It's not just about "favorite" platforms. New playables would allow the game to expand to cover a greater battlespace to include new scenarios and new tactical problems. Not being able to expand is a HUGE hit on the quality of the game.
Falcon 4--another high-realism sim geared towards a niche market--had to deal with a lot of bugs when it was owned by MicroProse, but extensive modding was around and the community was able to improve on and expand the game dramatically. A lot of the modding work involved new flight models and cockpits for new player-controlled aircraft. They kept it alive for years and eventually produced a product far superior to anything MP was able or willing to do. I strongly doubt that any version of F4 would be popular today if not for the efforts of the modding community.
Speaking only in terms of the interest in the quality of the product, extensive modding is crucial to picking up the slack when the producing company does not have the reasources to fully develop the game. Obviously, for other business interests, that can't happen here, but it does hurt. A lot.
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