Interesting... I am GUESSING that micro-transactions will not characterize those for FLIGHT. :(

Well, is your GUESS higher or lower? Having seen the reams of paperwork MS was going to require for entree into what was going to be FSvNext (a la ACES style), if the entry requirements for the "Flight" sandbox is anything like that, I suspect few -if any- would be willing to jump through those hoops.

Well, the Lockheed and XP 10 guys must be happy.

X-Plane 10 users sure. Prepar3d is not a competitor with Flight though. The license restricts its use for educational, research, and government use. Its not a consumer application. The third party addons for Prepar3d might have a consumer audience, but that's going to be a pretty niche market that Microsoft can get away with overlooking. Microsoft wouldn't manufature a direct competitor by selling to Lockheed. The two applications are diverging on distinct paths.

How much money will Microsoft make by "selling" 15 million FREE copies of "Flight?"None at all. In fact, the way communicate displeasure and to force it to be an EPIC FAIL would be to encourage as many as possible to download the free package, but then just never buy into the micro-transactions... :(

Tons of people will download the game and not buy any addons. Microsoft is banking on the few that do buy addons to push their sales higher than if they sold the game as a fully packaged deal. Since the user base will be a lot larger than previous versions, only a fraction of the users will have to shell out for addons to make it profitable. This model already works spectacularly in other markets. How about the Google Android OS? Google gives it away to phone manufacturers. A booming app market followed. The difference here is that Microsoft isn't opening up to third parties. I think there would be huge potential for profits for third parties and Microsoft if they did.Some protesting from the relatively small flight simulator cult following isn't going to make much of a dent in this model.

Tom, sorry for the confidence I am giving you sir but, is there perhaps a chance that you somehow let MS know ( at CES ) which has been the community reaction to Flight ?Are MS really hoping to sell more than 7 copies of Flight addons ?Thx

X-Plane 10 users sure. Prepar3d is not a competitor with Flight though. The license restricts its use for educational, research, and government use. Its not a consumer application. The third party addons for Prepar3d might have a consumer audience, but that's going to be a pretty niche market that Microsoft can get away with overlooking. Microsoft wouldn't manufature a direct competitor by selling to Lockheed. The two applications are diverging on distinct paths.Tons of people will download the game and not buy any addons. Microsoft is banking on the few that do buy addons to push their sales higher than if they sold the game as a fully packaged deal. Since the user base will be a lot larger than previous versions, only a fraction of the users will have to shell out for addons to make it profitable. This model already works spectacularly in other markets. How about the Google Android OS? Google gives it away to phone manufacturers. A booming app market followed. The difference here is that Microsoft isn't opening up to third parties. I think there would be huge potential for profits for third parties and Microsoft if they did.Some protesting from the relatively small flight simulator cult following isn't going to make much of a dent in this model.

You mean the P3D licence that lets anyone be a 'developer' for $10 per month?

Good call. Microsoft is also not going to want to compete with themselves by offering a more appealing product that will draw customers away from Flight.

Really; I was in Staples just last weekend, and they are still selling FS2002....

is there perhaps a chance that you somehow let MS know ( at CES ) which has been the community reaction to Flight ?

There's two parts to my answer Mark. I am not going to be at CES and MS already knew far in advance how the "hard core" were going to react.

This model already works spectacularly in other markets. How about the Google Android OS? Google gives it away to phone manufacturers. A booming app market followed. The difference here is that Microsoft isn't opening up to third parties. I think there would be huge potential for profits for third parties and Microsoft if they did.

Skip, I suspect that MS will have to make some adjustments to their model if they discover as I suspect they will that few -if any- content developers are willing to work with them. They've already admitted that they cannot possibly do it all in-house!I'm in no great rush though. I'll just have to wait until MS decides to release their entry requirements for outside content developers...

Really; I was in Staples just last weekend, and they are still selling FS2002....

Probably just old stock that's been sitting there for years. Microsoft won't necessarily pull FSX from shelves, but they're also not going to sell new stock to retailers.

It's going to sell if only because Microsoft is sure to aggressively market it to casual users who don't know any better.

Proof will be in addon sales. Sure will be interresting if the young gamers will get hooked.

There's two parts to my answer Mark. I am not going to be at CES and MS already knew far in advance how the "hard core" were going to react.

You would have to be blind not to know how "they" would react. I just can't figure out the audience at this time, in my very limited opinion the only arcadish simulators that work involve surround sound, and lots of things blowing up... But I suppose you could always DLC the 50 cal.What are some of the 3rd party guys saying? Are they happy or indifferent? Is everyone standing around the water cooler saying, "well we better rethink our business model," or did they have a pretty good idea that Flight wasn't going to be their platform going forward?From the outside looking in, I am very concerned for the community as a whole.

Pissing off some hard core developers like this is going to be good in my opinion...They will make miracles with FSX now...Maybe then we can sell this enhanced-FSX back to M$ :)))))

Looking over at the FTX forum, it seems clear that they already knew that P3D was the path forward for them, along with continuing to support FSX.They removed the 'Flight' sub forum some time ago.

Guess I should add my 2cents of dissapointment at what MS has decided to do. Most shortcomings already mentioned but I will add no VATSIM/IVAO or similar online flying. They boast better performance coding which should have been the next release since FSX did not live up to expectations. I just do not see myself flying in rooms on one island and paying x$ each time for a piece of scenery or plane. Flight needs to be global and accesable from day one. Now I know why MS is not doing well under Balmer...he is nosediving the company. Wonder what Gates thinks of all this if he even knows.....I am also a VAR and have access to 140 copies of FSX gold if anyone wants to buy the lot :-)

Edited January 4, 201214 yr by Bray

Well, the Lockheed and XP 10 guys must be happy.

Lockheed isnt in the business of selling simulators to the consumer market, they are infact specifically prohibited to do so according to their licensing agreement with Microsoft in regards to ESP / Prepar3d

Lockheed isnt in the business of selling simulators to the consumer market, they are infact specifically prohibited to do so according to their licensing agreement with Microsoft in regards to ESP / Prepar3d

This could become ugly real fast.