oodee... I think you've nailed it. for some (not me) a "scenario" setting that they get all prepared for with someone calling the shots and "real missions" with "historic planesets" are the thing that really get's em off.
I don't belive that more than a handfull could take a steady diet of such an arena tho... A HA arena is a comprimise with a lot of anarchy (choice) compared to scenarios. An MA is simply total anarchy. Everyone finds the spot that they like. Or, as it is shaking out... the sim that they like.
I believe that eventually all sims will have about the same planes, damage and FM's and that people will go to the sim that caters to their taste so far as degree of "history"... I left WB because, besides their foot dragging, less than honest way of "fixing" known problems.... they went to axis vs allied. The people that have stayed there like that kind of a setup. I (and others) find it boring and too confining and lacking in variety and parity.
To claim "realism" or "elite"in one arena or another is ludicrous.lazs