Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Aces High General Discussion => Topic started by: Zeta on July 07, 2021, 06:27:22 PM
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(simple stupid) On the first Thursday of every Month, A Forum drops down that allows six hours of time in that Particular forum, and closing hours later...much like TT years ago. NO commingling though. There has to way way to do it. Give them a reason to come back. Give it as go for sic months.
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Wattttt?
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(simple stupid) On the first Thursday of every Month, A Forum drops down that allows six hours of time in that Particular forum, and closing hours later...much like TT years ago. NO commingling though. There has to way way to do it. Give them a reason to come back. Give it as go for sic months.
Are you saying that once a month they open a free arena (forum?) like "Titanic Tuesday" for 6 hours to try and bring back players?
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WW2OL has a "welcome back soldier" every now and then on the weekends to allow people to play the full game for free. But they also allow free play with restrictions to keep their numbers up. I think free basic infantry, maybe a truck, etc. Just enough to get you to play and try it out in hopes to be a subscriber. Would be nice to have that here also
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The biggest challenge is getting the word out and getting people to come for the event. If you can get people to come, we can do our own free fly event. A paid player can set up a custom arena, and non-subscribers can play in the custom arena. I have tried to use this feature to set up events for prospective players, but I couldn't find a way to get prospective players to come.
If you do a free arena once a month, then you could have a small group of volunteers to coach the new guys and advertise the game.
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uhhhhh who is "simple stupid??? Ever been to the Dale Carnegie class on "How to make friends and influence people"? Might want to check it out. :devil
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I just spotted a problem. You would have players who have left or been expelled coming back and messing things up. I still think it is worth a try.
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remember when everybody asked for ah to be available on , mind just went blank on the name of the platform.
anyway, 10s of thousands checked it out. average life span was 15 minutes. 15 minutes of a two week trial.
how is having an arena free once a month will bring subscribers? if they really want to play, they would be here already.
semp
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remember when everybody asked for ah to be available on , mind just went blank on the name of the platform.
Steam :old:
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(simple stupid) On the first Thursday of every Month, A Forum drops down that allows six hours of time in that Particular forum, and closing hours later...much like TT years ago. NO commingling though. There has to way way to do it. Give them a reason to come back. Give it as go for sic months.
:confused: :headscratch:
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Or let anyone play for free but limited to the uber planes...spit16, p51, yak, 190 or 2, etc...
Maybe then the pilots who fly those crates would be motivated/ embarrassed enough to fly something more challenging
Eagler
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Or let anyone play for free but limited to the uber planes...spit16, p51, yak, 190 or 2, etc...
Maybe then the pilots who fly those crates would be motivated/ embarrassed enough to fly something more challenging
Eagler
Not sure if this was sarcasm and i'm missing it, but we have people that have been here 20 years and only fly those.
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Before the squad disbanded we flew exclusively P51D and the P47. Even had custom sites on it specifically for jabo missions. Would have about 15 of us on a mission to knock out bases. But those days are long gone
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Or let anyone play for free but limited to the uber planes...spit16, p51, yak, 190 or 2, etc...
Maybe then the pilots who fly those crates would be motivated/ embarrassed enough to fly something more challenging
Eagler
Crates? LOL Any plane can be mastered and become easy to fly for a pilot willing to put in the time. I flew the Yak-9t. Alot. Was it less challenging for me after a few years? Yes.
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Your posts confirm the need to allow the rookie pilot the advantage of the superior aircraft while having the experienced pilots fly the harder planes..
Nothing like some rookie having their scalp handed over to them repeatedly by a > 10 AH vet in a spit16...
Sure that does wonders for retention
Eagler
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Your posts confirm the need to allow the rookie pilot the advantage of the superior aircraft while having the experienced pilots fly the harder planes..
Nothing like some rookie having their scalp handed over to them repeatedly by a > 10 AH vet in a spit16...
