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VRS superbug released, but their support forum is off limits to non-customers?!?

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Hey, yea it is a different approach. Orbx does this I believe.
The Orbx forums are open to anyone, but you have to provide your order number before they will give support.

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Guest 747-fan
How can all you guys be so suspicious and dismissive because their forums are locked to anyone except a customer? It' almost universally acknowledged that they produce a fantastic product, they are class leaders in what they do, that the previous iteration for FS9 was one of the best add ons you could get, and yet some of you are going on like they are some kind of fly by night shakedown outfit.... your loss dudes....
Not speaking for others than myself here: Any company that assumes I'm a pirate because I want to see what existing owners think is wrong with their product before spending $50 has earned my suspicion. Once the reviews are out and the community has shown what's good and what's not so good about it, then I might buy it. I'm not boycotting them on principle, but I think they succeeded in treating future or potential customers like... well... feces? If I do buy it and then run into a problem with the product, why would I think a company with such an attitude will help me out? Without seeing their support to others, I'll have to buy the cat in a bag or buy the pig in a poke.

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I'm afraid I have to agree. I always check a product's support forum before I buy. Without such access, not only do I NOT find out if there are problems, I also don't learn if the developer is providing reasonable levels of support for their product. As others have noted, openness sends a much better signal to potential customers and I much prefer Orbx's approach to this issue.I won't buy this product unless and until there are an overwhelming number of positive reviews. A delay in sales to people like me can not be in the developer's interest.Cheers,Noel.


11th Gen i9-11900K @ 3.5GHz | nVidia GeForce RTX 3080 | Corsair 64 GB RAM | Samsung 970 EVO Plus 2TB | Asus 27" RoG G-Sync

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I wouldn't take it that far. Some have claimed this has done for fighters what PMDG has done for airliners, so I wouldn't want to miss out. But there's no way I'm getting it before the first reviews are out and people have gotten their activations in order. Hiding forums because of piracy? That's every bit as unnecessary as PMDG requiring full real life names. Why not do an ORBX twist and demand order numbers or whatever VRS use for some kind of piracy check in the forum sig for support? Demanding documentation if you yourself ask for support is only fair. Hiding entire forums however, makes everyone who hasn't bought the product yet a "suspect" or "potential pirate" instead of a "potential customer who is serious about his simming and wants to check out the bugs before spending his $50". Hows that for customer relations. It tells me a whole lot about the company.
Well, I did review the FS9 version some time ago. I guess the FSX version is pretty much the same (or that's what I understood from the messages on the forums - yes, being a registered customer, I can get into the forums) systems wise. The model will just be a lot better and many more effects will be able, like smoke trails for missiles and such (that should be great, in FS9 we didn't have such things. So, when you are gonna be hit by an enemy missile, it'd nice to see smoke coming your way). That said, I don't have FSX installed and hence I can't say anything about the FSX version. I also didn't buy the FSX version for, well, the same reason I can't give my opinion about it: I don't have FSX installed. Besides, there are other things I want to buy first.Anyway,. I'm sure the FSX bug is a blast to fly. It was in FS9, so I don't see a reason why not in FSX. Get it - I'm sure it'll be better than the Lotus L39As for customer support: it's great. I have only had peasant dealings on the support forums. Not only pleasant dealing with the two developers, also with the other forum members. That is a rarity these days, I'm afraid... Always helpful, always there for you. At least, that's my experience.

