flyingFrisbee

I'm having the same issue in the latest openbeta with a FFB2.

I can only speak for myself and the ~5 man group of people I fly with, but the requirement for all members of a server to have the carrier DLC has turned it from a probable day 1 buy to a waste of money for those of us who own the 18 or 14. Also, IMO ATC is an absolutely essential part of carrier ops, and I struggle to see how ED justifies it as outside the core of the game when their flagship module is carrier based, their most detailed third party module is carrier based, and they've expressed an interest in making the game shift toward naval operations.

I agree completely. MP could be so much better than it already is, and if people like him were put in a position by ED to actually use their time, skill, and passion to create rather than work around dozens of bugs it'd be a sight to behold.

Well, since ED seems to base whether or not it delivers a workable experience for those in the community dedicated enough to host servers based on the number of people who reply in a (to put it nicely) strictly moderated forum thread, I guess I'll chime in. In lieu of an actual dynamic campaign, multiplayer is by far the most engaging, dynamic, and challenging environment to play DCS. There's so much potential for DCS here if people like Drex or the hoggit admins didn't have to spend hours a day just maintaining their servers and working around months-old bugs, let alone improving them. Of course you're going to have a lot on your plate, but online play often forces players to be sneaky, clever, and competent with their aircraft, and if properly supported would easily outshine the default singleplayer experience. Even as I type this, there are 40 people connected to DDCS in the middle of a weekday, at least in NA. Routinely the server is filled in the evenings because the server can't handle more than 50 people online at once. There's a really strong case to be made that buggy multiplayer with obscene loading times and routine freezes after loading with a barebones lobby, briefing tab, map, communication, and GCI system in is the reason for your reportedly low percent of people who actually play online.