Sure that does wonders for retention
Eagler
Eagler
Your posts says let anyone play free but limited to the uber rides. You'd have half the player base cut their subscription since that's all they've used the last decade or 2. That's a great idea if you want HT to go out of business.
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The other day that was what I can only guess to be a new player attacking over and over with a spit mkI and needless to say he kept getting kilt.
I saluted him but I did not get a response. I think that most likely he will get frustrated and quit if one of his countrymen does not taking him under their wing.
It would be nice if all new players could be assigned to a "training" for lack of a better term squad when they first start where some kind souls could help them to get the basics down and where they could have some other new guys to fly/fight together with.
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Your posts says let anyone play free but limited to the uber rides. You'd have half the player base cut their subscription since that's all they've used the last decade or 2. That's a great idea if you want HT to go out of business.
For a limited time only, an extension of the current free 2 week trial
Then they pay and fly anything
Same with gv but don't know what vehicles that would be
Eagler
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My bad fellas. What the first heart attack did not take.....the second won did. I have no business on message boards lol
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Your posts confirm the need to allow the rookie pilot the advantage of the superior aircraft while having the experienced pilots fly the harder planes..
Nothing like some rookie having their scalp handed over to them repeatedly by a > 10 AH vet in a spit16...
Sure that does wonders for retention
Eagler
I started this game getting pounced by Muppets, Rolling Thunder, Jokers Jokers, and several other notorious players that did not have squads. This is nothing new and has little to do with player retention. In fact when I was busy getting the stuffing beat out me in those early years, ACES High's numbers were growing towards the Titanic Tuesday heyday super player numbers.
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I think they should create some kind of pre-training squad. A group of players willing to spend some time with newbies logging in, to give them the basics. Set up their stick if they have one, radio usage, how to move around on the game map, that stuff to get them going. Half hour tops. If they want more training, turn them over to the training corps ( how many do we have left?).
If HTC could add a question in the sign in/up page that says "what time are you available for play/or quit tips session?". Add a bit of code to tie that to a data base with the names of players willing to help and the time they are available so a game message scrolls up "new player loggin in can you attend?" Click yes and give the new guy a hand getting going.
I think thats why we lose them in the first 15 minutes. There is far too much info that is not intuitive and so they get lost and leave. You cant really play this game with "A" "S" "W" "D" and a mouse and be competitive in the first 15 minutes. They need someone to met them at the door and help them to get started. Heck the basic information could even be loaded up as a .doc on the server. Give them the link and they dont even need to take notes.
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problem too is you can't find joystick. and the ones available are expensive as heck.
semp
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I started this game getting pounced by Muppets, Rolling Thunder, Jokers Jokers, and several other notorious players that did not have squads. This is nothing new and has little to do with player retention. In fact when I was busy getting the stuffing beat out me in those early years, ACES High's numbers were growing towards the Titanic Tuesday heyday super player numbers.
As was I..and still do
Today's players are not yesterday's nor are the numbers
Just an idea to try to help subscriptions
Eagler
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I has re download the game the other week on my new computer. I was surprised to see the new user videos. I thought they did a pretty good job. I didn't watch all of them because I knew what to do, but I think they are helpful for new players, especially setting up your stick. The only thing I couldn't figure out was how go get the videos to display again after clicking the "Don't show videos again" button.
Again tho, it's not about how many times you die. It's about how long it takes you to enter fight or get to a base and then die without doing anything.
In the AVA Monday madness, it takes you 1 minute to get back into the furball. Dying doesn't matter because it's easy to get back In to it.
In the MA, it will take you 5 minutes or so to get back into the fight, depending on how much alt you want. This means you don't want to die quickly because spending another 5 minutes climbing out doing nothing is boring.
So bigger maps with far bases are very detrimental to new players no matter what plane they fly. This is why when I first started AH, I did not like the MA and only flew in H2H. I was able to get into a fight much more quickly and engage with another player quickly. I got my arse beat a lot by Yaws and Olly75th, but that only gave me more ambition to be better.
