There's definitely room in the online flight sim/war game market. There are more sims offered and more on the way, than in previous years. Warbirds is still enjoying a fair amount of players, albeit some real connection problems. AH is still in beta and working up a good head of steam. WWIIOnline has revealed some images and conceptually sounds very good. So, is there anything to be concerned about? I don't think so.
I think its the best time in history for players. I don't know about WB3. I haven't seen any specs on this. I know WWIIOnline will have a very integrated strat model with air, ground and I think sea warfare included. I read soemthing about espionage as well. Fascinating. AH has established their commitment to a good flight sim and some level of ground vehicles, sea vessels and strat model. Sounds good too.
Why players choose one over the other is a tough call. Why did VHS dominate Beta? VHS certainly wasn't the best. Feature for feature comparison doesn't insure success.
On the practical side, I'm with -kier- and his question, "...what about connections?" No game feature, graphic, price or community matters if the player connection is poor. I haven't been in WB in almost 6 months, but I remember my connection being great 99% of the time. Around the time I left, I began to hear from squadmates and other players about chronic problems, closing accounts and deep frustration. Obviously, connects are a big one and extremely critical. AH has been excellent with connects, so far. WWIIOnline will undoubtedly get their chance. WB as we know has problems, and if 3.0 is released, it may give them a chance to turn that around.
I see several winners and several possible winners in the picture. Are there others being conjured up we don't know about? Could be. A 'sleeper' might even appear and command a nice crowd.
As for the economics of running a sim, I'm certainly no expert. I think its fair to say that companies like HTC and Playnet, with their established and respective backgrounds, have given consideration to the question. Undoubtedly they have found better and more viable methods, both financially and technically, to handle things. Will they work in the long term? Who can say? Things change, and any or all of them might make more changes over time.
I personally find it fascinating that some players make decisions based on a relatively minor amount of time trying one sim, over something like WB, which they've played for months or years. I remember when WB was in beta (Confirmed Kill) and people I knew well would try it and say, 'I hate WB. I can't hit anything. The flight model is too difficult' and similar. You could argue that the only sims around at the time were very poor. There was also an argument at the time that it was TOO difficult for the average player and would fail. Time proved the latter incorrect. Hindsight being 20-20 we can't discount either point of view as unreasonable. Early judgments just didn't hurt the sims success. Aces High, WWIIOnline, and others could go the same way. We will see.
