~S~
I tend to stay out of these conversations - much like all of those 'CFS3 - love it or loath it' threads, they can get out of hand very quickly (and very repetitive)...
Still, that said, and as it's a very boring afternoon while writing up a report for work, I'll throw my two pennyworth in anyway

I loved CFS1 & 2 (the fact that I still come in here to see what's going on seems to testify to this alone!

) and devoted more hours than I care to mention to playing them and also seeking ways of getting more out of them via such excellent utilities as TG2, BRH and CFO and trying to build on the work of others far cleverer than myself in order to improve the online experiences of my squadmates with 'alpha' bombers for CFS2 and those dratted 'flyable' ships...

.
I've had great times flying all sorts of aircraft in all sorts of contexts, both online and offline, thanks to skills of the GroundCrewDesign Group, Fox Four, Defence of Australia, and others too numerous to mention.
Unfortunately, while both sims continue to have a very great deal to offer to the offline player, as an online game, I really do think that CFS2 has had it. It was flying online with a squad that really made the games for me, along with the friendships that I made while doing so and the skills and craftiness of our real-life opponents.
For a long time now, the CFS2 rooms in the Zone have been largely deserted at the times I can fly (UK evenings) and the rooms that are available in both CFS1 and 2 are polluted in any case by insidious cheating and underhanded modding. I know there are still some honourable old-hands around that continue to hold up the banner, but they are the rear guard and are fighting, sadly, a losing battle.
It's what finally got me to take the plunge and get involved with the IC Maddox series of Forgotten Battles and Pacific Fighters - something I'd avoided for a long time, but from which I now get the same kind of excitement and involvement I did in the good old days...
Like I said, just my two pennyworth...
All the best,
Pads