It's pretty much 50-50 for me. Most of my online time is on a private server with friends. We do mostly coops and occasionally DF mainly for training purposes. I dabble in HL DF servers but in the most part they irritate me due to the gross lack of discipline of most of the participants. As for which, a rant follows.
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I enjoy the simulated WWII aerial combat experience IL-2 can provide, and DF servers IMO have next to nothing to do with actual WWII aerial combat. No WWII pilot took off thinking "Where's that fur-ball...I'll show everyone who's best". For WWII pilots, it was about mission success and returning to base to do it again. And that is the kind of flying I do with my m8s; we're even toying with the idea "you get shot down, your evening is over" to up the ante. I jump onto the HL DF servers here and there and I find that the mindset is really not that much different than in the Unreal Tournament servers I've played. I totally agree it's fun, but it sure ain't much more than that: WWII combat immersion? forget it!
I'd even go so far as to say it possibly dishonors WWII vets to make something into an amusing past-time (especially those shooter games: CoD et. al.) for which they risked and lost their lives in service to their country. I honestly feel a bit guilty about this.
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