And---
What is also funny about it...is my now 21 YO son and finally taken the time to learn the basics of the SFC engine and doing ok....more or less on an OP install w/ FS uber shiplist and model install...been a while since I even peeked at that variant.
The offspring remarked to me, he remembers me on the Mplayer PvP and DV for hours and hours and now understands the appeal of spending hours on the DV and also why I also keep loading it up, even if it just to assure myself that I can pilot a SpHwK-A to out a fed DN+ under AI control at max difficulty. I have failed at that metric on rare occasions, but a couple skirms usually gets me my sea legs back and it becomes near routine.
My only potentially negative critique is he has chosen to fly Klingon, rather than his bloodright to fly romulan...at least he didn't choose federation to begin exploring options once he grasped the basics.
His single player DV is on minimum diff and when he skirms on higher diff he has problems, but he is getting better, though he needs to stop flying at the F3 view and switch to F1 at the higher lvls, the tolerances for saber dancing late era are to narrow for that POV imho....but I am not a Klingon player by nature, but I can hold my own if I have cause to fly them...not to the skill of Kreug and the other default Klingon players in the community.
I have HIGH HOPES for CE and hope all the current issues are resolved (single player campaign) and an official link for the DL is posted.
Additionally, there is potential for CE to bring a new generation of players into the community by creation and distribution of a quality product which give the end user, a unique and pleasant experience available no where else. This of course would mean participation in a DV w/ a reasonable amount of bells/whistles like web based, sql administered front end. What Taldren made, and the community nurtured, has stood the test of time....its still fun.