My Thoughts as Forum Moderator

[dogtrack 18]

You brighten my days Ron, you really do. :(

[kludger 7]

Echoing what others have said, I think it is working great Stephen.I still check the official forum occasionally for support, release announcements and the occasional peek at community screenshot forum with all the great shots customers come up with, but it is nice to have this forum here for good open Orbx discussion without having to worry about accidentally saying something you didn't know stepped over the Orbx TOS lines.Like the other unofficial vendor forums, I think it is natural that it gets quieter in times when there haven't been any new Orbx releases, or (thankfully) any more surprising/negative forum actions or official communications to discuss.I'm still looking forward to having Monroe, SW AK and Jackson Hole to discuss at some point, as well as the upcoming Starks Twin Oaks patch.

[St Mawgan 1,355]

It's true I simply never go to the official FTX/Orbx site or forums anymore as I can get everything I need in these pages. Apart from the edited forums and terrible attitude of the owner and many of the mods I got so sick of seeing the same old resident sycophants there that I would always leave thinking less of the product which is a shame as the product is of course very good. I don't need to come by here very often and I don't think it will ever be a busy forum but if I want a quick update then I know this is the only place I need to look at. Funnily enough though I'm not so excited by the prospect of new releases any more. In the last few months I'm come to feel happy with what I've got, especially as the last few Orbx sceneries I bought were a little disappointing. But for news of any updates and patches etc this is my one stop shop.

[Marith 2]

I would like to state my opinion which I am afraid probably won't be liked by a lot of people here. I therefore apologise in advance.Much as I am a person who advocates free speech I am disheartened by the posts in this sub-forum which criticize people (or a particular person) within Orbx. I fear that some posts and in particular a couple of threads in this sub-forum could turn people away from Orbx as a company.I absolutely love Orbx and their products, and if they were to shut down it would be a very dark and depressing day (Flight Simming-wise) for me indeed. I would hate to think that this sub-forum contributed to their demise.I understand that some have had issues recently and it is your right to not support the company by not purchasing their products if you so wish, but I think it also is time to move on from recent events.Because of what I have said above I do not enjoy this part of Avsim even though I think it's a good idea to have this sub-forum available within Avsim so I will cease coming to this particular area.Anyway, this is my honest opinion. This will probably be my last post here in this sub-forum, and I would appreciate it if the people here gave my thoughts some consideration even if you disagree with it and decide to carry on as before.Finishing on a positive note, apart from what I have mentioned above, I think you are doing great Stephen :(.Thanks, Martin

[Alan_A 1,650]

if all we talk about is Orbx, we will be done soon. And all the rest that made the Orbx forum nice is already covered in the other Avsim subforums...!

Agreed... except... I suspect that all of us have a particular affinity for low-and-slow... whether it's bush flying or just exploration. While it's true that Avsim has plenty of places to discuss aviation in general, I'm not sure there's a forum that exactly caters to our sensibility. Perhaps if we hang in here, we'll evolve naturally toward the kind of conversation that originally made the ORBX forums a nice community - that is, covering all things aviation, but with a slant toward ORBX-style flying. In other words, something social, that isn't strictly dedicated either to technical support or to pure information exchange. A bit of an Internet dating site, if you will... :(@Marith - good points, but I suspect that this forum will evolve away from that as the events in question recede over time. They're still relatively fresh and raw, though much less so than a month ago, and the tempo and focus on this forum seems to be calmer as a result, so I think there's reason to hope that we'll continue to move that way. Just between us, I might argue that any events "contribut[ing] to their demise" started with their actions, not our reactions... and that I doubt we have the power to put much of a dent in their sales - frankly, I continue to be a customer, though on a much more limited basis, and no one here questions the quality of their work - far from it. Again - I think you're right about tone, but I'm more optimistic about the way this forum is likely to develop.

[Tom Allensworth 1,532]

In other words, something social, that isn't strictly dedicated either to technical support or to pure information exchange. A bit of an Internet dating site, if you will...

