Are there enough players?

[Rob52240]

I don't mean to sound like a salamander but it seems that you might have more fun in the dueling arena. 

[bj229r]

DA, though sometimes fun, is very one dimensional, whether it be the lake, crammed full of picking/HOing Tempest tards who think they've done something after vulching you on takeoff, or mere dueling, which doesn't have the variety that one finds hunting down people in the MA

[MarineUS]

The only reasons I would EVER, EVERRRRRR go into the "DA" would be to
1) drag fighters into my laser beam guns in some buffs.
2) Learn defensive maneuvers

I wish HT would take up donations to get some ads running - I would record it and watch it over and over 
 

[DMGOD]

The only reasons I would EVER, EVERRRRRR go into the "DA" would be to
1) drag fighters into my laser beam guns in some buffs.
2) Learn defensive maneuvers

I wish HT would take up donations to get some ads running - I would record it and watch it over and over 
 

  +1  if they added a donate option I'd def send some extra cash in. Especially if it was going towards commercials or other advertisement in an attempt to lure some more helpless addicts. 

[Hoff]

The big fans of flight sims are already playing this game or know about it at the very least. Before they advertise they need to change the game so that the people that see the advertisements will actually stay. I can tell you right now that non flight sim people that want to play mmos won't put up with arena caps. So their choice is remove arena caps to get new players and piss off old players or keep arena caps to keep the old players happy but shut out new players. A younger gamer isn't going to sacrifice excellent graphics and not having a monthly fee (IL2 for example) for a game with worse graphics and the same amount of players. They're going to want to play a game that has a TON of players in a PERSISTENT world, they won't want to be forced to join a different "persistent" map every time they log back in.

[Guppy35]

LOL you've been here a month and you've got it figured out better then the designers. 

For all those missing that 'golden age' you mention with 700 in an arena, please go back and think about what it was like then without the rose colored glasses please

[USRanger]

Just because you don't agree doesn't mean our opinions are wrong.  Some of us preferred the old single MA.  End of story.

[ghi]

The big fans of flight sims are already playing this game or know about it at the very least. Before they advertise they need to change the game so that the people that see the advertisements will actually stay. I can tell you right now that non flight sim people that want to play mmos won't put up with arena caps. So their choice is remove arena caps to get new players and piss off old players or keep arena caps to keep the old players happy but shut out new players. A younger gamer isn't going to sacrifice excellent graphics and not having a monthly fee (IL2 for example) for a game with worse graphics and the same amount of players. They're going to want to play a game that has a TON of players in a PERSISTENT world, they won't want to be forced to join a different "persistent" map every time they log back in.

 

[moot]

This argument is going nowhere if statements are made purely on authority.... Regardless which side, if any, you're on, the fact is that AH player growth had stopped when the arenas got to a certain uncapped size.  Once they were capped subscriptions resumed increasing.   It's from this and other facts, and from working to establish other facts rather than unsubstantiated assertions, that this arguments must work from if it's to not turn into another food fight.

E.G. that the game must be persistent, and that this isn't how things are now.
What is supposed to happen once a map is won, that would not "break" persistence?

What are the facts of gameplay quality when AH was at its peak in single arena population?

etc

[BaldEagl]

This argument is going nowhere if statements are made purely on authority.... Regardless which side, if any, you're on, the fact is that AH player growth had stopped when the arenas got to a certain uncapped size.  Once they were capped subscriptions resumed increasing. 

I'd argue that the populaton of AH overall has declined from that "golden age".  Just go into the arena, pop open the clipboard and sort by rank.  The lowest ranked players today are much higher ranked than before so that indicates that there are fewer players playing the game.  I know that Lusche posted one of his wonderful charts on this.  I'm sure the economy, job market and other factors have contributed to this but from my memory the clipboard numbers nearly halved.  That accounts for a lot more than the rise in unemployment and even underemployment over that time frame and indicates that players are bailing (no pun intended).

Maybe numbers did increase after the arena split but was it due to the arena split or was HT running ads at that time?  It seems to me he was.

I'm not saying the arena split is nessesarily bad, but with numbers what they are today vs where they were some type of accomodation needs to be made to make sure that when subscribers log on there's something for them to do, otherwise they'll leave and getting them back costs far more than keeping them in the first place.

[grizz441]

Once they were capped subscriptions resumed increasing. 
etc

True, but if subscriptions happen to be on the decline past a certain point, won't reverting back to one arena also cause subscriptions to increase?  Not saying it's there yet but there certainly is a point the other way too.

[moot]

BE do you mean Lusche's off-hours numbers, or did I miss his numbers for prime time that show this?

I'm on the fence for capped/single arenas.  We need to find definite evidence that player growth resuming and arena caps were only coincidence.  Just telling HT that there's no way to tell either way for sure, and using that as argument for trying uncapped arenas again, probably won't fly.  Because IMO you can't just keep changing things without paying for it with at least a few subs, and because it takes a while for this sort of thing to settle down again for you to see whether it works or not.

I agree that if numbers keep falling, then eventually it'd be better ... that we "might as well" go back to single arena, but frankly I don't know if that's feasible.  It seems right on the face of it, but then I don't know anything about the underlying factors like HT & co do.

[EskimoJoe]

I'd argue that the populaton of AH overall has declined from that "golden age".  Just go into the arena, pop open the clipboard and sort by rank.  <snip> I know that Lusche posted one of his wonderful charts on this.  I'm sure the economy, job market and other factors have contributed to this but from my memory the clipboard numbers nearly halved. <snip>

Well, yeah.. There are half as many players in each arena are there not?

[moot]

You'd still have the same span of rank, unless there was some artificial sorting going on, so that one arena had higher half of ranked player and the other arena the lower half.

[AAJagerX]

The big fans of flight sims are already playing this game or know about it at the very least.

Outstanding blanket statement.

 

Before they advertise they need to change the game so that the people that see the advertisements will actually stay. I can tell you right now that non flight sim people that want to play mmos won't put up with arena caps. So their choice is remove arena caps to get new players and piss off old players or keep arena caps to keep the old players happy but shut out new players.

HTC does this for a reason.  I'm glad we finally have someone here to tell them what their options are.


 

younger gamer isn't going to sacrifice excellent graphics and not having a monthly fee (IL2 for example) for a game with worse graphics and the same amount of players. They're going to want to play a game that has a TON of players in a PERSISTENT world, they won't want to be forced to join a different "persistent" map every time they log back in.

IL2 has a horrible flight model. If you love IL2's graphics and arenas so much, great.  Go play there.  There's a reason that AH has outlasted most other MMO flight sims and has such a dedicated player base.  You have no clue.