[QUOTE=lokitexas;457442]No, I have not. The only flight sim I play online is DCS World. Mainly the Ka-50 with a few other Black Shark pilots, and of course A10's. Love the coop, and the communications between the group.
I tried RoF online and quickly gave that up. Air Quake in WWI planes didnt do it for me. Insta respawn free for all, or completely dead realistic servers. I miss good old coop campaigns from IL2. I was hoping it would be in CLoD by now.
I might be selling myself short by not trying CLoD online, dunno. Maybe I was expecting too much...like IL2 with better eyecandy and improved FM's.
How much of a "different world" is CLoD online?[/QUOTE]
It is primarily the fact that you are up against real people and mostly that relates to the fighter combat side. That is mainly because few people fly bombers but when they do its an added incentive to 'get them'
There is the combat unpredictability of the other pilot who may be anything from a rookie to a very experienced virtual fighter pilot or he might be a very evasive bomber pilot although most bombers are AI. The 'real person' aspect adds a degree of competitiveness and determination that I never feel when up against AI no matter how clever it is. Add to that the ability to talk to other real people on Teamspeak, organise a sortie with them, work together and protect eachother and then, for me, the offline AI world becomes sterile. Also add to that the efforts of some of the community to create campaigns like the SOWC BoB campaign of seven separate missions and you find yourself flying and working with half a dozen squadrons of real people.
There are the public servers, to be found in Multiplayer... Client... Some, like the ATAG Axis vs Allies server, run several missions on a rotation basis with mission objectives that can be achieved and therefore won by either side to close the mission and trigger the next one. Anyone can walk in and take part. Similarly there are simple 'dogfight' servers where you can jump in and take part in the often manic fight-til-you-die dogfights (not my preference). Then, as I mentioned before, some of the community put together a series of missions to create a campaign in which thiose who register for it can take part and are assigned roles. Unfortunately there is no dynamic campaign generator (yet?) to take one mission on to the next logical stage.
Some Squads work together online in private servers in campaigns they have built and don't have the general public involved.
I have never met anyone who flew online that went on to prefer offline play for those reasons. I expect there are some because you don't build a 'career' online except perhaps among your squadmates if you join a squad. Also some people like long structured campagns even of they are only AI.
Online play gives a different, personal, feel to CoD. If you want to try it, have a look at the ATAG server and use their Teamspeak on 216.52.148.29. Jump in and say Hi.