Jason went into a bit more detail on one new aspect mentioned in the annoucement. This sounds very promising! What say ye?

5. Can you explain in more detail about Air Marshall and Field Marshall modes for MP? Will it be available only in multiplayer?
It is indeed an MP only feature. It is so the battles can be more closely managed and have some organization which I think will boost MP participation. Part of the problem of current MP is too many lone wolves, not enough squad action and too hard to find targets without labels on. Also, there is no human air traffic control, no human GCI, no new vectors given to players once in air, no recon reports to paint a picture of the battle like in real life. There are some really talented community members with real life military comms experience that could make MP battles much more fun by giving orders to squads of planes or tanks. The information given to the Marshall will be based on real-life limitations like visual ranges etc. This will not be a screen with massive amounts of information. For instance, if recon unit destroyed, Marshall loses that info. Having a good Marshall on your team is another factor that can lead to victory. And the Marshall screen will be optional for server operators. I think it will be popular though. I'll try to explain it in better detail a little later on.

Even if the Marshall mode is something of a bare bones commander to coordinate players online, this would still be awesome. Basically what I noticed when playing BOS and ROF as well, is that when an organised squad logs into a server and plots themselves a bombing mission, other players quickly pick up on that, are happy to provide air cover or take out some targets. A commander who could coordinate random players would be much help in keeping things focused.

Ideally, we would have a squad system an build in voice comms, with the Marshall coordinating with squad leaders as well as the ability to draw on the map. This would definitely kick things into gear.

What would be fantastic (and up to us the players) would be if each squad had their own TS channel and the Air Marshal had access to a squadron leader to give directions too. The side that did that would win the map everytime until the oppo side followed suit. BTW, in Jason's teamspeak chat with customers yesterday I asked what the likelihood of this happening in Kuban was and he responded that it will be in the original release. This is his baby and he pushed for it hard in last months meetings. It may be "bare bones" but it is coming!

Another interesting development.


Wheels

I'm sorry I missed the details of the future Pacific theater IL-2 offerings, but what are we expecting? Whenever I hear about the Pacific I think of USA Vs Japan. What specifically is IL-2 offering?

Battle of Midway - or USA Vs Japan then Battle of Okinawa (maybe USA & British Vs Japan).

I presume the hinted Pacific stuff will also be spread over several US$80 "standalone" releases, further chipping away at the player base.

Good.

Some exciting news in today's DD on their forums, regarding the new career system that will be coming for BOK. It will also be implemented for BOM and BOS as well.
Sounds right up my alley!

Indeed, the future looks very promising. Not only is this franchise still alive - heading towards new theatres of war.. there are a multitude of RIGHT choices in terms of development of the actual platform, making it better and richer not only for upcoming titles but also for BoS/BoM

There has been some decisions made in the past that have been unpopular for many players; some necessary due to time/budget constrains and some just not very... thought over.
DX11 opens up for VR, better offline experience, no unlocks, trimmed engine for more AIplanes...

I am a very happy customer.... before I was "pleased" but now... eager.