FWIW, this thread was never meant to be an attack on PMDG. I own all of their products and have found their customer service to be great as well. If it was taken as an "attack", than my apologies as that was certainly not my intention. P.S. Ryan (from PMDG), I saw your post and appreciate the heads up. I had no idea SWA even had an -800 in their future plans.

Not everyone will be happy on this, the reverse argument can be made for those that prefer the -800 over the -700. When the released the first the base pack was 600/700, followed by the 800/900. So they reversed it...I think if what I've seen so far about the PMDG NGX, it will be quite the simulation. I think it will be well worth it to purchase all variants as they are released. VRTodd

FWIW, this thread was never meant to be an attack on PMDG. I own all of their products and have found their customer service to be great as well. If it was taken as an "attack", than my apologies as that was certainly not my intention. P.S. Ryan (from PMDG), I saw your post and appreciate the heads up. I had no idea SWA even had an -800 in their future plans.

lol, why are you apologizing? Worried about getting on the bad side of the developer?

lol, why are you apologizing? Worried about getting on the bad side of the developer?

Why would I care about getting on the bad side of a developer? I'm the customer. However, being part of a community means being respectful, and that involves making sure your posts/threads/etc. are not taken incorrectly.

This has been a interesting thread Has system specs been released by any chance please

I think I read somewhere that SWA 737 pilots are required to have a 737 type rating in order to qualify for an interview. Anybody know if there is any truth to that?

It is true. I guess it's technically possible for you to get an interview without a 737 type...I've heard of people getting one, but you need to have one before you get a job offer...or training date. I can't remember which. That being said, with as many high time pilots as there are on the streets, you will definitely need a type rating, and a ton of hours, to even get a call back. What's kind of funny about the whole 'you need a 737 type to be hired at SWA" mantra, is they are the only company I know of where it's acceptable to pay for training. Every other deal and you will have people downright calling you scabs. SWA is a leading company though, for both pay and work rules, and so it's not 'bringing down the industry' like Gulfstream is. Personally, I think PFT is wrong no matter what the company. I will never pay to work. Ever.Sorry I got a little bitter at the end, there...

FFS, stick a South West livery on an 800 then and be done with it. I really dont get all this complaining...."I only fly airline x" I dont own a Cessna 172 either but I have one painted with my own registration on Flight Sim. Isnt that the point? Either buy the 600/700 exapnsion or dont, the choice is yours. Knowing PMDG there will be some added functionality when they do release the 600/700 expansion anyway.

If people are willing to pay a premium for realism, why would they stick a SWA livery on a 738? Thats not realism, thats fantasy

If people are willing to pay a premium for realism, why would they stick a SWA livery on a 738? Thats not realism, thats fantasy

http://atwonline.com/aircraft-engines-components/news/swa-order-20-firm-boeing-737-800-aims-serve-hawaii-1215

I hate to break it to you but Flight Simulator IS fantasy! If realism means that much to you then fly an airline that uses the 800-900 or (as stated) wait for the 600/700 expansion and PAY the asking price. Bottom line, if you dont like PMDG's business choices then too bad, dont buy it!

...Bottom line, if you dont like PMDG's business choices then too bad, dont buy it!

I'm sure that PMDG would appreciate feedback, surely it makes it a lot easier to make the best possible decision in the future if they have gotten feedback from their customers? I was just thinking that it might have been an idea to provide two base packages, one with the 600//700 and another one with the 800/900. That way people wouldnt have to pay extra to get their particular airframe. As for me, none of my VA's flies the 700, they only fly the 800. Its not a problem for me personally

I'm sure that PMDG would appreciate feedback, surely it makes it a lot easier to make the best possible decision in the future if they have gotten feedback from their customers? I was just thinking that it might have been an idea to provide two base packages, one with the 600//700 and another one with the 800/900. That way people wouldnt have to pay extra to get their particular airframe. As for me, none of my VA's flies the 700, they only fly the 800. Its not a problem for me personally

If they did that the people who want a 700 and 800 (or a 600 and 900) would have to buy both packages, which would likely end up costing the same amount as buying the 800/900 base package and adding the 600/700 as they are planning to offer now, or perhaps even more.

