The main issue IMHO will be if folks can finally accept that LM want desktop users to use the product and it's totally legal.

 

I don't think that's really an issue for most in the community.  The larger problem is in how some developers view the platform.  I would likely have moved long ago, were it not for critical add-ons (critical to me, that is) that either won't work at all, or are unsupported on the platform.

 

Scott

Some time after the PMDG 777's release and before the Level-D 757's release.

 

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

Winner! :Applause:

 

 

A starker reality is also that at any time Prepar3d could be completely scrapped with a penstroke; as much of a low cost project as it is in comparison to the core of their business, I doubt anyone in the higher echelons at LM would even so much as blink if say, some cost cutting measures needed to take place.

 

Consider this: What if, at some point in the future, someone much higher on the corporate ladder decides that they only want the platform being used for training for LM products and systems? What if, at some point in the future, the decision comes down to require proof of current educational enrollment? What if, at some level of government, a concern is raised that a defense contractor is supplying training that some idiot could consider to be a security risk?

 

Good points and after getting burned with MS Flight (so much potential all snuffed out just because of one bad quarter's results) it's easy to imagine LM dropping this little project very quickly if their shareholders or some bureaucrat at the DoD decides it's inappropriate. Seems much better to throw support behind a company where simming is it's core business. They're much more likely to be responsive to the community and motivated to continually support their product.

 

I'm very much floating at the moment - I think I will wait until later this year to make a final decision on which platform to invest in for the future but P3D 2.0 would have to throw up something absolutely stunning to make it worth the risk.

I wonder if this new version will be enough to cause a major exodus from FSX.

 

 

The main issue IMHO will be if folks can finally accept that LM want desktop users to use the product and it's totally legal. The other issue will be how compatible FSX items can be used in ver 2.0 or how quickly LM enables 3PDs to create new compatible content.

 

Don't forget how they decide to price it. If the $50 version disappears and the only options left are $300+, that would have a very significant, detrimental effect. For all we know, they may decide at some point to price it primarily for commercial users -- $1,000 plus. (It might even at some point become a time-limited license to use, for which you would need to periodically pay a user's fee/subscription, like with antivirus software.)

 

 

 

 

I for one am extremely happy with P3D 1.4. If LM never offers any future version to regular consumers, it was still well worth the $50 spent. I sometimes don't understand all the speculation from the community and the second guessing.

 

Well, in my case it's an issue of why would I buy now, as a new user of P3D, if they are going to come out with a much better product in just a few months that I would have to reach into my wallet again in order to get. If 2.0 is basically a slightly improved version of 1.4, then it might make more sense for me to just buy now and not bother waiting, especially since they may bump the price for 2.0. But if 2.0 is a major improvement over the current version, and it is not backwards compatible, there's no point in me getting 1.4 now.

Everyone has made good points. SRaces and myself see it a bit differently I guess because of our backgrounds and involvement beyond this realm of users. I was having a conversation 2 weeks ago with someone in the community that is very well tied-in to aircraft development (well respected 3rd part dev) and the conversation turned to the future of simming. To say the least, they were very pleased with the things they've learned "on the inside" and when you add that to the comments Rob R. of PMDG made in his keynote speech at the FANCON, you've got to at least have a little hope that simulation is going to be in a good place as we move forward. Does it get extended to us as a user base? We can only hope. But, I feel that we will all benefit from it.

 

As far as the price, I know that $300 is hard to swallow for anyone but especially desktop sim only. The avionics suite we use in our full scale "hobby" sims  is priced well over $300 and it would not be a detriment to all, but agreeably would be to the vast majority of the users here. Those of us building a full scale sim are used to paying far more than the average simmer and I personally would be glad to pay $1000 if it meant that we got a new sim base that finally took care of all the issues and performed well on current hardware and looked better. But, only as a full scale simmer because that is a bit much for my desktop simming needs. Lastly, from a full scale builder perspective, all the little pieces of crew environment and other desktop-critical items are not used often like you would for a single-person desktop sim. The reasons why are mostly obvious, but I honestly do hope they pull through with a reasonably priced version so that it gives everyone an opportunity to learn about aviation in their home environment whether they are a 10 year old student, or a 100 year old student. 

I think that the only improvements we're going to see with Prepar3D 2.0 is a less CPU-bound and more stable application. Lockheed Martin is not Microsoft. I doubt we'll see improved ATC, improved weather, improved scenery and improved aircraft. Prepar3D is meant for the training market. They don't care for the simmers and what they want.

Good points Eric!

 

I know it's hard for folks to just sit and wait...but just enjoy the version you have now.  If you haven't purchased 1.4 yet, give it a try.  A $50 investment is the average cost of most PC games in any genre.  And those games don't have the flexibility of  addons like this hobby does.  I guess there will always be speculation and banter about "what if".  That can be healthy as I'm sure the developers of all the products read the forums to gauge what is being said in the community.

 

Have a great weekend!

 

VERY nice screenshot of a really cool trainer!