It was the pain staking far bases in the MA that I did not like. Luckily I knew how to play the game much better when H2H closed and I was able to understand the MA better. IMO, closing H2H because of a hacker was a big mistake. Changing the DA was a big mistake. Making 2 MAs with player caps was a big mistake. It should have been Titanic Teusday every day. When squads could not be with each other, that was the beginning of the down turn.
I would love to have free spit5s, free 109fs, and free a6m3s for a month or something. I think it would be great to allow players to play the game with longer than 2 weeks in the MA. It would also allow old players to see the game again and play it. Thus increasing the MA #s. I can almost promise you that many of those players would subscribe to get to play in that P51.
I also think the subscription model is a big weakness for AH in getting a lot of #s into the MA. So there needs to be a better bait hook for new and returning players other than 2 weeks, IMO.
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As was I..and still do
Today's players are not yesterday's nor are the numbers
Just an idea to try to help subscriptions
Eagler
Noted. Not beating down on you. I get it. I love this game as well and it broke my heart to admit it no longer kept my attention because of lower numbers. I hope it turns sometime. I would come back in a heartbeat.
:salute
Waystin2
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problem too is you can't find joystick. and the ones available are expensive as heck.
semp
They’ve been purchased by the thousands of players flying war thunder, il-2, and dcs, enjoying free multiplayer with state of the art, constantly updated graphics and plane sets. But I’m sure they will soon be rushing back here to pay $15/month to play a game that hasn’t been updated in years.
Eagler is right - the web site has been ignored and is an insult to the community. Even the scores can’t reset without reminder.
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They’ve been purchased by the thousands of players flying war thunder, il-2, and dcs, enjoying free multiplayer with state of the art, constantly updated graphics and plane sets. But I’m sure they will soon be rushing back here to pay $15/month to play a game that hasn’t been updated in years.
Eagler is right - the web site has been ignored and is an insult to the community. Even the scores can’t reset without reminder.
lol, been waiting for almost 2 months to find a stick I can afford. my stick has no rudder and only 2 buttons usable. my throttle is failing 2. I fly using no rudder.
but sure the game hasnt been updated in years, but a couple of months ago, I was pissed off, cause i logged in and had download an update. the 5 minutes to update I was screaming.
semp
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The only thing I would expect to change around here is the skins. The end is near, so are my computer payments. Perfect timing.
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The only thing I would expect to change around here is the skins.
Fly blue
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The end is near, so are my computer payments. Perfect timing.
When? A month? A year?
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I wouldn't be surprised if it went offline tomorrow. NOR would I be surprised if he let the candle burn until the wick hits the floor. It's kinda like watching an old friend die.
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I wouldn't be surprised if it went offline tomorrow. NOR would I be surprised if he let the candle burn until the wick hits the floor. It's kinda like watching an old friend die.
What makes you suspect this?
There’s special events scheduled and the weekly events put on by players...
I was looking at the roster the other day and saw a player rank up in the 800’s, then there’s those that are still paying but don’t have the time to play.
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What makes you suspect this?
There’s special events scheduled and the weekly events put on by players...
I was looking at the roster the other day and saw a player rank up in the 800’s, then there’s those that are still paying but don’t have the time to play.
I remember player ranks I. The mid 2000 range just a few years back. It's pretty standard to have less than 30 people on, between 6am-1pm PST. That combined with large, toejam*y maps makes for me logging on and right back off. I'm not the only one.
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I've flown AH for about 20 years. There have been periods of time when I don't fly, but I like to support AH so I continued to subscribe anyway. Recently I've come back after a fairly long period of time. Fewer players. The ones left are dedicated pilots that are highly skilled. That means mostly I die. For new pilots to get any encouragement that they might eventually make the grade it's hard to get in there and die time after time. The fights are much smaller. I no longer belong to a squad. Those guys quit long ago. Flying alone your almost guaranteed to get trapped easily. I don't see much of the camaraderie we seemed to all share in the past. I don't really know what's causing it. I recently brought a 81 year old friend to AH and he's having a blast. Can't fly worth a darn and laughs about dying all the time. Maybe he feels great because he's not dead yet and feels very much alive. My friend and I love just flying around.
