Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Aces High General Discussion => Topic started by: AKKuya on November 12, 2021, 04:18:32 PM
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This is Dale’s game. One day, he might sell this game and an end of an era. Until then …
Do we want to play Aces High for 20 more years? What can we do to keep Aces High going?
Important questions. Time for some important discussion. Time for some important answers.
Current observations:
Dwindling player base
Significant decrease in new additions
New players discouraged
What can the Aces High player base do? I believe there is enough of talented players working together be able to make this game a reason to play and bring old friends back and new players to the scene.
Are there any marketing professionals out there as an Aces High player?
Are there any social networking players?
Are there any video editing players?
Are there any editorial writing players?
Are there any on camera players?
Are there any computer graphics players?
Are there any finance players?
Are you one of them? Do you have the free time to contribute? Do you have the passion?
There are so many online games out there. Many have millions of players. Aces High should be one of them.
Or, just let it ride.
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It takes more than one Admiral to run a ship.
This one is sinking fast.
Coogan
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We could all band together and create a team to bring in and keep more and more players. Unfortunately it doesn't seem like HTC is willing to work on the game any more. If some of the more blatant issues aren't fixed/adjusted we will continue to lose players faster than they can be brought in.
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The toxic environment in the forum isn't helping any.
Based on observations and what Hitech has said, there are two parts to getting a new pilot to join the game:
1. Getting a new person to try the game.
2. Getting the new pilot off the ground.
The first is advertising. Not my forte.
The second should be solved by a quick tutorial when a person first launches. I have done some work as a technical trainer, I might be able to help with that. Hitech said some time ago that he was working on something similar. Might inquire if some of us could be of assistance there.
Most discussions like this quickly devolve into three types of comments, none of which are helpful:
A. Posts that are critical of Hitech, and blame everything on what he has done or hasn't done.
B. Suggestions to change Aces High into a completely different game.
C. Suggestions on how to force players to play the way you want them to.
I respectfully suggest that we keep these things in mind.
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For every post I see about the sky falling on Ch 200 or here on the boards, there is usually several members/players to point out why it is not.
I doubt many really know much about HT’s plans except the man himself.
Numbers are down and many updates aren’t happening, the reason why - any of our guesses.
But the sky isn’t falling IMO.
Just my .02
:salute
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For every post I see about the sky falling on Ch 200 or here on the boards, there is usually several members/players to point out why it is not.
I doubt many really know much about HT’s plans except the man himself.
Numbers are down and many updates aren’t happening, the reason why - any of our guesses.
But the sky isn’t falling IMO.
Just my .02
:salute
Do hope the game is around for a few more years. I'm far from done with her. Be nice if one day a switch got flipped and things started to grow again but that's a fools hope. All I can do is pay for 2 accounts and keep throwing meat into the grinder for y'all to shoot at :cheers:
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The toxic environment in the forum isn't helping any.
If I were new to AH and went to the forum first, I'd more or less see it as this:
- You use a bomber, you are pleb.
- You use a ground vehicle, you are stupid pleb.
- You use man-gun, you are a <bleep> <bleep> <bleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep> <bleep> and should catch <insert deadly disease of your choice here>.
- You try "win the war", you are <bleep>.
- You use real world tactics, you are complete <bleep> and should punch your mother.
And honestly, that is sorta the impression I had back when I first joined the forum. Fortunately I had went into the game and played it a good bit before hand, and met some awesome folks, cause oh boy I'd have buggered off otherwise.
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Put large maps on hold for now would be the easiest first fix to the game. Bottle of the action a little bit
Even if a new player trys the game, and gets off the ground, he will likely leave if the game board doesn't show activity. Why would they invest any time trying to learn a game with poor graphics and no sort of findable combat? For $15 a month? Not likely.
The open world sandbox thing is really the only major benefit this game has on others of this genre. If the sand box is so diluted finding fights is like pulling teeth, you've shot yourself in the foot.
I could go on about people gaming the game with resupply, and hiding in manned guns with no penalty for death, both of which dwindle down the actual fight for a base, but what's the point?
I try to help new guys when the opportunity arises. Unfortunately if they are on the other country, I can no longer PM them because someone's feelings got hurt. Instead of dealing with a handful of repeat offenders and dealing out serious penalties for their antics,. We canned the ability to communicate.
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Smaller maps, more action, less flying or driving to find it
That is why MNM and KOTH offer the best AH these days for my $15
This game is tough on the newbie and the last thing I would want is to spent at least 5 to 10 minutes between fights..
Face it, to learn this game you have to die alot ..
The more that is dragged out the more boring it is..smaller maps with bases close together would help IMO
Eagler
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New instant action arena.....
Small map, 15K air spawn. Spawns are very close together. No captures, no ack to run and hide in. Just spawn in and be in the middle of the action.
Bring back AH1 or 2 for the players that cannot handle the graphics of AH3. How many were lost from the transition from 2 to 3?
Free limited select few of aircraft and vehicles to play for free just to increase numbers. Only stuff that is high eny/early war. These players could have a special icon next to their name to make them stand out that they are a ftp player so the other green guys might be more open to help them out.
Through advanced email notices, have select weekends (fri, sat, sun) open for free play for all non perked aircraft, maybe once every 3 months.
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The toxic environment in the forum isn't helping any.
Based on observations and what Hitech has said, there are two parts to getting a new pilot to join the game:
1. Getting a new person to try the game.
2. Getting the new pilot off the ground.
<snip>
The toxic environment, yes we have a bit of a one, but from what many others say this isnt as bad as many other games. Both here and in the game, tho the game is less toxic these days. Its up to players to mod themselves now adays.
Hitechs fixes,
As Lazer and Eagler said we need to get rid of the big maps, an easy fix for Hitech. It would compress the fighting a bit more even it did run through the maps quicker. In the old days we only HAD a few maps and we didnt bail just because they rotated through too quick.
I dont think I have ever heard Hitech comment on a limited free group of planes/vehicles for the MA instead of the free 2 weeks. 4 or 5 planes, a bomber, goon and a couple vehicles available free in the main arena would give the new player a taste of the action with no cost to them other than time. Dying alot is a given in this game, but so to "Call of Duty" and they dont seem to mind dying there as long as it doesnt cost them anything. With smaller maps they get back into the action quicker. Whats the downside with a setup like this?
This game has lasted longer than most. Its players like most of us that have been here for years and years that have kept it going. Our love of this game is what kept it going, not the updates or new material that has been added, because there hasnt been any added in a long time. Yes the "sky is falling" but it is a slow process as each of us die, literally. I hope Hitech gives it one more push. Get rid of half the tree count, bring GV guys back! Use only the smaller maps to compress the action! Give a few free planes for an unlimited time in the MA and announce the new format on steam or any other outlets to bring a bit of interest back and get some newbs to come back and try it again. A couple days of work, whats the down side?
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Just the observations of an Aces High rookie, although I have played a number of online games...
I started with Warbirds in 1999, and by some standards, that made me a Johnny come lately. No problem, but when I went back to flight sims, it was Warbirds I wanted. That was July of 2020. The game itself had improved, although some of he 'improvements' were, imho, a step backwards. I won't bother with a list, because my days there are done, I believe.
What caused me to leave was not the gameplay, or the dwindling player population, it was the character of 'that percentage' of players who 'ruined' the game for the rest of us. Pay attention to the quotes, because the the definitions will vary from to player to player.
What do I like about AH that will keep me here? Okay, it's a fun flight model, that's number one. Flying takes a certain finesse in AH. In WBs, you launch, hit the start engine key, firewall the throttle and take off. You cannot do that in AH. Oh, some may be able to, but I can't.
What's next? People, both in the game and in this forum, want to help. They are eager to help. If I ask a question ingame, there's someone to answer, politely, I might add. When I seek advice here, I am overwhelmed with ideas.
I'll take the word of established players that the player base is shrinking. As for maps... I'm getting there, both in interpreting what I see and how it affects me as a player in the game. My fighter ops are pathetic and my bomber ops skills base is building, so I'm happy.
It may be a case of ignorance yielding bliss, but I'm happy.
Decoy, old but not jaded.
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The toxic environment, yes we have a bit of a one, but from what many others say this isnt as bad as many other games. Both here and in the game, tho the game is less toxic these days. Its up to players to mod themselves now adays.
Hitechs fixes,
<SNIP>
A couple days of work, whats the down side?
The downside appears to be that aside from keeping power running to the servers, and processing credit card payments, empirical evidence suggests Hitech has washed his hands of the game and future development. Aces High is on auto pilot and at some point the tank will run empty. Easy fixes don't amount to a hill of beans if there's no one there to do the fixing.
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The downside appears to be that aside from keeping power running to the servers, and processing credit card payments, empirical evidence suggests Hitech has washed his hands of the game and future development. Aces High is on auto pilot and at some point the tank will run empty. Easy fixes don't amount to a hill of beans if there's no one there to do the fixing.
I disagree, and hear me out. When I first set up my account, I was having trouble mapping my controller. I sent an email to support, I got a reply the next day. It was Dale. He gave me a few suggestions but said, 'Here's my number, give me a call if I need to walk you through it.' I called him and he took the time to walk me through it. I found out later that he's the CEO. That, imo, is not the actions of someone who has 'washed his hands' of a project.
I could be wrong. I just don't believe that if all I was, or all any individual player was, to Dale is a $15/month subscription, I'd have been treated like that. And, yeah, there's an IRMV disclaimer, there.
Decoy
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I disagree, and hear me out. When I first set up my account, I was having trouble mapping my controller. I sent an email to support, I got a reply the next day. It was Dale. He gave me a few suggestions but said, 'Here's my number, give me a call if I need to walk you through it.' I called him and he took the time to walk me through it. I found out later that he's the CEO. That, imo, is not the actions of someone who has 'washed his hands' of a project.
I could be wrong. I just don't believe that if all I was, or all any individual player was, to Dale is a $15/month subscription, I'd have been treated like that. And, yeah, there's an IRMV disclaimer, there.
