Is the GREED or what ...?

[Arklight1 140]

>>>What's wrong with wanting to get paid for something you love>>doing?>>>>>>Like I said, not everything about life is about getting paid>or money, at least to some people.>Like I have seen many people state in threads about this issue>before:>This hobby used to more about sharing. >>Am I not allowed to be sad and disapointed about freeware>going to payware ? Many of these responses from the people>with the purely capitalistic world view are very hostile.>>I fail to see how I was being hostile.

[Guest wathomas777]

I don't understand why someone can't grieve the way things were around the days of flight shop without being labeled an ingrate?The fact that I pay, or don't pay does not justify or nulify my ability to have an opinon.Some developers are doing add-ons to get paid, some our doing it for a higher purpose. Call it charity, call it love, or perhaps, just perhaps, call it "exposure".Take Pete Dawson for instance. Would ANYONE have forked over $20 bucks for FSUIPC for FS98 or FS2000? Heck no. Why? Because FSUIPC didn't have the exposure, nor did as many applications do such great things with it.Pete offered the program for 3 versions for free, got his name known around and is now charging for it for FS2004.Whether or not you feel that move is a good business decision or not (I personally don't but that's beside the point), the fact is, Pete can now attempt to sell his product.Some things "work" some do not. Take for example FS2004. It's now one unified edition. The "professional versions" of FS2000 and more so FS2002 did not have the numbers that justified two versions. Consumers for the most part did not see (especially in FS2002) much value added for the extra $20 bucks for the Pro edition.What does MS do? Charge 5 bucks more a pop, and ax the pro edition. Now, instead of making an extra $20 on SOME boxes, they make an extra 5 on all boxes. Economy of scale.The freeware developer has to really be careful to make a decision. On one hand, the decision to go payware is usually met with some resistance. Secondly, you have to now make sure that what you charge is fair and equitable. Third, you now have to combat piracy. In the case of Pete, he may indeed make a bundle. But, this version is probably the only version he will really cash in on. By FS2006, most commercial ware will divorce themselves from FSUIPC, because they can't risk any more price hikes. Freeware guys will of developed another interface, and Pete will be left with a dead version for FS2006, unless he can add more value to it.Active Camera is already in hot water, because it doesn't add as much value as FSUIPC and yet is asking for the same price.Not to mention, when you are getting paid, you now have a "job". People have much higher expectations when money changes hands. Gauges and tools you used to be able to use "with permission" now must be either paid for by you or developed by you. Also, you must now set up tools and time to get paid in a secure and efficient manner.While I don't bemoan any person trying to make a profit off of his own work, I do question whether they will succeed. The free market is a double edged sword. And as providing a product that everyone needs can get you some cash, providing a product that everyone wants but is unwilling to pay for can make you go bust equally as fast.It takes a lot more than a cute utility, or nifty repaint to get a person to part with his cash. MS charges 55 bucks for all the content in FS2004. Add On Developers have to ask themselves, does my item increase FS2004 by 20 to 40 percent? If not, then don't expect people to buy it from you.

[DJ 0]

Very well said, I agree with you completely!

[ErnieAlston 33]

>I consider prodigy and compuserve and the BBS's to be the internet. >Don't You? Well there are now, but go back 8 to 10 years and they were not part of the internet.At the time prodigy and compuserve was strictly dialup, there was no way to the internet from these services in the early 90's. There was no connection between the online services and the internet until approx 1996 (except email which came a bit earlier).>Freeware has not been there from day one. Try to find freeware for >fs3.0. Even fs4, it was VERY rare. It wasn't until fs5 and/or fs95 >that freeware existed in any quantity.Again this is not correct, there were tons of freeware available for FS4. Surely I am not so old that I am the only one who remembers this ?In the early 90's before the WWW was in public use Compuserve's FSFORUM had a large library of freeware files for FS3,and FS4. I recall FS4 had a bunch of freeware scenery and aircraft thanks programs like Aircraft and Scenery Designer (ASD), and Aircraft and Adventure Factory (AAF). But if you did not have an account on CIS, AOL, Prodigy, or BBS's like FSFAN you would not know this.The IUP site which used to be the mother-load for FS freeware files had tons of freeweare stuff for FS4. But back then it was available only via ftp, web browsers were barely in existence back then.Freeware and payware were both there from day one.Regards.Ernie.

[Steve Cannell 4]

From what I have seen in the past couple years I don't think our flightsimming hobby has a future. Sure there are many great payware addons available and all I can do is hope for more, these have raised our hobby to a new level, but what I'm seeing now is a snowball effect. Freeware tools like TTools, AFCAD, PAI, SkyWorld, just to name a few will in the future only come at a price. Many in our community have been drawn to this hobby because of the cost of real flying. If this payware trend continues, this too will be a hobby for the fortunate few.The files available in the library have changed considerably. Now mostly repaints. Where has all the Intl airport sceneries gone ? Payware !!I read an interview with AVSIM's Tom Allensworth where I believe he too has concerns about it's future. It seems the talented among us no longer wish to give us those little programs that enhance our Flightsimming and contribute to the progress and growth of our hobby. I'm sorry but I can no longer in good faith promote this hobby to anyone. That snowball is rolling downhill fast.Steve