Jim, call me naive, but I really believe that people at MS could be reading our posts if the forum was less about bashing a few screenshots and full of constructive/realizable suggestions. Moreover, even for the casual gamers, texture products are often the first product to be considered since they improve the whole sim dramatically.As a commercial dev, if it is not under NDA, could you tell us about the way the ACES team used to share ideas with the 3rd party devs ? Were you (or other company) involved in the FSX SDK specifications ? This is slightly off topic and yet very interesting.

MS could be, but probably not, and not due to the attitude of some. See, with FSX anyone that was participating was doing so on their own time and putting in their own efforts in blogs and posts and things. It was not part of their job responsibilities.Sorry, but because my NDA is still under effect I cannot share anything about your other questions. I am free to say that I was under the NDA, for all the lawyer want to bees that are going to ask about that statement. Not you Sam, but for others here!

I don't think this is 100% true either. Sure Microsoft are targeting the wider audiance, and they will have a development path, strategy, vision - call it what you like for Flight which has been written in stone for months if not years but they would want to be seen to listening to these forums and taking on some of the lesser points which could well make there way into the development schedule. Of course we'll not know exactly how much influance we can exert, but there is definately some scope to influance and wish lists are definately not a waste of time... Cheers,Dave.

After experiencing the process, I am sure that my post is 100% true! People are free to disagree!!

Whether that's worthwhile only Microsoft can judge. The expenditure on SDKs etc is real and quantifable: the earnings from them isn't. I've known companies in other fields who've decided to stop spending on "marketing" activities because they could seethe costs but not the profits. Think of Formula 1 racing; Jaguar/ Ford, Honda, BMW, Toyota all thought it was worthwhile but then decided otherwise.

Yeah I agree that the SDK/3PD system is sort of a kin to advertising.As you say, the costs are visible but the benefits are harder to quantify…they are very real though.The SDK may seem of little importance for a potential casual user with no interest whatsoever in add-ons.But it is what allows FS to keep a high profile with your peers and in new media...long after it ought to have been forgotten.

The target market for EVERY version of FS known to man has been the casual GAMER.

Well I 100% agree with this :) It's always been like that.It is a broad net though...there's room for our market segment too :(

But it is what allows FS to keep a high profile with peers and in new media...long after it ought to have been forgotten.

But how much cash in the bank does it generate?

But how much cash in the bank does it generate?

I'm tempted to say all of it :( ...so I don't think we're going to see eye to eye on this :( Peer to peer buzz is a massive asset…without it you're not "#Winning" :( It's why a single Facebook account is valued around $100 right now.The buzz around FS is generated, in a large part, by its add-ons.It's why there's all this debris on the internet about MSFS.Or why MSFS is a topic discussed in a pilot's lounge.And why a would be aviation buff gets a third hand testimonial. > "Have you heard of flight simulator?"

We probably won't agree. I've seen a number of companies who supported intangibles like these on the basis they good for the company and somehow made money. There's a change of senior management who think differently and stop them. No one noticed any difference. At the end of the day, it's cash in the bank that pays em[ployees, suppliers, etc and keeps the company going

We probably won't agree. I've seen a number of companies who supported intangibles like these on the basis they good for the company and somehow made money. There's a change of senior management who think differently and stop them. No one noticed any difference. At the end of the day, it's cash in the bank that pays em[ployees, suppliers, etc and keeps the company going

I've seen companies who got rid of these intangibles and thought that it didn't make a difference. Sometime down the road they found out that it did make a difference but now it was too late and subsequently they went out of business!Regards, Mike Mann