One last thing....real life airlines on default aircraft instead of some stupid airlines such as Orbit, Pacific et al that don't even exist in the real world.

You mean 'Pacifica', which was the fictional FS airline, there actually is a genuine Pacific Airlines, and there is a genuine Orbit Airlines too. Pacific, also known as Jetstar Pacific is (or was) based in Vietnam, Orbit Airlines were based in Turkey.Al

You mean 'Pacifica', which was the fictional FS airline, there actually is a genuine Pacific Airlines, and there is a genuine Orbit Airlines too. Pacific, also known as Jetstar Pacific is (or was) based in Vietnam, Orbit Airlines were based in Turkey.Al

I mean, purely named Pacifica, without additional names such as Jetstar. Yeah, I typed too quickly when posting this. The Orbit Airlines entity based in Istanbul is named as "Orbit Express", and we don't have that kind of name on MSFS. Just purely "Orbit Airlines".

I guess that's because of copyright issues. Because MS is a big company, selling a product for quite some money to quite some people, they probably would have had to pay those airlines for the right to use the names and liveries. And so, they simply didn't.

Why? I think it needs to be more restrictive. The piracy of software is at an all-time high.

Then I won't buy it (I've already boycotted a lot of software because of DRM). I hate restrictive DRM (especially Internet activations and on-line requirements) - it limits and can even stop the flow of knowledge and can be used by the big software developers simply to increase profits by limited activations, unlocking features, removal of freeware or 3rd party add-ons, etc... Also makes life awkward for me to use the software, and I do not purchase software that is awkward to use or down-right unusable. I simply will not use it under those conditions and will find a way to live without it.While piracy can be a threat to small software developers, I hardly consider it a threat to the simulators themselves such as FSX, FS9, Xplane, Lock-On, Il-2 etc...... Piracy has not brought down a single simulator ever, it can cause problems for payware add-ons but not really significant ones for the simulator itself. Most of us will buy the simulator - if its any good and reasonably priced, the people who would pirate it are fewer in comparison and a lot of them would not have ever been clients as they would not have purchased the simulator in the first place. If the simulator is rubbish and expensive then no-one will buy it and its unlikely anyone will pirate it to any significant levels.However compare that to expensive add-ons for the simulator (in the case of FSX and FS9) and sadly the story is different, mostly because of the level of sales involved - it is a lot lower than for the simulator itself. Realistic add-ons can be considered as a type of expert product - not everyone who buys the simulator itself will purchase the add-on so sales are a lot lower and any piracy would be damaging to some extent. Also it appears while some members of the FS community will purchase the simulator they may pirate some add-ons, especially if they are expensive. The only viable solutions, for me, is to either lower prices (this is the most effective way to fight piracy - buy sadly is not aways possible due to development costs) or an alternative similar to what UK2000 Scenery has done - once the product is purchased you need a unique activation code (unique for each download/CD) to be able to use it (or unlock all the features, stop demo mode, etc...) - this can be sent through e-mail or communicated through telephone from the manufacturer/distributor once the client has registered and is confirmed as a paying customer.Highly restrictive DRM is not the answer as then you are losing legitimate clients like me. Developers will have to accept that it is impossible to completely stop piracy. At least not without loosing a significant number of legitimate clients due to use of highly restrictive DRM - that would be an even bigger problem than piracy for them. FS software is not a 'need', its a luxury good, too much DRM and most people will simply not buy it.Forget 'heavy' DRM. The best way to fight software piracy is: -Not treating your customers like criminals or potential criminals. -Giving them reasons to buy (i.e. a good quality usable software product). -Providing extra reasons to pay (i.e. 'support us so that we can make more' attitude and statements; product support; updates; etc...). -Pricing the software reasonably.Also let's not forget that use of DRM is an expense for developers. I would rather they spend their resources on making their software the best it can possibly be.

But it would be even higher without it.

How can you be sure? There is no valid evidence to prove that conclusively (only estimates, followed by estimates that it wouldn't be significantly higher without it), its just a viable-sounding theory; and it does not take into account the levels of lost sales from potential legitimate clients who are refusing to buy because of the DRM - that does not mean they will pirate it, they simply (like me) will not use it at all. Also it does not take into account that a lot of the software pirates will never have been viable customers as they never would have purchased the software, so those individuals can not possibly be classed as 'lost income' (because software is intangible, if it was a tangible product in the traditional sense then it is a different matter entirely).

One last thing....real life airlines on default aircraft instead of some stupid airlines such as Orbit, Pacific et al that don't even exist in the real world.

I guess that's because of copyright issues. Because MS is a big company, selling a product for quite some money to quite some people, they probably would have had to pay those airlines for the right to use the names and liveries. And so, they simply didn't.

That's right, its just a needless expense for them. I'd rather they focus their resources on providing a realistic flight simulator than chasing copyright permissions from airlines for using their liveries. Anyway its not much of an issue - look at how it has been resolved in FS9 and FSX - through thousands of add-ons and repaints (payware and freeware) from the FS community. In my opinion its actually the add-ons that have made FSX and FS9 (as well as previous MS flighsim incarnations) so successful.

If you want more restrictive DRM look at this:http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=160783

HAHI bought SH5 as an Avid lover of SH3+Grey wolves and SH4+Trigger Maru Overhauled.SH5 is total crap in comparison, I get CTD's every time, almost guaranteed. And the Login? Mix it together and it's the biggest piece of Rubbish ever. =[ Sadly. (Because I love Silent hunter almost as much as I love FS) It's not even the fact the others are modded. SH5 is just entirely unplayable. Horrible waste of 50 dollars, Truely.

HAHI bought SH5 as an Avid lover of SH3+Grey wolves and SH4+Trigger Maru Overhauled.SH5 is total crap in comparison, I get CTD's every time, almost guaranteed. And the Login? Mix it together and it's the biggest piece of Rubbish ever. =[ Sadly. (Because I love Silent hunter almost as much as I love FS) It's not even the fact the others are modded. SH5 is just entirely unplayable. Horrible waste of 50 dollars, Truely.

I personally use SHIII with GWX myself. I never picked up IV, and I was going to wait until V until I saw this new DRM they put on it. My internet (full on cable) is too unreliable for playing with those kinds of restrictions.

Here's a recommendation for number four, The fleetboats are a lot of fun. :)

I personally use SHIII with GWX myself. I never picked up IV, and I was going to wait until V until I saw this new DRM they put on it. My internet (full on cable) is too unreliable for playing with those kinds of restrictions.

I guess that's because of copyright issues. Because MS is a big company, selling a product for quite some money to quite some people, they probably would have had to pay those airlines for the right to use the names and liveries. And so, they simply didn't.

FYI, if the product that uses their trademarks is payware, that would have been an obligation. Not sure of how Wilco managed to slop Garuda Indonesia liveries on their 737PIC package, though. Did they PAY for the trademark's usage?