PMDG forum

[FLEX1978 373]

Late night rant but it has to be said... What's happened to the PMDG forums? While PMDG have gone from strength to strength the level of posts has rapidly declined.

 

I know this is a general forum but I can remember when this used  to be a place where I could actually come and learn. Those who know  pprune hopefully can relate, apart from the  tech log that whole place is a mess due to wannabe airline pilots, simmers and people that generally want to talk garbage just to be heard.

 

While age plays a key factor I am hesitant to say it is just the young guys that are changing things around here. I know of a lot of smart young guys (and girls) that can teach the older ones a thing or two.

 

I only started spending time here again after the announcement of the 777 but have realised nearly all of the old engineers, pilots and ground crew that contributed so much value and  information are long gone. 

 

Part of of what was great about PMDG was not only the products but the depth of the forums, always such a great resource and often better then actual aviation forums.

 

So what's going on now? Is it really as simple as they have attracted a mass crowd? 

[EGLL77W 1,508]

I've only been around here a couple of months before the 777 got announced. I feel like this Forum there is a lot of stupidness when it comes to some questions etc and a few people lacking manors to people who don't really know how the forum works and where to exactly find information etc. I think it'd be a lot nicer if everyone just learned to get on, someone asks something ridiculous just ignore it or at least speak to them politely because at the end of the day we all love PMDG and Aviation. Learn to help each other out rather then having a go. The only thing I really understand people getting annoyed at is asking PMDG for the next Project etc when they just announced their latest ones.

[MartinBeauchemin 0]

I couldn't agree more. This forum is a mess! There's a lot of laziness as well. I mean there's been how many topics made in the last week asking what's next? Or this is what PMDG should make etc. I too came here to learn and help others out if possible but I'm being drawn away from here because every post is the same! C'mon people! I'm 15 years old just to let you know! BTW can PMDG make a CRJ series? Just kidding. Seriously though... This forum should be used for what it was originally meant for.

[SKEWR 365]

The query "What Happened to <XXX>" can be applied to many things in life. Much like the RW, things change, people move on. I've been around form a few years and I agree, to an extent of what you have posted.

 

When I see posts for Jack C, Ronan, Spin737, poster with 550 in his name (sorry I forgot it), I know that I can learn something. Heck even posters I do not know as well can contribute to my knowledge of unfamiliar aircraft. (Like the post on here about transferring Hyd fluid from system A to B and vice versa).

 

I think what you are seeing are newer simmers and/or people who don't have the time (or inclination) to "RTFM".

 

I think new simmers have joined the board, because some of the basic FSX functions (Sound volume, addon installation, not knowing what the ident morse code is when a key pressed by mistake) show relative inexperience.Theses simmers may have RW experience (probably not), but they don't know how to work the sim and "clog it up" with posts. You can also see the relative newness (or laziness) of posters when they bring up the dead horse topics. Over and over and over again instead of searching.

 

I think we also have those that want to learn the plane through the forum. I don't mean anything as esoteric as the HGS system, but basic answers, often found in the first pages of the tutorial. Maybe the people who aren't reading the manual don't have the time, don't want to read through a long PDF (or buy the manuals) or even pirates. Whomever they are, their posts also creat clogging of the forum.

 

On AVSIM, on almost all forums, I've seen people be combative for no reason. Whether the beacon is flashing too fast, or the cockpit is too big, or the N1 is too high on approach phase, whatever - the people that act like the "Comic Book Guy" from the Simpsons are alive and well. They have a "snarky" comment for everything. The problem is that when there is a real need of help, sometimes this type of poster will start a flame war and bury the original post in nonsense.

 

I think its a testament to PMDG's following that there are so many speculation threads. There hasn't been any new, official information for a few weeks, and yet someone is always posting or replying. The combined PMDG forums also seem to carry the heaviest traffic most of the time. When the 777 info and pictures were released, how many forum goers were in here? Compare that to some of the other dead forums on AVSIM.

 

There are still great posters in this forum and on AVSIM. When I see Ronan or Chock or Spin has posted something, I wanna read. Now, you have to sort through several "Will PMDG make <XXX> plane?" or "<Insert basic function> is a bug" or "I installed the NGX and it erased my PC" threads...

