IL2 is great because.......

[Shadowcorp]

Lag isn't so much of an issue as it it with other games for example MW2,
The various types of control have given it a much longer life

And Cheesetactic players can be overcome quite easily unlike campers in mw2.

Then the community is great (apart from a few bad apples), there are no clans which fly around persecuting players for whatever petty reason.

Activities such as formation flying and historic battles also serve to add to the game, these though would not be possible without a good community