I wonder if this allmighty softwarehouse, coming up with enhanced versions of FS almost every 2 till 4 years, is aware of the different problems, tips and trics which are laid down in the various aviation forums all over the world.Would it not be a great gestion of Mr.Gate's company, to install a service-department, that follows the various remarks and questions about the release of a new FS-version in the various aviation forumsand opens a site on some wellknown aviation forums to give explanations and solutions for the most currently placed questions, remarks and complaints in those forums(?)This was just a thought crossing my mind while clicking through the enormous stock of AVSIM Forums-topics.Happy landings to all of you !Paddy

No, because then MSFS would cost hundreds of currency units, not tens.Or do you REALLY think Bill would do it for nothing?Allcott

There are lots of reasons why this will not happen. To name a couple:1. Within hours, the forum would deteriorate into Microsoft-bashing.2. What good would it do if most of their answers were, "Wait till next version." This would promote more of Reason 1.3. I believe that they would be inundated with kudos, complains, suggestions, and recommendations. They would be so overwhelmed that they would be unable to answer in a timely manner and this would lead to an increase in Reason 1.I have heard that they lurk in the bacground of existing forums and gather information without exposing themselves to childish rantings that have become so common nowadays. Some of the information that they gather no doubt appears in subsequent versions. R-

>There are lots of reasons why this will not happen. To name>a couple:>>1. Within hours, the forum would deteriorate into>Microsoft-bashing.>>2. What good would it do if most of their answers were, "Wait>till next version." This would promote more of Reason 1.>>3. I believe that they would be inundated with kudos,>complains, suggestions, and recommendations. They would be so>overwhelmed that they would be unable to answer in a timely>manner and this would lead to an increase in Reason 1.>>I have heard that they lurk in the bacground of existing>forums and gather information without exposing themselves to>childish rantings that have become so common nowadays. Some>of the information that they gather no doubt appears in>subsequent versions. >>R-This is 100% true. If you check out some other official computer gaming forums, most of them turn ugly rather quickly. Most official boards become very unruly and either become so heavily moderated that nothing useful gets discussed, or they go out of control where no useful discussions can take place over the noise. This is just the reality today on the Internet. It only takes a few bad apples...

I recently purchased LOMAC and visit the forum at Ubisoft.Although the forum can degenerate into a slanging match it is quite interesting and refreshing to see the input from the devs.This is possibly the total opposite of MS, but there again Eagle Dynamics are only a fraction of the size of MS so perhaps they have more reason than MS to care about their customers and product.

>I recently purchased LOMAC and visit the forum at Ubisoft.>>Although the forum can degenerate into a slanging match it is>quite interesting and refreshing to see the input from the>devs.I have also participated in game forums where the developers are active. Although things can occasionally get a bit muddled because of idiots, the overall experience and benefit to both the customers and the developers is often very positive.It's against Microsoft's policy to participate in the communities, but I think it would be great to see some level of discussion between the community and the developers. It very much feels like we are "on our own" to sort out all of the issues once a new version is released.Several companies also have community liasons who answer questions and relay messages back and forth between the gamers and the developers.Yes, it won't happen with Flight Simulator, but I think simply putting the preemptive blame on the community is short-sighted.

You're correct about Microsoft's policies. They won't let their employees speak on their behalf. Employees are not allowed to endorse products with their Microsoft credentials. I know this from experience from my company- MS sends many people to us for training, but we are not allowed to use testimonials from them. I fully believe they lurk in these forums, as the FS team is just a small subset of the games division, but they aren't allowed to speak officially about it. You can call MS for tech support, but like their other products it is pay-per-incident.I wish a few of them would just go "rogue" and give us some insight, but let's face it- us simmers don't exactly know how to keep our mouths shut, and the second we got some inside info the entire community would know about it. I think these guys value their jobs more than the fun of leaking out some inconsequential info like telling us the next version will feature scratch-and-sniff runway surfaces.

"the next version will feature scratch-and-sniff runway surfaces" What a great idea. I assume this only activates if you crash or land with gear not extended. David