The totals so far: (only products that were mentioned 2x or more are listed, because the entire list of products with single mentions is rather...long *Note* Also keep in mind, some of these numbers would be higher but many posts listed an entire developer rather then a specific product, so those types of posts weren't counted)

 

Mentioned 2 Times

=================

A2A Accufeel

AFS Design A350

Air Hauler

Aerosoft Mega Airport Heathrow

BlackBox Simulation Airbus

CLS A340

CLS 747-200/300

Dirk Stuck Design Fieseler Storch 156C

Dreamfleet Dakota

Eaglesoft Citation X

FScene

FSD Avanti

FSD Commander 115TC

FTX YSTW Tamworth Airport

ImagineSim KATL Atlanta

Iris C-27J

Iris Silence Twister

Just Flight Around the World in 80 Flights

FlightsimLabs Concorde X

Just Flight DC-6

Just Flight Comet Jetliner

Just Flight XP800

Lionheart Epic LT

Lionheart Epic Victory

MegasceneryEarth Florida

My Traffic X

Nementh Designs EC-120

Orbx NA

Orbx AU Package

Pro-ATC

Pro Flight Emulator

PMDG JS4100

Ultimate Traffic 2

Wilco Citation X

XPax

 

Mentioned 3 Times

=================

Aerosoft DA-20 Katana

Aerosim 787

CLS A330

FeelThere ERJ Series

FOC Flight Operations Center

FSTramp

MegasceneryEarth California

PMDG 747

Scenery Tech Landclass

Vertigo Studios Stearman

Wilco A380

Wilco A400M

 

Mentioned 4 Times

=================

Captain Sim C-130

Feelthere EJets 170/190

FSGenesis

FSPassengers

Iris Diamond DA-40

Iris F-22

Qualitywings 757

 

Mentioned 5+ Times

==================

Abacus A380 7

Abacus 787 11

Aerosoft AirbusX 6

Ariane 737 20

Captain Sim 707 5

Captain Sim 727 14

Captain Sim 757 22

Captain Sim 767 13

Captain Sim 777 7

Flight1 Mustang 6

Just Flight DC-3 6

Orbx Lancair 6

PMDG 737 NGX 5

REX 7

Traffic X/360 5

Wilco A320 Series 9

Wilco 737 5

Wilco 777 6

Wilco CRJ Next Generation 8

 

I hope some developers will take a long hard look at this thread, these numbers and their respective feedback, and figure for every person that posted how many are there that didn't post?

Excellent summary! What's not on this list is revealing.

So it looks like one developer ran away with the prize! I hope they are reading this. It is the customers speaking, afterall, and maybe they could learn something.

Interesting list. But it's important to consider that those items that have sold much more successfully than others would naturally tend to have larger absolute numbers of complaints, all things being equal. So this kind of tabulation probably doesn't mean quite what it initially might suggest, unless you are assuming that there have been equal numbers of purchases of the FSD Avanti as there have been of, say, the Captain Sim 757 or the PMDG 737 NGX.

 

If the complaints were normalized, or presented as proportions (for example, 5% of purchases of product A have regretted buying product A, compared to 35% of purchasers of product B having regretted buying product B ), then we'd really be talking. Because it would then be possible to more directly compare the rates of dissatisfaction. Obviously that kind of information simply isn't available.

Interesting list. But it's important to consider that those items that have sold much more successfully than others would naturally tend to have larger absolute numbers of complaints, all things being equal. So this kind of tabulation probably doesn't mean quite what it initially might suggest, unless you are assuming that there have been equal numbers of purchases of the FSD Avanti as there have been of, say, the Captain Sim 757 or the PMDG 737 NGX.

 

If the complaints were normalized, or presented as proportions (for example, 5% of purchases of product A have regretted buying product A, compared to 35% of purchasers of product B having regretted buying product B ), then we'd really be talking. Because it would then be possible to more directly compare the rates of dissatisfaction. Obviously that kind of information simply isn't available.

 

I own products from almost all of the developers listed in the 5+ section, and I can tell you these numbers mean exactly what they suggest.

In the flight sim world products usually get equal amount of exposure because of the method of advertising, which is usually word of mouth.

 

We will never get normalized percentages because not everyone who owns these products and regrets their purchase posted here.

What I take away from this are the products that made so much of an impression that people felt compelled to find this thread and post their experience.

 

In this, the numbers don't really lie.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone...typing errors imminent

Yes, % of unhappy purchasers is what you need. But if someone gets a lot of downvotes for a not-exceedingly-popular addon, that's pretty telling.

 

I own all those CS planes...and they probably deserve their place there.