Decoy
been here for many years. for the last 8 or 10 been hearing that hitech dont care about the game anymore. I just dont pay attention to that anymore.
semp
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been here for many years. for the last 8 or 10 been hearing that hitech dont care about the game anymore. I just dont pay attention to that anymore.
semp
I dont think anybody could say that Hitech doesnt care. This game is his baby. At this point in the run of the game hes up against a money crunch. He has enough coming in to keep things running as it is like Max said. I dont think he has the money to bring back his art guy or any one else. Covid brought him down to his minimums and thats where he is staying, for now.
He does care, decoy's story proves it, but hes only one guy and he is doing all the jobs at HTC these days. The suggestions that take little coad work I wish he would try. Run only small maps for a week or two and drop[ in to the arena now and then and see what the players are saying. If no mutinies being planed leave it and see if it helps.
I dont expect any big game updates any more, but tweaks to add some action, why not?
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Never underestimate what an old man con do........ :old:
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Covid brought him down to his minimums and thats where he is staying, for now.
I’m not so sure about that. During the height of the shutdowns, etc. the number of players was higher than now. I can’t speak for the #’s during all times of the day, but definitely late afternoon through prime time.
Also back then I played in the morning a lot more than I have time for now, but #’s were higher then too.
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As stated here and in many other posts.
Removing a lot of density of forests and vegetation on most maps would make the GV guys happier.
I can think of about a dozen GV players that say they left for that reason. If I can think of a dozen, other players who didn’t take a 4 year+ hiatus like me can probably think of many more.
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The best volunteer player team suggestion is a YouTube Channel for Aces High complemented by a website tailored with webpages organized with specific game information loaded with hyperlinks to the YouTube videos. Plus, the social networking presence to generate a lot of interest.
At first, it will take time for some consolidation from the many players working together. There will be some trial and error in the beginning. Ideas that formulate in the creative mind may not translate well into the practical applications. My belief is always to try the idea and hope it works especially with no negative results than trying nothing at all.
The real issue would be the advertising that eventually comes in when the threshold of certain number of views hit the counter. Will Dale be agreeable for taking that responsibility or passing that to the volunteer team. Knowing that is a distinct possibility, all video content created will from the beginning never use any copyrighted material no matter how the creator of the content wants thier favorite music or video without consent from the owner of before said material.
From earlier posts, this possible idea may bring back the player base through returning players and new ones. The influx of more subscriptions could put the designers back in the company office waiting to be reopened. Thus, one hand (volunteer players) washes the other hand(game devs).
Keeping a positive viewpoint, anything is possible.
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When I came back about 1.5 yr ago, I didn’t know there even was an AH3.
What prompted me was Covid staying at home and I saw the joystick box sitting on a shelf.
I’d imagine I’m far from the only one.
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I disagree, and hear me out. When I first set up my account, I was having trouble mapping my controller. I sent an email to support, I got a reply the next day. It was Dale. He gave me a few suggestions but said, 'Here's my number, give me a call if I need to walk you through it.' I called him and he took the time to walk me through it. I found out later that he's the CEO. That, imo, is not the actions of someone who has 'washed his hands' of a project.
I could be wrong. I just don't believe that if all I was, or all any individual player was, to Dale is a $15/month subscription, I'd have been treated like that. And, yeah, there's an IRMV disclaimer, there.
Decoy
Don't get me wrong Decoy, I meant nothing disparaging towards Dale. I've met him on several occasions and can attest to the fact that he's a solid guy, always ready to bend over backwards for a player. (Sorry Dale...I didn't mean it THAT way...lol) The fact remains that present income forced him to dissolve the staff, which relegates present & future game development to what he's willing to invest. Based on my observations of the last few years I'd say he's riding out what profitability is left, while acknowledging the fact any future development lacks financial resources and return on investment...be it time or money.
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I dont think anybody could say that Hitech doesnt care. This game is his baby. At this point in the run of the game hes up against a money crunch. He has enough coming in to keep things running as it is like Max said. I dont think he has the money to bring back his art guy or any one else. Covid brought him down to his minimums and thats where he is staying, for now.
He does care, decoy's story proves it, but hes only one guy and he is doing all the jobs at HTC these days. The suggestions that take little coad work I wish he would try. Run only small maps for a week or two and drop[ in to the arena now and then and see what the players are saying. If no mutinies being planed leave it and see if it helps.
I dont expect any big game updates any more, but tweaks to add some action, why not?
I am not opposed to small maps, but tweak them a little bit. on current small maps which years ago the suggestion was there would be furballs over the strats if they were close to the front. havent seen a furball over a strat in many years. perhaps make them harder to destroy them, small maps have strats down all the time, that is kind of stupid. having strats down for 3 hours at a time for as long as the small map lasts. then again when I used to play late at night it wasnt common to take bases all by myself.
semp
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Don't get me wrong Decoy, I meant nothing disparaging towards Dale. I've met him on several occasions and can attest to the fact that he's a solid guy, always ready to bend over backwards for a player. (Sorry Dale...I didn't mean it THAT way...lol) The fact remains that present income forced him to dissolve the staff, which relegates present & future game development to what he's willing to invest. Based on my observations of the last few years I'd say he's riding out what profitability is left, while acknowledging the fact any future development lacks financial resources and return on investment...be it time or money.
Certainly business decisions need to be made and, quite frequently, those decisions are in conflict with the best interests of the end users. HiTech has to draw a boundary between what's good for his company and what's fun for the players. But the bottom line is that if Aces High, as a business, goes under, we're stuck with something inferior. WOWC, WT, WBs, you name it.
You could very well be correct, he could be riding this horse until it dies of exhaustion, or he could be saving his horses strength for the next race. I'm not even close to being cutting edge on gaming, much less flight sim gaming, but it's HiTech's arena, and I'm betting on him. That may be a thin nail to hang my hat on, but that's where I'm hanging my hat.
Decoy
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Too many people trying to pilot a plane with no idea how to fly.
None of you guys are game developers or have a clue to develop a game. The OP's idea is sadly doomed to fail.
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Maybe. Some great points have been brought up in conversation however.
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Too many people trying to pilot a plane with no idea how to fly.
None of you guys are game developers or have a clue to develop a game. The OP's idea is sadly doomed to fail.
Granted, if I was game developer, or if I had code writing skills, I probably wouldn't be playing this game. In the land where I am from, 'if' and 'oh sh@t' are the two most common words. The forum exists for a simple reason, so users can discuss issues of this nature and, possibly, produce ideas for management and developers.
Prove me wrong. Take your time. I have nowhere to go.
And if it feels like i'm 'talking down,' well, that was... just to prove a point.
Decoy
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There are many reasons that older players have dropped their subscriptions (such as myself) and they are not HT s fault.
Society changes. Many such as myself were intrigued by the history of WWII. Our Fathers served during WWII. When we were younger we were enamored with that era because of what our parents went through during that time. We grew up on movies such as flying leathernecks' etc. It made us curious. Our Father would take us to the Youngstown Airport just to watch Airliners and Fighter Jets take off at the airport. Back at that time the Airlines were prop driven planes with companies such as Capital Airlines, Eastern Airlines, and TWA were flying regular flights to and from the Airport. The ones we really liked to see were the landings and take offs of the Jets from the Fighter Group that was based at the Airport. We saw a generation of fighter technology change from F-86 to the Voodoo, and the Delta Dart Fighters. We also saw many "Flying Boxcars" land and take off with Personnel and supplies for the group. It influenced a dream in us of that generation.
When flight sims became popular in the early 80s' we were all in! We were in our 30s' by then and we couldn't get enough of it! It was a dream come true! Flight Sims were popular then. We could virtually fly anything we wanted! However, flight sims were popular for a time (boxed Sims) but they take a great deal of finances to produce. They were expensive to say the least and the developers were hard pressed to make a profit from them if they could at all. Then for me and many others, Air Warrior was introduced. Dream come true! Fighting in the virtual skies with players from all over the world at any time of the day. The History is what intrigued us and still does to this day of those of us from my generation.
I've quit and come back at least twice in my participation. What discourages older players from staying is the low participation. In the 80s', 90's and early 2000s' there were many, many more participants then there are today. If one, such as myself does resubscribe we hoped the zeal of the earlier era of MMOGs' was there. We soon become disappointed because of the lack of players which translated to us as a loss of history. The genre now has turned into an instant gratification sim....... a point and click game. My favorite, the Scenarios have fallen from 300 plus participants to, if we're lucky 50 players. Thus maps have had to be smaller, tactics are limited and attacks have to made in a direction that could easily be seen and much easier to defend. Brooke and the other CMs have done a lot of work for a long time to make a Scenario an event. Sadly now it has become a skirmish only limited by the amount of players that participate. We used to see hundreds of Bombers in the virtual skies as well as defending Fighters and escorting Fighters. I don't have to tell you what it has degenerated into now. Not the CMS fault at all, it's the Community at large.
So......as an older participant, one of three generations that could have played since I entered the virtual skies there is a general lack of interest.
Now what could HT do? The game already has more then enough fighters and bombers modeled, as well as gvs! And some are never used! This takes into consideration that most vehicles and aircraft were voted on to be included! The Players themselves had a hand in selecting what should be included. It was a lot of work to model these aircraft and vehicles! And so what. It was a waste of time. I don't know what HT could be thinking. I don't know what HT has in mind. There is everything in this game now one could want! Why bother to spend time and money for no gain? It doesn't make sense.
So to me it's today's society. Different generations. No one right or no one wrong. Time passes on. The game still has the tools. These are some of the reasons why I stopped participating.
Time passes on and there is nothing we can do to stop it. The state of the game has passed me by. That is why I no longer wish to participate. My fault for being so old :old:
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Good to see ya Hajo!! Best wishes and happy holidays to you. :salute
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Good to see ya Hajo!! Best wishes and happy holidays to you. :salute
Same to ya MaXi!!!!!!!!!!! My old squad mate. One of many people in the game I enjoyed for many years.
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Granted, if I was game developer, or if I had code writing skills, I probably wouldn't be playing this game. In the land where I am from, 'if' and 'oh sh@t' are the two most common words. The forum exists for a simple reason, so users can discuss issues of this nature and, possibly, produce ideas for management and developers.
