Honestly guys, blame the consumer, not the producer. Producers tend to deliver what the masses will accept, it's how they make money. Unfortunately the masses are willing to accept crap for the most part.

Why is changing their business model "crap", in your eyes?

Skyrim looks absolutely huge when compared to Oblivion, and the other big RPG of this year: The Witcher 2, which requires 16GB. I think the key is compressed (or the lack of) high resolution textures.

Or even smarter techniques to create them, for example using procedural shaders and smart material. Look here for an example:http://www.allegorithmic.com/products/airIt's a product that can be integrated into any game engine, and create textures of any size in realtime, based on some parameters that takes just a few KB, allowing "compression" ratios of 99%! Current video cards are so powerful, that is now possible to create large worlds without using GB of data, as long as you don't use real-world photoscenery.

Cycle will be a lot quicker than that .. say new content per quarter.

Agreed. I probably did not state that clearly. If they follow a location-specific title approach, their cycle for new location titles could be every few months. This could facilitate a lot more Flight titles moved for Microsoft.

Why doesn't someone from the Microsoft Flight development team just make a quick post somewhere to say that the entire world will be covered in the initial release? It would stop all of this speculation in a heartbeat.

I wouldn't make an assumption based on just that. Have a look at the Elder Scrolls series:Oblivion: 4.6GB required HDD spaceSkyrim: 5.8GB required HDD spaceSkyrim looks absolutely huge when compared to Oblivion, and the other big RPG of this year: The Witcher 2, which requires 16GB. I think the key is compressed (or the lack of) high resolution textures.

Actually Skyrim is quite a bit smaller than Oblivion:Skyrim Tamriel Worldspace: 3808 x 3008 [ 119 x 94 TES4 size cells ] = 6.9km x 5.4km = 37.6 sq km = 14.5 sq milesOblivion Cyrodiil Worldspace: 4288 x 4128 [ 134 x 129 TES4 size cells ] = 7.7km x 7.4km = 57 sq km = 22 sq miles[source: http://forums.bethsoft.com/index.php?/topic/1264541-skyrimoblivionmorrowind-heightmap-comparison/page__hl__map]

Why doesn't someone from the Microsoft Flight development team just make a quick post somewhere to say that the entire world will be covered in the initial release? It would stop all of this speculation in a heartbeat.

They won't make a statement like that until they are absolutely certain that the whole world will be covered. If they run into budget and/or time constraints, they might not be able to deliver all that they intended.

Honestly guys, blame the consumer, not the producer. Producers tend to deliver what the masses will accept, it's how they make money. Unfortunately the masses are willing to accept crap for the most part.

I would, pointing hardly to the conzole boyz who have fun without using the brain but I would be banned within minutes from the forum.Told that, FSX has sold gazillions copies among last 6 years so that is not a niche market and I would like to be free to arguing in a heavy manner also against Microsoft.We are innocent, only M$ and fool conzole kids are guilty, shame on them-

Actually Skyrim is quite a bit smaller than Oblivion:Skyrim Tamriel Worldspace: 3808 x 3008 [ 119 x 94 TES4 size cells ] = 6.9km x 5.4km = 37.6 sq km = 14.5 sq milesOblivion Cyrodiil Worldspace: 4288 x 4128 [ 134 x 129 TES4 size cells ] = 7.7km x 7.4km = 57 sq km = 22 sq miles[source: http://forums.bethso...n/page__hl__map]

@ Avantime.....and POW right in the kisser .....my kind of girl...

"I would, pointing hardly to the conzole boyz who have fun without using the brain"Bad example.

"I would, pointing hardly to the conzole boyz who have fun without using the brain"Bad example.

Nope, it is because of them we have now lost the simulators in favor of arcade games like Flight or similar.I apologize if you feel hurt or if you are a console owner, that is just my opinion and facts seem to support my thoughts.

My feelings aren't hurt. And I own a bunch of consoles. Your post made me laugh.Attacking people's intellectual capacity - and judging them to be inferior because they don't like in-depth flight simulators? And actually blaming them for the demise of "simulators?" What about X-Plane?I mean... REALLY?Funny stuff.

@ Avantime.....and POW right in the kisser .....my kind of girl...

But I wasn't trying to "POW" Avantime; just trying to clear up a misconception. And I hope that I didn't offend him or anything.Like any popular new game, Skyrim was full of a LOT of hype (and still is), and one of the biggest misconceptions is the size of the land mass.I'm a Girl Gamer, and my website covers every TES RPG since Morrowind (plus Bethesda's Fallout games). I also mod these games, so I'm pretty familiar with them.

Nope, it is because of them we have now lost the simulators in favor of arcade games like Flight or similar.I apologize if you feel hurt or if you are a console owner, that is just my opinion and facts seem to support my thoughts.

Yeah, non existent facts...MS Flight FAQ:

The new “Microsoft Flight” retains the full fidelity simulation longtime fans have come to expect

December 8th news update:

We don’t need to create an arcade game to welcome a wider audience.

In addition to the FAQ on this topic, we want to directly address the concern that by dropping the “Simulator” from the name, we’re dumbing down the experience. Quite the contrary! We’ve developed on the “simulation” aspect for many years and have no intention of losing that legacy.

Do you gave evidence/"facts" against information straight from Microsoft?

But I wasn't trying to "POW" Avantime; just trying to clear up a misconception. And I hope that I didn't offend him or anything.Like any popular new game, Skyrim was full of a LOT of hype (and still is), and one of the biggest misconceptions is the size of the land mass.I'm a Girl Gamer, and my website covers every TES RPG since Morrowind (plus Bethesda's Fallout games). I also mod these games, so I'm pretty familiar with them.

I was just kidding....nothing serious.

Do you gave evidence/"facts" against information straight from Microsoft?

Just wait, you maybe in for a surprise or two....