How much impact do polls have on decisions?

[Maverick-GER-]

Hi as the title says i wonder how much impact the polls in the forums have on ED decisions?

Let's take that one as an example http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=31603

What i know so far is that we will get DCS Hog next and DCS Apache Afterwards... but which one is next?

As you can see in this poll most votes went for the F-18 so does that mean we have a good chance seeing the F-18 as next module after those 2?

Or which systems are you guys using to determine what is next?

( I also know a poll in the russian forum would look totally different than the one in the english forums)

[AlphaOneSix]

The list of currently planned modules has already been published:

 

1- A-10A Suite 2

2- A-10C Suite 3

3- AH-64A Blk. 49A

4- Su-27

5- F-15C

6- Mi-24V

7- F-16C

8- MiG-29A

 

The A-10 (A? C? Both?) is next, followed by the AH-64A. Although these are the next in order by the list, the list is not necessarily in order beyond that. As you can see, no F-18 is planned at this time (according to the list) so I don't think that polls have much influence

[Maverick-GER-]

Oh ok...

well thanks for the reply alpha.

Just thinking loud now: "So if it is something like 1 module per year and there are 8 on this list now and dcs western version will be out in 2009, that means there is a chance we get a f-18 in 2018" At least number 3 and 7 will shorten the wait a bit =)

 

(really sad thing is , again no western carrier aircraft)

[Acedy]

A-10C is next in line.

 

As to the factors that influence the decision about flyables I can only speculate, but there are a few quite obvious things to consider:

 

1. Demand in the entertainment market. You are probably right that a lot of people in the "western hemisphere" (cold war language ;)) would like to see the F/A-18, simply because it is an all-inclusive package, but keep in mind that Eagle are also producing for Russia/CIS and that we as forum members are only a small fraction of the actual customers, although a vocal one. Eagle have been in the business since the 90s and they have people on board who have been working on some of the best selling flights sims ever, so I think they have quite good idea of what their customers want to see.

 

2. Demand in the military market. Eagle are equally focussing on the military and the entertainment markets, so if they sign a contract for the military about modelling a certain aircraft and if they are allowed to modify the end-product for the entertainment market, then I guess the chance is quite high that we will see that aircraft as a DCS flyable (see A-10C for example).

 

3. Available information and expertise. This point has been emphasised over and over again. In order to produce high quality and fidelity simulations Eagle need tons of information, of course a simple flight manual that floats around on the net is by far not enough. You need information about all subsystems, avionics, sensors, the engine, performance characteristics, data about flight dynamics, weaponry etc. pp. As you can imagine you can only gather most of these information if you have a close relationship to the designer or user of the simulated aircraft (like Kamov in the case of the Ka-50 and the US ANG in the case of the A-10), and to mechanics and pilots as well. Which brings us back to point 2.

 

Regarding the F-18, keep in mind that it would be a quite labour-intensive add-on, as it requires not "only" to model the plane (which alone is already quite complicated compared to others), but also the whole carrier environment, which would be a like a simulation in itself.

Edited December 2, 2008 by Acedy

[Talon]

Oh my, a Hornet with the carrier environment would be exciting for sure!

[Outlaw24]

Oh my, a Hornet with the carrier environment would be exciting for sure!

 

Now that would be great, and probably worth what ever they decided to charge. Maybe in a year or two.;)

[RedTiger]

I thought I remember Wags saying that there was nothing certain about what would come after the A-10C.

 

At any rate, my hope is that they do the F-15 and Su-27 next along with their WAFM, all simultaneously, or at least in quick succession. A tall order? Yep, but it might go a long way to retaining a lot of their LOMAC players.

 

My "Plan B" hope is for an F-16C. It'd be really sweet and ironic if ED captures a portion of the Falcon crowd, although I think that crowd is more enamored with the dynamic campaign than the aircraft itself. :lol:

[Maverick-GER-]

Even tho I also like the f-15 and f-16 my vote would go for F-18 or F-14, just because those would be completely perfect allrounders , Air to ground, Air to Air, Carrier operations, and in the case of f-14 (also possible with f-18 ) 2 players in 1 airframe.

 

Since there was no american or western aircraft for lock-on already that was carrier based...

but ok i stated that already in the wishlist post =)

Anyhow i hope you are right that the list not being certain!

Edited December 3, 2008 by Maverick-GER-

[Tango]

F-14 IMHO. It's retired now, so plenty of info will hopefully be kicking around to model it!

 

O/T: The title of the thread read a little like "63% of statistics are made up on the spot"! :D

 

Here's a poll on polls... :D

 

Best regards,

Tango.