Prove me wrong. Take your time. I have nowhere to go.
And if it feels like i'm 'talking down,' well, that was... just to prove a point.
Decoy
Yes, forums exist so people can discuss things. Just because you can discuss this game doesn't mean you have the skillset to develop or the ability to help like the OP suggested in the first post.
In the 25+ years I have worked in the gaming industry, specifically on online/multiplayer games, I have seen hundreds open hundreds of player fantasues...err I mean "discussions" on what was needed and how players would volunteer their time and SAVE THE DAY! Sadly, in those 25+ years, I have yet seen anyone succeed.
As they say, "talk is cheap".
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Honestly, I think the physical game itself has never been better. It appears to have reached its end-state though, so while its fun to wish for stuff I don't think we'll see any major changes, barring any unforeseen changes in the resources at Hitech's disposal. If AH is truly down to a one-man operation now that really limits what is possible.
The best recommendation I can make to Hajo and others tired of the game is to get a VR headset - it will change the game experience for you like nothing has before. It's the difference between watching a movie on TV and being inside it, experiencing it firsthand.
I really believe everyone who has grown up loving flight sims owes it to themselves to experience a sim in VR before they hang it up. Dale had a lot of foresight and made sure AH3 supported VR when it was still in it infancy, and has the best view implementation of any of the sims I've played in VR - the hat switch views can be used in combination with moving your head, so checking 6 in VR is much easier in AH than in other flight sims.
$400 for a Quest 2 and Link cable. It's no more difficult to set up than it was to get our controllers set up right in AH back in the day.
No one is too old for this! My wingman in the current scenario, Furz, is 79 yrs old and still enjoys it enough to show up every Saturday. God bless him! And you all. The fire is still there, maybe it just needs a little different fuel. :salute
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If you get one person you know to start playing the game you'll have made a real contribution.
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There are many reasons that older players have dropped their subscriptions (such as myself) and they are not HT s fault.
Society changes. Many such as myself were intrigued by the history of WWII. Our Fathers served during WWII. When we were younger we were enamored with that era because of what our parents went through during that time. We grew up on movies such as flying leathernecks' etc. It made us curious. Our Father would take us to the Youngstown Airport just to watch Airliners and Fighter Jets take off at the airport. Back at that time the Airlines were prop driven planes with companies such as Capital Airlines, Eastern Airlines, and TWA were flying regular flights to and from the Airport. The ones we really liked to see were the landings and take offs of the Jets from the Fighter Group that was based at the Airport. We saw a generation of fighter technology change from F-86 to the Voodoo, and the Delta Dart Fighters. We also saw many "Flying Boxcars" land and take off with Personnel and supplies for the group. It influenced a dream in us of that generation.
When flight sims became popular in the early 80s' we were all in! We were in our 30s' by then and we couldn't get enough of it! It was a dream come true! Flight Sims were popular then. We could virtually fly anything we wanted! However, flight sims were popular for a time (boxed Sims) but they take a great deal of finances to produce. They were expensive to say the least and the developers were hard pressed to make a profit from them if they could at all. Then for me and many others, Air Warrior was introduced. Dream come true! Fighting in the virtual skies with players from all over the world at any time of the day. The History is what intrigued us and still does to this day of those of us from my generation.
I've quit and come back at least twice in my participation. What discourages older players from staying is the low participation. In the 80s', 90's and early 2000s' there were many, many more participants then there are today. If one, such as myself does resubscribe we hoped the zeal of the earlier era of MMOGs' was there. We soon become disappointed because of the lack of players which translated to us as a loss of history. The genre now has turned into an instant gratification sim....... a point and click game. My favorite, the Scenarios have fallen from 300 plus participants to, if we're lucky 50 players. Thus maps have had to be smaller, tactics are limited and attacks have to made in a direction that could easily be seen and much easier to defend. Brooke and the other CMs have done a lot of work for a long time to make a Scenario an event. Sadly now it has become a skirmish only limited by the amount of players that participate. We used to see hundreds of Bombers in the virtual skies as well as defending Fighters and escorting Fighters. I don't have to tell you what it has degenerated into now. Not the CMS fault at all, it's the Community at large.
So......as an older participant, one of three generations that could have played since I entered the virtual skies there is a general lack of interest.
Now what could HT do? The game already has more then enough fighters and bombers modeled, as well as gvs! And some are never used! This takes into consideration that most vehicles and aircraft were voted on to be included! The Players themselves had a hand in selecting what should be included. It was a lot of work to model these aircraft and vehicles! And so what. It was a waste of time. I don't know what HT could be thinking. I don't know what HT has in mind. There is everything in this game now one could want! Why bother to spend time and money for no gain? It doesn't make sense.
So to me it's today's society. Different generations. No one right or no one wrong. Time passes on. The game still has the tools. These are some of the reasons why I stopped participating.
Time passes on and there is nothing we can do to stop it. The state of the game has passed me by. That is why I no longer wish to participate. My fault for being so old :old:
"Back in the day", Hajo was one of the players I encountered numerous times a day, day after day after day. I concur with his post.....back when I started in AH, coming from WB's, it was an opportunity to live out the actions of the pilots I had read about since junior high, doing combat in a WW2 fighter.
Seems back then, the game was more "pure", as many of the players were very well versed in the aircraft modelled in the game, the variants, strengths vs weaknesses, tactics used, etc. The goal was having fun while attempting to simulate tactics and learn, what to do, when to do it, how to do it, what not to do, and even the guy who just sent me back to the tower would offer tips on how to do better.
Not saying no one ever offers to help anymore, but when you try to offer tips, the reply you get, if you get one at all, from my own experience was.....less than polite.
The game didn't really change, I have to admit after a year or more away now.
We the players changed. Some of us burnt out sooner, some just lost interest, some got tired of what they were seeing, some passed on from this life, some just moved on with their lives and found new hobbies and interests.
I spoke with Dale on the phone a few times when I was on the fence about finally leaving this game that had been a huge part of my life for 20 years. He was supportive, and understood that sometimes it's just time to move on.
Combat flight simulators are a niche game. What was a huge and popular niche back in the late 90's when I began, has trended down to a tiny sliver, and what the younger generation that I have contact want isn't a steep learning curve, or a campaign, or taking a long time to find combat. The games all of them play are in relatively small arenas or maps, no room to much but fight or die, running isn't an option, action is quick and constant.
Time will tell what the future holds for Dale and HiTech Creations, Inc. I hope it's a good one, and he is able to look back and realize how wonderful this virtual world was for some of us.
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Just on the video point, there are a few of us (at least) who make AH videos for fun, go check them out!
DLO - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzoAyj8xuR4Bq_QsIvmnLEA/videos (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzoAyj8xuR4Bq_QsIvmnLEA/videos)
Mako - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLCpQ6XqIJBN_PGgW40Uopw (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLCpQ6XqIJBN_PGgW40Uopw)
ULTacitus - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCl1RL3zFqETmme59bGP8kPQ/videos (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCl1RL3zFqETmme59bGP8kPQ/videos)
LNG15 - https://www.youtube.com/user/Nick19962010/videos (https://www.youtube.com/user/Nick19962010/videos)
Steely ;) https://www.youtube.com/c/SteelyJay/videos (https://www.youtube.com/c/SteelyJay/videos) shameless plug, FSO mostly, but a video from every frame for the last 2 years.
I think all of these folks would absolutely be honoured for HT to use their work to promote the game, I know I would at least!
Personally I've been playing since 99 or 2000, I've taken breaks during that time, and I own all the other flight sim games, MSFS, IL2, DCS etc, but this is the only one I actually spend time in, and even that is limited to FSO and Scenarios mostly, not that I dislike the MA, I just prefer the teamwork you only really get in organised events, and the lack of unlimited lives really adds some spice IMHO.
I just hope AH is here for as long as (selfishly) I want to play it, and I have no plans to ever quit personally.
And now, for old times, HHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOO! <S> ;)
Steely
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Yes, forums exist so people can discuss things. Just because you can discuss this game doesn't mean you have the skillset to develop or the ability to help like the OP suggested in the first post.
In the 25+ years I have worked in the gaming industry, specifically on online/multiplayer games, I have seen hundreds open hundreds of player fantasues...err I mean "discussions" on what was needed and how players would volunteer their time and SAVE THE DAY! Sadly, in those 25+ years, I have yet seen anyone succeed.
As they say, "talk is cheap".
Indeed, the firs rule of management is that 'any idiot can spot the problem, we need solutions.' When it comes to AH, I can do two things very well. The first is to pay my subscription. The second is to chunk in my .02 worth. I would say 98% of the people who complain about the way a job is done, can't do the job themselves, from the office of the President down to the local streetsweeper.
Decoy
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And now, for old times, HHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOO! <S> ;)
Steely
Thank you. I forgot to say that. :devil
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Just on the video point, there are a few of us (at least) who make AH videos for fun, go check them out!
DLO - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzoAyj8xuR4Bq_QsIvmnLEA/videos (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzoAyj8xuR4Bq_QsIvmnLEA/videos)
Mako - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLCpQ6XqIJBN_PGgW40Uopw (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLCpQ6XqIJBN_PGgW40Uopw)
ULTacitus - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCl1RL3zFqETmme59bGP8kPQ/videos (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCl1RL3zFqETmme59bGP8kPQ/videos)
LNG15 - https://www.youtube.com/user/Nick19962010/videos (https://www.youtube.com/user/Nick19962010/videos)
Steely ;) https://www.youtube.com/c/SteelyJay/videos (https://www.youtube.com/c/SteelyJay/videos) shameless plug, FSO mostly, but a video from every frame for the last 2 years.
I think all of these folks would absolutely be honoured for HT to use their work to promote the game, I know I would at least!
Personally I've been playing since 99 or 2000, I've taken breaks during that time, and I own all the other flight sim games, MSFS, IL2, DCS etc, but this is the only one I actually spend time in, and even that is limited to FSO and Scenarios mostly, not that I dislike the MA, I just prefer the teamwork you only really get in organised events, and the lack of unlimited lives really adds some spice IMHO.
