Reminder about competing products...

[Levkov 8]

Well, I'm gonna play devil's advocate here. In a certain way, even if we are simmers first, we are also customers and we are not all rich. It seems reasonable that one wills to compare products to find the one which matches to what one can afford and what one wants.

In such a way, it may be tempting to talk about competing products in order to find evidence of which will be the best in a relative way for us. For instance: "that company proposes that option, will you propose the same?"...

 

However, and it is where I agree with this topic, often the debate becomes a trial about the products. Some put products in the dock more than they have a constructive discussion, and it is important to raise limits to what can be said or cannot.

 

So once again I fully agree with the message delivered by Ryan and Robert, but I also understand that some may be tempted to talk about other products and a reminder seems sensible to me.

 

Romain Roux

You have a point there, but bear in mind that this IS pmdg, so the word "compeeting" wouldn't be my first choice. Also, I agree that it is constructive to ask those questions, but most people do it in a "look at them, they better than you, why u no do that, do that or I will never buy anything from you again and curse you and your family and your cat" kind of way which makes admins lock those topics. Most discusion can even be acomplished without even mentioning specific companies.

[Chock 17,769]

Nobody is stopping anyone having such discussions on Avsim, that's what the Flight Simulator forums section is for if anyone wants to do that. Yes the PMDG support forum on Avsim has a 'general' section, but it is still a general section in the PMDG support forum.

 

Thus, even disregarding any arguments which might manifest themselves on threads of that nature, you can't really blame PMDG for not wanting people to come on what is their support forum spouting stuff such as: 'the new WonderSims FSX 737 has animated toilet roll holders in the aft toilet, when are you going to add them to yours?'

 

Al

[Mean Aerodynamic Chord 269]

Why in the world are you bowing down?

I think people misinterpret the "I'm not worthy" smiley. Forget the words, just look at the animation. Jordan was probably simply saying he completely agreed with Robert, and that he respects him.

[Paul Smith 0]

Ehh. I like both developers... regardless of who is who or what has what i'll purchase both.

I also think everyone needs to remember not everyone is PMDG so its unfair to push that standard on every developer out there, if that was the case alot of the simming community would be flying default planes for lack of understanding... There are the guys like me who read the manuals and watch tutorials and Just Planes to see how things work and then there are the guys who just like to press CTRL + E and engage GPS hold. There has to be a developer for them too cause there are alot of those pilots out there who don't want an indepth simulation such as PMDG's (I know it sounds crazy but they do exist) haha.

[Levkov 8]

Ehh. I like both developers... regardless of who is who or what has what i'll purchase both.

I also think everyone needs to remember not everyone is PMDG so its unfair to push that standard on every developer out there, if that was the case alot of the simming community would be flying default planes for lack of understanding... There are the guys like me who read the manuals and watch tutorials and Just Planes to see how things work and then there are the guys who just like to press CTRL + E and engage GPS hold. There has to be a developer for them too cause there are alot of those pilots out there who don't want an indepth simulation such as PMDG's (I know it sounds crazy but they do exist) haha.

All you said is true, but you don't seem to understand the essence of the problem: PMDG has nothing against other developers or their products. They just don't want discusions about them on their support forums. It is their back yard and they get to make the rules. Personally, I agree with you, competition is a good thing, it makes companies work harder and that leads to progress for all of us simmers. As for those simmers who want ctrl+e and GPS hold, I don't see what buisness they have over at pmdg forums

[TheGoat 0]

Only one 777 developer can give PMDG fits, and that is The Boeing company itself. Nevertheless, I am still going for the PMDG product.

[Danielsen 14]

Only one 777 developer can give PMDG fits, and that is The Boeing company itself. Nevertheless, I am still going for the PMDG product.

 

Ha!! You can´t afford a Boeing? Ohh well, gotta stick with the less good quality then? :LMAO:

[Guest]

I do not see the point in this thread.

 

Once you try PMDG products you will forget about every other FSX planes because the other ones miss the superb-high quality of PMDG and the other ones seem 10 years older in terms of overall fidelity and gorgeousness.