What to to about the problem of not enough pilots. Our society in general is polarized. We no long have the text buffer to easily message back and forth. A few made it unpleasant for the many who love to fly and escape the real world for a short while. I'm just sharing my feelings here and wish I were smart enough to offer the solution. I still love flying around. If you see Nomad me and we're here just for the fun of it. You want more folks. Have more fun.
Some of the things I never figured out.
The sheep game.
What difference it might make to choose a different field in match play.(I'm always launched at 10k in the same place)
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I'd like others opinion on my observation.
I've recently been able to come back to flying during prime time and I've noticed that it appears now that there are many more (what some would call) "pickers"
I was in a challenging and fun 1vs1 the other day and 2 of his buddies (one it a very high pony and one and a very high 152) showed up and "picked" me while I was engaged in the 1vs1.
Due to this sort of game play I've changed my tactics to flying faster planes and disengaging when I see the higher cons approaching.
I think this adds to the lack of "good fights" as players adapt their tactics to stay alive.
I for one try to stay out of uneven fights unless I'm in revenge mode.
I saw a stuka and a jug fighting the other day and I stayed out of the fight until the stuka somehow killed my countrymen and then I just had to go kill that stuka for such a travesty.
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I'd like others opinion on my observation.
I've recently been able to come back to flying during prime time and I've noticed that it appears now that there are many more (what some would call) "pickers"
I was in a challenging and fun 1vs1 the other day and 2 of his buddies (one it a very high pony and one and a very high 152) showed up and "picked" me while I was engaged in the 1vs1.
Due to this sort of game play I've changed my tactics to flying faster planes and disengaging when I see the higher cons approaching.
I think this adds to the lack of "good fights" as players adapt their tactics to stay alive.
I for one try to stay out of uneven fights unless I'm in revenge mode.
I saw a stuka and a jug fighting the other day and I stayed out of the fight until the stuka somehow killed my countrymen and then I just had to go kill that stuka for such a travesty.
There's quite a few Mustang/190 pilots that bravely extend 6k then come back when you're engaged. If I had name one that I had a good fight with I couldn't, I'd have to dig back 10 years for a name. I've changed from from trying to get into 1v1 to disengaging soon as a high con comes in, most of the base is looking for kills not fights.
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I was looking at the roster the other day and saw a player rank up in the 800’s, then there’s those that are still paying but don’t have the time to play.
They will come running back once the Vulcan port is complete!
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There's quit a few Mustang/190 pilots that bravely extend 6k then come back when you're engaged. If I had name one that I had a good fight with I couldn't, I'd have to dig back 10 years for a name. I've changed from from trying to get into 1v1 to disengaging soon as a high con comes in, most of the base is looking for kills not fights.
Ding, Ding, Ding! We have a winner!
The "fight" is no longer the main attraction of the game. We MUST tally those kills for girls to worship us.
It is one of the main reasons newbies log and never return im sure.
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What makes you suspect this?
There’s special events scheduled and the weekly events put on by players...
I was looking at the roster the other day and saw a player rank up in the 800’s, then there’s those that are still paying but don’t have the time to play.
Peanuts has been talking about AH3's death throes every since he got back in the game. Nothing new same o same o. :rolleyes:
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It would be interesting to see uber rides only available to the two-week newcomers.
Maybe add the Sea Fury, Bearcat, P-51H, Spit Mk.XXIV, Ta-183, Horten 229, Ki-J7W2, and so on.
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It would be interesting to see uber rides only available to the two-week newcomers.
