But ED are developing a DC. What sim is based on a MMORPG type system?

Nate

At the moment War Thunder, and there has been some talk that 1C is going this route however I have seen nothing concrete on that subject.

Indeed, I know that, but the point is the same: why weren't they developing something that could integrate with what already existed? And that's because:




You have planes but you don't have wars. They came up with this schema that the only thing it does is to allow for planes to be made and purchased. No attempt what so ever to create a Digital Combat Simulations experience.



The only option I would want to have is the one they sold us in the first place: a believable campaign with very well modeled planes and environment. For just flying planes people can go with FSX or X-Planes and that's what I think would happen. 40 bucks for just a plane (P-51) ? It won't long last.

I tend to disagree with this kind of opinion, given how detailed the DCS aircraft are modeled I think it's a fair price. However. Most, if not all, arguments have been exchanged about this, so how about this: If ED goes bankrupt, feel free to announce here or elsewhere in capital letters "Told you so". If, on the other hand, ED is still in business in, say, two years, you open a new thread right here and publicly announce that you were wrong. Game on? :-)

I think this is the first step in something that will be very exciting long term. Remembering the P-51 was produced as a labour of love by a few DCS programmers in their spare time. Give it a year and I think you will see WWW2 era maps being developed and opponent aircraft.

The point is to support this project now. Don't wait for them to add more content.

Well, I don't want to hand over my hard earned without some kind of assurance that the title will be developed within some kind of desirable context. (IE: me getting to set fire to BF-109s and FW-190s in a nice campaign at some point)

I'm happy to support the industry in general but I'm not completely indiscriminate in the way I do so.

Incorrect. It's not "75% of the market". It's "a large portion of people on internet forums", which might look impressive but is still only a fraction of a percent of the "market". Most people that purchase combat simulators never post on a forum.



For the reasons mentioned above, it's not that developers are blind, nor making a dash for MMORPG dollars. (That's random? Where did that come from?)



An unlocked bank with an open safe makes you no good if it costs more to get close to it than there is in that safe. Let's illustrate this in an easy fashion:

1) Companies in the recent decade that have made good(ish) DC's: Microprose and Razorworks.
2) Companies in the recent decade that have made a good(ish) DC and were rewarded with enough sales to stay in business: none.

There's a lot more to market analysis than looking at what a vocal minority is saying on the interwebs. No matter how cool a feature is, said feature has to pay for itself. Even if and when it might mean additional sales, perhaps even substantially increased sales, you still need to consider the fact that development time is a lot of money paid up front, and the additional revenue must offset both the costs in time and development money but also capital costs, cover delays in getting revenue on working capital etcetera etcetera. Simply saying "we'll make the most awesome thing ever" is a sure way to end up never releasing a product at all because you run out of money - or, if you release, not making enough to pay your debts.

If you've ever wondered how Falcon could have lasted this long, all you have to do is look at the challenges facing ED. Study sim? Check. Dynamic Campaign? Check. Everything just works together perfectly? Check. I have a feeling Falcon will be around for another 20 years. Allied Force is awesome, and BMS has raised the bar again. But I am rooting for and supporting ED. This is a tough challenge!

Yeah, the big deal though is that ED of course has to do this from a business standpoint. ED could make the most awesome thing ever if they decided to go balls to the wall and kill BMS. But it would be almost guaranteed to kill the company. A lot of people often seem to confuse lasting power of a simulator with commercial success. A business can't just make "the best product ever" and have that automatically translate into commercial success.

Therefore, things take time, since ED has to go about this in a sensible way, which it is doing.

Let's see - Flanker 1.0, 2.0, 2.5, Flamming Cliffs 1 and 2, LOMAC, BS 1 and 2, A10C, P-51. Company is still going strong.

Name another company that still produces flight simulators? None.

Yes someone pops in here and tells they are wrong and should create World of Tanks or such. Makes perfect sense.