I just hope AH is here for as long as (selfishly) I want to play it, and I have no plans to ever quit personally.
And now, for old times, HHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOO! <S> ;)
Steely
Steelyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!! Good seeing in you in print! Hope all is well.
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I am about to cancel my account.......
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Or get some controllers and vr and see what you are missing..
Promise not to kill you too much :)
Eagler
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I am one that recently came back into the game and resubbed. I have not hardly played much in the last month but I do log in from time to time and see whats going on.
I see fights but they are way scattered out. Sometimes I find a furball between a couple of bases but mostly I see GV's trying to sneak undefended fields. What it comes down to is that the big maps NEED TO GO. They need to be pulled out of rotation and just the small maps rotated. This game no longer has the active playerbase to keep the huge maps in play. But I do not expect it to change because of reasons unknown. I also do not expect to see any more advertising about this game due to the limited revenue that it possibly brings in now. Unless it is relatively cheap to put a full page color ad in some aviation magazines.
But I did find it funny that I was called a shade by a longtime player simply because I got into a GV at a Vbase and was a new name he didnt see before
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No offense to the OP, but this thread is beating a dead horse. One that I have beat over and over again with multiple clubs.
1. Stupid maps that don't direct action, like Lazer said. Too long of flights for too short of fight. I spent 7-10 minutes last night flying to a field getting alt twittling my thumbs on the way there.
2. Too many easy mode super late war planes in the MA that make it very challenging. Same fight last night. I finally get there at 15k in my P47D25. Dive once to attack. Then next thing you know, I've got 2 P51Ds bearing down on me. One couldn't handle all of the E he had over me and kept overshooting, so his budy had to come finish me up. Really nothing you can do. I think the easy access to EZ mode planes is really hurting the gameplay. Along easy gang kills on low n slow planes. Once again, encouraging people to fly p51Ds, 190Ds, La7s, and yak3s to compete. This is turning people off.
3. Lack of marketing. Again, most people I talk to have never even heard of the game. They might try the 2weeks thing. But once they realize how long they have to wait to enter the fight, it gets boring for them, like Lazer said.
4. Lack of ENY adjustment on certain planes and tanks. Wirble should be 100 perks, yak3 should be 10 eny. Eny needs a revamp.
5. Eny during off hours because of stupid maps turns people off. If they have no way of flying their plane with their friends. Even if it's perked but they still can't fly it because of ENY. It turns people off.
6. 88inch sniper puff ack ruining your 20 minute sortie from 8k away from the field. (Must be luck they say)
7. No one cares about ACM or learning ACM anymore. It's all about pushing X in your speed demon to escape the fray. Too many people taking staying alive too seriously because of how long it takes to enter the fight.
8. It's just too hard for most people to constantly fight super late war planes, running from them. Or getting ganged by them, I think people just get tired of it.
9. No fights during off hours due to stupid maps means less fights overall throughout the day, thus keeping #s low because there is no fight for people to join.
10. Subscription model turns a lot of people off.
I'm not saying there aren't fights to be had, or that prime time ain't fun. But off hours is super slow, too many late war super planes, and too long of flights to die in 3 minutes from ack or gangers in late war planes is the real reason so many have such a hard time playing the game. All in all, I believe most players just get bored twirling their thumbs flying to a 20-25 mile base only to get ganged or death by ack very quickly. That's truely the hardest part of AH.
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Hello, i have just recently joined here, and at the moment ,currently downloading the game! i recall this game many years ago, when i used to play a nice arcade game called air attack,and then eventually started to play WW2OL, Or sometimes referred to as Battleground Europe, reading through these posts i can see how much this community sincerely cares about its game, i cannot wait to spiral my plane 20 times to lift into the air (in anticipation that my laptop runs this okay:D) just to learn the game, you people make me want to learn, because you all want the game to survive, i hope that this community welcomes us... and doesnt take the presence of a younger person with any animosity, and to all the lovers of this game, i truely hope that this game survives the test of time,which im sure it will,looking forward to seeing all of you in the air!
Adam
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Hello Adam and Welcome!
If your laptop is a gaming laptop, it should be OK to run the game. If you have trouble, use 'dxdiag' and post the results in the tech support help forum.
cya up!
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I think it's obvious that Dale still cares about this game. I mean, look at how long it's been around. How could he not? It is his baby I think. I'm glad to see it is still around, even if it is down to 1 man (by the way, what exactly happened with skuzzy and pyro and everyone?) frankly if I still had a gaming PC, I would gladly throw 15$ to play again. But, I just can't really justify the money that it would cost nowadays to build me another gaming PC. It sickens me to see the current state of affairs of PC hardware prices..But that's another story...
Nothing lasts forever, and like some have said everything has a life cycle. But, from what I've seen even though the numbers are on the decline there is still a solid community and you can't blame anyone for trying to breathe some life into something they love. And I for one certainly won't knock anyone for that. :salute :cheers: Dale, and anyone that is still showing love for this game that has provided so many of us with the addiction!
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I am glad to announce that I have purchased AH for a old pair of converse trainers circa 1974 and a autographed copy of the Fonz by Henry Winkler.
Hitech has agreed to support the game until the next update.
Please note I will bringing in radical changes such as colonials will be limited to x4 posts a month? Europeans will have unlimited posts.
:old: I thank you
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FSO and Scenarios mostly, not that I dislike the MA, I just prefer the teamwork you only really get in organised events, and the lack of unlimited lives really adds some spice
I'd be the newbie making videos. Just started in July but these are very fun to make and I'm adding more things in as I get better at this. Went from only music to mask the colorful conversations to now you hear everything as I can detach the audio whenever I want and add what I need to cover that up. Most views are for Combat Challenge, Scenario's, FSO's and then Sqd Night.
My view is that the MA is my practice place to do well in the organized events when they come up. We never liked FSO before and when the numbers dropped in the MA when everyone else went to FSO we thought, hey, let's at least check it out. That first time when you see two sqds coming at you co-alt, you just know it's on right then, instantly hooked. The limited life structure and actual objectives just enhances those scenarios. Then we moved on to combat challenge and scenarios and it's the most fun you can have here.
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Honestly, I think the physical game itself has never been better. It appears to have reached its end-state though, so while its fun to wish for stuff I don't think we'll see any major changes, barring any unforeseen changes in the resources at Hitech's disposal. If AH is truly down to a one-man operation now that really limits what is possible.
The best recommendation I can make to Hajo and others tired of the game is to get a VR headset - it will change the game experience for you like nothing has before. It's the difference between watching a movie on TV and being inside it, experiencing it firsthand.
I really believe everyone who has grown up loving flight sims owes it to themselves to experience a sim in VR before they hang it up. Dale had a lot of foresight and made sure AH3 supported VR when it was still in it infancy, and has the best view implementation of any of the sims I've played in VR - the hat switch views can be used in combination with moving your head, so checking 6 in VR is much easier in AH than in other flight sims.
$400 for a Quest 2 and Link cable. It's no more difficult to set up than it was to get our controllers set up right in AH back in the day.
No one is too old for this! My wingman in the current scenario, Furz, is 79 yrs old and still enjoys it enough to show up every Saturday. God bless him! And you all. The fire is still there, maybe it just needs a little different fuel. :salute
Oboe my friend, thank you for the suggestion. However, spending in my case at least one thousand dollars or more to upgrade my computer, which is 8 years old or purchase a new one doesn't make sense to me. VR is probably great! But in my case this is the only game I've played. It would be more or less a novelty for a short while but it doesn't solve the problem of low participation. So in the end, I'd have spent a great deal of money for a short term that still would leave me with the same problem. Low turnout and a society that plays the game as they wish and is their right, is not appealing to me. I would have ended up spending for something that was a short term novelty at best. In other words, I'd end up quitting again. It's not feasible for me.
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I am glad to announce that I have purchased AH for a old pair of converse trainers circa 1974 and a autographed copy of the Fonz by Henry Winkler.
Hitech has agreed to support the game until the next update.
Please note I will bringing in radical changes such as colonials will be limited to x4 posts a month? Europeans will have unlimited posts.
:old: I thank you
Brits only have 1 post per month now they have Brexited..... :banana:
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I love this thread Kuya, reminds me of the post I made last year when coming back to the game. Some things are universally true, based on our observations:
- There is still a dedicated core of players (some observe a decline, but it's clearly still here!)
- HiTech does care. I mean, duh. We're still here and the game still works!
- If he (Dale) is interested, advertising would likely help. Player volunteers is a good idea, but would be good to have a dedicated effort from the vendor
- VR is amazing. I mean seriously, I play a whole lot of VR games, and on-compare this implementation has a really nice feel to it. Makes the flying experience oh so much more real
New ideas that play on the themes mentioned above, subject to interpretation:
- I don't know jack about game design. Also, I don't code. But I have a great long-time affinity for AH and want to see it succeed for well into the future! (look at how EveOnline (circa 2003 - present) continues to develop and expand. They have a mix of game designers, as well as a 'public' player-based council of reps who help inform and influence the game)
- The generational difference is hard. But there are ways to combat it. From my observations last year:
-- New players seem to like and respond well to the "daily login" or "weekly" (or even monthly?!) rewards. How bout a couple perk points per day, with a weekly bonus of some sort? I know it's easy-mode and players don't exert effort for logging in, but it does get the "eyeballs on" needed to keep players coming back
-- a true instant-start mode. The Match arena is one option, but the MA could benefit from this in a certain zone/area (like the middle 10% of each map?) because THAT'S WHERE ALL THE PLAYERS GO DAY TO DAY! Separate arenas means that any effort with a small player base becomes fractured and diffuse
-- People love online/streaming/YouTube/Twitch viewing. I would love to do this, I just don't have the time and inclination - with a very busy day job and small kids in the house. Just no time...
-- DCS, WarThunder, IL-2...they all seem to get a TON of players. In my mind they still lack the collective fun and gameplay of AH. I don't get excited learning every dang switch, lever, and button to turn on an airplane in DCS. Just frustrates me. I've downloaded IL-2 recent editions and they look great, but they don't play like the flight model in AH
More pile-ons? I feel like I'm rambling.
