It would be great to cover (and support) all bases.
What the provision of a mini-server would do, would be to allow sites like my WB and Flanker ladders to flourish, building up a large "community" of users. A good, healthy community can do nothing but good for any sim.
What AH could provide is an official "front end" client through which people could connect to each other in this off-the-main-arena scenario. That way, you still get the advertising (and control) whilst still keeping it free for the small host users.
Let's face it ... 1v1, 2v2 is *never* going to compare with these amazing squadron events - chalk and cheese.
Bring people into the "community" via an official (free) mini-server and they'll all want to go on the arena at some stage.
Why is Half-Life/TFC still being played online by *thousands* night after after? Because it's a damned good game and because online time is free - with hundreds of mini-servers out there.
When Sierra release their next killer product, their market will be HUGE. Quite simply, good online play/support keeps a game or sim *alive* ...
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Aministrator, Warbirds H2H Ladder -
http://www.fl-air.co.uk/warbirds/