I noticed the same problems with Jaleco's Figher Ace. I used to play it frequently several years ago; the developers were very unconducive to constructive criticism; never once soliciting feedback from subscribers and did very little to correct major flaws in the game.
It was a fun game, a very inexpensive monthly sub (9.95 US), and a lot of exciting gameplay as far as WW2 flight sims go; support for 100+ players, and very good main servers setup with little lag or connectivity problems. But the sound and terrain graphics were abysmal, the flight and weapons models very iffy and biased; and the arenas so bland and uninspired. They also had a very poor marketing and publicity strategy, and one would rarely even hear about the game in publications and online gaming sites.
Anyways I decided to give it another look a couple of months ago; downloading the 500mb software and signing up for one month:
Nothing had changed except a 50% increase in the subscription cost! The same old tired arenas, lousy sound, the vast, empty terrain, and even fewer players ( when they were hosted by the M$ Zone they had quite a few ;the Territorial Combat arenas would be packed).
They had some new maps, but with only a few players in a huge area, a real waste of time. The only one with anything close to 100 aircraft was the old TC arena,renamed "classic"; so unimaginative.
I flew it infrequently for about 2 weeks and then let it slide, it seemed so old hat, it just wasn't fun anymore.
I'm still hoping for the ultimate air/sea/land MMOG soon, with the advances in computer power and graphics; I'm always checking out the latest demos and trailers as they are released, and have recently seen in some a lot of potential..Far Cry, Joint OPs, flight sims like Pacific Fighters and naval sims like PT-Boats; it will be great to see concepts like WW2O; that bring air/sea/land together realistically, brought up to the next level.
Being able, with a limited time schedule,and on a whim, to jump into a "never ending battle" in just a few seconds and do whatever one wants for an hour or so in a human opponent rich environment is one of the most rewarding expressions of "fun" one can experience on a home computer.
The game takes place in 1937. Germany won WWI and conquered Britain. They captured three of the four Admiral (Hood) class battle cruisers while the rest of the Royal Navy, along with Churchill, fled to Canada and the rest of the empire. The Royal Navy in Exile (RNE) is allied with Japan as the "League of Free Nations". The RNE is also ticked at the U.S. because we didn't help them in WWI. Japan has not become the militarist country it was following WWI. The Germans are threatening to invade Ireland which the U.S. has a defense treaty with.
The single player missions takes one through the quasi-naval war that is occurring between the various sides. You can play as a surface warship, Corvette, DE, and DD, or a submarine. (The update that is available lets one play a mission as either the Hood or its German counterpart.)
I won't spoil the ending but lets just say the world erupts into another global war. That is where the multiplayer is suppose to begin.