Well, I think Pyro and HT are smart enough guys to learn from their mistakes. Without being privvy to their business discussions, I think in hindsight one of the things they probably regret is that they had to, to some extent, "sell their souls" to ICI/iMOL back when WB was in fledgling status. Although the repercussions were not immediate, and their creative input was not necessarily stifled, in the end, it was Pyro and HT (and Mo and Hoof and...) who ended up leaving, and iEN who ended up with Warbirds, something iEN didn't create, and something, IMO, they don't fully "appreciate" or even understand.
So wouldn't HTC remember that particularly bitter episode, and have a plan for avoiding it this time? I suspect they would, and I suspect their reputations and performance probably earned them some financial backing that enable them to proceed at their current pace without necessarily being in a "make-or-break" situation YET.
But, that said, just how big IS the "hard-core flight sim community's" niche? Are there vast untapped supplies of customers just waiting to experience takeoff torque, adverse yaw, and snap-spins into the beautiful Rolling Terrain (tm)? Or is that niche too small to be spread amongst 3 or 4 multiplayer sims? If so, AH's customer base will rely on enticing players away from AW, FA, and WB more than it will on finding that untapped reservoir of newbies.
To that end, they have, IMO, made a bit of a mistake. They have forced me to make a decision. Without dwelling on the reasoning, let's just say that everyone like me who decides to stay where they are instead of switching to AH represents lost revenue until AH proves to US that it is a superior product. For me, they haven't done it, so they lose my money until they do.
Contrast that to the beginning of CK. I was unconvinced that CK was "superior" to Air Warrior when CK first appeared. I remained unconvinced for over a year. I kept my AW account current, but I ALSO kept a basic CK/WB account going. At $20 for AW and $10 for WB (plus any extra WB I wanted to play) this was financially acceptable to me, and allowed WB to keep my interest until (with version 1.11-2.0) I was finally convinced, and switched to WB.
AH does not give me that option. To "keep my hand in" AH without giving up the (IMO) superior product (WB) is only possible if I'm willing to spend a combined $60 or reduce my WB account to a minimum level. The quality of AH doesn't meet my requirements yet to do either of those.
Flame away, tout AH all you want. Give me an option to play AH at a "limited" level of some kind, or you won't see any of my money until you're CLEARLY the superior product to folks like me.
You made us choose too soon
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