Player numbers down?

[Purzel]

Hi there!

I was coming back to AH last week. I was somewhat active a few years ago and I thought I'd give it a try agian.

Everything seems to be fine, but the number of players seems to have seriously dropped, right? I can remember times when there were 500 or so online weekend evenings. Last weekend most I saw was 150 or so. European time zone here.

Did the player base really shrink that much or is there some other reason that I saw so few people online? Just before there were just 50 ppl in the MA, thats just too little...

Thanks for your input!

Purzel

[save]

IF you are interested in plane to plane combat, all maps but one offer Ok numbers in Euro and US TZ for a good aerial fight, with the exception that sometimes 2 countries fight each other and forget the 3rd.
You can shift country though (with a 6 hour probation time for shifting again) .

Remember also the arena was split during parts of the glory days of AH.

[Purzel]

Hmm, ok, so I may just try switching countries to where the action is more. I thought of that but was concerned with not being able to switch back. 6 hours is not such a long timespan, so it should be ok...

[Bizman]

It's also spring. At least where I live it seems that people are more interested in gardening than computers - and I maintain home computers for living! 

[Shuffler]

This time of year numbers always seem to drop as folks are outside a lot. Numbers are not as high as they used to be as some have old computers that would not run the new AHIII.

[Purzel]

Yeah ok, spring might be a contributor. Where I live the weather isn't really pulling you outside yet, but maybe in general this lets numbers drop.

But I think AH doen't demand a top of the line computer. Those who play games in general should be able to run AH, right? Off course for everyone there comes a time when you just don't want to buy another computer anymore, I guess...

[Lusche]

Did the player base really shrink that much

Yes.

It's also spring. At least where I live it seems that people are more interested in gardening than computers - and I maintain home computers for living! 

This time of year numbers always seem to drop as folks are outside a lot

Numbers dropped steadily regardless of season. If players really canceled because of the season, they never came back

[Lusche]

Remember also the arena was split during parts of the glory days of AH.

That's why my personal definition of AH's 'glory days' is 2005/2006 - just before the %&%&/)//&!°!!!!! arena split was imposed on us 

[Bizman]

But I think AH doen't demand a top of the line computer. Those who play games in general should be able to run AH, right?

For AH3 you'd need a gaming computer, whereas AH2 could be played on a good office computer. Just like most realistic looking games AH3 really benefits of a high end graphics card. However, unlike many other titles, a medium-high end video card can provide sufficient frame rates for the cost of some non-critical eye candy. That would mean a 150€ additional cost to the old system, at the minimum. For those using office laptops the cost would be higher since you can't just add a gaming level video card into one.

Of course for everyone there comes a time when you just don't want to buy another computer anymore, I guess...

The oldest AH players I've heard of have been past their 80th birthday...

[DmonSlyr]

The biggest reason is maps. Most players have gotten tired of the same old same old. There have been some new maps, some like Montis that work great, others like Buzzsaw may have scared some away and leave #s low Everytime it's on. The fighter base has gone because it takes too much time to find good fights and they then die instantly when you find one. This leaves only strategy based players and now the idea is that fighters no longer are important. Therefore strategy base players win while fighters go find a new game. I think they need to bring the emphisis back to fighter planes.

Lack of fighter action because players have left. This creates a down turn in action and thus more players leave from bordem and having to fly 25 minutes to fight 1 25K 190D.

No fast action arena. The DA doesn't cut it because the furball island is boring, all you see is water, and it's too big. It still takes 10 minutes to get to the middle. Need an arena where you can spawn right into the action and have a nice scenery to boot. This would attract many players who just want to have some quick 15-30 min fun play time.

I think these are the biggest reasons besides players leaving for personal reasons.

[Lazerr]

I think adding a nice stereo system to the m3 would help attract and keep new players.  It would add more excitement to running that box of supplies into town with a basically invisable vehicle.

[Purzel]

Thanks for the replies, guys!

So, as I feared the player base also went down significantly. Thats very sad.
For me, I also don't have the time to be online vast amounts of time. So something where nice, quick fighter action can be found would be cool.

Maybe this is some kind of hog cycle and some day the players come in again. You never know...

[Brooke]

But I think AH doen't demand a top of the line computer. Those who play games in general should be able to run AH, right? Off course for everyone there comes a time when you just don't want to buy another computer anymore, I guess...

I find it runs OK even on inexpensive computers (down to, say, 2.4 GHz dual core Intel, even things like older Core 2 Duo and newer, but inexpensive, Pentium G's) as long as you have a graphics card that is about as good as a GTX 750 Ti (which is currently about a $110 graphics card).  With that, you can still get about 60 fps as long as you turn environment map slider to none, reflections and shadows off.  If with those off you still don't get fps you want, try setting textures to 1024 and disable post lighting.

[cav58d]

It's really a combination of things.  Most recently it is the weather.  I've been back about four months now and the numbers we're definitely higher on the cold days when the sun sets at 4:45pm.  It's just hard being inside playing a video game when it's nice out day and night.

The game is definitely repetitive, but making friends and flying different aircraft help.  I'm still blown away that in my ten year break there's only a couple new maps.  I fully expected to come back and find 20+ maps in rotation, in seriously shocked how few options we have.

The game definitely isn't beginner friendly.  Super high learning curve, lots of key mapping, and a highly skilled player group in the MA definitely makes it hard for noobs to get hooked.  I really think HTC should create some tutorial missions before you fly online.

If you look at the numbers during a special event, there's clearly a decent amount of people that keep accounts but don't participate in the MA.  I bet tonight's FSO is about 180 pilots and the MA will have 150 or so.

Anyways don't let the numbers keep you from returning, it's worth it and action can be found.

[Lusche]

It's really a combination of things.  Most recently it is the weather.  I've been back about four months now and the numbers we're definitely higher on the cold days when the sun sets at 4:45pm.  It's just hard being inside playing a video game when it's nice out day and night.

But numbers last summer were higher as in the winter... 

If you look at the numbers during a special event, there's clearly a decent amount of people that keep accounts but don't participate in the MA. .

Clearly?