I think that that kind of gameplay heightens the risk/reward factor. One of my best gaming moments was flying a fighter escort wing for bomber formations in World War II Online.

The overall mission could take between 2 to 4 hours and, if you were lucky, you would maybe encounter another wing of enemy interceptors scrambled to take down the bombers. Most of the time was spent flying in formation (historically accurate formations) and managing your engine and flight position (hold heading 220 AtA 0.8 4 abreast), and obviously shooting the shit on TS.

But the moment you heard the call "CONTACTS 3 O'CLOCK LOW" you had an adrenaline rush that other games still have to match for me. From that moment onward you had to be 100% awake, following orders, either flying lead-man or wing-man, knowing your altitude and speed at a glance, your position in respect of the interceptors, the rest of your Schwarm (JG51 represent!) and the bombers you were trying to protect. And obviously, the flying and gunnery skill it required to actually dogfight and take down enemy planes.

You maybe went home with a kill and a few hits, but those kind of scores were immensely satisfying, and knowing you were part of something bigger, entirely player driven and manned, taking up to 30-40 pilots and a few clans, made up for the hours of formation flying (which I actually enjoyed).

Maybe in those 4 hours I could've booted up CoD and made hundreds of kills, but this kind of realistic/simulator games really make every kill valuable. Especially if getting a Tango on your 6 meant wasting the last 2 hours of your life. You may have flown perfectly until that moment, but a simple fuck-up / miscommunication / lapse in judgment will kill you really fast in a game as unforgiving as simulators usually are.

The risk is real, and reward is real, too.

Still, WWIIOL is a unique game, and the vastness, the meta-gaming, and the freedom of action is still unmatched for me. It's sad that the game is dying.