By Oleg's own admission in posts at the UBI Forums several years ago, the "On-liners" comprise no more than 5% of all IL2 series purchasers. They are, of course, by definition the most active on the internet and also most active and vocal on the various internet Forums, and thus they appear very erroneously to be the overwhelming 'majority'...they are not, by any stretch of the imagination.
Those 'on-liners' who "Cheat", as noted in an earlier post above, are clearly the very immature element who likewise are in the even more extreme minority, my guess being less than 5 in a hundred...which equates to less than 1/4 of One percent of all the purchasers (customers) of Oleg's IL2 series of products. This miniscule segment of the customer base, and also those who are obsessed with preventing their "Cheating", have wagged the tail of Oleg 1C's company for far too long...and I think he finally realized it.
Oleg could have extended the life of his IL2 series product line and made a lot more profit/money by welcoming the Modders into the fold, perhaps even hiring them to produce such improved Mods for sale under the umbrella of 1C's production efforts, rather than combating/resisting their MODding efforts.
The MODs have brought a whole new Life to the IL2 series, in spite of that resistance, winning many new Fans (IL2 CUSTOMERS) and thereby expanding the potential retail customer base for SOW:BofB....far moreso than would be the case resulting from any continued catering to the wagging tail. imho
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