Just so - having also been in business for myself in years past as well, the customer is always treated with respect, whether they are "right" or not, or are being a rude &@($* or not, because how you respond is noticed by others, customers you already have and might lose, or people who could be customers but perhaps won't be given how they take your response. 

 

That's an excellent point - really nails it.

 

I've never personally ever had a crossed word with John V, and he's never once been rude, abrupt, arrogant or otherwise hostile towards me.......   but I've seen him doing it to others so many times, (or making blanket "yes I'm arrogant, and I don't care" style comments), that it has really put me off wanting to invest in this man and his business.      

 

As I said in another post, it's just an ugly way to go about things IMHO.

correct, but this was a thread about the ftxg product, and not "someone's attitude"and seeing as the initial subject is not being spoken about and has tended to go south, why have you picked my post out as being "off topic" there are at least 2 pages of posts you could have singled out.

 

 

I am not sure people talking about someone's attitude is relevant in this thread either - do you?

 

My apologies, your intial post seemed to indicate that you were getting 'globals' mixed up and that you were thinking that FSG, FS Global and FTX Global were all doing the same job.

disregard

Edited July 29, 201312 yr by flyingnoob

So you will let customers verbally abuse you for a profit.

 

 

Some people pay to be whipped, spanked and covered in sherbet. Its just a cut of society

To be honest, I'm still going to buy ORBX scenery even if the owner/ceo/whatever isn't as nice a guy as he should be to his customers.

 

What I won't do, though, is hold my tongue when I have a valid complaint or criticism.

 

Long live ORBX and bring on openLC and more detailed scenery packages. 

That's an excellent point - really nails it.

 

I've never personally ever had a crossed word with John V, and he's never once been rude, abrupt, arrogant or otherwise hostile towards me.......   but I've seen him doing it to others so many times, (or making blanket "yes I'm arrogant, and I don't care" style comments), that it has really put me off wanting to invest in this man and his business.      

 

As I said in another post, it's just an ugly way to go about things IMHO.

But...why do you fly a flight simulator?   You fly to enjoy. What does it matter how a developer behaves or what his/her bedside manner is?  The primary question on this thread should only be...do I agree with the O.P. about how he/she see the PRODUCT, or not.  Who cares what the personality is of the one behind the effort. People are not buying the personality, ...they are buying a flight simulator product. The energy on this thread about the man and his clan, is astounding to say the least.  So, you are saying that you would not buy a product that advances your enjoyment, if the person behind it had a personality or personality on-line profile that irritates you?  With all the deepest respect, anybody that holds this view, is shooting themselves in the Flight Simulator 'foot'.  Wow.......

A good response to these types of people, is to just simply say that you understand that they are upset, and that you would be happy to return their money since the product does not seem to be a good fit for them - and then leave it at that...

 

A good point and a good post.  I don't think he'll ever do that though, as that suggests treating the customer with at least a little respect;-)

Some people pay to be whipped, spanked and covered in sherbet. Its just a cut of society

so where can we get this kind of service?

I REPEAT, FTX GLOBAL IS THE WORST ADDON IN HISTORY!!!

 

Stay away from it. Completely un-realistic, the Grand Canyon looks like it is a rain forest!!!!!!

 

WASTE of $91.

I REPEAT, FTX GLOBAL IS THE WORST ADDON IN HISTORY!!!

 

Stay away from it. Completely un-realistic, the Grand Canyon looks like it is a rain forest!!!!!!

 

WASTE of $91.

 

Worse than Mr Tishma's offerings? Surely not

I REPEAT, FTX GLOBAL IS THE WORST ADDON IN HISTORY!!!

 

Stay away from it. Completely un-realistic, the Grand Canyon looks like it is a rain forest!!!!!!

 

WASTE of $91.

I think we can make up our own minds Lyle....

 

 

I REPEAT, FTX GLOBAL IS THE WORST ADDON IN HISTORY!!!
 

 

Actually, I think the ###### Party was the worst add-on in history.  Completely screwed up a good German operating system.  Took decades to patch the thing.

 

Oh, wait, you meant FSX...  

 

Sorry, trying for a little perspective here...

