I started playing what was Lock On: Modern Air Combat back in 2005. It has since evolved in to DCS World.
Honestly, if I was reviewing DCS World as it stands now, even with the 2.5 update I would give it a 6 out of 10.
I am an experienced simmer but also an avid gamer. I work as a software developer so I do a good insight into the software development lifecycle.
DCS World seems to never get out of it's own rut. Every iteration has something wrong and more bugs are introduced with every patch. ED are not doing enough to reign in developers who are not delivering QA assured products, in particular with module patches (I'm looking at you MiG-21).
There seems to be a disconnect between third party developers and the ED development team, some kind of communication issue, or just plain laziness on part of either team. I say this because every time theres a new update there are more issues reported by players.
So why do I play it then? The potential. DCS World has SO much potential it's worth persevering with. However waiting for that potential to be realized in terms of growth, system stability, play ability and general flexibility for simmers is like waiting for the second coming. It's too damn slow.
It is improving. I play DCS World for the the simple pleasure of pretending I'm a pilot, something I wish I had realised when I was younger. DCS is what it is, a clunky bug ridden simulator, thats also fantastic and annoying in equal measure.