In the announcement, Helmer bravely explains why the move to pay-to-browse was necessary. Their costs
routinely exceed their incomes. They admit they have no staff as such, although they (and
most other e-journals) put up the front that they are a dotcom corporate
entity. Combatsim is mostly a husband/wife operation, like the bait and tackle
store I shop at. From what I gathered, they spend 100% of their time
maintaining and promoting the
website. They rely on advertising and game sales commissions to pay their
hosting costs and provide an income for their family. Well, as the head of
another e-journal, I can testify that advertising is mostly a no-show and game
commissions vary wildly but rarely generate more than enough money to cover
the costs. This type of venture is a hobby, folks. You have to like it and
expect gratification from working in it, not money.
When I started SUBSIM Review, it
was called Neal's Subsim Reviews. In the beginning there was a title page with
almost the exact same introduction as today. There were links for six reviews.
And that was it. This was January 1997, before SimHQ or Combatsim were known
to me, probably before they existed. Over the first few months all I did was
answer e-mail to the site. Gradually I began to see a role for a non-factory
tech support service. I added the Tactics & Tips section. Many people
contributed to this feature. In the summer of 1997, a fellow named Frank
"Crimson" Morissette e-mail me and said he loved my work, would I
mind sharing the review of Jane's 688(I) with his new website, Simulation
Headquarters (SimHQ). A friendship was born. Frank helped me get the original
Radio Room BBS working by coaching me over the phone. He also advised me to
change the name of the website to just SUBSIM Review and give it a
professional makeover. Along this same time I
wrote an article for Len "Viking1" Hjalmarson and his Combatsim
website. I suggested that Combatsim and SUBSIM Review share the
same naval forum. After all, every page in the Internet is really part of one
big website by virtue of the links anyway and this way Combatsim's flight sim
oriented website and SSR's subsim oriented website would strengthen each other
in this collaboration. He agreed and for a while we directed readers to a
mutual forum.
Maybe four months later, Len
informed me that Doug Helmer had decided that Combatsim would have better luck
administering a separate naval forum. Doug made this decision in the effort to
propel Combatsim (now known as Combatsim.com) to the top ranks of e-journals.
With their own forum, they could collect advertising and not be beholden to
SUBSIM Review. I offered to allow them to collect the full share of any
advertising from the mutual forum. No dice. So we parted ways and our
collaborative effort was dropped. I could appreciate the motive but I
still think it was a bad business decision.
Over the four years since the
inception of SUBSIM Review, Combatsim, and SimHQ, all three have grown.
Naturally, with their broader scope and focus on the more popular flightsims, the latter two have grown into web
standards. SSR has moved into some pretty heavy traffic ourselves but with the
emphasis only on subs and naval sims, we are little brothers next to SimHQ and
C-sim. Despite Helmer's claim to "14 million pages
viewed monthly", there's no doubt that Combatsim was shouldering some
hefty hosting fees. I can sympathize. We grew from allowing a college server
to host us for free, to adopting a reliable hosting service's budget program,
to paying for two dedicated servers. From no costs to almost $500 a month. (If
you guys stop buying games through us, we're kaput!). SUBSIM Review went from
just one guy's reviews to previews, interviews, troubleshooting tips,
downloads, contests, forums where every tech support question is answered, and
more, all contributed by men who love military sims. And we do it for a few
key reasons. Because we like it. Because we want to actively promote the kinds
of games we love. Because it gives me and about six other guys a chance to
flex our journalistic muscles. Because we like helping you. And because you, the reader, have encouraged
us. That last part can never be emphasized enough. Your kind words mean a lot
to me and the other guys at this website.
The zenith for Combatsim must have
been during the period where they were planning to launch their print
magazine. They had a cover displayed on their website and were taking advance
subscriptions. I signed on for that. Sadly, the magazine never made it to
Issue #1. Eventually, my money was refunded. I wish the magazine had made it. I can imagine that was a
bitter disappointment to Helmer.
As year 2000 began drawing to a
close, I noticed a tapering off in Combatsim's content. I saw a few posts in
various forums to the same effect. C-sim was beginning to look like a runner
fading at the finish. Other e-journals were responsible for the most
innovation. SimHQ had their Kali server room and were heavily involved with
Steel Beasts. SimHQ was beginning to make giveaway contests a normal
feature--every week they were handing out prizes to their readers. Jim
Dattilo's Computer Sim Games has grown into a premiere website with its
extensive link library and well-written reviews. Naval Warfare Simulations has
evolved into a full-blown mod program, advancing and improving a host of
legacy sims. BattleBelow.com is growing on the strength of its popular
Pacific Thunder campaign. We at SSR introduced our popular Mystery Subsim
contest that drew in and rewarded knowledgeable players. And we helped coax
Sonalysts into making a no-cheat patch for Jane's 688(I) with our "Fix My
688(I) Petition". By comparison, Combatsim was verging on atrophy.
So perhaps the move to
pay-per-view shouldn't be seen as a total surprise. It's a last ditch effort
to save a hobby and transform it into an occupation. It's going to be tough.
U-boat.net tried this trick earlier this year and nearly sank. They are back
with most content available for free. I wish Combatsim luck but this has to be
considered; if they succeed, then they have blazed the trail for other sim
e-journals to follow suit. That could get ugly fast. In any case, the
chance of success can be summed up by Helmer's own claim to glory; "the
58th most popular game information site across all top-ranked game sites
(ranked by) www.100hot.com". What do you want to bet that the other
fifty-seven games sites, as well as the countless number below 58th, are free?
Neal Stevens
Editor,
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Past editorials:
June 2000
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June 1999
May 1999
November 1998
October 1998
September 1998
August 1998