Maybe add the Sea Fury, Bearcat, P-51H, Spit Mk.XXIV, Ta-183, Horten 229, Ki-J7W2, and so on.
sorry but I pay my dues to fly the pony. sometimes I cant. but no pony available all the time, might as well quit.
semp
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They’ve been purchased by the thousands of players flying war thunder, il-2, and dcs, enjoying free multiplayer with state of the art, constantly updated graphics and plane sets. But I’m sure they will soon be rushing back here to pay $15/month to play a game that hasn’t been updated in years.
Eagler is right - the web site has been ignored and is an insult to the community. Even the scores can’t reset without reminder.
I have a great idea, why don't you start and run a game because obviously you can program and do much better. Quit trying to fool people those games are not free, most people that are good at them will spend more than $15 a month. You may think the pretty airplanes are neat but they fly like a cardboard airplane.
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I have a great idea, why don't you start and run a game because obviously you can program and do much better. Quit trying to fool people those games are not free, most people that are good at them will spend more than $15 a month. You may think the pretty airplanes are neat but they fly like a cardboard airplane.
I think the numbers speak for themselves, especially the number of players. Even the few of you still coughing up $150/year to fly in empty arenas can’t expect anyone else to buy into the delusion that this game has better features, graphics, gameplay, or community!
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Peanuts has been talking about AH3's death throes every since he got back in the game. Nothing new same o same o. :rolleyes:
it's coming g sooner than any of us would like. Donald said Corona would be over by summer....he was just off a lap around the sun...I may be too.
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I think the numbers speak for themselves, especially the number of players. Even the few of you still coughing up $150/year to fly in empty arenas can’t expect anyone else to buy into the delusion that this game has better features, graphics, gameplay, or community!
which arena is empty, cause I havent flown in an empty arena.
semp
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I think the numbers speak for themselves, especially the number of players. Even the few of you still coughing up $150/year to fly in empty arenas can’t expect anyone else to buy into the delusion that this game has better features, graphics, gameplay, or community!
Is this the third or fourth shade, I’ve lost track.
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Is this the third or fourth shade, I’ve lost track.
I'm waiting for him to announce his new game. :D
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Is this the third or fourth shade, I’ve lost track.
Do you think you can sell your skins to the IL2 guys?
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Steam :old:
There are two core requirements to making a sale.
1. You have to get your product in front of potential customers.
2. You have to produce a product the potential customer is willing to pay the asking price for.
Releasing on Steam satisfied the first.
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I started this game getting pounced by Muppets, Rolling Thunder, Jokers Jokers, and several other notorious players that did not have squads. This is nothing new and has little to do with player retention. In fact when I was busy getting the stuffing beat out me in those early years, ACES High's numbers were growing towards the Titanic Tuesday heyday super player numbers.
I think you are both right.
IMHO, Newbies getting slapped around wasn't nearly as painful back in the day with numbers and fights everywhere that you could get back in action quickly.
An entire match of Battlefield can be completed in the time it takes now to launch and fly on auto-pilot to where there is a great fight going. If you can find one.
For those that remain, that is apparently tolerable if not desirable, or else they would have closed their accounts. On the good side, I think AH has hit a firm bottom on the population. I don't think many of the remaining dead-enders will quit out of frustration, or else they already would have. I expect about 20-30 players a year to evaporate off due to illness or the Grim Reaper, not due to choice (tho some will like many of the Pigs). When I had come back briefly in 2018, numbers were consistently ~180 a night in the Main. Nowadays, it looks ~120. That's a gradual glide slope at least, but relentless and will not magically reverse course on it's own. I see no realistic possibility that the current game, in it's current design, will ever materially increase numbers again. I can not imagine any scenario that the current game, in it's current design, will get back to say...a dependable 300 players a night.
At some point the surviving population with hit a demographic inflection point where that attrition rate hits a large percentage of the players all at once. But that might take a couple of more years.
Though, if WB finally gives up the ghost, you might win over some of the 8 or 9 players that still fly that. :aok
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Do you think you can sell your skins to the IL2 guys?
