But then again it could have been planned like this from the beginning for whatever reason...

I'm pretty sure it was. They did the same thing with the Age of Empires franchise when they canned Ensemble Studios and later released a "free to play, pay if you want anything half decent" version (along with endless promises that they weren't abandoning their hardcore fanbase, which, of course, were bald faced lies), so there's a precedent here. My guess is that they will only need a small percentage of users to buy add-ons to turn a profit.

It says that you can fly on Hawaii in the free version. However, the official fact sheet said, that you can only fly on the big island, and not to the other Hawaii islands. Rumors state that you will run out of fuel if you leave the big island. Probably you will have to pay for the rest of Hawaii to!

I think I read somewhere that the rest of the islands will be DLC for $. However, I would not be surprised if it ended up being free, by way of purchasing it with $ found in the sky and using it to introduce the player to how to buy add-ons.

Edited January 4, 201214 yr by Attila

However, the official fact sheet said, that you can only fly on the big island, and not to the other Hawaii islands.

Seriously? So you don't even get the whole island chain? This is even more fail-worthy than I originally thought.

I think it would be a waste of my time and hard drive space to download Flight as it is now presented. Clearly MS is targeting some other market segment that I'm not a part of. They have taken a niche product and tried to make it appeal to an entirely different and bigger demographic. They would have done better with some kind of space fantasy thing that might actually have mass appeal. There is no way I am going to download this product and start buying scenery packs in the vague hope that someday it might have a realistic airliner of the kind third party developers have made for FSX and FS9.

Seriously? So you don't even get the whole island chain? This is even more fail-worthy than I originally thought.

Yeah, seriously! You only get the Big Island.

Edited January 4, 201214 yr by xxJohnxx

Straight from the horse's mouth:"After downloading Microsoft Flight for free, players can jump into hours of exciting gameplay on the Big Island of Hawaii."http://www.microsoft.com/games/flight/#press-takes_to_skies

Mate:A lot of things in life are free, but it doesn't mean that I will take part in it...nor are they worth taking part in. There is not even an opportunity to view the glass as half full because they only gave us a piece of the glass in the first place and it don't hold water!!!!The final insult it to pretend that they care anything about the current install base of the Flight Simulator product. Please by all means raise your had if you begged Microsoft for geocaches and floating coins. Anyone? Anyone? Oh, well maybe I missed the poll that insisted that Microsoft release the next title with only the big Island of Hawaii for free. Can someone point me to that poll? Oh wait, then it must be where we all felt that REAL WORLD WEATHER was too bothersome so we asked them to get rid of it. Certainly thousands of people have been begging, nay - demanding, the Icon A5? Oh yes, and the way that pesky global scenery caused by the ability to fly non-stop anywhere in the world was taking up too much hard drive space was a real concern. I, for one, demand that my flight simulator be able to fit on a thumb drive.And you can be "optimistic" all you want. If it took more THAN A YEAR to develop Hawaii, how long is it going to take to develop, say, Washington State or Georgia? How about the United Kingdom or Australia? It took MORE THAN A YEAR to develop a Stearman and a bloody Icon A5, so how long until that new B777-200 with full avionics will allow us to circle Waikiki Beach at 450 knots? SO how is this going to work? Next summer we get to circle the Seattle Sky Needle when we get bored of circling the Keck Telescope? Maybe by 2015 we get to have a detailed rendition of a Yak hunting lodge in Outer Mongolia? Sorry mate. If FSX was the Windows Vista of the gaming world then Flight is the Microsoft BOB of the gaming world. What's next, is Microsoft going to put a talking flight bag to help us along like they did with the stupid talking paperclip in Microsoft Word? I don't know what they give you guys to smoke when you sign on at Microsoft but judging by the string of FAIL that Microsoft has been experiencing lately, I suggest that they change the supplier. Good thing Microsoft has nothing to do with NASCAR, I can see it now. "So, yeah, we put lawnmower engines in all the race cars to attract more viewers who felt the cars were going around the track too fast. For our existing race car drivers who don't like this, they can buy better engine parts from us if they want to go faster."Microsoft. Where people who get rejected by Apple go to finish their careers.

Edited January 4, 201214 yr by Mike T

Im noticing a lot of knee jerk reaction. FULLY understandable! But its going to be free, so at least give it a try. Some quotes from this artical.http://flyawaysimula...rosoft-studios/"The team behind Microsoft Flight^® consists of roughly 50 people, including a mix of professional pilots, 40% of which worked on the previous team.""The team has put a great deal of effort into getting the game to run smoothly at it’s highest settings, while not requiring out of this world hardware. But also, getting it to still look good on it’s lowest settings, accommodating those end users with lower-end hardware and even those running the Windows XP operating system.""However, the game also features full game pad and joystick support, with complete access to key bindings and control configuration, for those who want to make it as close to the real thing as possible.""The game is built on an improved legacy engine, for large scale scenery support. The base is still a globe, it’s just that there is not enough geography yet. But they would rather launch now and not have everything than wait and let the product age. This also helps keep the download size down""The aircraft models are stunningly detailed and are authentically modeled with new modular systems for both aerodynamics and physical systems. Stalls and spins, including snap rolls, are tunable per aircraft. There are also tunable ground dynamics for tires and water operations, fuselage drag for proper slips and prop-wash over control surfaces for more precise aerobatics and ground handling."For those big iron pilots, there is still FSX and XP10 if you can find your way though the UI, but it seems like a nice sim for ppl who like to fly low and slow.

I am a big iron guy that flies on vatsim for every flight.. looks like i will be skipping this one

What's next, is Microsoft going to put a talking flight bag to help us along like they did with the stupid talking paperclip in Microsoft Word?

It looks like you're trying to fly a plane.Would you like help?* Get help with flying a plane.* Show me the nearest floating coin.* Visit the Flight Shop.

It looks like you're trying to fly a plane.Would you like help?* Get help with flying a plane.* Show me the nearest floating coin.* Visit the Flight Shop.

:( :( :( B)

lol Picturing that is pretty amusing, especially since i know there's a good chance it would happen.

Edited January 4, 201214 yr by tgenius

Seriously, is anyone excited about this failure on microsoft's part. I have not seen one thread of people excited about this thing. Nobody is saying, "oh I just can't wait to take my first flight. I think I will take that flight in the Icon and fly out of a small airfield in Hawaii to find coins in the sky." ms actually put together a game for children. It is almost shameful to be discussing this kid-oriented game on Avsim. We might as well be discussing a dance game for the Kinnect or Pokemon. And I agree with Mike very much. It took ms this long to put this together. How long would it take them to put something together for a serious simmer. Never. I think they will actually lose money on this one.No wonder people are moving to Apple devices and the Apple ecosystem in such large numbers. They produce what actually want.ms is just pathetic on this attempt.

Mate:A lot of things in life are free, but it doesn't mean that I will take part in it...

I will only put the beginning of your quote here, but your whole post eloquently states my feelings about Microsoft Flight!

Can you say New Coke?Colin