Okay, who's going to admit it. It's the role playing aspect. I know that nobody wants to tarnish their good, groggish name with a phrase like "role playing", but come on, admit it, you know you want it . Well, at least I do.

I could do without minute attention to historical accuracy (Fokker DVIIs in 1917 is NOT minute, that's enormous) although the closer the better. If it is not perfect, it has to be about right. But then there is the fantasy "you are there" element. You need squadron mates that are interesting for that. You need opponents who are interesting. Sounds like ROF has neither at this point. In truth, I thought that IL2 lacked that too (squadron mates just got hacked too fast).

One of the keys to the next level of sim will be to give AI a survival instinct. If damaged, get out of the fight. If outnumbered, run. Without this, all of the physical fidelity is meaningless in an SP game. Your enemies will stupidly fight to the last, meaning a bloated score for you. Your mates will stupidly fight to the last, meaning a revolving door that moves faster than even the real WWI turnover (which was quite fast enough).

So, no real squadron mates, no historical fidelity, ... yet. Here's hoping for the best. Unfortunately, unless you are happy with canned campaigns, it is going to take code to fix these sorts of shortcomings.

Oh well, I bought mine. Hasn't arrived yet. Wouldn't have plunked down the money if the whole thing seemed hopeless. If the folks in Russia allow the community to do what they are able to do (expand the aircraft base) while the coders remain committed to improving the guts of the game and integrating community enhancements it can all work out.

A lot of what you're looking for is already available in the Mission Editor (random encounters, bug out scripts etc). Unfortunately the editor is very difficult to get to the bottom of as the people who really know how it works only speak Russian. I know for a fact that a lot of time is being spent by some people get to grips with it and put together a good English manual.

Role playing? That's what your imagination is for

I have some experience with role playing games, both on the PC and pen and paper ones, but it never occured to me to describe it this way. Pretty accurate way to say it though. The FM/DM is half the deal, the other half is the whole "i'm there, or at the very least in a movie" feeling, at least for me

It will all work out specifically because of these folks in Russia, and the fact that they're actively engaged in the expansion of their product.

This is not a sim that the developer stops working on or expanding, or a sim series that comes out in seperate releases, this sim has been built for self-directed growth.

Neoqb has included a mission editor that is quite capable, and has generously offered to work with talented 3D artists who would like to submit content for the sim, and wants to cooperate with these ventures too.

The Team behind ROF wants to ensure compatability of its code for all customers, so quality of add-ons or enhancements is top priority.

FlyRetired:

Unlike other software purchases, this is more of an investment than a purchase. The game is not finished, or even close to it. If this was all that I thought it was ever going to be then my wallet would have stayed in my pocket.

Obviously I am hopeful. However, like many investments, it has the possibility of going belly up. We have all seen it before. With a bit of luck and continued support, it wont. We'll see.