The game still has a long way to go, and the campaign mode is very bland, but I will say the last patch fixed most of the glaring technical issues I was having. My performance has been much improved. (Load times are better too, but still a bit too long.)
I understand Shuffler's dislike of the verification model. I'm sympathetic to that point of view. For me personally, the dislike was not sufficient to justify not buying the game. I always have my internet on so I have found no drawback. And at this moment, I doubt there is a better WWI simulator (though I await HTC's release with great anticipation).
Its a visually beautiful simulation, excellent sound, flight model, damage model... If there is an available program out there that beats it on a majority of of those criteria let me know. I'll buy it too.
Regards,
Wab