Probably will get flamed for this again.. like I always get when I say this
If AH was 10 bucks a month they would get a HELL of a LOT more costumers. The FM does NOT need to be EZ'd... heck, the FM is what ATTRACTS people to AH instead of AW or WB or those MS losersims!
I have 12 friends here in my neighborhood that are online sim fans.. some are 20+ years olds, the youngest is 14. You think they will be in AH if they could? Hell yes! They flew the 2 week trial, squeaked and suffered for the first 3 days of it, but then got the hold of it and just plain LOVED it. 2 weeks gone... $30 a month is just out of the question. Pooof! 12 costumers gone.
Not to mention that in other countries $30 a month is way over the heads of the common players. In my country in South America, $30 a month is like 60 thousand pesos... with that amount you can buy food for a month. Get my drift?
$10 a month would bring a LOT of people into AH. Those who like it are those who have friends that like these kinds of sims... they will also be brought into AH. Those who dont like it will go back to MS sim or AW and squeak about the "hard FM"... and hey, those who listen to that squeaking are likely to say "Hot damn! That sounds like a REALISTIC sim! Ill check it out!"... and become AH'ers.
*puts on his asbestos suit*
FLAME AWAY
Edited:
As far as the "EZ mode for new players":
I was a "new player" when I first flew the game.. I was somewhat familiar with ACM because I flew a LOT of SWOTL and Aces of the Pacific... but of course, nothing prepares you for playing against human pilots. I was in AW3 beta.. got my butt kicked.. ROYALLY. I became a ground attack player because I couldnt ACM worth a damn. AW3 Beta ended and I still couldnt ACM. Then, YEARS after not playing any WW2 sim, I find AH. In a week I got to be average skill in ACM, thanks to the fact that AH's graphics allow you to SEE what the other dude is doing, and many players in the community will tell you how to do it, go to the TA with you, etc.
If HTC wants to put in something EZ-like for newbies or somethign that will not get them creamed by vet players, then perhaps the addition of "trainer planes", aka a model of each plane in the set that is invulnerable to fire, whose guns do no damage and whose icons and plane paint scheme would be bright orange or something to allow other players to ID it. This would allow the newbies to TEST their abilities against players that will ignore them (it is as hard to tail and shoot a plane that is ACM'ing another plane that is not yours). This will give them newbies flight time and "fight time" in the all the models of planes...without taking them off to another arena!.
This may not be the best of ideas, but its a start
[This message has been edited by Tac (edited 09-03-2000).]
