First off, I'm not complaining. I just got back into AH after a ~three year hiatus and I'm lovin' every minute of it.
That said, it's time for AH3.
It's not just that the graphics are bad, it's that the engine is dated. You shouldn't be able to make a modern computer chug along with graphics like this just because you turned up the shadows. Seriously.
There's always people in threads like these who are concerned about whether their current hardware would run a modern AH, but...whether you like to admit it or not, and whether this game is the only one you play or not, you're still a gamer. And gamers have to upgrade their hardware. That's just the way it is.
BTW, this is coming from someone who would probably have to upgrade if we really did get an AH3. C2D @ 3.6ghz, 2GB RAM, 9800GT, WinXP. Well, upgrade to get the full experience anyway. I'm sure the game would run on this hardware, just not sure how well.
Also, maybe it's because I'm used to paying $30-50 for a game and that's it. But a new plane model here and there doesn't make me and my $15/month happy. Yeah, I know, servers bandwidth blah blah blah. Still, it adds up. But, like I said, I'm not complaining (that much). At this point in my life I'm perfectly happy to pay monthly for the kind of experience I get here. No other game gets my blood going quite like this one. Doesn't mean I have to stay quiet about it.