Benjamin van Soldt

Windows 10 64bit - i5-8600k @ 4.7GHz - ASRock Fatality K6 Z370 - EVGA GTX1070 SC 8GB VRAM - 16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX @ 3200MHz - Samsung 960 Evo SSD M.2 NVMe 500GB - 2x Samsung 860 Evo SSD 1TB (P3Dv4/5 drive) - Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM - Seasonic FocusPlus Gold 750W - Noctua DH-15S - Fractal Design Focus G (White) Case

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Not speaking for others than myself here: Any company that assumes I'm a pirate because I want to see what existing owners think is wrong with their product before spending $50 has earned my suspicion. Once the reviews are out and the community has shown what's good and what's not so good about it, then I might buy it. I'm not boycotting them on principle, but I think they succeeded in treating future or potential customers like... well... feces? If I do buy it and then run into a problem with the product, why would I think a company with such an attitude will help me out? Without seeing their support to others, I'll have to buy the cat in a bag or buy the pig in a poke.
This statement is patently false! You actually CAN access EVERY area of the VRS forums, the only exception being product support and that requires a password which is on your invoice after purchasing the product. Feel free to join the forum and ask around about the product. No one is stopping you. There are plenty of videos on youtube as well for you to see it in action. Jon, myself and others are more than happy to answer any queries you may have. I can vouch for their support - it is top notch stuff on par (or better than) PMDG.Just don't sit there and make blatantly false, uninformed assumptions that the VRS team have any kind of ulterior motives in denying access to the product support forums. They do so purely to prevent users of pirated software from receiving support. It's really that simple!

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Guest 747-fan

I don't assume anything. I can't. Please don't assume that I assume. I observe their lack of respect for people who want to see what problems existing end-users are having before I decide whether or not to buy it myself. Since I can't access their support forum, the one place you can find that out, I'm not allowed because of their business decision.So - again - I don't like buying things without knowing things about it, other than praises and reviews. as far as I can gather from the initial feedback I've read, some haven't made the product work. Others do. Those that do tend to like it a lot. Please don't get all riled up and rude, mcbellette. I don't like having to spell it out and write the same thing three or four times to get my message across. English is only my third language.

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Hm. Bought it, but activation is failing with an error "5008", and I can't get on the support forum.Oh well, that's what you get for being on the bleeding edge - wonder if I'll ever learn :(
I Woke up at 4am this morning to ensure I would get the product.I quickly tried to activate it and received the same error. It was not till this morning that I realized that in my sleepy haze I was entering the CustomerID number instead of the LiscenceID. I am not sure if this is problem but entering the correct number had me up and running this amazing airplane.

Mike Keigley

 

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I am not sure if this is problem but entering the correct number had me up and running this amazing airplane.
Thanks, but the problem was that the password given in the invoice was not correct. I got the correct password in an email, and the aircraft authenticated and installed correctly.Now I just need to learn to fly this beauty :(

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Oh come on now. This is absolutely no excuse (IMOof course :( ). It happens more and more with developers. It's all about keeping overheads to minimum, to maximise profits. I've no issue with that, it's what being a company is all about, but I don't think companies should keep *pretending* they didn't know it would happen, and then feign surprise. I find that quite insulting.It's still a good (neh great) addon though.
Dougal: just noticed what you said here, and wish you had more respect. You speak of VRS as if they are some kind of Aerosoft. They are not. They are two people that are slaving away to get this done. With profits of the FS9 bug being below expectations, be glad the guys survived to do the FSX version! I wish you'd read a bit about companies before judging. It'd save you from posting messages like this...

Benjamin van Soldt

Windows 10 64bit - i5-8600k @ 4.7GHz - ASRock Fatality K6 Z370 - EVGA GTX1070 SC 8GB VRAM - 16GB Corsair Vengeance LPX @ 3200MHz - Samsung 960 Evo SSD M.2 NVMe 500GB - 2x Samsung 860 Evo SSD 1TB (P3Dv4/5 drive) - Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM - Seasonic FocusPlus Gold 750W - Noctua DH-15S - Fractal Design Focus G (White) Case

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Dougal, my sim-outhouse login decided to stop working, so I'm replying to you here. We're still working on getting the new server fully functional, and currently e-mail isn't. Will post here when it is.EDIT: Mail now flowing. (In the interim, accounts have been activated manually)