Folks....pmdg priced this aircraft just right. As a matter of fact, i was expecting a higher price. If you cannot afford it now, do what the rest of us do.....save money and buy it later.

If people are willing to pay a premium for realism, why would they stick a SWA livery on a 738? Thats not realism, thats fantasy

You do know that you are not truly flying and that no real people board your FSX plane .... just tyring to be helpful.

I'm sure that PMDG would appreciate feedback, surely it makes it a lot easier to make the best possible decision in the future if they have gotten feedback from their customers? I was just thinking that it might have been an idea to provide two base packages, one with the 600//700 and another one with the 800/900. That way people wouldnt have to pay extra to get their particular airframe. As for me, none of my VA's flies the 700, they only fly the 800. Its not a problem for me personally

But the 600/700 is not even ready for release yet. Would you prefer they delay the 800/900 to accommodate? From what I saw on the pricing page, eventually there will be a 600/700/800/900 combo pack. Price 'TBD'

Just to recap...and by no intent I am attacking PMDG here.Remember the cheap Dot matrix printers - the price of the cartridge eventually outweighs any perceived "savings" made from the initial purchase.. by a long way..you feel suckeredThen we have Movies release 1 2 3 and in some cases 4 of a similar theme - ;Hollywood hoping if you liked the first you will go back to see 2 3 and maybe 4 - whatever, creativity, originality has gone out the window in order to squeeze every last dollar.Then we have PC games that you realize don't have any real depth until you buy them and start playing and suddenly some months later along comes DLC which adds to the experience and makes the game what have should been in the first place. (Or should have been a free patch for the hurried release). We rely on Reviewers to set our expectations so we can skip some of this stuff - but then what happens when the Reviewers become part of the hype - swept up by shallow or false enthusiasm, etc. Then your choices base on recommendations starts to become blurred. You can't always rely on reviews to get a value product. ( I am referring here to non- reviews done by NICK to show a select number of other people, just how detailed this product is - that somehow became available on the WWW. And Nick, I am not accusing you here), Some one had to release these calculating they would be good for sales. They are not reviews, they are clearly raves about the quality of the product. This is by all accounts a brilliant pre-launch hype vehicle). My point is (finally) that PMDG is no different from most of the other suppliers out there. It is looking for a way to get better payback off the perceived or real time it has taken to create the product. By breaking down the purchase choices it stands to get a better return.Why limit your option to just the whole package at this price, when you can get back more money if you split the packages at these prices.PMDG are of course not the first and not the only ones trying this out. You can rant or rave about this all you want but it is not going to change anything. PMDG will probably produce a fantastic model that will fully justify the base price but will leave a number of buyers feeling a little soured because when they bought their earlier products they got everything at this one price. As has been stated earlier iFly offer a full range for the one price which is lower than the base price for the PMDG product. Is the PMDG model going to be better ? Well, when you look at the total bundle price it is over twice as much - so, time will tell. Based on the quality of their previous work, I suspect it may be a no contest - but then I am not a reviewer and only PMDG will have the real feedback to know if the finance modelling for this product really has worked. I for one will wait for a quality review from a reviewer I can trust before deciding to buy this - even if it does mean I might pay a little bit more for the base package. (which seems by the way, like another pre-sales tactic to promote an initial burst of buying - but then I am not salivating at the chain.) The main reason I will be hanging back is FPS. Yes, frames per second. I am not sure I want to a guinea pig on my platform only to find out that performance is in the pits because my i5 overclocked to 3.3ghz and Nvidia 460 1gb video card, cannot really run this well with PNW loaded (for example). All this rush, rush rush to buy hype must be a god send to companies promoting a new product. I have plenty of payware planes in my hanger that I must admit getting a little hyped over in the past - and there they sit still. Sure I take them out occasionally and enjoy them - but I have found that after the first week or two my enthusiasm wanes considerably - not because they are not good, but because I have used them, experienced them, and needed a new fix...