 

I also understand why Mr. Randazzo is happy about having competitors, yes because comparing a whatever third party plane to a PMDG one is like to compare a rusty old car to a Rolls Royce so the comparison would let one competitor only to brilliantly shine. B)

 

I propose to close this thread due to lack of consistency :o ^_^

[scandinavian13 5,192]

EPIC

[pete_auau 1,159]

I disagree with this whole heartedly. It has been my experience that the 'not ot be mentioned' competitor is at least offering redownloads of purchased products years after initial acquisition. PMDG, on the other hand, to show their dedicated love and support, no "strong support", requires their customers to pay to redownload purchased software.

 

What makes me want to decide between the two is indeed support and PMDG is not known for its' "strong support", period!

there is no need to buy the redownload purchase software if you have made back up copies of your products exes. So if you silly enough not to make back up of your downloads and your pc crashes than there only one person to blame. If you put in a support ticket you get a reply back within 24 hours so cant see that not being strong in support. Plus there have been instances where people have gotten their download link back again after putting in a support ticket in explaining their situation.

[nrcrate 40]

but their customer support is no good; shame really.

Haha, you're funny. PMDG has one of the best customer support I've seen for an FSX developer. Many times my support tickets get responded to within a few hours. They don't give canned responses, so I'm not sure where you got that notion from. Plus, they are very active on this forum with many people, whether customers or not. Every person that I have talked to who has sent a support ticket into PMDG have gotten it resolved.

 

The re-download service is no different than if you bought a boxed product and lost it. Actually, it is much better seeing how if you lost a boxed product and lost it, you would have to buy another one at full price. As Pete said, if you don't backup your installers in different locations, then it's your fault if you have to pay to use PMDG's bandwith to get them back.

 

Oh, and a heads up that you are required to post your full name on this forum or risk having your posts deleted.

[Ericd 4]

PMDG has a good "business" model and produces aircraft I want to simulate in FSX but their customer support is no good; shame really.

 

Hi Ebodee,

 

Well you can debate if you have to pay for a redownload or not. I can think of pro's and con's, but to say the whole customer support is no good, is not fair and simply not true.

After many years of using PMDG products I had to sent a ticket twice ( a few days ago).

Both were answered within 12 hours and helped me immediately.

I used to fly with an other 737 a few years ago and I can tell you that they gave bad support a whole new meaning..

(I'm still waiting for their navigation software by the way :P )

 

Regards,

 

Eric

[rsrandazzo 6,353]

Manny-

 

You are always welcome to voice your opinion here, but as always I reserve the right to point out when someone is ill-informed...

 

PMDG does not maintain a policy of charging for redownload service in order to promote a revenue stream. We sell products in order to have a revenue stream.

 

As stated at the time this policy was enacted nearly six years ago, we charge a modest fee as an incentive for customers to manage their own backups. Our customer base is absolutely enormous and having hundreds of customers relying upon us EACH DAY for backup service increases our operating costs- but more significantly it takes attention away from providing ACTUAL product support- something which you are openly critical of- in spite of the fact that you've never really used it.

 

So - since you have indicated that you are no longer a customer of ours, I will take it upon myself to remove you from this thread and this forum for advocating the distribution and use of illegal copies of our software.

 

Thank you for removing yourself from the process- now we can shift our focus back toward folks who appreciate the effort we put into supporting our customers and our products.

[Werner747 107]

Manny-

 

You are always welcome to voice your opinion here, but as always I reserve the right to point out when someone is ill-informed...

 

PMDG does not maintain a policy of charging for redownload service in order to promote a revenue stream. We sell products in order to have a revenue stream.

 

As stated at the time this policy was enacted nearly six years ago, we charge a modest fee as an incentive for customers to manage their own backups. Our customer base is absolutely enormous and having hundreds of customers relying upon us EACH DAY for backup service increases our operating costs- but more significantly it takes attention away from providing ACTUAL product support- something which you are openly critical of- in spite of the fact that you've never really used it.

 

So - since you have indicated that you are no longer a customer of ours, I will take it upon myself to remove you from this thread and this forum for advocating the distribution and use of illegal copies of our software.

 

Thank you for removing yourself from the process- now we can shift our focus back toward folks who appreciate the effort we put into supporting our customers and our products.

 

Well said!

 

Kind regards

[1FLIGHTSIMFANATIC 4]

There areother developers?I did not know this.