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Oh come on now. This is absolutely no excuse (IMOof course :( ). It happens more and more with developers. It's all about keeping overheads to minimum, to maximise profits. I've no issue with that, it's what being a company is all about, but I don't think companies should keep *pretending* they didn't know it would happen, and then feign surprise. I find that quite insulting.It's still a good (neh great) addon though.
I honestly expected better from you Phil. I can guarantee you Jon and his team did not purposefully lack server capacity to "maximize profits." I suspect (and very much hope) that the interest in the FSX version was much higher than they anticipated. It's well known that they didn't sell very many copies of the FS9 version and lost money on making it.Having gone through exactly the type of server and support problems they are having in the past with PMDG, I can say with absolutely certainty that having these issues does not maximize anything other than frustration for both the developer and the customers. When our servers crashed badly during the 747 launch, we couldn't do anything - company email, sales, support, nada. That's called losing money, not gaining it. The demand so far outstripped what we'd seen in the past with the original NG that we just weren't prepared for it. Look at every product release since, it has never happened again for us. If what you said about profits is true, we should have server nightmares every time we release a new product now, we don't.

Ryan Maziarz
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For fastest support, please submit a ticket at http://support.precisionmanuals.com

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I purchased my copy of the addon (which by the way is absolutely incredible!) at bestbuy. It was 30 bucks. I had a couple problems mapping keys to my g940 and so I decided I'd go to the forum and ask some questions. What happened next?I couldnt start my own thread or reply to anything on the forum. I emailed the admin and asked why I couldn't post questions. All I got in response was a link to a thread posted by himself. Nothing else. This thread stated that only people who buy the addon directly from them at full price ($44.99) would be able to get full support from vrs. Other owners of the program, like myself, are restricted to only VIEW the forums. Here is their reason for this: By selling our product to the big "brick and mortar" stores, we only make $5 a copy and cannot afford to pay someone to resolve issues by owners who paid $15 less for the program. I replied to his email telling him that their policy was completely ridiculous and I'd be sure to let everyone know about their sub-par customer service. He never replied. As I told him, amazing product, horrible customer service. Does this mean I regret buying it? No. But that just means any problems I have, I have to rely on other people outside the forum for help.I purchased my copy of the addon (which by the way is absolutely incredible!) at bestbuy. It was 30 bucks. I had a couple problems mapping keys to my g940 and so I decided I'd go to the forum and ask some questions. What happened next?I couldnt start my own thread or reply to anything on the forum. I emailed the admin and asked why I couldn't post questions. All I got in response was a link to a thread posted by himself. Nothing else. This thread stated that only people who buy the addon directly from them at full price ($44.99) would be able to get full support from vrs. Other owners of the program, like myself, are restricted to only VIEW the forums. Here is their reason for this: By selling our product to the big "brick and mortar" stores, we only make $5 a copy and cannot afford to pay someone to resolve issues by owners who paid $15 less for the program. I replied to his email telling him that their policy was completely ridiculous and I'd be sure to let everyone know about their sub-par customer service. He never replied. As I told him, amazing product, horrible customer service. Does this mean I regret buying it? No. But that just means any problems I have, I have to rely on other people outside the forum for help.

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Private Support Forums are created to offer legitimate customers a place to get support. They also offer the developer and publisher a quantifiable measure of comfort knowing that only legitimate customers are being cared for.Level-D Simulations and Flight1 have adopted this model to maximize support efficiency. If pirates want support, head over to bittorrent and have at it.This is a business, and products need some protection. We hide nothing in our forums: if users want to ask general questions about any products they are free to do so in the general forum. If the question involves support, then these questions are not answered until the poster registered.I think this is a win/win for both parties. A measure of comfort for customers who know their posts will be answered expeditiously and fairly by the support team, and a measure of comfort for the publisher, developer and support team that all support efforts are being offered to legitimate customers.Love it or loathe it, more developers will follow this model.


The SUPPORT FORUM for Level-D Simulations products: http://www.leveldsim.com/forums

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