Well this is the reason I migrated to DCS choppers, bought myself a stick and a collective for the cost of a car and dumped my ACE yoke. I fly BOS in online campaign , and only in servers to fresh up my feel for the hardware.
I do not like the way simulators are played out online, everybody exploit the aircraft and game engine weak sides and make the whole experience like you say a FPS arcadish bowl of soup. This is not BOS specific at all.
The only game that truly can be flown like old IL 2 is DCS, hours with offline fun and a easy mission editor . And endless things to learn

Thing is that you will be "feed up" of these very coppers soon, besides being the "master of the skies" in rotary wing control, there's no much to do with then in..."DC'Sandbox".

This sounds poetic ... but actually games need MP.
The simple lack of this component (good or bad) will to put away the "new players".

BoS try be a IL-2, a War Thunder, a DCS (engine management w/Win+Home), but without strong MP and SP components, ended without being none.

This times infinity made into a brass plaque.

Not picking on you LuseKofte but I don't think that's a fair statement. We've done 129 Dev Diaries with 1600+ posts from me, 700+ from Loft, 400+ from Han, countless WIP screenshots, Facebook updates, Newsletters, Teamspeak chats with customers and regular sales for merchandise etc. etc.

We communicate quite well and quite often. Some just don't like what we have said and some prescribe sinister meaning to just about everything I or Loft has said because they don't like something about the product or our not changing course when they thought we should.

I'm sure if everything had been built the way I guess the majority of players wanted etc. our communication would be seen as the best.

And yes, we need people to buy the product to make more products. Do you just want to be stuck with DCS and WT and modded CLOD forever?

Some of you really need to not see me as the enemy or an idiot (I get both from this forum) and instead see a sim fan who is trying to give you what you want against some very stiff resistance for the past 3 years.

After the difficulty with CLOD and the design choices many on this forum didn't like the atmosphere turned toxic. I have a personal policy of always speaking to my customers and explaining everything I can as long as I am not personally attacked. That has never changed.

Am I perfect, no, but my goal of making the best sim has never changed. Whether you want to believe it or not, I am always on the side of the sim player and customer.

Jason

Hmmm, I'm finding Jason's posts here and on the official forums quite interesting. Maybe I'm becoming an optimist but I've a feeling big changes are coming to BoS. I hope I'm right.

quite true , but that only apply if you are over doing it, The stick I bought are excellent for planes too, and are in no way making me fly choppers exclusive. In terms of offline possibilities DCS is the best option due to the easy ME and the campaigns already there.
Learning all the modules and do the campaigns take years in my flight plan, I just aint that much home to do it.

This is the general feeling among the community, there are change in the air. But you got to admit the community itself has given this game no chances, there a lot more forgiving attitude towards other simulators .

I do recommend this game, I really do. I have nothing against the simulator itself, I just do not care much for the online servers. Except from two of them when they are populated

You and I both, looking forward to hearing some future update info.

If Albert's moved on that can only be a good thing IMO.

He is still working in the team office, just on another project... I didn't agree with his vision of the BoS, BoM game, but I remember that without him there would probably be no RoF or BoS.

Being a good lead/manager/director/producer is not the same thing as being a good coder/tech/engineer. The former is more about leading people, the latter is a technical skill.

The number of people who are fully capable of both is rather small. It's not a failure if you're not that person, you don't expect a gold medal winner to also invent a better smartphone or John Carmack to write an opera. Everyone has their own strengths but you shouldn't reward their excellence in an area by giving them responsibilities where they're not.

I really hope things improve the way we'd like.




The Jedi Master

Personally, I always have found that the communication from 777/1CS has been excellent. And their products in good-faith. The level-up system and unlock system was unexpected - but in my view has been blown way out of proportion.

Flight-sim fans have always been their own worst enemy...

I don't know about excellent, but certainly not subpar or anything. I'd say they were just fine.

I think the issue was usually mass disagreement/dismay/outrage at what the communications said.



The Jedi Master

Baghdad joe was good at communication too, didn't end too well.

I'll buy anything these guys do, if it's good.

good:

-immersive solo experience

-easy to learn mission editor

-hosting coop on my own PC the easy way

-immersive GUI

-insta life ban of online cheaters/exploiters

-detailed custom settings for graphics and difficulty

-reasonable price (BoS prive tag was ok on steam sale, full price was over my top)

Wallet is ready, make it happen

Communication isn't one-way traffic, it requires listening to how your message is being received as well as delivering the message.

Boasting 100+ Dev Diaries or having a high postcount doesn't instantly qualify as great or good communication.

Acknowledging the distaste for unwanted planned features and changing them accordingly, or honest open discussion of the reasons for certain poorly-received decisions, allowing debate without instant damning of anyone that posts critique; all these things would qualify as good communication.

Good communication is key to building a community and a thriving community is crucial for a niche product to succeed.

Anyway, now Albert's been moved on and the team have new leadership, perhaps more of what the fans want, rather than what the developers think they want will be forthcoming and hopefully communications will improve too.

