I can understand why Sachs is disappointed. In waiting for his special something to arrive in AH, he is no different than anyone else playing the game. We all have our own little agendas about what this game needs.
That being said, his disappointment is someone else's rapture. The CM's have been waiting for the Kate and the Stuka for sometime now, and 1.11 is a red-letter day for them. We've heard from the ground pounders who are happy about the Tiger I, and of course the P-51D dweebs are happy as clams about the new artwork for the that plane.
Personally, I suppose I could be disappointed, too, if I chose to focus on what didn't make it into 1.11. I still wait with baited breath for my beloved H8K2 Emily, which will, IMO, revolutionize gameplay in the MA(I'm sure Karnak would be more than happy to fill you in on this plane's unique abilities). But for me to focus on what wasn't added instead of what was added, is both shallow and insulting to the crew at HTC who bust their fannies to continue to make this the best online flight sim out available at the moment.
The difficulty that Pyro has as producer of AH in choosing what goes into a patch, and what doesn't, is an enormous burden. With many special interest groups working at cross purposes within the community, he has a tough juggling act to try to decide which additions take priority, and which additions can wait. Pyro is a human being, some of you forget that. When I was head CM, I spoke to him on the phone a lot, and the man is always under pressure trying to decide what takes priority. He works long and hard, as do the rest of the crew at HTC.
On a positive note, since the crew at HTC includes two programmers(HiTech, Ronni) and two artists(Superfy, Natedog), we know that in every release there will always be some bug fixes and/or game enhancements, as well as some artwork upgrades and/or new planes.
It could be a whole lot worse. For $14.95/month, we're getting a quality gaming experience that only five years ago would've cost some people over $200/month when games like this were $2/hr or more. And for that same price we've got the most responsive, most customer-oriented development staff in the business.
So, while Sachs has every right to lodge a complaint, I happen to disagree with him. No need to abuse him for speaking his mind. At the same time, a little perspective on how inexpensive this game is compared to what the market norm was a few years ago, coupled with the stellar customer service supplied by HTC, leaves me more impressed with them as a business every year they're in business.
Personally, I'm a little disappointed myself that the development period for each release seems to be growing with each one, but since I don't know what it takes to correctly size out the work, I'm not in any position to throw stones.
Life is too short to get so worked up about a small disappointment.
Blues Skies, everyone.
