As One of our esteemed posters has often reminded us, the group that brought us IL2/FB had a record of improving their game over the years with patches, updates and additions. Oleg and his team did seem to listen to thier fan/customer base and
tried to support their product. I appreciate the way that Oleg gave players new aircraft to fly that were not in the original game. SOme of the aircraft were not exactly what was wanted for example P-47N was wanted and he gave us the "100 octaned P-47D with near P-47M or N model performance." and the Spitfire Mk XIV was wanted and he gave us the "Spitfire MkIX 25lbs boost" with near Spitfire Mk14 performance. IL2 did progressively improve through the years but it was a far far more complete and good game when it was released. To say that it was as buggy and broken as CoD when it was released is simply not factual.
I know it too because I still have my original game CD;s from IL2FB, the Aces expansion Pack, PAcific Fighters, PE2 addon,
1946, i got them all, in fact I think i even have 3 complete copies of the game, I am kind of a typical simmer, it shows if I like the game I will buy all those CD;s. This group that is doing CoD is not the same group and even if they were, you can only rest on your laurels for so long. Could it be that we never again see a new combat flight sim that delivers all the things Cod originally promised? I fear that there is no developer in the world that can provide it. Not because of lack of talent and resources but because the market just isnt there. Maybe if we were willing to pay 1000 bucks for a copy , even then it might not be all we would hope for. I'm not sure i want to pay that much for a game, On the other hand people pay more than that for NFL season tickets and Major League baseball season tickets , and Rock COncert tickets and on and on. It might not be a bad deal after all. But can it be done ?