What attracts you to combat flight sims

[=CfC= Father Ted]

For me it's all about the cheery, optimistic forums that seem to spring up around such games...

But seriously...A lot of the replies above talk about applying real world tactics and team work to be successful. To that I'd also add the satisfaction of employing a hard-earned skill.

I'll also confess that what drew me initially to the genre was the chance to live out boyhood fantasies. That's the baseline interest. Of course, I've found that it's all a lot harder than I imagined it would be, but I'm enjoying the challenge of learning.

What keeps me coming back, though, is multiplayer. Before the internet became what we take for granted now, I had lots of combat flight sims, but soon got bored of each of them - AI was always too tough or too easy. Once you get to peek "behind the curtain" of videogames they lose their lustre. Throw real people into the mix and it's a whole different game. Add in a bit of social interaction via TS and I have a recipe which has seen me put in lots of hours on IL2 - way beyond what I would have on my own.

I'll be honest and say I've put in about 10 hours on CloD - and I bought it on release. That's mostly because I haven't got around to MP yet. I fire it up, marvel at the graphics, have a dogfight, restart the mission, have another fight and then...meh