It's definitely bad news. It seems ICEMAN will be leaving too. It looks like "shit or get off the pot" time for WildBill and iEN. Frankly, i don't trust him to develop WBIII into the game it can/should be.
Perhaps WildBill can get some people to replace HS and ICE and move ahead on coding and perhaps he will allow WBIII to be "modded" by the players. If he does that, then things could get interesting.
Having said that, Warbirds, and it's "Community", is/was like no other online game ever created. You can disagree with that statement if you like and i'll just say you are full of s*** too or merely ignorant. There will NEVER be another community like the one that was/is Warbirds. The unfortunate FACT is the game "Warbirds" was/is badly managed by every cotton-pickin' owner who ever had the reins of this great game. And that is a crying shame.
And i can tell you that most WB'ers are NOT interested in flying around in a "Mayhem Arena" packed with 600 players flying the Uber-Plane Du Jour. We have been there and done that. Most of us would rather quit online flight-sims altogether then repeat that old nonsense. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.........
Perhaps Aces High can assume the mantle of the Warbird's Squadron Select Series and add Early War aircraft, make it's "Ground War" into something less arcadish, and move it's Graphics Engine up to today's standards. That's what it would take of HTC to attract many of us long-time flight-simmers/WB'ers.
I wish SOME Game Developer would. After all the "advancements" in PC gaming over the last half-dozen years, online flight-sims haven't really advanced much at all. IL-2 looks good, flies bad, and has limited planeset/theaters, and is not really an "online" game. WBIII looks good, flies pretty good, has much potential for AI, "Strat", and WB's Events have no equal. But it's management sucks, as it always has. WWIIOL also has great potential, but it's "flying game" is severely limited and needs beacoup development to interest most WB'ers.
Can Aces High replace WBIII for all of us WB'ers?? The answer is: "Not for most of us". It's up to HTC to move Aces High to the "Next Level" to attract us serious simmers/fliers. I imagine HTC doesn't think they need to bother what with the large player-base HTC now has. And with less competition there is even less reason to invest the time and money to do so.
If WB's "disappears" i would be more than happy to "pay a little more" for a greatly improved Aces High. That's my challenge to HTC to attract players who feel as i do..........
P.S.
Funked, it's not about "brand loyalty" lt was always about the "Community" and personal preference in game design and direction. Nobody gives a hoot who owns/develops the games. It's the GAME that matters.............
Cabby
