Simple:

 

They don't know, cause they are still working on it. And since most of these developers are not more than a couple of guys or few guys working on these projects from their basement (or room..or attic...or....), and just doing it part time, it will take a very Looong time to complete.

 

-- Aerosoft: I give them credit for the work they do; however, I must admit- as most customers- "some"frustration has set in. Announcing that the Extended version would be released on Nov. of 2011; it is now over 12 months , and still not released, looks really poor. I would suggest to Aerosoft to stop trying to develop so many products at the same time. Some of those products are really a waste of time. They are busy developing a bunch of everything from a small little village airport (that nobody knows where it is), to flying ducks, gliders, a new military a/c and....you name it. So, I can see how a major project such as the Airbus Extended has been stuck in the mud for so long. (Period)

 

--- PMDG and FSL: I have a feeling that they will deliver their product when it is ready. However, I believe a bit of updates will not hurt, but satisfy some of the hunger. Yes, they don't have-to provide update; but it has become a custom since they and us participate-and share- on these forums different topics, closely.

-- Aerosoft: I give them credit for the work they do; however, I must admit- as most customers- "some"frustration has set in. Announcing that the Extended version would be released on Nov. of 2011; it is now over 12 months , and still not released, looks really poor. I would suggest to Aerosoft to stop trying to develop so many products at the same time. Some of those products are really a waste of time. They are busy developing a bunch of everything from a small little village airport (that nobody knows where it is), to flying ducks, gliders, a new military a/c and....you name it. So, I can see how a major project such as the Airbus Extended has been stuck in the mud for so long. (Period)

 

Aerosoft is a publisher and a developer. The majority of what they sell is not developed in house, including a lot of sceneries. SimWings, FSDG, and the German Airports teams are not Aerosoft, yet they are the majority of what you see being developed there and what is sold there, amongst many other developers, and then promoted and sold by Aerosoft. Also, aircraft development is in different teams and different developers. Sometimes developers do work across other projects, but right now, the developers that are fixing the needed issues in the Airbus X Extended are only working on the Airbus X Extended.

Beats me why there are so many arrogant devs in this tiny business.

 

There are more arrogant potential buyers!

I never understood the mentality that you tell customers "it will be done when it's done so stop asking..." I guarantee that wouldn't fly at a restaurant if you were waiting for your meal.

 

This literally made me LOL... +1

There are more arrogant potential buyers!

 

Maybe, but they PAY for the privilege. The very first law of business: The customer is always right!

Any developer who starts a project, without a reasonable Plan and estimated goal timescale to complete, is risking a project disaster and a potential expensive unplanned budget overspend.

 

This applies to both the medium and large Addon developers, as well as the big guys, like Microsoft Aces. ( Remember FSX development -- RTM - SP1 - SP2 ).

I have never understood pre-hype. I was at the movies the other day and they showed a preview for a movie coming out December 2013. That is a year away! Why waste my time with a preview for a movie a year away?

 

For developers, I have the same question. Unless a customer is paying a subscription fee where the stipulation is that there will be regular updates and new products then what good comes from telling me about a new plane that has no timeline for release? Am I going to rush online to donate money to the project? No. Am I more likely to buy it in a year or more when it comes out? No. If it is something I am interested in, am I likely to want to know more specifics on when it is going to be released? Yes.

 

 

Maybe, but they PAY for the privilege. The very first law of business: The customer is always right!

 

Customer most certainly is not always right. Some customers aren't worth having and end up costing you money.

I would rather let the developers work diligently and provide only a few sparsely distributed updates. With a company such as PMDG, we do not need to worry about quality. After a few initial image previews to excite potential customers, few updates are necessary, unless something very special happens (e.g., new feature or technology, project cancellation, etc.). Asking repetitively is not going to release the product sooner—it is merely human impatience, which will sometimes work against the progress of the project (if developers keep on having to address repetitive and unhelpful prompts).

Maybe, but they PAY for the privilege. The very first law of business: The customer is always right!

 

That may have worked in the 50s and 60s when customers were basically reasonable, but today it's entirely possible to "the customer's always right" yourself right out of business. Seriously...

 

(hey, look at that, Swofford and me actually agree on something :smile: )

 

Customer most certainly is not always right. Some customers aren't worth having and end up costing you money.

 

True, and the customer always thinks they are right.....

 

G

I have never understood pre-hype.

 

Simple explenation: If you sell your products in a free market there are going to be competitors. If two or more devs are creating the same, or similar, product, you'd want your potential market to know about it. If not you might give away too much of your business to your competitor(s). Customers have limited funds to spend, and you want to make sure they spend most of that on your products, rahter than on a competitors products.

 

An example: Carenado makes a King Air. I'm not too keen on Carenado aircraft, but I love the real world aircraft and want to fly it in the sim. I was lucky to stubmle over a tweet saying Flight1 and Milviz are creating King Airs too. What do I do? Keep my money for a while longer and wait for the others to finnish their products, then decide what to buy. I'm only gonna buy one!

There are more arrogant potential buyers!

Can't agree with your statement. ]As a company you NEED any type of customer available as long as they give you $$$.

 

Because no communication is communication.

 

It stirs up the forums... people get antsy, it's free advertisement essentially

Disagree here as well. There is a limit to cryptic or no communication fostering more excitement. With some developers, I think they have reached that stage (and beyond). Fortunatley for FSX developers, sim enthusaists save their dispoable income for new planes and such. If it was another type of business with direct competition, I don't think the "less is more" tactic would result in a healthy bottom line or a loyal customer base. In fact the only time I have seen that tactic work is when the advertisement firm knew their audience and their release date. Neither is probably true of FSX developers until far along into the develoment cycle.

Customer most certainly is not always right. Some customers aren't worth having and end up costing you money.

 

Sure. Crooks will be crooks and idiots will be idiots, wether they are sellers or customers. That said, being good at marketing and customer interaction will reduce the number of troublesome customers. Sell the customer a lemon, surely he should be sour!

Has nothing to do with crooks or bad products. Some customers just aren't worth having period.