Don't know and not the reason I would do them. I did them 100% for me first, anyone else that likes them or use them is a bonus.
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For those that remain, that is apparently tolerable if not desirable, or else they would have closed their accounts. On the good side, I think AH has hit a firm bottom on the population. I don't think many of the remaining dead-enders will quit out of frustration, or else they already would have. I expect about 20-30 players a year to evaporate off due to illness or the Grim Reaper, not due to choice (tho some will like many of the Pigs). When I had come back briefly in 2018, numbers were consistently ~180 a night in the Main. Nowadays, it looks ~120. That's a gradual glide slope at least, but relentless and will not magically reverse course on it's own. I see no realistic possibility that the current game, in it's current design, will ever materially increase numbers again. I can not imagine any scenario that the current game, in it's current design, will get back to say...a dependable 300 players a night.
At some point the surviving population with hit a demographic inflection point where that attrition rate hits a large percentage of the players all at once. But that might take a couple of more years.
Though, if WB finally gives up the ghost, you might win over some of the 8 or 9 players that still fly that. :aok
Charge a one time fee for the game, get rid of the two week free trail and monthly subscription.
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What would that fee be?
Over the last 20 years I have invested over $3,600 into Aces High
That's quite a few single game purchases you suggest
Eagler
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Charge a one time fee for the game, get rid of the two week free trail and monthly subscription.
Yup. I'm in agreement with this. But hitech is too scared. However we forget that what really matters is players in the game. More players brings more fights and thus more players playing. It's a chain reaction. That amount of money Hitech would make in 2 months off $50 to play forever while still having the 15$ a month free would allow him to buy a commercial and make the game even bigger. Risk reward?
Getting people to subscribe to this game after 2 weeks is very challenging, that's why there is such a big difference in the vets to new players ratio. It's very hard to get people to subscribe after 2 weeks without a quick play arena for them to get into action quickly. I probably wouldn't have stuck around if it wasn't for H2H to be honest because it took forever to find a find some action even back in 2005 with these far flights.
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Yup. I'm in agreement with this. But hitech is too scared. However we forget that what really matters is players in the game. More players brings more fights and thus more players playing. It's a chain reaction. That amount of money Hitech would make in 2 months off $50 to play forever while still having the 15$ a month free would allow him to buy a commercial and make the game even bigger. Risk reward?
Getting people to subscribe to this game after 2 weeks is very challenging, that's why there is such a big difference in the vets to new players ratio. It's very hard to get people to subscribe after 2 weeks without a quick play arena for them to get into action quickly. I probably wouldn't have stuck around if it wasn't for H2H to be honest because it took forever to find a find some action even back in 2005 with these far flights.
Games like Battlefield and IL2 that sell fixed cost products and then allow permanent online play for free are able to make that successful for two main reasons:
1. They produce a product of sufficient quality and appealing to a broad enough audience that they can make profit based on volume. AHIII might have less that 1000 durable users at this pount. IL2 sells hundreds of thousands (millions?) of copies each release. Software is a unique profit in that there is very little Cost of Goods Sold. You just keep copying and reselling it.
2. They have a continuous product release cycle. Each new version gets sold again. Constant new content, new versions. You can still play the old game all you want, but there is a trend to always be buying the new version so there is a constant revenue stream to justify and fund new development.
3 Original IL-2 Sturmovik series
3.1 IL-2 Sturmovik
3.2 IL-2 Sturmovik: Forgotten Battles
3.2.1 IL-2 Sturmovik: Forgotten Battles - Ace Expansion Pack
3.2.2 IL-2 Sturmovik: Forgotten Battles - Gold Pack
3.3 Pacific Fighters
3.4 Pe-2 Peshka
3.5 Sturmoviks over Manchuria
3.6 IL-2 Sturmovik: 1946
3.7 IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey
4 IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover
5 IL-2 Sturmovik: Great Battles
5.1 IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Stalingrad
5.2 IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Moscow
5.3 IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Kuban
5.4 IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Bodenplatte
5.5 IL-2 Sturmovik: Battle of Normandy
5.6 IL-2 Sturmovik: Flying Circus
5.7 IL-2 Sturmovik: Tank Crew
Frankly, I don't think HTC can compete with that output cadence.