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This quote from Hitech regarding AH3's experience being offered on Steam for the first time hit me pretty hard:
Quote from: hitech on November 29, 2017, 10:21:00 AM
Don't mean to jump on ya but on this rare occasion I want to point out how mistaken almost all people on this board are about the dynamics of AH.
In the last 100 days aprox 40,000 people have installed Aces High, 20,000 new people have created accounts and entered an arena. Of the people entering the arena 65% are gone and do never reenter by the 10 minute mark of being in the arena. 75% are gone after 30 Minutes.HiTech
40,000 people trying the game in 100 days - what kind of advertising budget would be necessary to duplicate that? I think being on Steam was a much better solution than spending money on advertising, and for a brief time anyway, solved the problem of getting people to be aware of and try AH.
We need to figure out why, of the 20,000 people who created accounts and entered the arena, 75% were gone within 30 minutes. When they don't even stay an hour out of a two week free trial, AH must have a first impression problem.
Dated-looking UI? Learning curve too steep? Unfriendly arena environment? Second thoughts after seeing what they get for $14.95/month? Do they not understand the concept of a 3-sided war based on chess piece countries, in an open-sandbox type environment?
I cut my teeth on multiplayer flight sims with Warbirds in 1998, and I was immediately hooked when I went online, and saw all the activity, and heard the players' radio chatter over the games built-in vox. I thought it was the living end, so I cannot figure out why players wouldn't even stay around for the free two weeks.
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I would guess they were looking for instant action and got bored quickly, or learnt that they need a joystick to play properly?
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This quote from Hitech regarding AH3's experience being offered on Steam for the first time hit me pretty hard:
40,000 people trying the game in 100 days - what kind of advertising budget would be necessary to duplicate that? I think being on Steam was a much better solution than spending money on advertising, and for a brief time anyway, solved the problem of getting people to be aware of and try AH.
We need to figure out why, of the 20,000 people who created accounts and entered the arena, 75% were gone within 30 minutes. When they don't even stay an hour out of a two week free trial, AH must have a first impression problem.
Dated-looking UI? Learning curve too steep? Unfriendly arena environment? Second thoughts after seeing what they get for $14.95/month? Do they not understand the concept of a 3-sided war based on chess piece countries, in an open-sandbox type environment?
I cut my teeth on multiplayer flight sims with Warbirds in 1998, and I was immediately hooked when I went online, and saw all the activity, and heard the players' radio chatter over the games built-in vox. I thought it was the living end, so I cannot figure out why players wouldn't even stay around for the free two weeks.
Really good points Oboe, I think you nailed it.
My wife does a bit of work with Google Analytics for web traffic, and there's a ton of insight embedded in the data. I wonder if HiTech has such similar data for AH? What were players doing in those 10 minutes? Did they not understand how to get into and launch an aircraft? Were they endlessly clicking through help menus, and getting nowhere? Did they launch and die like 5500 times on takeoff?
Also, DATED UI. Yes, yes, and yes. I think a little "slickness" in graphics would go a LONG way to making the game more attractive.
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I would guess they were looking for instant action and got bored quickly, or learnt that they need a joystick to play properly?
There is certainly a lot of that.
But Steam also sells millions of copies of IL2, DCS, MS Flight Sim. Those should have been prime demographics to convert. They either weren't convinced to download based on the previews and reviews, or they quickly decided it wasn't even going to be worth configuring their gear to try based on the UI and overall initial look.
This community sometimes likes to think that this game is so complex and difficult that only a small fraction of humans can play it. I think that attitude is self-serving and meant to emotionally justify the falling numbers and failure to convert trials. But other flight sims like IL2, DCS have some complexity too. Do you really think an IL2 or DCS veteran would be totally incapable of groking AHIII if they liked what they saw?
And frankly, I think an impression, fair or not, of a bait and switch expecting a game that had a F2P onramp instead were first presented with a two week trail. Let's not waste time with lawyerly arguments on why some empty side arena's could technically justify the F2P labeling. It's an attempt to be too clever by half.
Just look through the negative reviews. It was a prevalent gripe. Like it or not, there was an impression of bait and switch conveyed to many of the potential customers.
Subscription models are a REALLY hard sell nowadays. You have to really blow their socks off. There are too many games they can play with one time purchase or limited free plane set to justify sticking with it long enough to learn.
UI..yeah...graphics..somewhat ...if they did get wheels up, gameplay pacing and finding a fight at all were probably the final straw.
But I will tell you this. No expensive media ads sprayed and prayed blindly on to the History/Pawn Stars channel is going to be nearly as targeted as a Steam release in accessing known money spending active PC gamers. If your product couldn't get traction there, it won't get any with 30 sec spots in between Tales of the Gun.
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Subscription models are a REALLY hard sell nowadays. You have to really blow their socks off. There is too many games they can play with one time purchase or limited free plane set to justify sticking with it long enough to learn.
I hate to also draw attention to it, but in my mind (personal observation here, no actual data), the $14.95 monthly fee is a huge detractor for today's gaming population. They expect things for free. And if it's not free (like Netflix, etc) then it better come with a catalog of 100,000 options for when one gets bored...
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Dated-looking UI? Learning curve too steep?
Dated-looking UI? Absolutely. Even years ago, I had those two guys interested in WW2 aviation. They didn't even try AH because of the dated looking interface. They actually laughed at my beloved favourite game :(
Also, when I revisited AH this summer, I decided to go for that new-guy experience: New installation without joystick. If I had never played AH before, I would have given up after a few minutes. Worst things was the program constantly telling me to press this or that button, but nothing did work as I don't use a US layout keyboard (luckily I still remembered which buttons I really had to press).
As a genuine new guy, I probably would simply have gone back to War Thunder or DCS
As for the learning curve of the game itself, it may turn away some players, but there are far more complex/complicated games on the market doing just fine.
Unfriendly arena environment? Second thoughts after seeing what they get for $14.95/month? Do they not understand the concept of a 3-sided war based on chess piece countries, in an open-sandbox type environment?
The environment may suck at times (especially when you notice it's a US game by those frequent, wacky political 'discussions'), it's still much tamer compared to many other online games.
I cut my teeth on multiplayer flight sims with Warbirds in 1998, and I was immediately hooked when I went online, and saw all the activity, and heard the players' radio chatter over the games built-in vox. I thought it was the living end, so I cannot figure out why players wouldn't even stay around for the free two weeks.
That was a whole different era. There were very few truly massive-multiplayer games around, even back in 2005 when I joined, this kind of multiplayer gaming was an amazing and almost unique experience. But time has moved on and online multiplayer games have become standard and there's a lot of competition.
And even worse, for most of the day AH isn't like that anymore at all! When you log in at Euro prime time, and you have a largely deserted map with 30 players online, of which only ~20 are active, which means only like 6 (or even less!) on your team - that's bordering on single player offline mode...
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This quote from Hitech regarding AH3's experience being offered on Steam for the first time hit me pretty hard:
40,000 people trying the game in 100 days - what kind of advertising budget would be necessary to duplicate that? I think being on Steam was a much better solution than spending money on advertising, and for a brief time anyway, solved the problem of getting people to be aware of and try AH.
We need to figure out why, of the 20,000 people who created accounts and entered the arena, 75% were gone within 30 minutes. When they don't even stay an hour out of a two week free trial, AH must have a first impression problem.
Dated-looking UI? Learning curve too steep? Unfriendly arena environment? Second thoughts after seeing what they get for $14.95/month? Do they not understand the concept of a 3-sided war based on chess piece countries, in an open-sandbox type environment?
I cut my teeth on multiplayer flight sims with Warbirds in 1998, and I was immediately hooked when I went online, and saw all the activity, and heard the players' radio chatter over the games built-in vox. I thought it was the living end, so I cannot figure out why players wouldn't even stay around for the free two weeks.
They were NOT ready for Steam. The influx was far more than any of them thought and they were a bit over whelmed I think.
The bait and switch certainly was an issue. The VR only being partway done and implemented, and as Lusche said, not being setup to bring in Euro players with different keyboards.
On the good side HTC knows where they went wrong.
1. Adjust coad to "see" different keyboards and load the right layout.
2. Add a usable configuration setup to fly with a mouse (not something that needs to be tweaked just to get off the ground).
3. Add a usable configuration for a game controller to be able to fly with the joystick on it.
4. Remove 40-60% of the trees, or get rid of speed trees and go back to the old way of putting tree tiles in maps (which ever is easier/quicker)
5. Add 4 fighter, 1 bomber, and 2 vehicles to a free set to be used indefinitely in the MA.
6. Rebrand Aces High to something like "Aces High 20th Anniversary Addition" and relaunch on Steam.
Of course the videos would have to be updated to cover the mouse and/or game controllers setup but we didnt have them for the last launch so they would help now. For the first couple of weeks the trainers and all other volunteers in the game should be available for as much time as they can to help with players coming in. Maybe HTC can give those volunteers a setup to ID newbies coming (make their icons "pink", but only for the volunteers) to ask them in that first 5 minutes do they need help or have questions? Maybe a message of the day for the week leading up to the relaunch asking everyone to be as helpful and accommodating as they can be for the first couple of weeks and then we can all go back to being the A holes we all are :)
How much work that is, I dont know. Is it worth it to try for one more big influx of players, maybe.
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Reading the above posts on HiTech's release of statistics of new players from Steam, this would be a very solid reason to justify a player based promotion of the game vis instructional videos.
What if?
What if there had been a substantial amount of instructional media already established and organized for easy understanding? All those new players signing up were directed to the fountain of informational wealth. How many would still be playing?
From those possible new players, would they have positive experiences and talked about this game to others for some osmosis of more new players?
Just some more food for thought.
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A decent default mouse control setup would be ideal.
I would guess under 50% of those steam folks had a joystick.
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The bait and switch certainly was an issue.
Assuming you're talking about the "f2p" tag, I believe HT addressed that saying he didn't have a choice but to put F2P due to the nature of how AH is set up, eg. it is literally free to play the game, but a subscription is needed to access some of the main arenas. It is listed the same as World of Warships is on Steam (free to play, in app purchases).
