Happy New Year X-planers and other flight simmers.My New Year’s resolution is not to keep winding up the self appointed FSX Police : and let’s face it we all know who they are. It’s fun but in the end we are ALL the lesser for it.Two thoughts for the moderators:1) “Comparisons are Odious” particularly in this forum. Why not make it an absolute rule (you do wield absolute power) that NO posts are allowed where comparisons with other flight simulators are made. So no allowing FSX police to rush in proclaiming how so much better FSX FS9 etc are than X-plane AND IT CUTS BOTH WAYS no allowing X-plane ######(girls) to proclaim how so much better X-plane is than FSX etc. Draconian yes but maybe, just maybe we can move the discussion back to x-plane (warts and all).2) Set up a FAQ for newbies / interested bystanders to help reduce repetition. One of the many things that irritated me about x-plane9 were the huge nav strobe lights. It was only later that I discovered a small download that corrected it. I know it’s a trivial example but it’s just an example. Over to you GEOFA. TIM

Happy New Year X-planers and other flight simmers.My New Year’s resolution is not to keep winding up the self appointed FSX Police : and let’s face it we all know who they are. It’s fun but in the end we are ALL the lesser for it.Two thoughts for the moderators:1) “Comparisons are Odious” particularly in this forum. Why not make it an absolute rule (you do wield absolute power) that NO posts are allowed where comparisons with other flight simulators are made. So no allowing FSX police to rush in proclaiming how so much better FSX FS9 etc are than X-plane AND IT CUTS BOTH WAYS no allowing X-plane ######(girls) to proclaim how so much better X-plane is than FSX etc. Draconian yes but maybe, just maybe we can move the discussion back to x-plane (warts and all).2) Set up a FAQ for newbies / interested bystanders to help reduce repetition. One of the many things that irritated me about x-plane9 were the huge nav strobe lights. It was only later that I discovered a small download that corrected it. I know it’s a trivial example but it’s just an example.Over to you GEOFA.TIM

Point one doesn't make sense .... flight sim comparisons are a perfectly solid topic at a flight sim site in a flight sim forum.Point two is a strong idea .. but the moderator doesn't have to make this FAQ. Anyone can make it, and if its good the moderators can pin it.Aside: we all will be counting the number of days until you break your resolution :( .

Anything that would put a Damper on the negativity that's been overshadowing the forum I'm in favor of.Happy New Year! :(

I hate to say it, but comparisons about certain points is necessary for any consumer to decide what is better for them. Saying the clouds are superiors in XP10 to FSX, but the flight models are more stable without tweaking in FSX is a comparison that, while user-biased and subjective, is still a valid opinion and if many users share the same thoughts, can help someone to decide what is right for them. If they don't care about the default aircraft being unstable and are only looking to fly a few very well modeled aircraft in a realistic world, they will need to know what is different. Maybe for some, the cities in XP10 are so hideous, it is a deal breaker and for someone else, it doesn't look bad, not totally realistic, but not bad enough to kill the sim to them. Posting about what is different in a sim is always something you have to do in order to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses. The established standards in the sim world is a conglomerate of features.Best cloudsBest WaterBest Auto-Gen CitiesBest ATCBest Flight AI interaction....In a new sim, the sim should be looking to compare to any of the other titles that provide these features. For me:Best Clouds - XP10 - just looks stunning and not just the clouds, the fog and other subtle effects that you don't notice, but in other sims just strike you instantly as being wrong (the rain tunnel in FSX)Best Water - XP9/10. The dark, rippled look is very good for me. I rarely see blue water ANYWHERE except a DARK blue ocean.Best AutoGen cities - FSX for variety and closeness to reality for placement of buildings. XP10 has nice looking buildings that are placed in a sensible manner, but the variety and placement is very inaccurate.Best ATC - still FSX due to the simplicity of interface - scrolling a menu with a hardware cockpit and eliminating the mouse/keyboard is just a pita in XP9/10. I can assign a button to hit 1-10 to respond to ATC - still not sure about the actual interaction with ATC and realism of the ATC itself, I'm still undecided in that regard.Best AI Traffic - FSX just due to the way you can have HUNDREDS of aircraft with realistic liveries and callsigns all interacting with ATC over the sim radioAnything written by a user of a forum is ALWAYS their opinion. It may be based on fact or an interpretation of facts, but it is still an opinion none the less. Only when substantiated by many users does an opinion have ANY validity, and even then may have a group that agrees and a group that disagrees. This is always going to happen as we have the ability to choose and think for ourselves.

Tim,You just can't handle the truth just like in a famous movie.Maybe this can be made true at all forums and then we can close them all down.

@jskorna,Bet I know what your New Year's resolution is....