Well, I had a couple hours to kill this weekend and decided to try to get my IL2 installation back up to speed. What an abortion that whole scene is right now...but I still went through it all.

Got the Ultrapack 2.0, the UP2.0 client patch, the JSGME mod enabler and fiddled with it for a few hours trying to get it all sorted. At this point, I can join a few of my favorite servers and a few I can't for reasons still undetermined.
Either way, the process is so convoluted, inconsistent and quirky that it has GOT to have a negative impact on the community.
Then to RoF. I like it and have fun with it...at times. I've been such an advocate of the things it does "right" , but it's difficult to post negative things in a constructive manner when they've been so persistent.
#10019 connection errors, server crashes (game servers, NOT the neoqb host server), and the cumbersome....... waiting ......that are a big part of it are deterrents that are hard to deal with for me with so little time "in pit" lately.
[/Rant off]
Got mom & hubby coming into town for a couple days this week and though I haven't seen them for almost 7 years, my stepfather was a long time, positive influence for me regarding my interest in aviation and he's excited about finally getting to see some "real" flight sims in action. Accordingly, I will likely be online doing both IL2 and RoF quite a bit Tuesday eve & Wed.