FSD! Im over add-ons with anti-piracy built in.

[Guest A321]

Why have FSD not commented on this? They comment on everything else related to them.I would like to see their response, I feel they should now justify themselves to us for a change.So "come on in FSD, and tell us why you are chastising paying customers, with your nonsense policy"Jason

[Rottenlungs 0]

It seems I`m not alone.I am involved in the exact battle so many of you describe. I bought the GMAX Cheyenne Upgrade and atttempted my third install following yet another reinstall of Windows XP pro. Unfortunately, not only have I had to jump through hoops proving that I bought the upgrade, now Tim Dickens, who along with Steve Small is doing the 'good cop bad cop routine', has basically accused me over never buying the original in the first place. Very rude! I had to delve through my email archive and, luckily, found the receipt from Flight1 dated 24/03/02, and send a copy to them as I begged them to let me have what I paid for.The FSD cheyenne was the first piece of downloaded FS Payware I bought and it was (is still) very good. Unfortunately all this has left me with a very sour taste and had I known prior to purchase what the restrictions were, I probably wouldn`t have bothered. As someone else said, Shame on you FSD,your pugnacious approach towards otherwise loyal customers has made you more enemies than friends..Ah well, soon there`ll be wet or dry lease rates on FS Aircraft. Any good XML Hobbs Meter Gauges out there????CheersRottenlungs

[gregger 0]

From what I understand, PMDG's system is almost worse -- well, it's different but still bad. Sure you get the 10 days grace, but you don't get any 'free' reinstalls. Every time you upgrade hardware or whatever, you need to contact them in advance to get a new key. Imagine if I had 20 add-ons with this kind of licensing system and I upgraded my hard disk! It would take me 3 weeks just to get all the keys before I was able to swap the disk. Not to mention the possibility of a hardware failure, or the fact that PMDG could be out of business 6 mo. from now... This whole machine-code licensing system sucks!http://members.rogers.com/gmoffatt/images/ERJ_CRT.jpg

[Guest bigun]

Rottenlungs,Don't let FSD deter you from enjoying all the high quality payware out there that is supported by professional, level headed developers. Dreamfleet, Flight1, PSS to name just a few. Although I fully understand the developers right/need to protect their hard work and time, it's hard for me to believe that most "pirates" would even attempt to go through the proper procedures to get the software operating. I would think the vast majority of them would just try to figure out how to "crack" the software or move on to something else.I know if I was going to try to swipe someone's software, I don't think I would send an e-mail to the developer with my name, address, confirmation number, and last 4 of my credit card:)George Stoddard

[Guest freequest]

Well reading all the messages in this post i guess im gonna have to not buy of FSD till they get there act toghter... since in Australia we dont have permanant IP's and all that stuff...Lucky i bought my FSD Senaca V under the old system where it unpacks the program and lets me install from the unpacked file with out haveign to access the net. (and lucky i got that backed up onto 2 CD's for safetys sake.

[Rottenlungs 0]

Hi GeorgeLuckily I haven`t, being a 29yr old 'kid' just gives me more spending power. I have various things from DFleet and FLight1 and they are all very good. And lets hear it for uk2000, good old fashioned serial numbers emailed. He doesn`t mess us around..That said, Ultimnate traffic has a licencing system with which I am on my second install so that may turn ugly too.You`ve hit the nail on the head - hackers aren`t gonna make money selling 2 dollar copies of Flightsim aircraft - and those that do want to will just crack and rewrite the installer..Such is life!CheersLungs

[Rottenlungs 0]

That`s exactly how I backup the other F1 stuff I`ve got, NZ is the same with the dynamic IP`s thing - even on broadband..

[Ericson 0]

I've purchased gmax Commander few days after relase... I see that i was lucky becouse my windows worked ok by that time. Commander it's very good and engine damage feature is top notch but after reading this thread and other FSD customers comments about re-installation issues i gonna pass Navajo , Piaggio and other planes for sure... I don't have time to play "cop and pirate" when i will have to reinstall FSD plane 5th time in month and prove (!) in front of Steve or Tim that i'm not a thief or pirate !

