In my mind, you really only have two options. You either release a game that contains two versions of the aircraft, i.e F/A-18 C/D or you do what ArmA did. ArmA II allowed the pilot of any two seater airframe to take over the firing controls of the gunner in the event of a gunner absence, which wasn't as effective as having a a competent WSO with you, but at least you were able to play. The second and most glaring issue with the whole thing is the Top Gun issue as mentioned above (no one wants to sit in the backseat, everyone wants to fly). Well, you can circumvent this by NOT going for a two seater such as the F-14. The F-14 contained a pilot and a RIO (Radar Intercept Officer) who didn't really manage any weapons and was just another eye and hand for the pilot. In the F/A-18 and the AH-64, the roles are a little more defined and diverse. In the F/A-18, the pilot has controls over flight and navigation and the gun in most cases, however, the WSO (Weapons Systems Officer) has control over all the weapons and in some cases, countermeasures. Thus, this allows for a more integrated play experience, rather than having one guy watch the other guy do all the cool stuff. Another marketing option is to do what Portal 2 did. In Portal 2, the Co-Op multiplayer was much different and had different content than the single player. A good idea is to have the inability to fly backseat in SP (only fly front seat or have a one seater variant) and add the ability for a back seater in MP, thus making the backseat accessible only in MP and giving players incentive to jump in the cockpit with another bud and learn the backseat. Any thoughts?