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Assuming you're talking about the "f2p" tag, I believe HT addressed that saying he didn't have a choice but to put F2P due to the nature of how AH is set up, eg. it is literally free to play the game, but a subscription is needed to access some of the main arenas. It is listed the same as World of Warships is on Steam (free to play, in app purchases).
That might be technically true, but regardless many potential customers didn't see it that way.
I'm not too familiar with DCS or WoWS, but doesn't DCS have a couple of planes you can have for free and use in any of their arena? Does WoWS have something similar?
The lawyerly view is that AHIII meets the Free tag. In common understanding, the potential customers were probably expecting that there were a subset of planes they get for free in "the game" and can get access to others by some form of payment or grind. Having access to an empty "Steal the Sheep" arena probably wasn't seen by the as being a fair definition. They probably saw "The Game" as the only arena that had any players. And that only had a two-week trial.
Bottom line, many felt deceived in a way I assume most don't when they try DCS or WoWS. As I said, that might be fair, or unfair. Regardless, it's extra friction that is not helpful when you have other hurdles like graphics, UI, pacing to have to overcome.
It seems unnecessary when there are so many hangar queens that sit unused for years at a time. Would they also get annoyed to only having access to inferior planes? Possibly. But it would be a lot harder to make the argument against F2P. Just one less vulnerability to have to explain.
And I just think it would be a smarter move for HTC regardless. It might extend the amount of contact-time they have with that potential customer to convert them that giving the a one-time two-week trial. This game, in this decade, needs as much sales time with a potential customer as they can get as AHIII true value might not be immediately obvious and unlike 1999, they have such deep pocket competitors now. They should avoid every friction point they can.
$0.02.
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That might be technically true, but regardless many potential customers didn't see it that way.
Of course not, but the point is there was seemingly no choice in the matter. There is/was no "subscription-based game" tag on Steam. There's either a price or there isn't. Even EVE is a sub-based game with some late game stuff locked behind a sub (after going mostly f2p). I'm not sure why their game does not have to say "in-app purchases".
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WW2OL has a basic free play version with:
Bolt Riflemen
Reserve SMGs
Airborne Riflemen and SMGs
Light tanks (Reserve version)
PZ II-C
R35
Vickers
Medium tanks (Reserve version)
PZ IIIF
H39
A-13
Light AA
Flak30
Hotchkiss 25mm
Light AT guns
pak36
25mm FR/US
2 pounder
Unarmed Trucks and haulers
Fairmile riverine ship
And they are doing great with their subscription service also. Noted they start out at $10/month but still offering both free and a sub they are doing pretty dang well. I just dont understand why there cant be a basic free service here also unless HT is scared it will undermine the subs and cause the game to go under
I play it every now and then as free and even though I am limited it still gets me in game to take part of the action
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Of course not, but the point is there was seemingly no choice in the matter.
Would it not have been a possible choice to add a few hangar queens to an F2P plane-set before the Steam launch? Or soon there after to avoid further problems?
Not wanting to do something isn't quite the same as having no choice, IMHO.
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How does a subscription issue relate to the recruitment and retention of players? That might have minor influence coupled with the true issue that new players download the game, subscribe and discover complete lack of organized instructional data to initially understand the game as a whole.
The main website does have some breakdown of the various aspects of the game. Plus, there are some links to some tutorial videos. A new player can interact with other players in the game both positively or negatively.
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How does a subscription issue relate to the recruitment and retention of players? That might have minor influence [...]
Did you just answer your own question?
I didn't say it was the only issue. I pointed out that is was a noticeable issue that was repeated time and time again in the Steam launch reviews. It's not just my opinion. I'm not making it up. Go read the reviews on Steam during the launch period.
Not only did those potential customers get turned off , but their complaints are now memorialized in a large number of the reviews for other potential customers to see and be influenced by.
Is that really worth them not getting a free Val, P-39, c-47, or jeep?
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A decent default mouse control setup would be ideal.
I would guess under 50% of those steam folks had a joystick.
I definitely miss how the game worked with mouse/keyboard in AH2. It's....a little rough AH3. I managed to get it back to an "okay" level, but still have a tough time, especially gunning from a bomber. I just can't get it like it was in AH2. :(
During AH2, I could actually put up somewhat of a fight in a fighter. Ell, I used to dogfight with the Ju-88. I believe it was LedMagnet(?) that I got into a dogfight with in my 88. He was in an F4U. Course I lost (crashed into the water while low after he took off a vertical stabilizer), but it was fun! :rofl Got into a dogfight in a B-26 while he was flying an La. I think he was in the 7? It may have been the 5. :headscratch: I forgot. :o That one ended in a draw, as broke off and told me he was running out of fuel. I would've lost but still, that was also fun! :)
AH3, I don't even try. :(
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I definitely miss how the game worked with mouse/keyboard in AH2. It's....a little rough AH3. I managed to get it back to an "okay" level, but still have a tough time, especially gunning from a bomber. I just can't get it like it was in AH2. :(
During AH2, I could actually put up somewhat of a fight in a fighter. Ell, I used to dogfight with the Ju-88. I believe it was LedMagnet(?) that I got into a dogfight with in my 88. He was in an F4U. Course I lost (crashed into the water while low after he took off a vertical stabilizer), but it was fun! :rofl Got into a dogfight in a B-26 while he was flying an La. I think he was in the 7? It may have been the 5. :headscratch: I forgot. :o That one ended in a draw, as broke off and told me he was running out of fuel. I would've lost but still, that was also fun! :)
AH3, I don't even try. :(
turn off mouse command view and free fly
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I hate to also draw attention to it, but in my mind (personal observation here, no actual data), the $14.95 monthly fee is a huge detractor for today's gaming population. They expect things for free. And if it's not free (like Netflix, etc) then it better come with a catalog of 100,000 options for when one gets bored...
I spent over 600 bucks playing world of tanks that is free in just 1 year. thought it was cool to have at least a top tank, by the time I made a tier 10 tank, new line came up which made my tank obsolete. truth is games like that will come up with new tanks that are over-modeled, then have an update to make them less deadly and come up with a new line, only way to get ahead is spend more money.
14.95 a month for playing a level field isnt too bad. at least you know you wont be flying a ponyd against another ponyd with a superior engine and more lethal ammo.
semp
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turn off mouse command view and free fly
I had been working on a set of Mouse-Pilot specific offline missions to give new Mouse-Pilots some flying practice and target practice in an environment where they wouldn't be instantly killed.
I was going to create a series on in-air hoops to fly through and AI targets toned WAY down to dummmy-mode to give something reasonable for a new Mouse-Pilot to shoot at until they get the feel for AHIII physics.
I gave up on the project because even I couldn't work it. I'm not a great pilot, but apparently I'm an even worse mouse pilot. My advice at the time to HT was if it detected a mouse only pilot, the default config should be as close to humanly possible to something like WoWP, or WarThunder or what ever they play nowadays. I don't think it is. Maybe I'm wrong.
But dollars to donuts, a mouse only pilot has probably already flown in those so the close you can make it, the lower the initial friction to get them in the air.
$0.02.
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I am trying to wrap my head around all of this discussion.
I don't know numbers and I am not going to talk about the computer wiz stuff. I just don't get it.
I am going to put this out there as an average guy that loves flight simulators and was shy to start in AH. It is difficult to grasp things in the game if you jump right into the lion's den. Even if you spend a few days in the TA, what do you really get out of it that will help you when you arrive in the MA?
I have a little confession to make. I started dabbling in DCS in the last few months. It is incredibly difficult to start flying there. Even things like starting a plane. Setting comms. Setting NAV. Managing weapons systems. Managing the on board computers. It takes a heck of a lot of time. Then you have to buy planes that you like. Buy maps. Buy "campaigns" for single off line play. The only way I learned to fly the Huey and Harrier was thru Training Videos on YouTube.
My point in the DCS mention is that there are more players out there that don't care about the "instant action". Many prefer the FSO style and special events style environments in which planning, training / rehearsing, then conducting the missions. Week in and week out. There is a unique realism to DCS that I haven't seen anywhere. I feel that is our target audience. The person that is okay with the $15 a month. Use of ALL plane types. In DCS you must have a good gaming system. These people exist. I literally sunk about $200 into what I have now in DCS. I still have 2 more maps to purchase so I can operate with the squadron I am flying with there. People even go to such extremes that the custom make parts of the cockpit on their desktop with functioning buttons. Its crazy.
HiTech offers the ability to fly anything you want. You don't have to purchase specific planes. You don't have to purchase maps. And if you stay with it long enough and get to know us, get a squad invite if you're a fit and they tend to train you and even get you involved in the other things we do outside the MA.
So here is the point of my post. With regard to the players that come in for 30 minutes then walk away. If you search AH3 in YouTube, there are some cool videos. Not much in the way of an organized training branch. I feel that we should start a YouTube channel with instructional stuff. Things like setting up and mapping buttons. Add more links to the website that you can click on and print that shows you what the default set up buttons represent. The <dot> commands. Essentially, boost the training team. As done before, set up clinics on a specific day and time of the week in which a trainer works with new players for 3 hours per clinic.
Since I got my new computer I've been stepping up my time online. Whether here or DCS. I spend a LOT of time on YouTube for DCS right now.
I am trying to lock on filming and making video again. I haven't really dove in too hard just yet but I would like to perhaps work toward making some training videos for new players. If this means joining the training team, so be it. I am not that good of a dog fighter. I am good at level bombing and doing CAS type missions. I think in the beginning, we need to really get some videos up on the very basics of AcesHigh and consolidate it to a Training Channel for AH3 in YouTube. We can grow it from there. I feel that it would poise more players checking it out to stay longer if they have an easy and clear method of learning from YouTube.
I'll look into it this coming week and see if I can come up with a vid or two on "getting started". Take it from there.
Also would be cool to put up missions in their entirety of an operation in special events or FSO. AvA. I recently got into watching some full length missions in DCS. Some over 3 hours long. Start up, to launching, refueling, attacking, and RTB to landing. We could be doing that also.
