Shoter Games

[ekaneti]

Now i know Im in the minority on this, but I think that 10 year games would be better than the 15-17 years games we are playing right now

I like to build my airline and that takes 6-7 years, but once I reach that point, with only one hub and market saturation, the game becomes rather static.

hey Sami, how about 10 year games for the same 10 credits.....LOL more money for Sami!!!!

[Sigma]

No, I would tend to agree with you.

The games tend to pretty much die out by the 50% mark.  The weak ones have been wiped out, the big ones are so big no one can effectively mess with them and even if they can they're usually sitting on so much cash by that point it doesn't matter anyway, players are logging on far less often, slots are largely full at the major airports, and things stay fairly static.  The only real 'risk' to an airline is when the player simply doesn't log in at all and something happens that starts the image plummeting.

I would be more inclined to simply make things a bit more interesting rather than making the games shorter.  Jet Age #1 was great while fuel prices were going up.  Now that they're going down combined with the game getting past that 50% mark, people just aren't doing anything anymore.  And without something world-changing going on that keeps the game challenging and the airlines coming and going, I doubt it'll change much for the latter 40% we've got left.

[juanchopancho]

We need crashes, especially for those who don't maintain their aircraft. Monster airlines would have a higher chance that one of their aircraft would crash hurting their image.

[Sami]

Yes, I am already aware that that sim needs more action once it gets going. These events and economy changes and others are being thought of. And also the possibility of running different 'scenario' type worlds with a certain mission (which would be shorter).

[RisteMakedonski]

I want to see more restrictions and penalties. Like not being to fly in a certain country's airspace, making some of your flights longer.

[highways1]

Sami, how's the multiple hub feature going? I'm aware it's not in v1.1 but was just curious as it was mentioned briefly here.

[ekaneti]

Actually I think there should be some regulatory regulations. NO CABOTAGE, but 5th Freedom should be allowed.

If you want cabotage you should have to open some type of office in that country first and get regulatory approval.

[scraffer]

Actually I have thought the scenarios are too short. A big part of running an airline is the long term fleet planning strategies. The first 5-10 yrs is just "priming the pump" in a way. We are filling up the routes before the real game starts. That's where the competition happens. The first part of the game doesn't take much skill at all. However like others have said there needs to be external shocks to the game, like severe recessions, etc.

[DenisG]

Well, I would like to see the games last longer. In JA2 it is becoming interesting right now, as the big boys believe they have their cash brought home already and I came late into the game and start challenging them now. If the game would not last until 1992 but say 2000 or so, I think I would have a reasonable chance to make them screams quite a little.

Denis

[swiftus27]

IDEA:
Eastern bloc versus Western nations before 1991. 
If you are in Eastern Europe (Warsaw Pact nations) you can't fly to Western nations without a huge penalty.

So, if you are in Soviet Union Albania (until 1968) Bulgaria Czechoslovakia East Germany Hungary Poland Romania and Cuba, you will experience these issues.

Also, Western Planes for these Eastern bloc countries would be tremendously more expensive while the Eastern planes will be far cheaper.
Additionally these nations get a substantial discount to fuel.   Western nations get western planes but no discounts on fuel (darn capitalism).

A reason to do it this way is because there was truthfully zero competition between the airlines of the two sides of the cold war.

[Ile]

It is easy to play shorter games, just join when there is less than half of game time left.

And it really is interesting to start at this stage. It is a bit difficult to find good airfield to start, but there is plenties of aircrafts available.

Ile