Push

[DOS MAXIMUS]

THIS IS A REMINDER TO THE ONLINE:ernae: GROUP WE HAVE HERE
ALL THE ADD ON AND ALL THE WORK DONE HERE I THINK IS LOST IF WE DONT PUSH FOR A ONLINE COMMUNITY,WE NEED NEW MEMBERS AND WE NEED NEW INTEREST IN ARE GAME,WITHOUT NEW PLAYERS WE WILL NEVER SEE THIS GAME LAST,RESPECT TO ALL WHO KEEP THE GAME ALIVE!!!!YOUR DAD YOUR BRO YOUR SON MORE NEED TO PLAY RALLY AND LETS HELP THE GUYS OUTTHERE MAKIN NEW ADD ONS FEEL ITS WORTH IT!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Tailwind]

I couldn't Imagine

Coming into the multiplayer arena as a new player now with no flying experience. I know back in the day when each of us was a new player we all took our beats bad until we slowly climbed the ladder and reached a certain skill level. That was then. There were choices of hosts to join and if the going was tough you could gracefully exit and find a room with some lessor competition and have a go there and learn.

Now there are few choices. We are lucky if there is one room at a time and most nights every veteran player around eventually ends up there. On top of that there seems to be more and more aggressiveness. Hell I was in a team game the other night, as a player of some experience, and not only did I not get a kill, but I was shot down twice in one game by my own teammates and ended up at minus 100. Not only that, I had enemy spawn directly in front of me, I sixed em and took them down. When I pulled away so as not to hit the ground some one else on my team took the kill at the last second. This happened repeatedly.

Now that being said I am not going to pretend to walk around with a halo here and say I am innocent. I have done my share. What I am saying is if we want more folks to stay in the game there has to be an avenue for them to learn. As of right now there is none and thus new folks will not stay. There is no fun in playing a game in which you have very little chance of contributing. Actually, this would also go out to folks that play regularly but are at a different skill level What fun is there in getting yer butt kicked nightly by the same small group of guys that come in and rule the game.

I don't know what the solution is....I am just saying things are different and I am glad I came into the game when I did as I don't know if I would stick it out now.

TW

 

[O-1Driver]

Guys,

I have really busy as of late but you can look for me to start joining games and hosting again in the fall. I do love to fly on line,

Steve

 

[JoeDunlap]

Some thoughts on the state of the game

I havent been flying for some months now but I have been monitoring the boards from time to time and just ran across this post. The problem of lack of participation has reared its head off and on in the past, but as we all know, its gotten worse since M$ shut down the CFS3 server. With the game basically out of production, there are few copies on the shelves to even attract anyone to the game. Even if a novice does locate a copy, they quickly discover that there is no online support, and unless they are interested enough in the game to seek out help online (SOH or other sites) they will quickly lose interest and the game will go back on the shelf or in the trash.

Now let’s assume the novice clears the above listed hurdles and makes it to SOH. Once here he/she will find a group of very helpful and friendly people quite willing to help out with a bewildering array of problems with the game and computer related glitches. (Vista, latency, lag, among many others.) While we have all learned to live with these problems, it can be off putting at the very least for us veterans of the game. Think what it must be like for a novice.

Finally, lets put said novice in a game, assuming hes gotten by the second group of hurdles. Now hes in the game with the same group of friendly, helpful people, but now the setting has become competitive. While we all like to help, we also love the thrill of the kill. If the situation is one on one, a helpful person can spend the time coaching and teaching. A competitive one will simply take the novice to the woodshed. I think the vast majority of us fall into the former category. In fact, it would seem to be imperative that we do spend the time to teach if CFS3 is to survive, let alone thrive. Taken further, maybe the game needs a live flight school of some sort, perhaps a thread where the novice can go to meet with one of the vets and set up a private game/room for lessons. I know there are several place to go to read about setting up the game, strategy, etc., but in my opinion, there is nothing like live fire exercises with an instructor talking in your ear. It also doesnt hurt to let the novice get a few kills, if not to easily. Nothing succeeds like success.

I was fortunate to have such instruction 6 years ago when I started the game. I was so dumb, I didn’t even know online play existed until my son showed me it could be done! Late one night I stumbled into a team game, and hooked up with a group called Band of Brothers (hence my BoB moniker) The entire group got together and flew missions in private games, and had training nights where we worked on formation flying, strategy, and maneuvers. I learned a tremendous amount in a friendly, non-competitive atmosphere that served me well when I got into open competition.

From that experience, I tried to pass it forward to novices whenever I met them. One thing I always tried to do was offer help before I was asked if I recognized that a person was new to the game, even it was a furball game. This was always a good icebreaker and put the novice at ease. We all know what its like to come in as novices and get clubbed like a baby seal. Repeatedly. It’s a steep learning curve and even with help it can get frustrating, but if one stays with it, once over the apex its very gratifying.

In summation, I would say what CFS3 needs to thrive is:
1) A method to attract new players at the entry level. This is probably the most difficult, given the above mentioned shortage of the game to begin with.
2) A comprehensive and FRESH tutorial page or thread here at SOH and/or other simulator site that simmers congregate at. There is at least one I know of, but its very old now. Many of the tips are antiquated due to changes in the game and computers in general.
3) A live flight school of some sort as mentioned above.

What has been done with the modifications of the game is nothing short of miraculous in my estimation. The work done on it by so many talented people in creating new aircraft, new arenas, maps, solving connection problems with Vista and so many other contributions would be a shame to fritter away because new interest can’t be generated.
I hope that my few idea may inspire others to add theirs and maybe we can come up with a breakthrough that will get CFS3 off and running again.
Best wishes to everyone here

Joe

 

[Autothrottle]

Hello to all of you Flying gentlemen,

I've been flying the CFS brand for eleven years now. I started out in 1998 with my first copy of CFS1 and it was great to fly. I agree with Mr. Dunlap, for a few years after I got my CFS1 up and running, MS shut down its online support for CFS1 .I looked around the net for a few years well to find help and I got it finally in 2002 at Simviation Forums. This was before I found out about the SOH! My original computer crashed taking all of my 150 CFS1 aircraft and medals along for the ride. Then I tried CFS3 at the behest of a close friend of mine who is now a commercial airline pilot in the Bahamas. I got it in 2008 at least a year after my CFS1 crashed. I delight and glory in the advice i got at Sim Outhouse. I agree that more should be done to maintain this site, especially for guys like Ickie who contribute so much. The SOH is and always will be my home online and my personal outlet to discuss aircraft and missions with the best of CFS3. I especially thank Nactpiloten for all the hard work he did for me installing my aircraft and weapons and Bravo/4 for all his advice and wonderful skins. Lewis for his loyal support in helping me to put my new hanger together and so much more I can't describe. Its a real pleasure flying and talking with you all. I hope that the SOH is around even though people aren't interested in CFS3. Remember, Microsoft abandoned all the CFS game lines so were pretty much on our own, whether we like it or not.