I'll see what I can do to help. At least on the training front. I already volunteer my time and have dedicated my existence in this game to FSO.
:salute
AKSlpKnT
(SlipKnoT)
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So here is the point of my post. With regard to the players that come in for 30 minutes then walk away. If you search AH3 in YouTube, there are some cool videos. Not much in the way of an organized training branch.
I dunno. I guess if you are talking AHIII specifically.
VuduVince had a bunch of excellent one didn't he?
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL54E5CE4C59347B00 (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL54E5CE4C59347B00)
Ciaphas has some good ones:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7-L7e7-UaQE6AtfdBU1zQw/videos (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7-L7e7-UaQE6AtfdBU1zQw/videos)
Fugi? I think had some:
https://www.youtube.com/user/ChainGuN2/videos (https://www.youtube.com/user/ChainGuN2/videos)
Even HTC had a couple ;):
https://www.youtube.com/c/aceshigh/videos (https://www.youtube.com/c/aceshigh/videos)
I've seen streams on Fortress Europe.
I've seen other scenario vids (Brookes maybe?)
I have problems with Dolby, but I have to say some of his videos I've seen are very professional.
More videos can't hurt, but I think they are never found based on the relevance and algorithms.
But give it a try. Especially if you have fun doing it. Problem is once a training video is published, any significant game changes could make it obsolete quickly. But what are those odds. ;)
:aok
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Not me, "Latrobe" did that series for a while. He would take submitted films and critic them as a learning exercise. Was fun to watch those back in the day.
I agree the learning material wasnt always a strong point in this game. I worked with the trainers for a while on rebuilding the training web site but there was no clear leadership or design and it soon fell apart. Air Warrior had a good group of players back in the day that generated a lot of interest in the game even tho it was much smaller than Aces High. Training seminars, news letters and such were always being put out. Today there doesnt seem to be as many people willing to spend the time and effort to help promote things in the game. Both Jaeger1 and Shipper are looking for help.
Id love to see someone take the reigns and run the show with 10-12 guys helping out to put out videos, a news letter/facebook page and so on to generate interest. If 13 guys spend 15 minutes a week on this you get more than 3 hours of work done. The more the merrier. If Hitech puts in a bit of work to make some changes to make it easier on newbs and does a relaunch with Steam (it has been year since the last one) and there is a catalog of help available it might boost the game for another 10 years who knows.
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I dunno. I guess if you are talking AHIII specifically.
VuduVince had a bunch of excellent one didn't he?
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL54E5CE4C59347B00 (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL54E5CE4C59347B00)
Ciaphas has some good ones:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7-L7e7-UaQE6AtfdBU1zQw/videos (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7-L7e7-UaQE6AtfdBU1zQw/videos)
Fugi? I think had some:
https://www.youtube.com/user/ChainGuN2/videos (https://www.youtube.com/user/ChainGuN2/videos)
Even HTC had a couple ;):
https://www.youtube.com/c/aceshigh/videos (https://www.youtube.com/c/aceshigh/videos)
I've seen streams on Fortress Europe.
I've seen other scenario vids (Brookes maybe?)
I have problems with Dolby, but I have to say some of his videos I've seen are very professional.
More videos can't hurt, but I think they are never found based on the relevance and algorithms.
But give it a try. Especially if you have fun doing it. Problem is once a training video is published, any significant game changes could make it obsolete quickly. But what are those odds. ;)
:aok
Yeah. They all did great work on videos. We need that again but have a consolidated channel for people to subscribe to? Something on YouTube "sanctioned" by HT that the Training Team could perhaps manage. That way not just anyone can post to it.
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Not me, "Latrobe" did that series for a while. He would take submitted films and critic them as a learning exercise. Was fun to watch those back in the day.
I agree the learning material wasnt always a strong point in this game. I worked with the trainers for a while on rebuilding the training web site but there was no clear leadership or design and it soon fell apart. Air Warrior had a good group of players back in the day that generated a lot of interest in the game even tho it was much smaller than Aces High. Training seminars, news letters and such were always being put out. Today there doesnt seem to be as many people willing to spend the time and effort to help promote things in the game. Both Jaeger1 and Shipper are looking for help.
Id love to see someone take the reigns and run the show with 10-12 guys helping out to put out videos, a news letter/facebook page and so on to generate interest. If 13 guys spend 15 minutes a week on this you get more than 3 hours of work done. The more the merrier. If Hitech puts in a bit of work to make some changes to make it easier on newbs and does a relaunch with Steam (it has been year since the last one) and there is a catalog of help available it might boost the game for another 10 years who knows.
I will see if I can do "something" to help. I am a novice with film and I am not sure how nice I can make the graphics. That would be key. Eye Candy!!!!
I'm gonna play around a little and see if I can figure some of this stuff out. I am retired now so I have time. I just don't want it to turn into a "job". LOL
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turn off mouse command view and free fly
That's the very first thing I did when AH3 hit. Mouse control is still not what AH2 did for me, despite tweaking it as much as I could. :(
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I think mouse flying should be a very small concern as most who fly flight sims will use a joystick..
The highway robbery prices for one we are seeing now can't last
Lazer is the only player I know who has mastered mouse fighter flying
Eagler
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I think mouse flying should be a very small concern as most who fly flight sims will use a joystick..
The highway robbery prices for one we are seeing now can't last
Lazer is the only player I know who has mastered mouse fighter flying
Eagler
Probably true on both counts. Although with Steam, we're getting exposed to 1000s of users, and the Recommended Hardware doesn't mention a joystick.
Was wondering if the hardware costs nowadays actually work in AH3's favor - this is the least hardware intensive flight sim I fly. I have mid-range 4 yr old system, so while more graphically advanced sims like IL-2 and DCS tax it to its limit, I can fly here with max refresh rates in VR, and 140+ fps in 1440p. That could be a selling point in AH3's favor.
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I think mouse flying should be a very small concern as most who fly flight sims will use a joystick..
The highway robbery prices for one we are seeing now can't last
Lazer is the only player I know who has mastered mouse fighter flying
Eagler
Thats where you are wrong. I'd bet that less than 10% of the people who tried AH during the "Steam" release had a joystick. "gamers" try games all the time. They are use to mini joysticks on their playstation game controllers or old school "w,a,s,d,". Check in windows setting under "bluetooth and other controllers" . I dont know about yours, but all my controllers, warthog, CH throttle, and CH pedals come with a picture of a playstation type controller. Why? because that is what the vast majority of gamers use.
If your going to hook new players they have got to be able to compete with what they have, mice and game controllers. Just like moving from the free planes to a paid subscription they most likely will buy a joystick, but its not what they are going to start with. Thats why the default settings of the mouse must be setup to be able to fly right out of the box. The same goes for a recognized game controller mini joystick. They shouldnt have to try and figure out what to do to set it up, it should just work. If a new player spends 5 minutes trying to get off the ground with his mouse and keeps crashing because it is set too sensitive then they quit and move on to something else.
Getting started in the game should be setup to be as easy as possible, getting "good" is where the time and practice comes in.
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Yeah. They all did great work on videos. We need that again but have a consolidated channel for people to subscribe to? Something on YouTube "sanctioned" by HT that the Training Team could perhaps manage. That way not just anyone can post to it.
:aok
Maybe just put it under HTC's Youtube channel. Give a team lead the ability to upload vids like Spikes I think updates event stuff on the main page now.
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I have problems with Dolby, but I have to say some of his videos I've seen are very professional.
Want to elaborate on that thought before I tell you to go whistle? :old:
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I am able to GV using WASD and the mouse and can get kills in it, but flying is an absolute no go
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I am able to GV using WASD and the mouse and can get kills in it, but flying is an absolute no go
What is difficult about it for you? I tried warthunder once and their mouse command mode sucks. HT tried to duplicate it I believe, and it sucked just like warthunder. If you have it on, disable it.
Also, make changes to your sensitivity, and invert axis as needed to make it work Iike a stick.
I roll the mouse down, and I get lift, the same movement you would from a stick.
I don't even look down at the keyboard as my rudder and flap buttons are close by, and I move that hand over to the keypad to look around.
I don't consider myself a top A2A maneuver master, but my aim and SA is good enough to keep me competitive.
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I'm an idea guy. I'm not a technical guy with all this software stuff. I turn on the computer and click the icons and away I go.
I don't understand website design, video editing, and social media. Just not my forte.
I can point things in a specific direction, bring different viewpoints together, and other people friendly issues. I can translate information to the layman and interest specific groups through generalization.
As a CM, I have to absorb all the different viewpoints, suggestions, and complaints and respond in a tactful manner. Draw the line at any established rules will be the harshest hopefully I ever have to do in a tactful way.
Life time of customer service in fast food, casino, retail, and airline does create the skills for tactful response. At the same time, you do want to rant and rave afterwards. Just being human.
There was a suggestion of some "leadership" in a previous post. Great! Are there anyone willing to step up? Especially with a lot of free time. Are there any suggestions for a player to coordinate efforts to a player led training/advertising team?
Something small and with time grow.
Are there players with the technical skill to handle the work load? Players to handle small amounts of work and others to merge that work in a cohesive fashion?
This should be a community effort.
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What is difficult about it for you? I tried warthunder once and their mouse command mode sucks. HT tried to duplicate it I believe, and it sucked just like warthunder. If you have it on, disable it.
Also, make changes to your sensitivity, and invert axis as needed to make it work Iike a stick.
I roll the mouse down, and I get lift, the same movement you would from a stick.
I don't even look down at the keyboard as my rudder and flap buttons are close by, and I move that hand over to the keypad to look around.
I don't consider myself a top A2A maneuver master, but my aim and SA is good enough to keep me competitive.
Thing is, despite the tweaking I cannot get the precision I had in AH2 that was default. As I mentioned before, I have a rough time gunning from a bomber now than I did then, and I cannot get the same level of maneuverability out of my aircraft as I did then either. Turning off stall limiter makes the aircraft squirrely as hell, which it was like this in AH2 as well though I could still fly. So I kept the limiter on in AH2 and was still able to put up somewhat of a fight. I just flat spin myself in AH3 with it off.
