Where is everybody

[whoarmongar]

I had such high hopes for CloD when it was released. I couldnt wait to play it full real online with up to 128 players.
I think my disapointment with the sim was heightened by my previous anticipation of how good it would be.
After a few patches I was still a bit disheartened with the game and the lack of full real players on the servers, so I put the game away for a while and went back to good old Arma2OA.

Then not long ago a few people were trying to organise battles on the syn server, online player numbers seemed to be up to 40ish ppl, so I came back to the game and give it another go.
Well it was a blast ! Great fun with players organising themselves into flights on vent and lots going on. Hey I thought to myself " this games not as bad as I thought" I had kinda forgotten how much I just love flying these planes, and how much untapped potential this game has got.
Work intervened but I was really looking forward to getting back on the syn server for some more fun.
Oh no, the syn server had disappeared, the webpage was down and nobody seemed to be online playing full real.
So syn has gone, its now the ATAG server and Im sure players will soon be on this server in healthy numbers.

Reading this forum Im struck by the number of people who claim they need to "learn the game", or "arnt ready yet to play online". this lack of confidence is rather suprising to me.
Online players are not all ace fliers, sure you do come across some highly skilled fliers on either side and some well organised flights (usually on blue side in my experience) but honestly the best way to learn this game is to fly online against human pilots, theres no shame in being shot down, in this game a hard lesson is a good lesson.

I think the most important thing to do if online is to get on comms either vent or t/s.
With comms its so much easier, advice from other players is always available, joining other players as a wingman always increases your survival chances, and simply following a "leader" for a few missions teaches you a great deal about this sim. The other day I listened in while an experienced Hurricane pilot talked his wingman through engine managment and how to get the best from his aircraft, where the enemy were and when to attack and when the lurking 109`s were about to attack. That rookie pilot learned more in 30mins than he would in 6hrs sitting on the runway typing questions like "how do I start my engine" or "why does my engine keep blowing up" I never can type when flying, only when in the lobby do I type in chat.

To sit at a base and watch players spawn, try to start their engines fire their guns in frustration then disconect is a crying shame. My advice is Get online. Get on coms. Get on someones wing.