Quote:
Originally Posted by zauii
True the simulation market has a lot of offline only customers,
but eventually that will have to change as well, just as anything
technology progresses and time moves on and everything can't stay the
same forever.
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Not really.
Moving to online play is not necessarily progress any more than most game publishers moving to the console platform is progress.
Online dogfight servers tend to be full of immature people out to inflate their ego's and the online chats are rife with trolling and schoolboy bully tactics. Further some even think they are the "elite" of the sim community and can demand all sorts of things from publishers based on their online activity.
I haven't played online since 2004 and even then I mainly played squad co-ops and virtual wars. My squad were great guys but their were too many idiots out there.
To be truly successful online a simulation would need to stop being a simulation and become much more a game. To appeal to a broader market you would need to "dumb things down" a bit as your average punter does not appreciate a big learning curve and wants to be instantly a "awesome uber 1337 hero". You also would need to forget historical accuracy and adjust opposing aircraft and weapons to achieve fair game balance. You would also need to reward people for persistently logging in and also for spending money.
In short you would need to throw out the ideal of being a "simulation" as unachievable and create what is basically a realistic looking aerial version of Halo
It would probably be fun and make lots of money, but not my cup of tea.