 

Speaking of which... As JV knows, and as some of you know also, I'm not a big fan of his customer service style.  My reasons are professional.  He's not a big fan of my critique of his customer service style.  His reasons are also professional.  So we agree to disagree.  In that state, we both seem to be getting through our respective workdays.

 

I haven't bought an Orbx product recently.  Initially, that was because of our disagreement.  However at present, it has more to do with the fact that I like to fly in my local area in current weather, and don't spend enough time in the Orbx regions to warrant taking up the disk space.

 

But I always liked the Orbx look.  Given that and my parochialism, FTXG would seem to be an ideal product.  And in fact, for me, it is.  In a few brief flights yesterday, I was already able to tell that it had completely transformed my experience of the mid-Atlantic and New England.  I like to fly very low and slow, in, say, helos and Cubs.  The greater resolution and better-scaled autogen makes that a much more satisfying experience than GEX, which I otherwise liked.  Also, the FTXG night lights are terrific - not quite the equal of X-Plane 10, but then, nothing in FSX is.  Am having a much better time with FTXG night textures than I did with GEX.

 

I'm looking forward to the landclass product and to further custom textures.

 

Note how much of my favorable review is tied to my own personal preferences - home area, low and slow, night flying.  If I lived in the desert I'd be less satisfied now, but probably hopeful of a fix.  If I flew at altitude or only in daylight, the FTXG-to-GEX comparison would be much closer.

 

As with a lot of things flightsim, much of this comes down to your personal style.

 

Speaking of style - I buy from many developers and have a favorable personal impression of some of them.  I haven't met any of them, so my impressions are just that: Impressions.  

 

I'm sure if we all met face-to-face, we'd understand each other better and get along better than we do slamming text at each other.

 

So maybe we can all try to chill a bit?

 

Just a thought...

 

 

What does it matter how a developer behaves or what his/her bedside manner is? The primary question on this thread should only be...do I agree with the O.P. about how he/she see the PRODUCT, or not. Who cares what the personality is of the one behind the effort. People are not buying the personality, ...they are buying a flight simulator product

 

This could not be further from the truth IMHO - anyone who has ever been in business for themselves knows very clearly that "you" are part of the customer's purchase as well - how a business owner acts and treats others provides an insight into how one can expected to be dealt with should you ever have a problem that needs to be resolved, and if you feel like you would have to walk on "pins and needles" when dealing with someone in a customer service situation, most people are way less likely to want to deal with, or to continue to deal with you.  Mr. Venema is somewhat insulated from this reality due to his company operating in a very niche market space with few competitors, and providing a very well thought of suite of products, but as a business owner you are playing with fire to assume you can act any old way you want because you are the current "King of the Hill"

There's no question that Orbx has created more than its fair share of self inflicted customer relations train wrecks. They don't need repeating here. The cumulative problem is that the troll monkeys are constantly looking for any opportunity to fabricate another. Hence we have a series of forum posts along the lines of "I can't believe I spent over 90 bucks on an add on and it isn't the last word in flight sim scenery perfection"

 

Could it also be that many folks are totally misunderstanding what they are buying into with FTX-G? Is a more casual buyer being attracted here, with little understanding of what 90 bucks can deliver? I strongly suspect so.

 

Against that challenging back cloth, Mr JV has the equally demanding task of managing expectations. Part of that process has been total transparency on forums as to exactly what the FTX-G base pack is capable of. Problem is how many casual simmers read that deeply?

 

I fear that the word "Global" has been taken very literally by some - in other words there could well be a wide perception that this is Orbx region quality on a worldwide scale.

 

So we have apparently entered a new situation where Orbx is having to deal with newbie customers who expect their corner of the world to look exactly as it does in real life when, in fact, that was never the promise or product offer.

 

I can therefore understand why JV has taken a pretty robust stance in some of the more unreasonably critical posts. He is defending a product that, to any reasonably seasoned simmer is an absolute revelation and a stunningly cost effective investment. I say that as someone with quite limited funds.

 

If we had to,sum it all up, we might call the current scenario "growing pains"

Some people pay to be whipped, spanked and covered in sherbet.

:ph34r:  :lol:  :LMAO: I think it's like $240 an hour for the trio :ph34r: