yes you are right

Is there going to be additional paper manuals, etc in the new box? I'm in the category of one who bought the original, but then has not bought any of the add-ons, so it looks aobut 6 of one, half a dozen of the other in terms of buying all the add-ons or pre-ordering the new release.

Thee is an updated manual, but it's no a super lengthy one. This is not a study sim like BlackShark.

It's up to you if you want to buy anything further. I'm not holding a gun to your head. But ROF today is not the same thing that you bought a year ago, extra planes or not.

ROF:ICE is a re-launch that is fully compatible with the original release, unlike other sims throuhgout history we are sticking with that approach instead of asking all previous owner to pony up again.

ROF:ICE will give newcomers to ROF a faster, more pleasant and easier time flying and fighting.

Jason

Any news on whether you will be reconsidering the customer-hostile online DRM reqirement?

I still have a rather bad taste in my mouth from posting in the SimHQ ROF forum to announce my new interest in this game after the constant online thing was removed. I asked for help to get started and all I got was bashed from the faithful in the community for not being one who embraced it from the start, despite the DRM online thing. I was a bad guy and they patted themselves on the back. It became such a mess they ended up having to delete the entire thread! And all I asked for was help getting started in the sim!! No thanks now, I went and got immersed in the IL2 modding community instead! Holding out for Maddox's SOW now, will skip this one and their hostile fanboi community people.

I'de say you're doing the right thing Fishingnut. The way I see it, ROF was released a year early in an incomplete form and now they're trying to sell a more complete version of the game now. It doesn't work that way. If I could resell my coaster with the words "Rise of Flight" on it then I would.

Il-2 is still the way to go, and SoW will not let us down.

That's already been addressed. There is an offline mode now.

I suggest reading Darts new review of ROF. It's a comprhensive review.

Jason

I have to say something here. It does work that way if the owner of the sim (the guy whose money the sim was built with) decided to release it early against the team's wishes. But now there are new owners and a re-launch of a newer, more complete version is warranted. There is a lot to the story that the community does not know and probably will never know about ROF due to confidentialty agreements. The ferocious attacks on ROF by members of the community was very disheartening to the the team since they worked so hard, especially because some of the decisions surrounding it's launch and feature set was out of their direct control. That plus being a rookie team and a lack of English skills lead to some missteps along the way sure. But luckily, they didn't listen to the naysayers and decided to fight to save ROF and they have done a great job under tremendous pressure and now the team and new owners control it's destiny.

You'll get two-seaters and a new Career system in the not too distant future along with more aircraft. What the team needs now is the community to stop the negativity and forget the squabbles of a few months ago. The team and engine is capable of so much more if we support them. The future is already being considered.

Why throw all your hopes in with only one development house?

The genre has been stagnant for years. We're trying, along with others to revive it and bring back the good times. Help us, don't hurt us.

Jason

?

No, really, why would you pay any attention to a forum?

I've had numerous problems with RoF, starting with a seizure when they announced online reqs (and some did defend this in an unreasonable fashion, IMHFO), followed by ~$500 dollars worth of upgrades in a failed attempt to make the game playable. But the obvious heart in this sim keeps me coming back, the same care factor you find in Oleg's products and DCS team.

In the end I just took the long view, eventually I'll buy a whole new system and it should run smooth as silk. And if not, RoF + planes cost me less than I spend on alcohol in a week. Why get torn up about a purchase that costs so little for such a (potential at this point) return?

Thanks for the feedback Jason. Out of respect for SimHQ's policy and the devs I just want to say one quick thing and I'll leave this thread to you guys wanting to discuss other aspects of this release.

I really do appreciate what you are doing with the genre but calling it an "offline mode" is somewhat misleading as the sim needs to communicate with your server after each mission in the single player campaign. Unfortunately some of us do not have access to an internet connection wherever or whenever we play and this seriously hampers our ability to enjoy your product.

I find myself wanting to support you for keeping the genre alive but unfortunately I am unwilling to buy a product which is not fully playable.

Since RoF has been available for over a year I think that the release of Iron Cross would be a great opportunity to make your product as accessible as possible to a wider audience and those that did not buy it originally for whatever reason instead of trying to resell it to the same people who own it.