One of the longest-running online-only massively multiplayer flight sims is iEntertainment Network's Warbirds, which has survived competitors, massively multiplayer RPGs, the death of the flight sim genre, and its own high fees. The latest version, Warbirds III, went into "paid production" near the end of March and is probably the most substantial upgrade since the game first started running in 1995. Although this version adds new features like an expanded strategic level and an entirely new graphics engine, it still has some of the obstacles Warbirds has always had: a prohibitive pricing structure and an even more prohibitive level of difficulty for newcomers. In a way, it's an example of how the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Warbirds III has dozens of faithfully re-created WWII aircraft.

At any given time, Warbirds will have between 30 and 200 people in the main arena, flying a selection of aircraft from World War II and fighting over control of airfields. The goal is to damage enemy airfields with your bombers and then drop paratroopers to take them over for your side, all the while covering the vulnerable bombers and troop transports with fighters. You can pick from dozens of faithfully re-created historical aircraft, ranging from old favorites like British Spitfires and American P-51 Mustangs to more esoteric planes like the Italian C202 or the German Ju-88 medium bomber. The arena uses a "rolling plane set," which means aircraft are available according to a 21-day timeline approximating the progress of the war. On the first day, only the planes from 1940 are available. By the end of the 21 days, they've been phased out for the more advanced planes from the end of the war. Although the battlefields are maps approximating France, Malta, and Tunisia, there are no historical sides--players choose to fly for "green" or "red," each offering the full complement of Allied or Axis planes. You'll find Messerschmitts fighting Messerschmitts, Mustangs fighting Mustangs, and Zeros fighting Zeros.

However, Warbirds also offers some alternatives to the main arena's nonhistorical multinational mixers. There are regularly scheduled scenarios designed to re-create historical situations. These are played in arenas with special rules for scoring, available aircraft, victory conditions, and limited lives. A recent example is the re-creation of the American attacks on Japanese bases on Formosa in the Pacific theater in 1944. This limits the choice of aircraft to what was historically available. The scenario begins at a certain time, and each player gets one life. After an hour, the scores on either side are tallied, and a winner is declared. Scenarios like these are run at least four times a week, and they do a great job of giving Warbirds a historical flavor that falls halfway between role-playing and wargaming.

It'll take you a while to get used to the controls.

There are also arenas with relaxed rules for realism, but these are so sparsely populated that you might as well play offline against computer-controlled drones. There's no avoiding that the core of Warbirds is an unflinchingly realistic flight model. If you're trying to get around this level of realism, you're in the wrong sim. This is one factor leading to Warbirds' incredibly steep learning curve, but it's also the easiest factor to address. Doing well involves knowing the particulars of each aircraft, knowing the nuances of air combat maneuvering, and managing the view system (there's no padlock for tracking enemy aircraft, so fiddling with the various view keys is a crucial skill). There are plenty of opportunities to practice these things. In addition to flexible offline training against drones, there are regularly scheduled training sessions with live tutors. During these sessions, an experienced player is always available to talk you through anything you might need help with.

But the most daunting part of the learning curve is the other players. For various reasons, the Warbirds community consists largely of hard-core flight simmers. This is not a game for casual players. It's no exaggeration to say it'll probably take a new player at least a week of nightly play before he gets his first kill. In fact, you shouldn't even bother learning to land, as it's going to be a while before you make it back to base instead of getting shot down.