Marketing AH3 in other games.

[Tumor]

Has anybody ever discussed AH3 while playing other games? I see discussions from time to time in games that I currently play about other games. I doubt you'd get much traction marking AH3 to people playing WoW but you might in DCS, WT, IL2 etc. I used to invite people to come play AH3 with me when I was still playing. I was just curious as it seems it might work.
Maybe I'm wrong?

Always.  I don't make a point to do so... but it inevitably comes up.

[AKIron]

Knock off the chatter.

[Prayer]

I have made a post on this previously.

https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,410061.msg5437106.html#msg5437106

 From my point of view the downfall is subscription and the time it takes to setup and learning curve. Even coming back to AH I dreaded going through the setup and setting buttons and views. The small tweaks that really pay off. Id really like to see if this was free to play what the numbers would look like here with a training arena

 I get the reason it is in place and it kept the game alive for many years, but may also be what leads to the eventual end. Most players cant fathom a monthly subscription for various reasons except the die hards here now. Pretty much unheard of, think it did the same thing for ww2 online along with age. Miss the good ol days here

[hazmatt]

I have made a post on this previously.

https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,410061.msg5437106.html#msg5437106

 From my point of view the downfall is subscription and the time it takes to setup and learning curve. Even coming back to AH I dreaded going through the setup and setting buttons and views. The small tweaks that really pay off. Id really like to see if this was free to play what the numbers would look like here with a training arena

 I get the reason it is in place and it kept the game alive for many years, but may also be what leads to the eventual end. Most players cant fathom a monthly subscription for various reasons except the die hards here now. Pretty much unheard of, think it did the same thing for ww2 online along with age. Miss the good ol days here

Agreed. WT has an automated setup where you can run through and have everything configured in a couple minutes even with brand new controllers.

I'm guessing HT is still making close to 90k a year with the subs based on the numbers I can see and I don't think he is going to jeopardize his income just to get a higher number of players in the game.

I'm sad to say I suspect it will end up like warbirds if that is in fact the case.

[Eagler]

... DCS is allot of scanning for dots and then being terrified of shooting down a friendly 

Add micro management of the engine and no auto pilot..and that's why some of us enjoy AH way more than dcs

To each their own..

Eagler

[AKIron]

I'm guessing HT is still making close to 90k a year with the subs based on the numbers I can see and I don't think he is going to jeopardize his income just to get a higher number of players in the game.

That's a minimum of 500 subscribers. Seems like with that many there would be less complaining about numbers.

[Shane]

That's a minimum of 500 subscribers. Seems like with that many there would be less complaining about numbers.

How many of those 500+ are complaining about #s, tho'?  You cannot go by the forum. And you're most certainly not in game to observe the massive non-whinging about #s.

Would we all like a 24/7 populated arena? Sure.  Even DCS and IL2 struggle with that. Moreso than AH, apparently. WT is an entirely different beast with a different market appeal and strategy. AH only provides a sense of emotional attachment that is easier to abandon than the emotional + $$ attachment these other models present. Aren't you concerned if DCS went under you'd lose all your $$ invested planes/terrains? Was that you?

[Meatwad]

I have made a post on this previously.

https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,410061.msg5437106.html#msg5437106

 From my point of view the downfall is subscription and the time it takes to setup and learning curve. Even coming back to AH I dreaded going through the setup and setting buttons and views. The small tweaks that really pay off. Id really like to see if this was free to play what the numbers would look like here with a training arena

 I get the reason it is in place and it kept the game alive for many years, but may also be what leads to the eventual end. Most players cant fathom a monthly subscription for various reasons except the die hards here now. Pretty much unheard of, think it did the same thing for ww2 online along with age. Miss the good ol days here

Subscription models that worked 20 years ago aren't the same as today. People now want a ftp set that allows them to adjust to the game at their pace, not 2 weeks free then sol unless you pay up. Thats going to drive off New players. When someone is too stubborn to adapt to today's needs, your product will die. Its the reality that is ignored. Combine that with a developmentally dead game, you are not going to get any new players. Its a harsh reality that someone wants to ignore rather then make any attempt to increase players

[Shane]

Subscription models that worked 20 years ago aren't the same as today. People now want a ftp set that allows them to adjust to the game at their pace, not 2 weeks free then sol unless you pay up. Thats going to drive off New players. When someone is too stubborn to adapt to today's needs, your product will die. Its the reality that is ignored. Combine that with a developmentally dead game, you are not going to get any new players. Its a harsh reality that someone wants to ignore rather then make any attempt to increase players

As being mostly, if not 100%, a sole proprietorship or very limited LLC/corporation with very few investors/owners, there's generally very little incentive for that business to outlive the owner(s).  This decision was made way back, and in the ensuing time this model has been profitable enough where a change hasn't been an imperative to on-going desires of increased profitability.

