LuftAsher wrote:I only wish there were more people on all sides who were willing to be more open-minded about this stuff.
Luft if I may, I think it must be remembered that for many it is not about being 'open minded' but a question of personal time and choice. ACG actually asks quite a bit from its members, dedication to turn up every weekend, report in if absent, write AAR's etc. This is all great, but it is a commitment and as such, people plan their real lives (as you would know more than most) to fly a chosen environment.
As such, many are doing that because they genuinely love the subject matter, possibly more than the folks they fly with. For many, the campaign surrounding the WW2 air war in France, BoB and Operation Circus is the stuff of childhood dreams and ACG has offered the best place to actually experience that in some virtual small part.
Whilst there are some that just love all flight sims and others that for example have no interest in fast jets, or WW1 or the Eastern Front for that matter. So if some (especially those fresh to Cliffs) have interest to stick with it as maybe they only have time in their life for one particular sim, then I don't think it is necessarily them being 'closed minded'.
That said, I am sure there are some folk who simply want to fly a Spitfire/Hurricane forever and they may well be a little closed minded. Personally I would have put myself in that camp in the past, but joining ACG I was told numbers were needed in the LW and so I embraced the 109 as a challenge to myself to become efficient in something I would not ordinarily pick (don't tell Lee that...he'll have me on latrine duty for a month!).
I think we just need to ensure that those who are making their sim choice, can do so without fear of being labelled for their choice. This is a community after all and I think Cliffs and Box and all the other titles can be enjoyed by everyone with different teams managing different titles and hopefully in time, this then encourages cross migration on platforms, rather than '3 line whip' instruction to do so.
I also really hope TF takes what they have improved in 4.5.3 of Cliffs and makes something brilliant in North Africa, which is a subject matter I have enjoyed reading a great deal about, especially the tactical acumen of the Desert Fox himself. There was a huge amount of tactical brilliance (and disaster) in this theater including the formation of the SAS under the fantastic leadership of Sterling.
I would be torn as to which side I would fly in that campaign, but I am looking forward to the day, as I am with Bodenplatte.
A lot of people have clearly carried a huge workload responsibility for Cliffs at ACG and I can understand why they are bored to death with it... but numbers are still joining ACG and many that are very green to CLoD are still enjoying the sim very much.
BD
We are the Pilgrims, master; we shall go always a little further; it may be beyond that last blue mountain barred with snow across that angry or that glimmering sea