 

I till enjoy the forum for reading, but I hope you can find your enjoyment in a forum changed from what you remember...

[Jon 4]

think what you are seeing are newer simmers and/or people who don't have the time (or inclination) to "RTFM".

 

I think new simmers have joined the board, because some of the basic FSX functions (Sound volume, addon installation, not knowing what the ident morse code is when a key pressed by mistake) show relative inexperience.Theses simmers may have RW experience (probably not), but they don't know how to work the sim and "clog it up" with posts. You can also see the relative newness (or laziness) of posters when they bring up the dead horse topics. Over and over and over again instead of searching.

 

I think we also have those that want to learn the plane through the forum. I don't mean anything as esoteric as the HGS system, but basic answers, often found in the first pages of the tutorial. Maybe the people who aren't reading the manual don't have the time, don't want to read through a long PDF (or buy the manuals) or even pirates. Whomever they are, their posts also creat clogging of the forum.

 

On AVSIM, on almost all forums, I've seen people be combative for no reason. Whether the beacon is flashing too fast, or the cockpit is too big, or the N1 is too high on approach phase, whatever - the people that act like the "Comic Book Guy" from the Simpsons are alive and well. They have a "snarky" comment for everything. The problem is that when there is a real need of help, sometimes this type of poster will start a flame war and bury the original post in nonsense.

 

I think its a testament to PMDG's following that there are so many speculation threads. There hasn't been any new, official information for a few weeks, and yet someone is always posting or replying. The combined PMDG forums also seem to carry the heaviest traffic most of the time. When the 777 info and pictures were released, how many forum goers were in here? Compare that to some of the other dead forums on AVSIM.

 

I would have to defend the "stupid questions" people, as one op-ed poster over at another site called it. While their posts might be redundant and clog the forum, I'd rather see at least some portion of them become educated and continue to purchase PMDG products to help at least replace those exiting the market or even help the market grow. I don't think being rude or dismissive of these posts helps anyone in the long run.

 

Those who criticize add-ons for not being quite close enough to the real deal are admittedly not really contributing anything, at least in this forum, so I won't defend these posts. Nor would I defend the fact that it isn't just one big Airbus thread anymore, but more than one going on simultaneously and sometimes within unrelated threads. Speculation is fine an all, but I wish it were narrowed down to a few fewer threads.

 

Just my two cents.

[Ashatsea 7]

This fall off is normal when the weather starts getting nice people start getting away from there keyboards it will even out in the fall.......or not!

[PHXMD-11 86]

This fall off is normal when the weather starts getting nice people start getting away from there keyboards it will even out in the fall.......or not!

 

If you live in Phoenix or the bottom half of Arizona, you'll be back in front of the keyboard in a few weeks. After 95 comes 105+. Am I the only one that lives here?

[Tabs 2,790]

If you live in Phoenix or the bottom half of Arizona, you'll be back in front of the keyboard in a few weeks. After 95 comes 105+. Am I the only one that lives here?

 

Lived there for many years myself. Despite the heat, summer was my favorite time of year because of the monsoon storms, love those.

 

Guys,

 

This is normal as any organization becomes bigger and more popular (I've seen it happen at band/music forums too after the band gets big) - the NGX has hugely outsold any product we'd made up until now and we've definitely had an influx of new people here. Not all of them are going to be the seasoned "pro" simmers you guys seem to want to limit the community to.

 

In the defense of those new people, this is a "General" forum - there's a reason we don't limit it to only support questions or whatever. I really don't think we want to get into censoring forum posts that aren't "good enough" according to someone's idea of what that is. Bottom line I think - if you don't like a thread, don't read it or post in it.

[SpeedbirdA320FO 27]

It is as everyone says, the market grows, that's the point, right? A short while ago I watched while DCS A10 went on sale on steam at a good price, now being the simulator that it is, the community prior to that sale was a mixture of highly experienced simmers and experts on the A10, the forums were awash with the ins and outs of mid air refueling and other technical stuff far beyond "stupid questions" as they're called.

 

Just before the sale went live one of the team posted a sticky basically saying to expect a huge influx of new people, new to DCS and flight sim in general, even new to an aircraft! There was no elitist "your post is stupid bevause whatever blah blah" it was a hugely warm welcome to those who came over! Why? Because they're helping the community grow and keep the hobby thriving! It was great to see and be a part of!

