FS addons. They are EXPENSIVE. Some of the airplanes and scenery I've been seeing are from $40-400.Personally, I think that's ridiculous. In my opinion, it's a rip off, and most people will pirate it anyways.Unless you produce a NGX level product; making sceneries won't get you a decent profit unless you do one of two things.It's extremely cheapIt's extremely good.orCompanies pay to get their product to the top.It's the only product of it's type.70% of companies in exception of BIG companies like PMDG, CS, or ORBX don't get publicity, or a decent profit for their products; and usually get pirated within a day.That's why I think the new era of FS addons is to start offering quality addons for free.So, you may be thinking, how in the world will they get their profit?Well, it's actually quite simple.Take Project Airbus for example. Their thriving! They get HUGE publicity for their addons, and therefore get donations from everywhere keeping it going.Project Opensky is another hugely successful one.So, how does it work? When a great freeware addon is produced, notice how it is naturally at the top, and it's what everyone is talking about? Yes, freeware addons get by far, WAY more publicity than payware, and, you don't have to pay a cent. (In exception of addons like NGX, and ORBX)Piracy is not needed, so all that traffic that would be going for piracy, is now flowing into your download and donate button.Having a popular freeware addon website is hugely profitable, according to cubestat.com, projectopensky.com gets $200 a day worth of ad revenue. Not including donations.Comparing to FlyTampa, who gets about $2 a day.Searching on the internet, when looking for a great airbus addon? Who's comes up first? Project Airbus, or CLS? You got it, Project Airbus.Just a ponder in my thought for all the people out there thinking the same way I do.Tell me what you think! I would like to know!

Edited January 3, 201214 yr by Brittney

You should start your own company with this business model and then let us know how it works out for you.

You should start your own company with this business model and then let us know how it works out for you.

Do I smell a hint of sarcasm? If I knew the skills to, I would! :(

Many of the companies you mentioned above do give away freebies. ORBX give away an amazing collection of free airports. You make a point but it's very difficult.I used to think differently but then I started making my own little tools & addons. It takes a LOT of time and hard work. I'm not sure many people realise how much goes into it. When you look at how much time, effort and expertise goes into these addons, they are frankly the bargain of the century. Any of the ORBX airports are worth more than what they charge, as is anything made by PMDG.I've started on my own freeware projects that ended up taking so much time, I considered making it payware, but then it just isn't good enough to charge for, so the whole thing kind of dies. It's very difficult, and I must applause all the developers out there. I hear you from a marketing point of view, but your claim that addons are expensive, and a rippoff - I'm afraid I could not disagree with you more. It's such a fantastic bargain. We pay very little for what we get.

I don't think FlyTampa is making any money through ads and donations... if they were... they wouldn't be here...

Many of the companies you mentioned above do give away freebies. ORBX give away an amazing collection of free airports. You make a point but it's very difficult.I used to think differently but then I started making my own little tools & addons. It takes a LOT of time and hard work. I'm not sure many people realise how much goes into it. When you look at how much time, effort and expertise goes into these addons, they are frankly the bargain of the century. Any of the ORBX airports are worth more than what they charge, as is anything made by PMDG.I've started on my own freeware projects that ended up taking so much time, I considered making it payware, but then it just isn't good enough to charge for, so the whole thing kind of dies. It's very difficult, and I must applause all the developers out there. I hear you from a marketing point of view, but your claim that addons are expensive, and a rippoff - I'm afraid I could not disagree with you more. It's such a fantastic bargain. We pay very little for what we get.

Good post. I cant imagine the man hours and resources that went into the PMDG NGX. I honestly would have paid twice what they charge for it.

Except a few, I wouldn't say FS addons are a rip off. Granted, some cost a lot of money, but that doesn't mean it's not worth it. As stated above, development time can be very very long and in the end someone has to pay for that. I agree that there appears to be a link between price and level of piracy, and maybe developers should be considering that more than they do now. But I fear making money with FS addons is already so difficult, that most developers get nervous by the idea of lowering prices.In the end high quality will get you enough paying customers. I think companies like Aerosoft, PMDG, FSDT and FlyTampa have proven that.

