The age old question....

Last few years...

July 2010 - Croydon

(1 months gap)

August 2010 - Tempelhof

(1 months gap)

September 2010 - Fornebu

(10 month gap)

July 2011 - Stapleton

(10 months gap)

April 2012 - Meigs

(2 month gap)

June 2012 - Pearls

(8 month gap)

February 2013 - Gatow

(6 months so far - almost)

So I guess I am asking the age old question - how soon will we see a new server (esp as Gatow is and has been full for some time now).

I wondered if it would be better for players in general if (and i say this because of the obvious jump in demand for this game in the last couple of years)...

a) every new server launch could consist of two servers, so players could chose which server to play on based on availability of slots etc at their chosen hub

b) there could be a server that would exhibit an additional 50% capacity (so an extra slot for every two slots, extra 50% pax demand, etc etc) and increase the capactiy for the number of players to 1800 instead of 1200.

My cousin once checked Gatow regularly for a few days before he found an opening to start a holding.

And then I look at some other numbers which paint a different story:

nicosia
377/1200
 
croydon
237/1200
 
tempelhof
251/1200
 
stapleton
297/1200
 
kaitak
237/1200
 
idlewild
267/1200
 
devau
221/1200
 
fornebu
230/1200
 
meigs (not even a year old server!)
359/1200
 
pearls
729/1200
 
gatow
1200/1200
 
One might ask, why open up a new server, when current ones are nowhere near capacity. Reset might be an option

No, I don’t think it would be good for the game. I think one more server would take some active players away from the old servers unnecessarily.

Old servers are full of opportunities and are pretty well established. I look at Gatow and I don’t want to play there. Too many players, diluted market shares, a great mess. I prefer to play in old servers.

Note: I’m awaiting your answer for an IL agreement.

Note 2: South Korea is empty in Tempelhof.

There is no need for a new server as long as some servers have only about 250 players.

An issue for some new (and old) players is that on the old servers, even though there is spare capacity, there are very well estabslidhes airlines at almost all major hubs. This makes it a tad more difficult to compete.

I suppose what I am trying to say is that on servers less than a year old, there are usually 2 or 3 competitors at major hubs. This makes competition tougher and leaves room for a new airline to come in and do something different. On older servers, there is often a monopoly, and then you just have to wait for the other person to quit for a plethera of slots to be vacated.

Having said that, there is room on those servers at minor hubs.

There is always some canibalisation when a new server starts.

I am a very new Airline Sim Player and in my opinion new Servers are not the best solution, maybe just restart/wipe existing ones, to give espacially new users the same chance to grow as old one.

...maybe just restart/wipe existing ones, to give espacially new users the same chance to grow as old one.

This is probably the worst option of them all!

AS is the most fun if you play it long-term. I'm playing this game for close to ten years now with my airlines being built up on a long-term strategy. Restarting an old grown server definitely would kill the game for me.

Do we need another new server? No. There's plenty of demand left on old servers. Newbies should just check old servers for un-catered markets - particularily servers that just went through an AGEX-low offer plenty of opportunities.

Maybe there is some way of publicising these opportunities? Like a monthly list of 10-15 airports with 7 demand bars and 70% slot availability. That could perhaps tempt players to sign up on the older servers.

Full airports is just like reality. You have to wait for the opportunity. 

Maybe there is some way of publicising these opportunities? Like a monthly list of 10-15 airports with 7 demand bars and 70% slot availability. That could perhaps tempt players to sign up on the older servers.

The Enterprises by Country statistic is available in game without having a business on the server, but I don’t think there’s a filter to make it display countries without an active enterprise. If that were added, would it be easy enough to find the information needed to find a country to start in?

I agree with kenmuir : "display countries without an active enterprise"

Agree with Saadmohd. The information of where the opportunity lies has to be publicised.

I returned to the game after 2 years and I was struggling to find a good base. Took me 2 weeks and few user accounts to test the servers and availability and make a choice.

Imagine a newbie with little information about the game going through this.

Took me 2 weeks and few user accounts to test the servers and availability and make a choice.

Please don't do this.

Concerning such a list: I'll think about it.

Please don't do this.

LOL

ps.

thank you martin.

This is probably the worst option of them all!

AS is the most fun if you play it long-term. I'm playing this game for close to ten years now with my airlines being built up on a long-term strategy. Restarting an old grown server definitely would kill the game for me.

Do we need another new server? No. There's plenty of demand left on old servers. Newbies should just check old servers for un-catered markets - particularily servers that just went through an AGEX-low offer plenty of opportunities.

I agree wholeheartedly. 

Hello

 
meigs (not even a year old server!)
359/1200
 
 

Not correct, Meigs was opened in April 2012  ^_^

A list of available cities/countries is a good idea  :)

It's not very easy for a newbee to develop a profitable airline on an old server without signing many IL's because he will arrive with 5-10 planes, facing airlines with somtimes 500 or 1500 planes !  :wacko:

I'm not neewbe in the game and I'm having a hard time trying to return. I've scoured multiple servers and countries and not get anything feasible even using new aircraft and prices even below 100%. Empty slot does not mean success and no one signs IL with newbie players on old servers. I believe in the opening of servers should always be 6 in 6 months. I know AGEX is a problem, however, it filters unimaginable conditions. Gatow is already in hibernation, nobody grows. No one is creating anything of success recently and who makes use of ancient covenant friendship. 

Interesting point really, hers my opinion based on many hair pulling nights:

Before the airline market was introduced (and I am generalising here, obviously there are exceptions), airlines would start with cheaper planes with less range, therefore building a good regional network. Then as they grew, the bought bigger planes and grew their network accordingly, often reaching a point early on where their connections meant that ‘their’ regional routes were served to the point of max available capacity.

This resulted in a rational and progressive strategy for expansion where all short, medium and long haul pax were being accommodated. This also meant profits were slightly higher.

Now, the introduction of the airline market has changed a few things (I am an advocate of the airline market, I think it’s great, I just haven’t figured out the best strategy to take though).

First of all, the market has meant airlines have an array of model, some just short haul, some just long haul. With the addiction of new languages, there are more people playing too. So now at major airports, you have 3-4 somewhat successful airlines, mostly with different models. Here are the two main drawbacks of this:

  1. Premature models based on financial constraints etc and initially profitable routes.

  2. Slots are taken up, resulting in very little room for these airlines to expand.

So you end up with airlines that don’t offer the same breadth of routes as say, 2 years ago. This means there is less transfer traffic, and some routes rely mainly (not entirely) on direct traffic. This means less pax taking up seats for that routes = lower prices with excess capacity.

I can no where near charge what I used to 2 years ago, because there are so many other seats going at lower prices. And if its a connecting flight, there are often cheaper alternatives via other hubs. Great for pax, not so much for airlines.

I think this will take some time to Lear up, but what you will see is that airlines with short term strategies will start losing passengers, and will have to overhaul their seats. Old big aircraft cost a lot of money to maintain, and when prices drop, it is difficult to get them into the green.

Solution, grow steadily but strategically. Aim for a long term strategy, give the customers a genuinely better product and you will succeed.

Again, just my pinion based on a non empirical analysis I’ve done in my spare time. Perfectly prone to errors and open to criticisms.