I have to admit motivation is at an all-time low for me. Seven brand new 747-8 are standing in Everett, new Airbuses pile up in Toulouse and Finkenwerder, about 70 E-Jets are waiting to get flight plans... But whenever I give it a try, after 10 Minutes I think "hmm.. maybe later. Whatever." It's just no fun anymore.
That's how I feel on my (tiny) airline. Meh.
BTW cutting out a niche against your monster airline on Stapleton is how I learned AS. It was pretty fun (and frustrating at times) competing against the behemoth.
Well, I appreciate your post and of course, not everything is bad.
However, don't you think it's a bit funny that you like the new look but don't play AS at the moment?
While I do like the design, the new wrapping does not encourage me enough to start playing again as it's core game elements and dynamics (or statics rather) that led me to stop playing. I've stated these elsewhere on multiple occasions and a new interface does not address these issues.
So maybe you can't really tell how it is to run an airline with the new design, and I don't even want to talk about how it is to run an airline with 1500+ aircrafts! Motivation currently is pretty low, guess not only for me...
From the few days I played on the demo account the game mechanics did not change at all compared to the old design. Scheduling is the same. Opening a station is the same. Adjusting prices is the same. Creating/Assigning a service profile / seat config is the same. The mental part of network planning is the same (plus the connection tool).
The only thing that is different (to me personally) is how it looks. Thinking back to my old airline it would not make much of a difference running it.
The argument about operating a large airline and the challenges that are associated with changes that have been introduced to the game has always been a poor complaint. Though it was more understandable for example when the new cabin editor and seats have been introduced. The workload attached to an extremely large fleet is very clear and the decision of each individual.
I have to admit motivation is at an all-time low for me. Seven brand new 747-8 are standing in Everett, new Airbuses pile up in Toulouse and Finkenwerder, about 70 E-Jets are waiting to get flight plans... But whenever I give it a try, after 10 Minutes I think "hmm.. maybe later. Whatever." It's just no fun anymore.
Have you tried scheduling recently? It's much easier now, than before, with ability to just type in part of airport's name or IATA code. Instead of scrolling all the way down to "Washing..." I just type in IAD and there it is. The only "complaint" I have is the scheduling page seems to me slightly more cluttered than before, so slightly bit more distracting, but it has all the information as before. I still keep scheduling the same way as before, from the Fleet Management and via Individual aircraft. Nothing changed in that process, it's still the same steps to take. And now with typing the airport or its code (of course pull down menu still works) it's faster (for me).
"Creating/Assigning a service profile / seat config is the same."
Isn´t and now is it annoying.
Before it was: Route Management - Select airport in rollout menu 1 - Select airport in rollout menu 2 - Select service profile - Click on apply for return route also, done = 5 clicks
Now: Scheduling - Set airport 1 - Set Airport 2 - View in inventory - Select service profile - Apply - Reverse - Select service profile - Apply, done = 8 clicks
For scheduling 1 aircraft it does not matter, but try to schedule 50-100 planes in one evening...
Before: Route Management -> Select Origin -> Select Destination -> Select Profile -> Apply also for Return Route
Now: Inventory -> Select Origin -> Select Destination -> Select Profile ->Apply Settings to (check all checkboxes or just some and make sure you select Return Airport Pair) -> Apply settings Only
Now, first case (before) is 5 clicks
Now, second case (now) is 4 clicks with persistent settings
Before, if you wanted to change service profile for the whole route, you did that in Route Management, but if you had different prices, you had to go flight by flight and change the prices on all of them! For 40-50 flights between some destinations that was a lot of clicks!
Now I can apply settings to an airport pair, airport pair + all flight numbers, airport pair + return, airport pair + flight numbers + return, and I can apply settings only without changing the prices of all underlying flights!
I love the way it is now!
P.S. You are mixing two things. What does changing service profile in inventory have to do with scheduling 50-100 aircraft? Please no offense, but to me it seems that you (and some others) are moaning just for the sake of moaning.
Having read all of the comments above (on both sides of the issue), I have to say that I find this new interface extremely difficult to work with. The previous one was very intuitive and user-friendly. Change merely for change's sake is not necessarily a good thing, especially when the original was working well. It had evolved over time, based on experience. Now, I feel as though we've tried to reinvent the wheel, so to speak, without any real improvement. I have been playing--and enjoying--AS for several years now but I am not sure that I will bother to renew my credits when they run out.
If I had to pick just one thing to bring back, it would be "Route Management." The current replacement for it is too awkward. I'm not sure that single fix would be enough to make this palatable, though.
I have to admit motivation is at an all-time low for me. Seven brand new 747-8 are standing in Everett, new Airbuses pile up in Toulouse and Finkenwerder, about 70 E-Jets are waiting to get flight plans... But whenever I give it a try, after 10 Minutes I think "hmm.. maybe later. Whatever." It's just no fun anymore.
I agree. I have gone from checking the game several times a day before the change, to a couple times a week now...
I always have quite a few aircraft unscheduled ... they are a stand by to quickly act to changing market conditions.
The airline in question is a USA airline, where I deploy the following upgauge strategy E195 ->73G/319 -> 738/320 -> 739/321
I always have some aircraft in transition. Let's say I switch 20 E195 to 73Gs, now after 24 hours those E195 are free to be deployed on new routes with 72 hour activation. Same for other types. If the E195 get full after several days, they get upgauged to 73G/319. If they get full, then to 738/320, and if those get full, to 739/321, etc. It is well possible that a schedule that starts as E195 will get all the way to 739/321 within 2-weeks' time. And I deploy E195 only to 4 bars airport and lower. 5-6 bars start with 73G/319 from the get go, and 7 and more bars with 738/320 at the start.
To give another example, where you an save quiet some time, compared to 6.1 is flight planning between congested airport pairs. This morning I scheduled a 76F between PVG and ANC. Previously I had to use at least two if not three flight numbers per direction, now it's only one. This is not only saving flight numbers, but actually saves you to start new flight numbers again and again. It's way easier to make a thorough flight plan now in congested market, and I haven't yet mentioned several routes, where you are now able to twist an another cycle on long-haul relations.
I don't want to diminish issues that come along with 6.2 making it in parts more complex and time consuming, but it's much about the view you take.
Let's use another example .. terminals. I am aware, that this is - with cancelled flights in the future - becoming a critical part of the game and with a large number of one tend to loose overview. On the other hand, it has never been that easy to sort your stations in an appropriate way and than switch through your stations and settings things right. Actually having invested less time into stations than in the past, I was now able the first time to clean up unadjusted flights, unused capacity and pay a significant amount less for handling while offering a better service.
To give another example, where you an save quiet some time, compared to 6.1 is flight planning between congested airport pairs. This morning I scheduled a 76F between PVG and ANC. Previously I had to use at least two if not three flight numbers per direction, now it's only one. This is not only saving flight numbers, but actually saves you to start new flight numbers again and again. It's way easier to make a thorough flight plan now in congested market, and I haven't yet mentioned several routes, where you are now able to twist an another cycle on long-haul relations.
As someone who plays in Europe on an old server, this is an AMAZING feature and I'm already finding the offset tool incredibly useful. It will be interesting to see how it affects slot congestion over the longer term. There were routes I hesitated to bother with because of all the flight number and slot fiddling, but now because of offsets they are so much easier to open.