a stampede to AH definately.

When I played last night I found it is full of top chaps with plenty of miles on their clocks. Currently too many old fellas are gardening, watching ww2 documentries, enjoying domestic intimacy, indulging snot nosed grandchildren and preying for death. They could be fighting ww2, having it large and living the dream  if they only new it existed 

It should be free on the health service as a cure for dementia 

AH is the cure for ageing and High Tech must be re enthused by our efforts.

So I would not change anything about the game. All it needs is more people to know about it. There is plenty of opportunity to practice off line. As to graphics well my "machine" (old codger speak) supports them which is a result. The DOT recognition is excellent outside of icon range.  AH also does not use a shed load of memory and the graphics it does have are good enough for the game. People still play board games FFS. The flight model is second to none. The vehicle and plane set is enormous. $15 is f all for what you get. Yes the player base is very experienced now but one can still jump in and be target pracice for them but have fun. In 2005 my K/D was about 1 to 25 but I kept going. I think we all went through that at the start. Finding AH was enough 

I think if people know about it, it still sells itself and I have played Cliffs and DCS. As multi player games AH is much better 

In my opinion AH has simply slipped off the Radar probably partly due to changes in the life of HT and that is fine but if there is anything people know of that could get it back on there we huge fans on AH should try to get it back on there. Maybe not back to 4000+ subscriptions and huge maps but double the current numbers would be  . I also hear it is top in VR which I want to have when it is a bit more sorted in general.

We are a community of fellow enthusiasts. 

[LCADolby]

Appen as likely as not t'Orange-fella is reet an coin is t'only way betwixt work and want. Cobblers to community and contributions sunder soverigns. Let's put wood in t'hole on that whole back-passage of nonsense and g'f'rth with nowt-but no-pay-no-play road. 'Nuf chelpin’ old-Yarbles thee can make t'first Utoob promotion and see what comes of that ba’ht farthings. Ope thee has a reet grand time and not get brayed with t'copyright faffin’ 

[nrshida]

Seriously old chap put in about 6 hours yesterday. I will do anything to keep this game going it is my retirement plan now 

Some problem domains have no solution. If you become infirm before Dale does and do so before the running costs exceed the subscription-income then maybe your plan is viable. Largest threat is self-disillusionment. Best to have a backup plan like binging every single one of the 879 episodes of Crown Court like we all used to watch when off sick from school.

You understand it as well as anyone. Tell us what to do wise one 

I'm merely the son of the village farrier and blacksmith. I don't have what you're looking for. Dale is merely the owner of this game, he doesn't either. Mr. Oranje merely thinks he's the most powerful man on earth so he certainly doesn't in a perfectly-described Douglas Adams stylee. Why would you think there are any answers for us. Look at the evidence and integrate it logically if you dare to stare into the abyss. If you want to improve your flying each time you get out-flown, analyze and use that to navigate backwards through all of the things you've learned incorrectly and reconstruct from there. That is as meaningful as any other challenge one could find.

[Yarbles]

binging every single one of the 879 episodes of Crown Court like we all used to watch when off sick from school.

It was all happening in Fulchester 

[diaster]

I am sure HT has asked himself this question but we can talk about it.

What amazes me about AH is how many different elements it has still compared to what else is out there.

Planes, GV'S, Ships, ground guns etc and they are still making films about WW2 so there is an interest.

What do people think might make it grow again in player numbers?

Positive suggestions please     

sIMPLE, NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT IT. I saw a you tube video and the person was talking about top ten flight sims. Four of them were junk, looked like cartoons, like from the 80's
Another host talked about best vr flight sims, again AH wasn't even on the list.
I remember it used to be advertised, on the History channel back in the day. Marketing 101, if you don't market you don't have a market.
Sadly, I think HT is just disinterested at this point and the game is being allowed to die, no updates since before 2020 if I am not mistaken.
VR   needs a tuneup at the least.

[hazmatt]

I pretty much don't post on the boards anymore but in this case I thought it might be helpful to have another perspective. I think that most gamers today are used to the free to play/pay to win model.