The way I see it, people who pirate stuff aren't going to buy it anyway. Would be great if there was a way to stop it but in a slightly sick way, it may even be seen as free marketing. You've got people raving about something who would otherwise not have had it. Awful, I know, but not entirely inaccurate.But you also get such an amazing level of support with some of these big name addons, I honestly don't know how people who pirate this stuff ever get it working properly and to its full potential. In my mind, a pirated copy is also a "watered down" copy. You aren't getting even half the experience you get with your very own copy.There are some ripoffs but you need to do some research before buying. Anyone who buys an Abacus aircraft obviously hasn't bothered to spend any time reading about it. We live in a world where people buy CARS without researching them, which I find astonishing, so I guess there's always a bit of money to be made for poor addons too, but as far as I'm concerned, getting stuck with a ripoff is your own fault. There's more than enough information out there (and mostly right here) to make an informed purchase.Maybe the "problem" is that there are so many addons. We all want it all and that's impossible. In the old days you could have the complete set but now you need to think of it differently. No art collector owns every piece of art in the world, and that's almost how big the choice has become. This is a good thing :) Besides, there just isn't enough time for all of them anyway.

Interesting topic. The problem is that the market has too many entry points, for users at different levels. Some addons are for really inexperienced users. Others like myself demand real world, realistic addons. The programs out there meet these needs.However just like life the more accurate you need it to be the more it will cost. Don't begrudge the lower end stuff. We all stepped through loads of crappy products from well known cos. And that's why we come to avsim, to wade through the BS.

it's a rip off, and most people will pirate it anyways.

Not true unless you know some statistics I don't.Business is business and there have always and will always be thieves. It is calculated.

Edited January 3, 201214 yr by Rafal

Yes, freeware addons get by far, WAY more publicity than payware, and, you don't have to pay a cent. (In exception of addons like NGX, and ORBX)

Eh? Freeware gets all the publicity, except for high quality payware which gets all the publicity??In recent years, I've not come across anywhere near the same amount of fuss and excitement about a freeware product compared with the increasing number of high quality payware addons now available. Maybe I don't frequent the right forums or whatever, but freeware just doesn't even enter my consciousness anymore. That wasn't always the case though, and I take my hat off to those people who support the FS community so admirably in this way. And of all those payware addons that come to mind, I can't think of ONE that can be regarded as a rip-off.Like anything in this world, quality generally does cost money.Ian

Edited January 3, 201214 yr by oldbear

FS addons. They are EXPENSIVE. Some of the airplanes and scenery I've been seeing are from $40-400.Personally, I think that's ridiculous. In my opinion, it's a rip off,

Price out what it costs to hit a little white ball around for a few hours and then come back here. Hobbies cost money. Then you have another option: don't buy them.

I just googled "msfs citation x"... nothing freeware showed up.

FS addons. They are EXPENSIVE. Some of the airplanes and scenery I've been seeing are from $40-400.Personally, I think that's ridiculous. In my opinion, it's a rip off, and most people will pirate it anyways.Unless you produce a NGX level product; making sceneries won't get you a decent profit unless you do one of two things.It's extremely cheapIt's extremely good.orCompanies pay to get their product to the top.It's the only product of it's type.70% of companies in exception of BIG companies like PMDG, CS, or ORBX don't get publicity, or a decent profit for their products; and usually get pirated within a day.That's why I think the new era of FS addons is to start offering quality addons for free.So, you may be thinking, how in the world will they get their profit?Well, it's actually quite simple.Take Project Airbus for example. Their thriving! They get HUGE publicity for their addons, and therefore get donations from everywhere keeping it going.Project Opensky is another hugely successful one.So, how does it work? When a great freeware addon is produced, notice how it is naturally at the top, and it's what everyone is talking about? Yes, freeware addons get by far, WAY more publicity than payware, and, you don't have to pay a cent. (In exception of addons like NGX, and ORBX)Piracy is not needed, so all that traffic that would be going for piracy, is now flowing into your download and donate button.Having a popular freeware addon website is hugely profitable, according to cubestat.com, projectopensky.com gets $200 a day worth of ad revenue. Not including donations.Comparing to FlyTampa, who gets about $2 a day.Searching on the internet, when looking for a great airbus addon? Who's comes up first? Project Airbus, or CLS? You got it, Project Airbus.Just a ponder in my thought for all the people out there thinking the same way I do.Tell me what you think! I would like to know!

Several things... first, your statistics are completely off the wall; no figures have been published by any add-on company regarding units and profit or donations. Second, the "thriving" Project OpenSky has disbanded. Third, many of the folks that used to produce freeware have gone into payware because they simply couldn't afford the hours invested in a decent product without some payback - thus neatly shooting your argument in the foot. Now you know what I think.On the other hand, there are quality add-ons that are free - all you have to do is look for them.DJ

Just a quick question for the "newbie" thread starter..Why does this smell like OWS? :(