I don't necessarily agree that a historical arena is the way to increase HTC's revenues.
In my opinion, there is only ONE way in which HTC can increase its revenues in the medium term. They simply have to add a First Person Shooter layer to the game.
We have aircraft, we have ships, we have armour .... but we have no infantry. Incorporate a decent FPS layer into the game and try to attract the Quake, CS etc players into the game.
Unfortunately, HTC would not be the first to market with such an idea.
I don't know whether the MMOG flight sim groupies out there have sufficient numbers to support all the offerings on show. Aces High, Warbirds, Target Korea, Air Warrior, Fighter Ace, CFS2, IL2, World War 2 Online .... the competition is bloody fierce!
Like it or not, price is gonna be a major factor in the success or failure of these enterprises. Is a 'great' game worth 3 times as much as a 'good' simulation? I sure as hell don't know (although I'm dying to find out)
But what I DO know is that over the past few months I am seeing less and less 'long-timers' in the arena during the evening, and more and more guys whose names seem to fade away at the end of two weeks.
Aces High raised the bar substantially in a number of areas. I hope it comes out on top, but like I said, the competition is fierce.
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When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
Chapter 13, verse 11