Allowing a one time buy of AHIII would certainly cannibalize his already dwindling user base.
I don't think releasing a AH4, AH5, AH6 is possible at a rate to make up the difference by upselling.
What I think would work is to use the previous version as a onramp with a one time purchase that might generate so development funds and maybe bring in traffic that might could be upsold to AHIII for subscription. I doubt that would cannibalize AHIII. If your current game can't compete against one released5-6 years ago, then you should ask what you've been doing for 6 years. I suggested this a while back: https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,400743.msg5311240.html#msg5311240 (https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,400743.msg5311240.html#msg5311240)
You might could lure back some old times to play AHII for old times sake without subscription entanglements. You could release it on Steam getting another bite at the exposure apple. You could generate some income to get more work done on AHIII.
Assuming that the source code hasn't been just lost.
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Crap. Trying to fix a typo.
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I think the biggest thing that keeps players away is lack of development by Hitec. Aces High has been stagnant for years, it has been my opinion for some time that HiTec is just trying to suck as much money from us before the game crashes and becomes unrepairable forever.
it's been so long I'd forgotten, how many years ago was it since the last time we got a new tank or plane????
CAV
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it's been so long I'd forgotten, how many years ago was it since the last time we got a new tank or plane????
92 months ago, Tour 168, Tu-2.
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92 months ago, Tour 168, Tu-2.
Does anyone happen to remember the final date at which HTC admitted that Tour of Duty had been placed on indefinite hold?
Thanks
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Does anyone happen to remember the final date at which HTC admitted that Tour of Duty had been placed on indefinite hold?
Thanks
October 28th, 2008
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October 28th, 2008
Thank you.
(https://www.dropbox.com/s/r76z98xbmss7xkc/Tod.png?raw=1)
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Causality or correlation? ;)
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Causality or correlation? ;)
I agree with what you've said in the past, there is probably no one thing that caused the decline.
That is an amazingly close correlation though. And it would explain why no release/code change correlated to the start of the decline. It didn't represent anything that would show up in a release changes file. Simply promise abandoned.
I've said in the past, from my personal experience and those of players I knew back then, there was a definite sense of a deflating tire when that was announced. Even back then the Air Warrior Plus design was getting really long in the tooth and ToD promised something new and exiting and I think there were a few holding on by their finger nails to see if something ground-breaking would pan out. I remember that being my emotional reaction.
I had said in the past, that for me is when I felt the energy start to drain out of the community. I just didn't have this graph to see it so compellingly.
But it could also just be amazing coincidence.
:salute
Lusche, you are the institutional memory for this community.
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I agree with what you've said in the past, there is probably no one thing that caused the decline.
That is an amazingly close correlation though. And it would explain why no release/code change correlated to the start of the decline. It didn't represent anything that would show up in a release changes file. Simply promise abandoned.
I've said in the past, from my personal experience and those of players I knew back then, there was a definite sense of a deflating tire when that was announced. Even back then the Air Warrior Plus design was getting really long in the tooth and ToD promised something new and exiting and I think there were a few holding on by their finger nails to see if something ground-breaking would pan out. I remember that being my emotional reaction.
I had said in the past, that for me is when I felt the energy start to drain out of the community. I just didn't have this graph to see it so compellingly.
But it could also just be amazing coincidence.
:salute
Lusche, you are the institutional memory for this community.
