I don't mind this too much. This at least makes it quite clear that if you're downloading it for the 3rd time, you'd better back up the copy you've just downloaded safely. With the other site, I was never warned, and only had to redownload when my external hard-drive with X-Plane on and the installers died.

 

Lesson learned :-)

 

I agree with the multiple downloads generally being 3+, I think that is a fair system, and if all else fails you still have your license key which USUALLY never expires and you might be able to get your download through other means.

I think the topic title is still ... ambiguous.

 

Mods, can we have it changed to the particular store in question, pls.???

I cannot edit the title, so its up to mods to alter it.

 

The point remains, 5 dollars from a 20 dollar purchase is 25% which is from my point of view quite a demand. I'm surprised to see so many souls devoted to support a shop with their money. I remotely understand a devotion towards certain developers as they are so crucial to our hobby, but still...

 

I'd rather give my hard earned five bucks for charity than a shopkeeper.

Fully agree; nearly all my downloads are from shops with unlimited re-downloads for free. (No such luck with the PMDG shop, though ...)

 

My posts were simply about backing up all your downloads for all eventualities - and leave the other shops and their ToS up to competition ...

. A developer needs a total income to stay in business. It can get that from direct sales and extras such a re-download charges. If it charges for re-downloading then it needn't charge as much for direct sales and their prices can be lower. If it doesn't charge then it's direct sales prices will be higher.  In that case everyone is paying extra to allow some users to re-download.

 

That reasoning falls apart when you find that the stores that do offer generous re-download policies don't charge more than those that don't. If the store is clear about the re-download policy, there shouldn't be many customers paying for it.

 

I think it's more of a misguided, paranoid attempt to protect their products against piracy. If an attacker gains access to a customer account with 8 years and thousands of dollars of add-ons purchased, they can't download and re-distribute the products if the download link expires a week after the purchase...

 

 

Do you show your bank the same outrage when they charge you for a duplicate of anything?

 

The stores don't care because there will be plenty of other customers to take your place.

 

Flight sim add-on stores are not quite as large nor make as much many as large banks, though. I think the negative publicity from a thread like this is enough to be felt by the store in question. Too bad another, excellent and unrelated add-on store seems to have taken most of the blame for another store's policy.

 

Besides, even if I don't change the world by choosing to stay away from stores with restricted download-policies, at least I personally don't have to deal with it.

So, in other words, this information should have kept untold. Sorry, but my reference group is the fs community, not the shops. I felt it was my duty to tell.

 

 

Flight sim add-on stores are not quite as large nor make as much many as large banks, though.

 

Have you ever seen what hosting a file server costs per month?

 

So that large bank that charges more than $5 per service is really up to no good then?

 

 

I personally don't have to deal with it.

 

Or you could personally back up your download.

Also, it's worthwhile remembering there's no guarantee a developer's servers will be even be up and running  tomorrow - never mind in a  year or two's time.

I personally am glad that this topic was raised,  thank you to the OP.

 

It caused me to double check the loads of d/ls paywares I have and to ensure they are backup on two separate drive.  I just had a  HD failure and lost 2 terabytes of data which included all my FS Utilities, (but mostly it was backups of my digital home movies), some payware such as instant scenery and mostly freeware, including all my fs modeling work.  I have a complete backup, but in some cases re-installs are necessary and I have those files as well.  As will I just checked many of my accounts where are spread all over the place, some I even forget about and almost all allow you do obtain the file for free....as it should in my opinion.

 

I also have opinion on the issue of charging for a re d/l - I think its a bad policy, as long as they are up front about it, then so be it.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong but if a particular file is still available for sale to a new customer don't they have to keep in on their servers anyway.

 

Its a digital world out there....DVDs are starting to become obsolete...now I can stream my home movies from a HD to my TV...and if I had a projector I could just stream them to that.  I now have 12 HDs...6 active...6 backups of those....four of the drives are 3 terabytes and contain all my home movies from 1950s onward (converted 8mm, video tapes and now HD digital).  I have no idea what others do but to me you can't have enough digital storage and backup.

 

Simply put...back it up.

Stop buying from the stores that don't have a reasonable policy for redownloads; this way you can save those stores lots of bandwidth! :ph34r:

Hope you don't mind adding RealAir Simulations to that list! We have customers re-downloading products from 2004 and have never charged a penny. We'd go further back than that except FS2002 products have not been asked for since round 2008. We do ask customers to check in with us if they want to install products over a (generous) certain number of times but that's to make sure the original customer and not a pirate is attempting to install. We have some customers who are reluctant to backup or keep their details so it can be a lot of work, and quite large bandwidth charges - in some cases wiping out any profit at all - but generally speaking customers are reasonable and fair.

 

We all lose stuff occasionally and I don't think vendors should exploit that. Asking for a backup fee in the first year is in my view bad practice.

 

Rob - RealAIr

 

Sorry Rob, you're absolutely right!   So yes, RealAir are 100% added to the Kudos list for that.  (I should have known, I just downloaded my SF260 last week; bought, and last downloaded in 2008).

 

Can't say better than that.

 

The debates in favour of why retailers and publishers should not have to provide free downloads are very reasonable and logical....

 

But they just make it more remarkable and kudos-worthy that places like Flight 1, Simmarket, Just Flight, and RealAir do provide perpetual free downloads.

 

.......and if one can do it.....

I cannot edit the title, so its up to mods to alter it.

 

The point remains, ..........

 

No, the point doesn't remain;  you have named the wrong retailer.

 

That is unreasonable, unfair and irresponsible.    But your reaction is that you don't care.   Making your principal is more important that getting the facts so wrong; naming the wrong retailer and misleading people.

 

You should be PMing a mod and getting that title changed, before you add any more opinion here.

 

PS......... I agree with you !!! ......... But get the thread title changed;  it's really bad form to brush that under the carpet.

Just thinking...isn't is possible to start a new thread, which would have the correct title...and then say....this included thread incorrectly labels company so and so and it should have read this...and then put a link to this tread.

 

 

I cannot edit the title, so its up to mods to alter it.

 

If you give me a suggestion for a new topic title, I can edit it.  We do not edit titles unless it violates the AVSIM Terms of Service or at the members request.

 

Best regards,

Jim

Hi Jim,

 

Obviously I'm not the OP, but as he appears to be offline, the problem is that his entire post is referring to "FSPilotShop", where as his current title (being Flightsimshop) is easily confused with FlightSimStore.

 

So the title really needs to be "FSPilotShop" in place of "FlightSimShop".

 

Cheers.