A Call to Arms of Sorts.. (Tom Allensworth, please read...)

[Guest JamesrwATC]

I'm not a writer, I just have an idea. So Ahead of time I apologize if I jump around...I've been in this hobby for many years. It was FS that got me into flying... 15 years after my first copy of FS I am now a pilot, and an Air Traffic Controller.I've had the pleasure of befriending some amazing individuals who have lead this hobby to what it is today.Tom, Many years ago a guy named Bill Malloway (sp?) lead me to this site. He worked for you back in the days of FS5... I've been coming here ever since.I also use to visit simflight quite a bit as I established a relationship with Miguel Blaufuks and began reviewing for their site. I've designed scenery (back in the days of FS6)...I've had the pleasure of making friends with Mike Vidal (made one of the very first addon aircraft for FS5 a DC9) and Jason Grooms (Many wouldnt recognize that name now, but several years ago I found myself with 5 other friends testing the very first ever versions of SB and PC which would soon blossom into VATSIM)...All of these people, myself included had or have a passion for this community. I feel like I was there to watch it grow, and maybe a little on the egotistical side I feel as if I helped build it in my own little way. Why cant we get all of these developers, review sites, file sites, blogging communities, and publishers together to form some sort of coalition. Get all of us together in the masses and put a message out to MS.You've done it before, boycotting a version of FS that was more like an update rather than a standalone program (forget which version that was..)Why cant there be a front page on every site before you enter it with a message or petition to MS... letting them know that this will not be tolerated.. nor will anything short of FSXI be bought from any of your users?I wouldnt mind passing that page everytime I logged on the Avsim, Aerosoft.com, PMDG's site, Simflight, Flightsim.com and so on... Lets ban together.. lets put a stop to it...and I'm sorry, I cant help myselfVIVA LA RESISTANCE!Just an idea.. from a concerned, loyal fan... lets do everything we can do short of marching on MS campus and demanding something!Respectfully,James Walsh

[Staffan 12]

I have pondered the FS situation for a day now and have come to this conclusion...How many copies of FSX were sold? How many copies are in the hands of people who care about matters such as those unfolding before us right now? How many copies are in the hands of people who bought it installed it and never again thought anything more about what else they could be doing with FSX, visited a site like avsim.com or purchased an addon and are happy as a clam with what they have "out of the box"?It is my opinion that while the former is a far more vocal and activist group, the latter is a silent MEGA majority.... and if FS does go the way of Windows live as it appears to be headed, they will be indifferent if not even happier for it.PSB

I agree. The very tiny fraction of what we represent in these FS forums are not many FS9 or FSX users in the whole matter. What we represent though is a small "hardcore" simmers group. But that is not what Microsoft is aming for. They want to aim on the gamers target group. However, I really don

[Guest]

FS9 for the "heavy" simmers, and FSX for the VFR simmers.

Totally OT, but... :( :( I'm a very happy 'heavy' FSX simmer. Don't know why FS9 should be for heavy simmers. But I do agree with the point of yout post: I am also very happy with FSX and it will only get better with all the addons that are going to keep coming. Looking at how long FS9 is staying alive after the release of FSX, you might wonder how long FSX would have stayed alive after a release of FS11. Probably also a few years! Which means that even if FS11 had been released, a lot of us would probably still be using FSX in (let's say) 2011 or 2012. Or even longer. And who knows how the world will look like by that time! No one does. Things can change overnight, as all Aces employes know... Sometimes it's for the worse and sometimes it's for the better. You'll never know if MS might start working on FS again. Or maybe some other company dives into it. You'll never know. But until that time FSX is an awesome platform with still a lot of possibilities and future!

[Staffan 12]

Totally OT, but... I'm a very happy 'heavy' FSX simmer. Don't know why FS9 should be for heavy simmers.

The point is simply that there infact is, and still will be in the future a divided community,...FS9ers and FSXers,...whether we like it or not. :( :(