Again, though. That was right about the time the arenas were split. That was when squads couldn't fly with each other and they began to go play other games with their squad mates. This lead to long time squads leaving thus causing a big decline. Then the the chain reaction began of less players equals smaller fights which lead to less players. I do believe the 12 hours rule had an impact, but none as big as the arena split. I believe ToD was just a side effect disappointment, but I don't think it had a major impact.
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Again, though. That was right about the time the arenas were split. That was when squads couldn't fly with each other and they began to go play other game with their squad mates. This lead to long time squads leaving thus causing a big decline
The arena split was in late 2006. After that, the numbers soared high to absolute record levels, the drop started more than 2 years after the split.
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The arena split was in late 2006. After that, the numbers soared high to absolute record levels, the drop started more than 2 years after the split.
You sure about that? I thought it was a bit later? When in 2006? #s were already on the way up tho. It took a minute for the influx to level off, then once one arena was full and players couldn't fly with their squads, and had to fly in the other arena, they were pissed. It took a minute but squads got so mad about it after a while that they ended up leaving.
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Again, though. That was right about the time the arenas were split. That was when squads couldn't fly with each other and they began to go play other games with their squad mates. This lead to long time squads leaving thus causing a big decline. Then the the chain reaction began of less players equals smaller fights which lead to less players. I do believe the 12 hours rule had an impact, but none as big as the arena split. I believe ToD was just a side effect disappointment, but I don't think it had a major impact.
Nope. I was still here during the arena split.
After than I was gone but was following ToD/CT news and planning to start again when that was released. It was a gut punch when the news that it was indefinitely postponed was dropped. "Indefinitely postponed" in corporate speak means "canceled".
I remember it quite a while between those events.
Lol I remember being livid about the arena split though. I remember thinking, "No way am I getting shunted off to an arena with only 250 players! That's not what I'm paying for! I'm paying for a MASSIVELY multi-player game!" Oh if I only knew how good we had it. :rofl
[Edit]
Just saw Lusche's reply. I don't remember the date, but did you really just say, "Are you sure about that date?" to Lusche? :rofl
It was definitely a reasonably amount of time separating them.
I don't suppose you could rerun that chart from mid Oct. I'd buy you a steak and a beer if you ever come to Dallas. :D
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You sure about that? I thought it was a bit later? When in 2006?
The Great Arena Split happened in Tour 80, Wednesday September the 13th 2006
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Imo a base fee would make sense instead of $14.99 a month. I've also poured a little bit of cash into the game. Well worth it during that time. Is it worth it now? No. But I'm willing to pay a base fee to use early war planes for example.
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did you really just say, "Are you sure about that date?" to Lusche?
That Lusche guy can err and has been wrong before. :old:
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The Great Arena Split happened in Tour 80, Wednesday September the 13th 2006
Could have sworn it was later than that..I just remember not a lot of happy squads .during this time. Perhaps reading forum posts just before your graph there might give us a good indication of displeasure in the players? Just a thought.
TBF, I left the game for university starting late 09 to 13, so I guess the real blame is all on me. :D ;)
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Maybe it had something to do with most people losing 50% of their net worth in 2009
Eagler
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Maybe it had something to do with most people losing 50% of their net worth in 2009
Eagler
Sure. But if they loved the game and thought it had a great future they would have come back when their economic situation had improved. As people love to say, "It's only 15$". They kept leaving after the Great Recession was over, and never came back in significant numbers.
And people were also still really annoyed at the arena split as DemonSlayer said. I remember that too. But that started two years before. Doesn't seem like the proximate cause, but probably didn't help.
Personally, I felt like the sense of "destiny" for the game started declining after they canceled ToD. By selection bias, a lot of the people here now may not have cared. That's why they are still here. But maybe a lot of the lost player in the graph felt differently.
It's why I didn't come back until WWI arena came out. But I was expecting a Dawn of Aces type game. When I realized the only plans they had for it were a furball area, I left again.
$0.02.
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92 months ago, Tour 168, Tu-2.
7.6 years?
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7.6 years?
Yup, but I think the 38 update came after that, but not by much.