 

Not saying anyone here is elitist in particular, but we need to welcome those guys into the forum and help them get up to speed!

 

DCS did well out of it, they generated sales!

[c402_cvs 0]

And every second poster is a wannabe moderator who thinks they need to do the mods work for them. For pete's sake, show me ONE thread where at some point it has not decayed into a 'sign your post' and 'why should I' flamewar. It's annoying as hell! Leave the mods to do their work and concentrate on the topic at hand!!

 

FRED

[VS0 23]

Late night rant but it has to be said... What's happened to the PMDG forums? While PMDG have gone from strength to strength the level of posts has rapidly declined.

 

I know this is a general forum but I can remember when this used to be a place where I could actually come and learn. Those who know pprune hopefully can relate, apart from the tech log that whole place is a mess due to wannabe airline pilots, simmers and people that generally want to talk garbage just to be heard.

 

While age plays a key factor I am hesitant to say it is just the young guys that are changing things around here. I know of a lot of smart young guys (and girls) that can teach the older ones a thing or two.

 

I only started spending time here again after the announcement of the 777 but have realised nearly all of the old engineers, pilots and ground crew that contributed so much value and information are long gone.

 

Part of of what was great about PMDG was not only the products but the depth of the forums, always such a great resource and often better then actual aviation forums.

 

So what's going on now? Is it really as simple as they have attracted a mass crowd?

 

I see where you are coming from although there are a few points I don't fully agree with. I have been a member at Avsim for 5 years now (I think) and up until about 2 months ago I had not had a single problem with anybody however in the last couple of months I've had nearly 3 "disagreements" on these forums and to be honest I am not sure why. You could consider me a younger member although 5 years ago I was obviously a lot younger and dumber but had absolutely no problems with any other members on the forums. I am not sure whether its newer younger members posting "stupid" things or older more experienced members growing more and more impatient with "stupid" posts. For me perhaps it is that as I have gotten older I have learnt to speak my mind a bit more which has subsequently caused conflicts with other members who have a different opinion on certain subjects than I do.

 

Rich

[Sekstifire 10]

Lived there for many years myself. Despite the heat, summer was my favorite time of year because of the monsoon storms, love those.

 

Guys,

 

This is normal as any organization becomes bigger and more popular (I've seen it happen at band/music forums too after the band gets big) - the NGX has hugely outsold any product we'd made up until now and we've definitely had an influx of new people here. Not all of them are going to be the seasoned "pro" simmers you guys seem to want to limit the community to.

 

In the defense of those new people, this is a "General" forum - there's a reason we don't limit it to only support questions or whatever. I really don't think we want to get into censoring forum posts that aren't "good enough" according to someone's idea of what that is. Bottom line I think - if you don't like a thread, don't read it or post in it.

I dont think that the problem is people with low experience posting. The problem is more the very hostile environment that for some reason have developed. Inexperienced posters is fine IMO

[cosnowboarder_777 11]

If you live in Phoenix or the bottom half of Arizona, you'll be back in front of the keyboard in a few weeks. After 95 comes 105+. Am I the only one that lives here?

 

I live here as well, Gilbert to be exact, being from CO, I don't do to well here in the summer lol so I tend to travel a lot in the summer.

[pete_auau 1,176]

And every second poster is a wannabe moderator who thinks they need to do the mods work for them. For pete's sake, show me ONE thread where at some point it has not decayed into a 'sign your post' and 'why should I' flamewar. It's annoying as hell! Leave the mods to do their work and concentrate on the topic at hand!!

 

FRED

yea well if they follow the forum rules then there wouldnt be any wannabe mods, than why have the rules than if people dont follow them.

[c402_cvs 0]

yea well if they follow the forum rules then there wouldnt be any wannabe mods, than why have the rules than if people dont follow them.

 

It's not your job to enforce the rules, period!! It sidetracks almost every thread on this forum. If the mods do their job and everyone else keep to the topic this place would be much friendlier but as it is now, finding information is sifting through tons of irrrelevant crap, mostly about people not signing their name.

 

I would go as far as saying to scrap this stupid rule anyway, I would guess more than 50% do not even use their real names anyhow!! If they want support from the devs they need to log a ticket, it's THAT easy!!

 

FRED