I will go play War Thunder for free..........
Before I Pay to fight AI.
The number One problem in AH right now is low player numbers. But do we see any commercials on TV, ads on the internet. How about a write up in PC Pilot Magazine? They talk about the IL-2 series, Rise of Flight and other combat flight sims all the time.......... but never AH.
I have been mystified by this myself. Aces High seems to be too often snubbed or go unnoticed by simming media. I don't know why a flight sim that could at one time get 500+ all in one arena on a night would not be considered worthy of a lot of press and reviews, articles, etc. Or take fan sites, like Simmers Paint Shop - they have a dedicated forum for Targetware, but nothing for AH!? AH is an active flight sim that allows skinning contributions by the community - that has got to be right in Simmers Paint Shop's wheelhouse, and yet they have nothing related specifically to the AH community. I don't get it.
Having said that, I think now is not the time for a media blitz to increase player numbers. Might be better to wait until the new version is out and stable before spending resources trying to get a bunch of new subscribers. I really hope the new terrains will be comparable to the best, most realistic terrains in War Thunder (some of WT's terrains are just fantasy world-like, IMO). And I think its critical to get the AH1 models updated or out of the game until they can be brought up to the current standard. I do not think the F4F cockpit, for example, makes a good impression of the AH at all - not for people who have seem DCS cockpits, War Thunder, etc. But the newer plane models' cockpit art, like the Hurricane, absolutely look top-notch and compare favorably to the other, newer sims.