http://www.fsgenesis...-the-situation/'

 

Seems bad, I have most of Fsgenesis product and always been happy with them... Thankfully I have backup from most of my mesh files, downloading rest now.

I received the same email and checked out Justin's blog. I have the Galaxy membership so there's not much left to do. I hope he can hang on. He's been a big part of this hobby for a long time.

Hope so too! I've been using his products since he started, and I'm also Galaxy.

yeah, Galaxy here too. Just bought the new europe stuff, so nothing else to buy. There's no support required really for his products so if anyone is thinking of getting some mesh now might be the time. Hopefully it will be enough to keep one of the founding fathers in the game...

As an FSGenesis Galaxy member myself, it's disappointing to see.

 

While it is indeed disappointing, it's not horribly unexpected - we've been receiving the utility shutoff emails from FSGenesis for what feels like years now. This many years after FSX and FS2004's release, I can't help but imagine that the opportunities for new sales are dwindling. From the simulator's age, and already satisfied existing customer base, and a plethora of free alternatives which might satisfy the remaining non-customers, it is a tough business to be in today.

Seriously, I think Justin made a serious mistake by offering a Galaxy Membership. It's like killing his own business.

 

I am really sad about seeing him go, but I see no other way - it is probably going to happen. The economy that he did was a wrong one on the long run.

Unfortunately, if you make a product, and you have 100 customers, when those 100 customers have bought that product, that's it, your potential for further sales is gone. Every businessman and woman knows that a business is only as good as its potential for another sale, and so one either diversifies, or keeps making new stuff, or the business fails. MS demonstrated this when they made the switch to wanting a piece of the after market pie with Flight, since once someone had bought FSX, that was it for their revenue chain, the revenue ceased. I have had to do this myself, learning new things and new skills in order to keep on getting work.

 

There is money to be made in FS add-ons, but the reality is that you don't see companies such as PMDG, Aerosoft, Just Flight, Captain Sim etc resting on their laurels and continuing to rely on their back catalogue; they keep moving and keep making new stuff, and if a company doesn't do that, then there is really only one place the blame lies. I know it sounds harsh to say that, but it is the truth, for if it was not, we would have seen the same announcement from all those other developers too.

 

Al

I'd like to buy their products, but can they guarantee the download?

As long as you act quickly, and the server remains online, yes...

I think what adds to the circumstances mentioned in Alan's post is the fact that the FSX market is 'stuck' since FSX came out. The normal dev cycle wasn't renewed with a FSXI or something, which may have established the need for at least some redone mesh data (format change or slightly higher resolution).

 

I've bought my mesh stuff a while back and filled some gaps with freeware. So even with me being a potential customer on all sorts of addons, that mesh chapter was closed. Even the folks switching to Prepar3D don't need anything new, technically. The X-Plane guys may do though.

 

So while a scenery dev (area or airports) or one for planes can easily (figure of speech) add something new to keep the wheel spinning, the sheer focus on mesh may be a bit tricky with the 'old' FSX market. FSGlobal tries to revive a bit if their customer base with new and enhanced titles, but I even refused to grab that upgrade since I couldn't see the point in it for good ol' FSX.

 

However, it's sad to see the FSgenesis folks struggling.

Folks, we are communicating with Justin about ways we can help him out. I am not sure there is much we can do for him at this point.

As CoolP says, jumping onto developing for X-Plane may be the way to go for FS Genesis. The tools are all there in it already, and its user base is growing. One only had to be at that Avsim/Digital Theme Park Town Hall Meeting the other week to see which way the wind was blowing. And if anything has the scope for a lot of scenery needing to be made for it, then it is X-Plane.

 

Al

Seriously, I think Justin made a serious mistake by offering a Galaxy Membership. It's like killing his own business.

 

I am really sad about seeing him go, but I see no other way - it is probably going to happen. The economy that he did was a wrong one on the long run.

 

I have to agree, this was a nice gesture but a horrible business strategy....think lifetime memberships at the gym and the video store back in the 80's. It would have been much better to offer deeply discounted upgrades to existing customers and have these discounts tiered to reward the most loyal customers.

 

I also think FSGenesis has been undone in part by the length of time that FSX has been on the market. The reality is if you are like me you purchased your mesh (I got the FSX package for NA, Europe and rest of the world) and then you move on. I don't really think about upgrading mesh anymore and focus on aircraft and airports. I think most of the other simmers are in the same boat.

This has been happening for years now - I remember getting a desperate email three or four years ago saying pretty much the same thing and I remember thinking then that if your family is suffering because you are trying to rely on a very small niche market to make a living then you should really pack it in and get a job.

 

Now I read this, 'utility shutoff notices loom, vehicle repo coming soon, child support check bounced, and have been eating by selling off personal items around the house' and my attitude is the same - go out and get a job then. Who would possibly imagine that you could get a proper income for life out of selling a very limited addon for a game for goodness sake. The best scenery makers like Orbx have been including much better mesh as standard with their products since they started so the writing has been on the wall for a very long time and I'm amazed to see that FSGenesis are still living under the illusion that thousands of customers are going to suddenly appear again from nowhere. I have no patience for them anymore - it's gone way past wake up and smell the coffee time and now just comes across as begging.

Agree St Mawgan he is praying on people's emotions and it won't work we all have had hard times but work if it's that bad that's how 90% of the general population survive.