I wish Jason all the best with this project and hopefully I'll begin to hear things that will make me purchase it again soon.

1. The Teams(1c/777) communication from the pre game production mission statement that hooked a lot of devout IL2 simmers into pre buying BOS, up to about 4 weeks before BOS's final release was great communication. The picture was painted of the "True IL2 Successor" which pleased both SP & MP simmers. From about 4 weeks pre final game release the communication was great also, the only problem was now the customers were being told how the actual game would be released and a big part of the supporting Community didn't like what they were reading and experiencing in Beta form. What was Communicated from the whole team from then on was your vision of how BOS should be to make simmers want to buy your product regardless of the Community Feedback. The communication was in the style of a Dictatorship, we will tell you what you will like and you will like it, or I assume, the underlying meaning was move along if you don't like it? Whether your hands were tied or not, I don't know, but the customers hands were certainly tied and each of us was along for the ride, like it or not. So as a result there was a lot of very negative, sometimes passionately angry feedback. Still, great Communication by the Team though, But you know what, 1c/777 put the product they wanted to out there and that was the reaction. You created the situation and you had to deal with it. I am going to modify your last sentence about communication to help it be a more truthfully stated.
"I'm sure if (MOST) everything had been built the way I guess the majority of players wanted (and a lot of that was promised in the pre production mission statement) etc. our communication would be seen as the best."
I honestly think yours' and the Teams communication was really structured well and literally communicated well. What was lacking was the Teams' ability to willingly comprehend the Customer Feedback, produce and distribute the content that the Majority of your paying customers wanted and your Mission Statement suggested would be included in the first place. Where your Communication was lacking was that, what you Communicated was a Bullish style of, here is what we are doing, if you don't like it just leave and shut up about it. Other than that, I agree you and the Team are good at Communicating with the Community.

2. Make the product the way the Majority of your Customers want, and you will never have to make a statement like this again. Soon after you released BOS you took a poll on your Forum to see if people wanted the unlocks opened up or not. The poll showed a Majority(overwhelmingly) wanted to do away with the unlocks. The Team did nothing for many months. Listen to what the Majority of your Customers want, if possible implement it and you will never have to make this kind of statement again. You will have customers beating down your door to buy your product.

3."Some of you really need to not see me as the enemy or an idiot (I get both from this forum) and instead see a sim fan who is trying to give you what you want against some very stiff resistance for the past 3 years."
I don't see you as an enemy or an idiot. I see you as a mediator between a production team who thought they had produced the greatest sim ever and its customers who didn't like a Majority of the sim they produced. The atmosphere turned Toxic when the sim that was released was not what it had been promised to be, and actually was through early access until 3 weeks before release(all unlocks and non game adjustment implemented), the "IL2 Successor" as purported to be.

Am I perfect, no, are the Majority of your Potential Customers perfect, no, but we are the ones that pull out our wallets and decide whether we will buy your product or not. I have no doubt that you and probably everyone on the Team want to make the "IL2 Successor" and have the capability to do just that. You have a clean slate, all the talent, just find a backer, make the "IL2 Successor" and IMHO, you all will be quite rich.
For me, I won't spend a penny with 1C/777 until I read the great reviews, see the spectacular you-tubes and read customer accounts of just how awesome the SP & MP content is, or maybe I see it in the bargain bin at Steam for 2$. Either way, you will get some of my money sooner or later, it is just a matter of when and how much that you will get. I wish you and the team all the best wishes and luck in the world, I hope you can make it because I want to buy it and fly it very badly. As of now, with my past experience with BOS and the dropping of ROF development to produce BOS, I will wait and see what happens with your next venture. Good Luck to all of you.

Sincerely Blade<><

P.S. For the Love of "Pete" please drop your current AI from BOS/BOM and ROF also if you can and send someone to talk to the Team Dealdos? and ask them how they achieved the most fun (IMHO) AI to fight in their updates of IL2. I find myself going there when I want to have a good high plane count per mission and challenging AI to fight.

P.S.S Here you go, Spot on, easy-peeze.

That's quite the mouthful Blade_Meister. Tasteful

Not sure if you are being sarcastic or not? Either way, I post very little anywhere anymore so I just wanted Jason and 1C/777 to know, that after being one of the first pre production(BOS) Customers, I do not have any hard feelings toward them or BOS. On the other side of the coin, I do remember the whole we need your support now, before and while we build it, so please buy our products and support us sales pitch(and I did in BOS and everything in ROF). I am not trying to dissuade anyone from supporting them, but they also need to remember the past calls for this support and learn from the customers experiences with their product. I am just one customer sharing my experience and hopefully it will be for their benefit of better customer relations and more satisfied customers. Hence, much more revenue and stability economically to continue to produce what they Love to produce and most importantly, what the customer actually wants to purchase.

again, Sincerely, Blade<><


It was quite a mouthful though, hopefully helpful though.

No sir I am not being sarcastic, I too am being sincere

My attempt to be witty using 'mouthful' and 'tasteful' may have obscured the message I was attempting to relay, which is: I like your post, well said Meister!