I don't know what "Orbx" flying is (other than akin to bush flying for lack of a better analogy), but what ever it is, please remember that we are willing to assist in anyway we can (short of setting up an Internet "dating" service, that is).However, if I were to take a stab at what "Orbx" flying is, I would suggest that it is taking a bit of freshly minted, high resolution and detailed scenery, and exploring every square kilometer of it - sharing that experience with like minded simulation enthusiasts in a place (forum) you can call "home". I kind of think of it as being "Norm" and the home is "Cheers", if you catch my drift (okay, if you don't, it's where "everyone knows your name"). And when you walk through the front door, everyone yells out "Heh Norm!"

[Alan_A 1,650]

And when you walk through the front door, everyone yells out "Heh Norm!"

Nawhhhm!!!Tom, I think that's exactly it. It is bush flying, but it's about exploring the scenery and it's also colored by the emotional pull of the scenery - airports that become destinations, like Emma Field did, and before that the Georender airports. Very much a club or club-like thing... or at the very least an excellent bar!

[Ron Attwood 3,464]

I don't know about you lot but this sub forum feels like 'home' now. The trouble is that things I would want to post in here have to be posted elsewhere. As per the screenshots that were posted here a while ago. Not complaining, it's just the nature of the beast.BTW Bay Tower's RV7 is due for release on the 25th :(

[Paul J 349]

Yep - it's next to my FSX forum, and I split the day between the two, as you say - it's "home". Just put all those loverly RV shots into a "DropBox" folder on your desktop, Ronald! Ctrl-C, Ctrl-V, Rt-click on it, "Copy public link" - paste that into the forum post and "Boom" - it's there. Personally - if that were the way it was done on the forums - I'd see a heck of a lot more pics than I do right now. I never, ever go to any "screenshots" forum. Never. If you put a link on this forum - I'd click it.https://www.dropbox.com/

[Nyxx 6,993]

@Marith - good points, but I suspect that this forum will evolve away from that as the events in question recede over time. They're still relatively fresh and raw, though much less so than a month ago, and the tempo and focus on this forum seems to be calmer as a result, so I think there's reason to hope that we'll continue to move that way. Just between us, I might argue that any events "contribut[ing] to their demise" started with their actions, not our reactions... and that I doubt we have the power to put much of a dent in their sales - frankly, I continue to be a customer, though on a much more limited basis, and no one here questions the quality of their work - far from it. Again - I think you're right about tone, but I'm more optimistic about the way this forum is likely to develop.

+1

[Guest]

Well, this forum is a room in my home, so to speak... :( My bookmark leads to the View New Content page and I have that page setup to only show specific forums using the Filter by forum option (which btw is an AWESOME feature of this forum software which you all should check out!!!). So I only see new content for MS FSX, MS Flight, PMDG General, PMDG 737NGX and this Orbx forum (plus the Prepar3D and Aerofly forums, but I might as well remove them from my list). Those forums together are my 'home'. I haven't decided yet what's my living room or bedroom or toilet... I do like the idea of this Orbx forum being the low and slow forum, but I've got my hopes set on MS Flight when it comes to low and slow and I probably will only use FSX for the 737NGX in the future and hence be done completely with Orbx, so I think that this forum will only stay on my Filter by forum list to see what my old buddies are talking about... :(

Edited February 22, 2012 by J van E

[Nyxx 6,993]

Jeroen,I would like to think MS flight will take over at some point,But....I know your like your RV7 as that must be a great GA aircraft but when it comes to aircraft I fear Flight will be a big let down to people like us, why? watch there latest vid on there site called WEBISODE 7 and the very sad bit at 3:20.it's "NOT about the act of flying an air-plane" :(

[Alan_A 1,650]

I've got my hopes set on MS Flight when it comes to low and slow

Me too - eventually. For the moment, for me at least, there are two strikes: no helos (I'm a recent convert) and no TrackIR support.But if both are added at some point, I'm good.