 

But how on earth did the NGX make it onto the list of 5+???? Were all five downvotes serious? Rex and mytraffic x also stand out as unexpected '5+ club' members.

The NGX is there because a lot of people bought it, and some of those did to see what the fuss was about even though it wasn't their type of flying. And because it isn't, it doesn't get used. So that leads to the regret. The numbers are a little meaningless without context.

But how on earth did the NGX make it onto the list of 5+???? Were all five downvotes serious? Rex and mytraffic x also stand out as unexpected '5+ club' members.

 

As "telling" as this summation might be, I (and I'm betting many others) will have a hard time with the NGX on that list, and will agree that a percentage of total owners, as you suggested, might be a better indicator. Everywhere I've read about it it's been the most beloved and most accurate of all sim objects. Perhaps its own complexity is the reason for this, given the variety of simmers' experience and knowledge out there? For me, it was a great learning curve, but I welcomed it and it's the only plane I fly now.

Almost all of the NGX votes were due to not having enough time to fly it.

 

Yeah context is useful, but at a glance the numbers are interesting. If people really want context on anything in the list they can do a thread search with a filter of the product.

Most people gave their reasons.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone...typing errors imminent

Almost all of the NGX votes were due to not having enough time to fly it.

 

Yeah context is useful, but at a glance the numbers are interesting. If people really want context on anything in the list they can do a thread search with a filter of the product.

Most people gave their reasons.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone...typing errors imminent

 

I am amazed that you found the time to do this and commend you on your effort. In an ideal world we would exclude the 'tongue in cheek' comments and only score those that are serious downvotes.

 

As for not liking the ngx for its complexity - for the simmer out there who said that, you will get enough value just sitting in the cockpit looking out at the gate. She's a beautiful bird - don't worry about all those buttons, throttles, levers and stuff, just enjoy gazing around the VC.

wow, amazed to see the NGX up there too, people who buy it to see what all the fuss is about shouldnt "regret it" at all, its an education seeing what can be done when its done well, even if they never fly it, they have learned what can be acheived at the very least... PMDG didnt force them to buy it, they actively went looking and bought it...

 

Sure if it was pants, then it would be a let down, and a regreted purchase, but to buy something awesome, and then not use it because of its awesomeness cannot be a regretted purchase, but more of a wish, for having more time for it..

 

As said, context is very important with this thread, so anything negative in the numbers for the NGX, I feel, can be ignored due to all the comments being that people didnt have the time to give to it or they bought something that didnt fit their style... Not the products fault at all, far from it.

 

Really surprised to see Accufeel on the list too... Accufeel is great... Subtle, but great, and cheap..

 

Would be nice to see some sort of mass survey where we could tick every plane we have, then select 1/10 of how satisfied we are with each, and ditto for scenery, airports etc..

 

This would give a better % of satisfaction vs ownership numbers..

 

Would probably find that the NGX has a far far lower % of regretted puchases than most others.. Same for Accufeel too..

Wonder how many PMDG NGX owners their are in the world?

Huge thumbs up for the work to summarize the numbers. But I agree with some folks, the context of the 'regret' was the important value and made reading interesting. The boys and girls explaining why they weren't happy offered a glimpse on their viewpoints.

 

By this, there is no need to justify or excuse any numbers, but there's one to read into each report.

 

Besides, I have to apologize to the OP. :blush: My fear was that this would end as a collection of single line 'this addon sucks' statements. But, those are rare and the majority offers that mentioned viewpoint of theirs in detail. Thanks for that! :smile:

 

FS developers are like the rest of the human race - a range from great to awful with most somewhere near the middle, encompassing the good, the bad, and the ugly. But broadly, they fall into two camps: the ones in it for the money (ha!) and the ones who are simmers themselves and who bring some passion and commitment to the job.

Well written, Dutch. As others have said too.

PROATCX is the only purchase that I regret. I'm sure that it will be great when it's finished but it's currently running a the rate of around one update/bug fix per week. It's slowly getting there but is still a long way from being ready for the market and beggars belief that it was released in the summer!

 

Virtually every other product which I've bought for FS9/P3D has surpassed expectations, done what it has promised to do and often more. It's fantastic that even in an environment where there is not really a mainstream mass-market flightsim currently in developement (XPlane and P3D are great, but both niche products really, for different reasons) that the market for addons is so healthy and that the quality is so good on the whole.

 

What I'd say to this community of simmers is: support those that support you. Every time you purchase, you vote. Vote for the best. We all benefit from this in the end.

 

Dutch

 

Thanks for your controbution to this thread Dutch! Always nice to hear a different perspective on the topic at hand.

Not really an fs product but,

Windows 8!!!!