So yeah, in all honesty, this game has actually beat the norm for gaming life-cycles, especially at the small, non-corporate/investor level.  Corporations outlive their creators and have differing parameters for sustainability and profitability. 

[CptTrips]

Aren't you concerned if DCS went under you'd lose all your $$ invested planes/terrains?

Well, you're  the one who brought up DCS...

Not at all.  Companies don't go out of business overnight without warning.  To avoid legal entanglements the ED would simply disable the DRM in a patch on the way out the door.
If not, then I'm sure any bankruptcy court would order that as part of the orderly liquidation of assets.

And if not, as this owners previous sim learned, DRM is trivially easy to defeat.  There issue isn't a technical one, it's a legal one.  With no company left to seek recourse, a DRM hack would appear on the web within days.

In fact, DCS would be a lot more resilient to continuing after the parent company going out of business than AH.  DCS doesn't require a single company run a monolithic server.   It is distributed and non-centralized already.

But given DCS has no credible competitors in it's space, it's not a concern I'd give much time on.  Odds of a asteroid strike, Carrington Event, or Yellowstone Caldera eruption are probably higher.

[AKIron]

How many of those 500+ are complaining about #s, tho'?  You cannot go by the forum. And you're most certainly not in game to observe the massive non-whinging about #s.

Would we all like a 24/7 populated arena? Sure.  Even DCS and IL2 struggle with that. Moreso than AH, apparently. WT is an entirely different beast with a different market appeal and strategy. AH only provides a sense of emotional attachment that is easier to abandon than the emotional + $$ attachment these other models present. Aren't you concerned if DCS went under you'd lose all your $$ invested planes/terrains? Was that you?

So those like you posting pics of MA numbers are lying? Prime time used to be evening hours in the US. 30 people flying in the MA at prime time does not suggest a subscriber base of 500+. I'm making an observation based on what hazmat said, no need to get defensive.

[Animl-AW]

I gave no clue where these guys come up with these numbers at PT, but its BS. The MA us consistently above 90 at prime time, period. They say these low numbers to harm it. I’m calling BS right now. 30 at prime time NONSENSE. Your BS is what drives defense. Get a life. Your BS is why you get attacked, period.

[AKIron]

But given DCS has no credible competitors in it's space, it's not a concern I'd give much time on.  Odds of a asteroid strike, Carrington Event, or Yellowstone Caldera eruption are probably higher.

I'm not concerned about competition. If they were any real competition I'd likely be enjoying that product also. I'm more concerned with the company's presence in Russia, even though legally in Switzerland. Russia is not the most stable country right now.

[AKIron]

I gave no clue where these guys come up with these numbers at PT, but its BS. The MA us consistently above 90 at prime time, period. They say tgese liw numbers to harm it. I’m calling BS right now. 30 at prime time NONSENSE. You BS us what drives defense. Get a life

Others post pics. You probably have also. Easy to refute the claims of others. Just post a pic.

[CptTrips]

SIts a harsh reality that someone wants to ignore rather then make any attempt to increase players

At this point, especially given no realistic hope for full scale development to suddenly restart, I think it is delusional to even imagine vast numbers of new players being lured in. 

At this point the only feasible strategy to stabilize or re-inflate some amount of population, IMHO,  is solely possible now by luring back previous players for a nostalgia tour.  Younger players, having their expectations set by the current market, will never accept the graphics, + monetization model. Only old players who have seen worse of both over the decades think that is fine.

That's the strategy that should be focused on at this point, IMHO. There are various things that could be done, but it is unlikely feasible without HTC participation at some level of effort to try and save itself.  Yes, I'm sorry, it might even take a line of code or two.