War Thunder's mouse flight is...oof. I can agree, but this can be someone alleviated when using WASD in conjunction. Still, AH2's mouse control was far superior to WT's, which is why I didn't spend a whole lot of time in WT (that and I got tired of my G5N being intercepted by F-86's and MiG-15's).
If HiTech brought back the mouse control ways of AH2, I'd be much more inclined to fly more. It was very easy to use and get used too, and allowed me to actually put up a fight in a fighter. Most importantly for me, it allowed me to accurately deal with interceptors. Challenge could vouch that I wasn't an easy target, providing he remembers. :D
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There was a suggestion of some "leadership" in a previous post. Great! Are there anyone willing to step up? Especially with a lot of free time. Are there any suggestions for a player to coordinate efforts to a player led training/advertising team?
I applaud your enthusiasm, Kuya. I'll do your the courtesy of assuming you want honest feedback.
HT himself said he can't currently see clear ROI on advertising. He said he is getting < 1% conversion on trials. That could technically mean 0.0000001% for all we know. And I wouldn't be surprised.
You can re-make training vids if you want. If you just enjoy doing it then, have fun! They will largely be duplicates of the tutorial vids others have already made. Even most of the AHII vids are still applicable. Not that much has changed as far as basic tutorials on view setup and take-off and such.
40,000 people downloaded the trial at the Steam launch and HT saw < 1% conversion. Possibly WAY, WAY less than 1%; we don't know the exact number.
I think there are fundamental problems with the game itself that make it unappealing to anyone you might manage to pull in with your videos. The proof is in the conversion rate HT saw after being exposed to 40,000 eye-balls (Way more than I suspect you will get video views).
Maybe it's the graphics, maybe the initial UI look, maybe control setup, maybe lack of initial in-game tutorials, maybe the monetization model. No one knows for certain. We all have theories.
Regardless, there are probably code changes of some type needed to be made to the game to make it more appealing to people who download the trial. Until HT can find the secret sauce to raise the average conversion rate to > 1% (I'd say at least to 3-5%) then I would carefully weigh if it is really worth your time and others to crowd source advertising that will apparently fall on unimpressed eyes. Code changes are beyond our control unless parts are open sourced.
Unless you just want to for fun not expecting it to make any difference. "Waste of time" doesn't apply if you are just doing something for amusement.
Good luck.
:salute
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What is difficult about it for you? I tried warthunder once and their mouse command mode sucks. HT tried to duplicate it I believe, and it sucked just like warthunder. If you have it on, disable it.
Also, make changes to your sensitivity, and invert axis as needed to make it work Iike a stick.
I roll the mouse down, and I get lift, the same movement you would from a stick.
I don't even look down at the keyboard as my rudder and flap buttons are close by, and I move that hand over to the keypad to look around.
I don't consider myself a top A2A maneuver master, but my aim and SA is good enough to keep me competitive.
For casual GVing, its fine for me. I dont have the mouse inverted so up is up, down is down, etc. Now if I go into a tank town type area where there are GV's all over the place, then using a stick will have an advantage over using the mouse, otherwise its endless scrolling the mouse trying to find the enemy, and then a lot of dying in the process
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There are many reasons that older players have dropped their subscriptions (such as myself) and they are not HT s fault.
Society changes. Many such as myself were intrigued by the history of WWII. Our Fathers served during WWII. When we were younger we were enamored with that era because of what our parents went through during that time. We grew up on movies such as flying leathernecks' etc. It made us curious. Our Father would take us to the Youngstown Airport just to watch Airliners and Fighter Jets take off at the airport. Back at that time the Airlines were prop driven planes with companies such as Capital Airlines, Eastern Airlines, and TWA were flying regular flights to and from the Airport. The ones we really liked to see were the landings and take offs of the Jets from the Fighter Group that was based at the Airport. We saw a generation of fighter technology change from F-86 to the Voodoo, and the Delta Dart Fighters. We also saw many "Flying Boxcars" land and take off with Personnel and supplies for the group. It influenced a dream in us of that generation.
When flight sims became popular in the early 80s' we were all in! We were in our 30s' by then and we couldn't get enough of it! It was a dream come true! Flight Sims were popular then. We could virtually fly anything we wanted! However, flight sims were popular for a time (boxed Sims) but they take a great deal of finances to produce. They were expensive to say the least and the developers were hard pressed to make a profit from them if they could at all. Then for me and many others, Air Warrior was introduced. Dream come true! Fighting in the virtual skies with players from all over the world at any time of the day. The History is what intrigued us and still does to this day of those of us from my generation.
I've quit and come back at least twice in my participation. What discourages older players from staying is the low participation. In the 80s', 90's and early 2000s' there were many, many more participants then there are today. If one, such as myself does resubscribe we hoped the zeal of the earlier era of MMOGs' was there. We soon become disappointed because of the lack of players which translated to us as a loss of history. The genre now has turned into an instant gratification sim....... a point and click game. My favorite, the Scenarios have fallen from 300 plus participants to, if we're lucky 50 players. Thus maps have had to be smaller, tactics are limited and attacks have to made in a direction that could easily be seen and much easier to defend. Brooke and the other CMs have done a lot of work for a long time to make a Scenario an event. Sadly now it has become a skirmish only limited by the amount of players that participate. We used to see hundreds of Bombers in the virtual skies as well as defending Fighters and escorting Fighters. I don't have to tell you what it has degenerated into now. Not the CMS fault at all, it's the Community at large.
So......as an older participant, one of three generations that could have played since I entered the virtual skies there is a general lack of interest.
Now what could HT do? The game already has more then enough fighters and bombers modeled, as well as gvs! And some are never used! This takes into consideration that most vehicles and aircraft were voted on to be included! The Players themselves had a hand in selecting what should be included. It was a lot of work to model these aircraft and vehicles! And so what. It was a waste of time. I don't know what HT could be thinking. I don't know what HT has in mind. There is everything in this game now one could want! Why bother to spend time and money for no gain? It doesn't make sense.
So to me it's today's society. Different generations. No one right or no one wrong. Time passes on. The game still has the tools. These are some of the reasons why I stopped participating.
Time passes on and there is nothing we can do to stop it. The state of the game has passed me by. That is why I no longer wish to participate. My fault for being so old :old:
Very Well said Hajo I could of not said it better myself. Air Warrior was my first game then did Mod Job for them and was taught by Spiffy and Flo then when air warrior died we all moved over to Aces High. I spent the first few years there then left due to work and came back around 2009 and and spent almost another 10 years there met a lot of people online and I person. Held roles as a CM and Ava staff member. I may come back soon miss flying with some people but who knows when the Crazy8s will return but I do know I will not fly as Molsman anymore
Salute Dale for all the work you do and have done over these years
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What is difficult about it for you? I tried warthunder once and their mouse command mode sucks. HT tried to duplicate it I believe, and it sucked just like warthunder. If you have it on, disable it.
Also, make changes to your sensitivity, and invert axis as needed to make it work Iike a stick.
I roll the mouse down, and I get lift, the same movement you would from a stick.
I don't even look down at the keyboard as my rudder and flap buttons are close by, and I move that hand over to the keypad to look around.
I don't consider myself a top A2A maneuver master, but my aim and SA is good enough to keep me competitive.
I still play WT with nothing but a mouse these days I found it harder to set up joysticks and rudders there. But if I return to aces I will be a mouse flyer. There was one guy in JG-11 that only used a mouse to play and he was pretty darn good I am drawing a blank on his name right now but met him In person
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Kids these days seem happier with first person shooters where they can see heads explode in their scopes, the more gruesome the better..
They don't have the patience nor the attention span to learn a game like AH IMO
And their fragile egos can't handle the repeated buttocks whooping it takes in this game to get slightly decent at it..
Not sure what HT can do about that...
Eagler
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Make the game appeal to the audience it already has... You are right younger people may not stay here but their is still a large audience out there for this game,looking forward to flying a few sorties later today 😊haven't been on for a few days, hectic times! Did try il2 yesterday evening and have to say even just taking off was down do the days I've spent here so far, looking forward to more and subscribing this week, is their a link to the subscription page please?
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I have problems with Dolby, but I have to say some of his videos I've seen are very professional.
Still not elaborating on that as requested :O Not sure what your problem is with me :uhoh
Here, I made 2 training films many years ago..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yCrehO3AKA&list=PLk55_3B8NAXNCL2OwkEoiVkUrIX2arNAs
My memory must have faded over the years, because I'm sure I had 3 tutorial specific films...
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Make the game appeal to the audience it already has... You are right younger people may not stay here but their is still a large audience out there for this game,looking forward to flying a few sorties later today 😊haven't been on for a few days, hectic times! Did try il2 yesterday evening and have to say even just taking off was down do the days I've spent here so far, looking forward to more and subscribing this week, is their a link to the subscription page please?
After your two-week trial is over in Aces High, the next time you try go online, you'll be presented with an option to create a paying account. (I *think* that's they way it still works)
Curious, what are your thoughts on IL-2 gameplay vs Aces High arena?
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Yes I think payment is done online at login..that where you enter your credit card info
Eagler
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After your two-week trial is over in Aces High, the next time you try go online, you'll be presented with an option to create a paying account. (I *think* that's they way it still works)
Curious, what are your thoughts on IL-2 gameplay vs Aces High arena?
Honestly, I think aces high has more purpose , il2 of course has the graphics and more full real options which makes taking off and flying interesting but equally so finding a fight and knowing the objective to a fight ,aces high is clearer,and offers alot more option with a lot more meaning, IL2 missions move on a dynamic line (depending on the server) but last night I was on at US PT with only one server that offered any real action or full real settings which is my preference with a maximum capacity of 84 players , with the strats here which effect downtime and a variety selection of targets to start chipping away at , and GVs also added, for me personally,Aces high ,theirs more sense of fighting a war, and having dynamicness to choose targets and not set to limited options throughout the hours,I saw someone mention ww2ol in a post the other day,which is why I play this game also,but as for an air simulation, this is also on the same spectrum for me
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Yes I think payment is done online at login..that where you enter your credit card info
Eagler
Thank you!