How long will the servers stay up?

[Dillon 2,197]

This is the main killer of the hosted revolution. Having your experience totally in control of a third party. When the project or company goes belly up there goes your investment. I'm happy we have FS9 and for many FSX because what you have on your hard drive you can enjoy anytime for as long as you like well into the future. This was a big damning feature of Flight in how Joshua wanted to control us in every way. Now that his shortsightedness and mistakes have come home to roost we all pay the price should MS decide to shut down the servers as there's no revenue to be had (or they figure out a way to charge us everytime we load the sim). I actually really like Flight but I don't fully have control of it to use it as long as I like dispit it's discontinued status. We are all on borrowed time at this point with our money down the drain at some point. I wonder how long the servers will be up before the next set of shenanigans and excuses crop up from Microsoft. Joshua was one really foolish lead developer and in so many ways screwed those of us really trying to give this effort a shot...

[Kengi 0]

You honestly expect Microsoft Games for Windows Live, which supports the entire Xbox franchise, will shut down because Microsoft stopped developing one of their games?

 

It turns out that Microsoft has others games. I suspect the GFWL servers will still have work to do.

[Zeus67 15]

You honestly expect Microsoft Games for Windows Live, which supports the entire Xbox franchise, will shut down because Microsoft stopped developing one of their games?

 

It turns out that Microsoft has others games. I suspect the GFWL servers will still have work to do.

 

Only the MS Flight servers. Which they will when they believe it is too much of a bother to keep them up. They have done that with some game franchises when they fell below some user quota. After all it is an expense that is not creating a revenue.

[ak416 0]

Only the MS Flight servers. Which they will when they believe it is too much of a bother to keep them up. They have done that with some game franchises when they fell below some user quota. After all it is an expense that is not creating a revenue.

Yep, we still have to connect to a server to verify our DLC and to get aerocaches etc.

[JeremyWM 6]

Just because the Windows Live servers are going strong, has little to do with whether or not someone will be able to load up Flight to enjoy the DLC that they purchased in the future. MS Flight is not a game which lives on your hard drive and simply has an online component through Windows Live. It is part of the new "cloud computing" revolution, for good or ill. The game itself requires that it be played online, meaning there has to be servers somewhere to connect to and which also means there must be employees to manage those servers.

 

Flight is now a dead platform. Now that the project has been cancelled, there will be little to no product support. Microsoft won't continue to spend money keeping Flight going forever either. My guess is that Flight will continue to limp along with a skeleton crew administering daily operations for a time and then eventually will simply shut-down the project completely and focus their resources on other projects. Just like games such as Star Wars Galaxies, when the servers go dark, the game and whatever money you've invested in the product will vaporize and blow away.

[Kengi 0]

No.

 

Flight does not require servers to be online to play. That's just a lie. It exists on your hard drive. It is not an MMOG, like Galaxies was. It's distributed online. The aerocaches are online, but not the game.

[Azone 39]

Flight can be played off line..NO INTERNET CONNECTION.

 

I think some people posting in this thread have NEVER downloaded Flight DLC

[Kengi 0]

OK, it seems there are some people here who have no experience with online distribution. Let me explain some of the aspects.

 

The only time you will need access to Microsoft servers is when you install the game. This is first to get the installation files and second to activate your purchase. The only time there is a problem with such a setup is when the company goes out of business. Even then, I have never lost a game in such a situation despite having several such experiences.

 

Here's what happens.

 

Before the company shuts it's doors, it disables the online activation requirement in the installation. It then arranges with a hosting company to serve those new installation files for a period of between 1-2 years. You then download a copy of those installation files, make a backup, and then you are responsible for keeping them safe. Kind of like keeping the DVD's safe on traditional game distributions.

 

Now, that would only occur when Microsoft goes out of business. I don't think you need to worry about that any time in the next decade or two.

 

I have, in the past, lost several games due to misplaced or damaged disks. I have never once lost a game since I embraced online distribution.

[JeremyWM 6]

There's really no reason for such inflammatory language to get your point across. Perhaps I'm wrong about how Flight is set up, however I'm not intentionally "lying" as you say. This is how a simple online discussion devolves into flame bitting and bickering because of people such as you who can't have decent conversation about something without spiting insults or accusations.

 

So the game itself is downloaded and installed on your hard drive. Fine. The online component of the game is an integral and necessary part of the product however. Without new content being created and robust customer support from Microsoft, which was already suspect at best when they actually had a dedicated team of people working on Flight, people will grow weary of the same stale content and quickly begin to leave the game. Newcomers will be few to non-existent and MS Flight will become a ghost town which withers and dies away. So perhaps you will still be able to sign on and play, but why the hell would you want to?

[Kengi 0]

...bickering because of people such as you...

 

And your post is the apex of thoughtfulness and kindness. And still wrong.

[Gibbage 199]

Its true that you can run Flight in an "offline" mode, its crippled. Also you do need to verify you own your DLC from MS's servers every now and then.

[Zeus67 15]

I think the question was for how long the servers will stay up? Not whether Flight can be run off-line. If it can, good for you. If it doesn't then too bad. I don't know since I've never run Flight off-line.

[Kengi 0]

Its true that you can run Flight in an "offline" mode, its crippled. Also you do need to verify you own your DLC from MS's servers every now and then.

 

The multiplay certainly wouldn't work (obviously), and the aerocaches are served from the net, but what else doesn't work in offline mode that you would call the game "crippled"?

 

Do you have a link which states that the DLC needs to be verified periodically? I've never heard of such a thing and doubt that's the case. I does look for new DLC's which you may have purchased upon startup, but once installed I don't believe it ever needs to check again for activation.

[ak416 0]

Flight can be played off line..NO INTERNET CONNECTION.

 

I think some people posting in this thread have NEVER downloaded Flight DLC

I think YOU just don't know what you're talking about, so don't talk to people as if they have no idea what they are talking about when you, yourself, are the one who is wrong.

[Kengi 0]

Flight can be played offline. No internet connection. I've done it.