The End of Flight?

[HiFlyer 9,358]

God I hope they sell it to someone like ORBX.

 

I suspect not.

 

Having somebody else make it a roaring success would be almost as bad as admitting poor leadership, which they will never do.

 

More likely is that the now frozen code is slowly cracked and back engineered, and 3PD starts appearing......

 

There was a subject regarding efforts along those lines that was locked.

 

As an aside, based on their longtime search for a manager, I wonder how long Mr Howard has been gone?

[CryogenicPilot 1]

I think everybody saw this coming the day this title was launched, unfortunately

 

MS tried to grab the "Casual Aviation Enthusiast Audience" WHO DID NOT EXIST AND WILL NEVER EXIST in lieu of the hardcore simmers because I bet MS saw how 3PDs were making money off the MSFS series for years and thought they could adjust this model for casual gamers and just rake it in. MS probably saw all the money 3PDs were making.. That is still paltry compared to mainstream gaming, ironically... And wanted a piece of that pie... Except in this instance, they wanted the entire pie and not just one piece! This is most likely why "Flight" was a closed system, DLC, Pay-as-You-Go (PayGo!) model from the start. They wanted control every step of the way from production (core game) to distribution (Games for Windows LIVE!) to expansions (DLC) in order to cut 3PDs out of the loop.

 

However, this post on the Steam "Flight" forums reveals yet another critical flaw in their strategy aside from the fact flight simming is already a niche market:

 

http://forums.steamp...418&postcount=1

 

Flight Simming and specilized gaming in general is NOT cheap. Period. But that was MS's main flaw, IMO.

 

They thought the masses would become so enamored with the "magic of flight" -- the romanticism of aviation and the game itself -- And just overlook how EXPENSIVE their pricing model was. MS probably figured they would just be raking it in hand over fist due to a sudden appreciation of virtual aviation when there has been no evidence to support this assumption in the past. It's a flawed strategy not based on any kind of reality e.g. aviation enthusiasts and flight simmers are a very SMALL market compared to other types of gaming. As other AVSIM members have stated before, if a person has no interest in aviation, virtual or otherwise, why would a game like "Flight" all of a sudden spur this interest in them? Especially a simplistic game like "Flight" was?

 

Well, the only thing I can say is cliches and stereotypes become that way for a reason: Because there is a hint of truth underneath them.

 

"Flight" tried to appeal to everybody and ended up not appealing enough to anybody, unfortunately :(

[toedv 1]

It's really sad to hear this, but it was also really sad from the beginning; The target audience was wrong. You have to be a nerd to like this type of flying. The kids, they go for dog fights and such. The large and very solid flightsim community doesn't suffer cockpit-less aircrafts too well.

[CryogenicPilot 1]

It's really sad to hear this, but it was also really sad from the beginning; The target audience was wrong. You have to be a nerd to like this type of flying. The kids, they go for dog fights and such. The large and very solid flightsim community doesn't suffer cockpit-less aircrafts too well.

 

I was actually thinking of making some FSX missions along the lines of "Grand Theft Airplane".

 

Seriously...

[thefsxflyer 1]

I just saw this article and I thought I was reading the article wrong. Pretty much saw this coming although not this early.

[styckx 1,871]

If Microsoft actually tried to innovate and market MS Flight I might feel bad.. I've seen Nigerian scam artists with better marketing. They choose to be passive aggressive, un-engaging, insultingly defensive and set the bar below the status quo.. It's a wonder they made it this far..

[tf51d 284]

I suspect not.

 

Having somebody else make it a roaring success would be almost as bad as admitting poor leadership, which they will never do.

 

More likely is that the now frozen code is slowly cracked and back engineered, and 3PD starts appearing......

 

There was a subject regarding efforts along those lines that was locked.

 

Based on their longtime search for a manager, I wonder how long Mr Howard has been gone?

 

The only way that happens, is if MS modifies the EULA to allow 3PD's to start developing.

 

Think of it this way MS just saved everybody hundreds if not thousands of dollars by dropping Flight. As it is if you bought all the DLC for flight, you already shelled out $94, for 2 States in the US, 4 GA aircraft with VC, and the rest without. Compare that to what most of you already have with FSX (or even FS2004) UTUSA and GEX ASE etc..

[BaronKen 144]

What a kick in the ***. Unbelievably disappointed in this news. I wonder how long Flight will work before MS cuts it off; will Flight as it is still work without being connected to GFWL?

[LHookins 3,103]

Flight will work without an Internet connection.

 

Hook

[tf51d 284]

What a kick in the ***. Unbelievably disappointed in this news. I wonder how long Flight will work before MS cuts it off; will Flight as it is still work without being connected to GFWL?

 

I doubt they will cut off being able to run it, you will probably still need to logon to GFWL which isn't going anywhere. It is possible at some point, they'll cut off the Multiplayer function. They haven't done that in FS2004 or FSX yet, so I don't really see that happening at least in the near future.

[OmarNg7X 0]

I just spent the very last of my savings this afternoon buying Alaska and the Deluxe Cub and now THIS? I can only say:

http://nooooooooooooooo.com/

I enjoy Flight a lot and have been following it since it was announced like many of you and it's just sad to hear that Microsoft has put an end to a product that had so much potential. It had its ups (weather, fps, scenery) and downs (cockpitless aircraft, lack of AI) but I understand they were focused on bringing the magic of flight to a broader audience and I thank them for that.

I'll definitely continue with Flight and look forward to what will come of this franchise in the future...

[LAdamson 240]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. We are better off without MS in the Flight Simming game. I know it's going to take people some getting used to but we really need a company that is focused on providing a quality product in this area and not simply looking for another cash cow which was all the FS franchise really was to Microsoft.

 

I don't go along with that. I was a Microsoft beta tester for three versions of Flight Simulator. Back in the good old days of developing the product, the staff was really into providing a rather realistic product. And they certainly had the support of Microsoft. And Microsoft made it possible to hire more people, and purchase rights to data-bases, than most competitors.

 

L.Adamson

[toedv 1]

Sorry, but have to chime in again.

What Flight did for me was to realize how good it could look, and consequentially I spent some dough on ORBX and other enhancements for FSX. I bought KORS (Orcas) and that just blew me socks off.

Since Flight came out and after I quit it (3 months ago), I probably spent 300 bucks on FSX upgrades and I'm very pleased with the results.

I wonder if P3D is worth getting into? It would be sweet if they managed to tweak the old code to use new graphics technology.

 

I was actually thinking of making some FSX missions along the lines of "Grand Theft Airplane".

 

Seriously...

Please do!!!

[HughesMDflyer4 470]

I'll definitely continue with Flight and look forward to what will come of this franchise in the future...

 

Well, we can hope that there is a future, but with the cancellation, I wouldn't count on it...

[RWFeldman 159]

Guess our legacy will continue with our "ridiculous 25000 airports and world wide scenery". Long Live FSX.. and P3D.