One of the games I have moved on to regularly has 200,000 people playing when I log on, most of them in WW2 aircraft and tanks, so there is obviously a market for WW2 stuff. 1 percent of 200,000 is a lot. I have no idea on how to reach those people but they are obviously out there and I suspect many of the players of those "other" sims consider a "free to play/pay to win" option as it seems most are used to the model where you get "something" for "paying." What I mean is if I want to buy a plane I pay $6 or whatever and you can add that plane to your inventory. In my experience when I used to try to get them to try AH they would ask me what they got for the $15 a month (as in planes or vehicles) and they didn't seem to find the "rental" aspect appealing. I for one have moved on and would probably only consider coming back if this game offered a free to play option as I have not experienced the issues that I did in this game in the new ones that I currently play.

My new found interest is in the early jets of the late 40ies and early 50ies like the F-89B. I've found these to be challenging in simulator mode as the speed range is rather small from enough speed to prevent a snap roll to enough speed to hit compression and if you hit compression nose down there's a good chance you can break your plane even with the throttle off and boards out. You have to work the boards as much as the throttle and I think I've killed myself more then I've been killed by other players. 6 center-line 20mm and no missiles makes it challenging but fun!

[Yarbles]

I pretty much don't post on the boards anymore but in this case I thought it might be helpful to have another perspective. I think that most gamers today are used to the free to play/pay to win model.

One of the games I have moved on to regularly has 200,000 people playing when I log on, most of them in WW2 aircraft and tanks, so there is obviously a market for WW2 stuff. 1 percent of 200,000 is a lot. I have no idea on how to reach those people but they are obviously out there and I suspect many of the players of those "other" sims consider a "free to play/pay to win" option as it seems most are used to the model where you get "something" for "paying." What I mean is if I want to buy a plane I pay $6 or whatever and you can add that plane to your inventory. In my experience when I used to try to get them to try AH they would ask me what they got for the $15 a month (as in planes or vehicles) and they didn't seem to find the "rental" aspect appealing. I for one have moved on and would probably only consider coming back if this game offered a free to play option as I have not experienced the issues that I did in this game in the new ones that I currently play.

My new found interest is in the early jets of the late 40ies and early 50ies like the F-89B. I've found these to be challenging in simulator mode as the speed range is rather small from enough speed to prevent a snap roll to enough speed to hit compression and if you hit compression nose down there's a good chance you can break your plane even with the throttle off and boards out. You have to work the boards as much as the throttle and I think I've killed myself more then I've been killed by other players. 6 center-line 20mm and no missiles makes it challenging but fun!

I have to say when someone set up a good Arena in DCS people were vounteering subs to keep it going. I think the no subs model does apply to the 4 second attention span younguns  but they are annoying children like we used to be.

Anyway Nrshida I refuse to buy this stoical, inevitability, lets watch it die slowly persona you have adopted. Like others on here I am sure you and they can do more. Ok so far I have come up with posting U tube vids which do not involve HT having to do anything. How about some more ideas that don't involve HT that can work. What about Dolby he is a mover and shaker among others ?

Lets not confuse apathy with inevitability, yow boogers 

If we boil this down to the substantive we know the reason AH is not growing becuause there are literally millions of old fellas like us who don't know it exists and that is the starting point. When I found out about it I was at 40 "Oh Brave New World with such people in it".  !!  "Let the people know" is the only furtile ground I think we have. 

Consider also it is a NICHE small business one that can potentially be sold. HT can potentially cash out if he wants to. If he does any future investor will want to keep and grow the core. If it is growing it will be worth allot more than if it is shrinking which means serious investment. 1000 subs per month is £15,000 x 12 = $180,000 a year less costs. I susspect if the subscribers doubled given the current set up the extra would be pure profit. It is clearly just a matter of increased visibility. 

Simplest step for all of us is try and bring back people you are still in touch with back into AH. That is what I am doing. Renew old aquaintances. We are all older and hopefully have more time. Ex squaddies is a good place to start. 

As to graphics and old hat well: As I said my medium range PC now runs everything and everything is allot better than I remember. It has got allot better.   

I flew FSO yesterday and am going to do Scenario. It is the most fun I have had with my trousers on since I used to do track days on my motorbike which cost a fortune.   

[Brooke]

Get your family and pals to play.

I've got the Brooke clan flying scenarios:  my dad, my 2 daughters, my 3 nephews, two college buddies, one former co-worker, two dads of daughters' friends, one guy I met at gaming convention, a friend of a friend.  Soon will work to add a friend of my daughters.  Will work on one other buddy and dad of daughters' friend.

Every get together I go to, if I find out a person likes airplanes or games:  "I play this multiplayer WWII air combat sim..." followed by my hard-sell recruiting pitch to fly with me in scenarios.