...hop on in. The water's fine. :)

I know there's this kind of macho attitude where the complexity of the sim is like a badge of honor, but truth be told you don't have to know half the shit that's going on in the cockpit to join a flight online and have fun. In fact, I'd say the biggest fun I'm having with the game right now is flying with other people and just enjoying the cooperative experience. It's really quite cool.

Most recently I've been flying a Ka-50 in missions otherwise dominated by A-10s, and it's fun to try and coordinate or help each other out in such different aircraft. It goes without saying that teamspeak is a must.

I can't do much but heartily recommend the curious, or those who picked the game up and cooled on it, to join the community at http://flight-sim-fanatics.com and get into a multiplayer session or two; You wouldn't believe how friendly and lenient people are, or how willing they are to help when you have worries or questions.

These are games where learning and improving pretty much *is* the game; I'd go as far as to say it's close to Starcraft for me, or Street Fighter 4, or any other technically dense game. That moment where you spot a target and put a missile on it just as your wingman does the same on another adjacent to it, you feel like a real boss.

So come on over to FSF! We need more giant bombers ;-)

Also, feel free to post on this forum. Walking other people through the systems is actually great fun, so don't be afraid to ask for help!