Even if you have no interest in History how can that type of flight model be any kind of fun?
they don't know any better and don't realize that they can get pretty close to a realistic experience if they invest in pedals stick throttle and track IR.
but doing that involves a monetary investment and a time investment in learning to use the newly purchased equipment.
I have many times at the start of a Historical battle match asked them how they get any satisfaction out of mouse aiming with an AI instructor pilot actually flying the plane for them. the response i get is usually... "your stupid if you don't fly with a mouse" then I kill them all and have a good laugh.
it's a short lifespan cash generating game. I doubt it last that long
all games even subscription based ones like AH require fresh blood to live because no matter the pay scheme the player has a limited life cycle in terms of how much time and financial backing they are interested in putting in to the game. long timers are a minority and not numerous enough to sustain most MMO enterprises. AH may or may not be an exception to this given their lower overhead costs with no corporate string pullers to support.
no matter what the monetary scheme once the players interest dwindles they are unlikely to be playing the game or investing any money in it. if the game is having critical mass player base obstacles the f2p model does open the gates to the freeloaders to fill the arenas but this only provides targets for the paying players to shoot at and does not make the game profitable directly. though word of mouth and popularity are arguably worth the lost revenue. humans like crowds and go wherever the big crowds and fast fights are.