It's the arrival of the big pork. Been there, done that, eventually left AW because of that. The path of least resistance, simpler is better for most, success without having to really go through the fairly tough and ego stinging A2A and A2G learning curve (I can remember numerous months before I got a positive K/D - looking back, mostly SA mistakes). What is ironic, is that the weakest part of this type of simulation becomes the most important. The strat model in AH or AW is/was cannot be compared to games designed for strategic and tactical play.
My understand behind the birth of these games, and the model in place in 1993/4 when I stated playing SVGA AW, is that the strat was there to facilitate ACM. All of the BBS materials, tutorials, the attitude in the arena, etc. reinforced that impression. Base capture was just a tool to facilitate A2A encounters. A niche function almost, a diversion when in the mood. Sometime around the Gamestorm era the enthusiast population was swallowed up by a mass audience less interested in reliving the exploits of Bader, or Bong, Sakai or Hartmann, and more interested in winning a game. [it was also the point at which the central/neutral capture concept had to be shelved due to server issues with having too many numbers in a centralized area. IMO this is the best capture mode (brings everybody together), but likely still impractical with the numbers here.]
There does seem to be more fighting than in the AW big pork, or at least fighting opportunities might be a little easier to get to in AH. I can remember some landgrabs in AW where the fight was 3 or more sectors away because the bases were porked 2 deep around the front line (very easy to pork bases) to eliminate opposition. But, you do have to work harder these days to find a reasonable fight (particularly in pizza). And once there, the fight doesn't seem to last very long before a gangbang shift occurs, or a lack of interest sets in among the milkrunners you're attacking, and suddenly its back to the map and hope that a fight is going on somewhere else. But for me it's not nearly as bad as the last years of AW in this regard as of yet.
It's an interesting challenge for HTC. Growth and numbers are good for business, and generally good for the game environment and community, but the masses are shown to be more console and arcade focused. Not an elitist flame, just look at console penetration figures and the type of games you play on them. At the same time, the hard core enthusiasts form a backbone of any simulation, but this is a niche population that is likely never going to generate significant growth. History just plain bores a lot of people. Finding a balance is tricky, but I get the impression that at the end of the day the simulation will remain more important than the game at HTC. I mean hell, I've been shot down by both HT and Pyro, and when the developers actually play the game that says a lot, and HT seems to be on the same page seeing this as a problem.
Charon