[Guest A321]

It may seem im witch hunting, but I really want to see What FSD make of this. I was so fustrated that I had to beg for a product that i paied for, I could not wait for this day to come, when FSD are shamed by their once loyal customers or should I say X Customers :). Im sorry FSD but untill you treat paying customers with respect and honesty, that we treat you guys with when we support you, and buy your planes, leaping to your defence when your stuff is used on other models, and such, you may as well kiss goodbye to a fruitfull FS Addon existence.Jason

[Guest dpc]

This should get really interesting around the end of the month when all of us FSD customers go to load our purchases on to FS2004. How well that goes will definitely determine any of my future purchases from FSD. They have already done they "Holyer then thou" thing to me on their forum. They told me my video card was not adequate to handle the slow texture load on the Seneca. (ATI 9700 pro, was that a low end card a couple months back? Can't seem to recall :-roll ) I can put up with that because I basically laughed it off at just how rediculous their response was. I absolutely love the Cheyenne! BUT--We'll see how it goes when I purchase FS2004. :-outta Dave

[Guest Mirage]

Well, I remember when Captain Sim introduced this, many developers accused this company about this system but few of them are following the same way! I'm sick of this system and although I fully understand the need for it, in the end, it's us, the customers, who are being tortured. What if I decide to quit internet? I paid for these add ons and I want to install them any time and any day and as many times I want without giving explanations! FSD makes some of the best FS add ons and I have all of them. But I think companies like this one (and others) need to change their security software system. After all, what about other software that worth thousands of dollars and still the net is full with cracks and serial numbers? It is a shame, but that's how life is. And they still have their profits or they would stop producing expensive software. I hate pirates because at the end it is the legal customer who is in trouble, but please find another way of unlocking software. Otherwise, we gonna end asking for permission just to switch our computer on! Andy http://www.x-plane.org/users/mirage/signature2.jpg

[Guest racartron]

"You say you don't have the time to chase down the pirates... that's understandable. You simply can't afford to do so. But intruding into the privacy of your honest customers will do nothing to stop the thieves. The most you can hope to do is lose your honest customers."Guess that means the Airports should have two separate lines at the metal detector facility; One for the honest persons and another for the Terrorist folK.Racartronit means something, but I just can't remember what

[Guest TimD]

"I notice you did not include the log in your post that shows FSD claiming you've installed on seven different computers. If you're installing on many different systems, I'm afraid I can't blame them."Actually, in addition to the unethical practice of publicizing e-mail in this fashion, he also conveniently left out the abusive mail he sent, which for ethical reasons, we will not post in public. He also left out the fact that we did actually provide him with the unlock he requested, once he explained why he had installed it on 7(yes, that's 7) machines. From where we sat it very much looked like abuse of the license. We very politely asked him to explain why the software was in use on 7 machines. Just to clarify, the system will allow an unlimited number of installations on the same machine. Including installation into FS 2004 when it comes out. It will also automatically allow for a number of reformats/reinstallations without sending up a flag. Whenever anyone has computer problems we are glad to reset the system to allow additional installation. We typically respond to support mail within the hour. I think a lot of people can testify to this. But when we see installation on so many systems, I think we are entitled to receive an explanation.As to the objection to machine-binding licensing, those who find this unreasonable should first put themselves in the other person's shoes. We did it the other way for a number of years, relying on the good faith and honesty of the community. And of course, most users do behave that way. But the software would also show up on the Warez sites within a day of its release. This practice became so common that we lost over 30% on the Seneca to professional pirates, and "casual file trading". No more.If anyone feels that such license protection is unjustified, before you criticize us, or other software developers from protecting their work, perhaps for credibility sake you should have a public audit performed, have 30% of you assets stripped away, and given to everyone on this forum as a gesture?http://www.fsd-international.com/team/TD_forum_sig.gif

[W2DR 1,860]

You're not alone Pete. I've had the same problem with FSD. They have flatly refused to support my reinstall needs (four times per year) with the GMAX Commander. For a variety of reasons I have to format the HDD's each quarter and it seems this is more than FSD will tolerate. Unbelievable. Like many folks, I've purchased all of the FSD offerings in the past. But I'll never buy another FSD anything. All their stuff has been deleted from the HDD never to return. It's not the way they have gone about the anti-piracy thing that bothers me. I don't have a problem with having to get new keys. It happens with Radar Contact all the time and the support there is great so there is no problem. Flight One is another example of great service, no problem with Ultimate Traffic. And I don't think PMDG is an issue either. But the attitude of the FSD guys is more than I can bear. I hope the developers are reading this stuff because I'M NOT BUYING ANYTHING FROM ANYONE THAT LIMITS THE NUMBER OF TIMES I CAN INSTALL IT ON MY OWN SYSTEM FOR ANY REASON I CHOOSE. And if that means I'm going to be limited to freeware, so be it. Enough is enough. DougEdited by me to clean up the language a bit.

[Guest A321]

They told me to install from Hard dsik and not my Desktop, hmmm so desktop isnt on my hard drive ??:-hmmm .Every downloadable executeable I download goes stright to my Desktop, where I execute it from, and guess what? ..................It always works, but how? The Desktop is not on my hard disk!!:-lol can someone who is able to get on the FSD fourm, please post a link to this thread, so that they can read it, and hopefuly take some notice. but from what ive seen of their attituide, they will just turn a blind eye to it and hope we all dont vote with our wallets.Jason