If it wasn't for MS Flight (550hrs in a year) I wouldn't have started in FSX which I have 600hrs since the beginning of the this year. So tell me again how it failed to bring new people into the FS community.

Right on the point DoubleJ. I only have 300 hours in MSFlight and say it is still the best feeling flight sim I have ever used and I have been at it since about 1982, Interstingly enough the same year I got my PPL. I still have Century of Flight 2004 and FSX Gold Edition still on my computer and still go to them both now and again. I also still hold out hope for Aerofly FS that I also have on my system. They are still in development with a whole edition and will get there eventuly and that will be Microsofts lose.

 

Steve

MS couldn't stand the thought of addon devs making 3x more than the game itself cost. Their solution was Flight, FS with an XBOX DLC twist , where they and only they get to spoon feed you content at whatever price point they want(Hmm reminds me of Windows 8).  Consumers didn't bite. Game over MS takes marbles and goes home, end of FS. 

 

Know your audience....

 

Obviously they don't. You can't just single handedly kill off every developer of FS products and take control so easily.

Then again, Microsoft's all about the money, and not the audience.

MS couldn't stand the thought of addon devs making 3x more than the game itself cost. Their solution was Flight, FS with an XBOX DLC twist , where they and only they get to spoon feed you content at whatever price point they want(Hmm reminds me of Windows 8).  Consumers didn't bite. Game over MS takes marbles and goes home, end of FS. 

 

Know your audience....

 

Obviously they don't. You can't just single handedly kill off every developer of FS products and take control so easily.

 

You could if you had killer content in the addon store from the get go, and that's one of the reasons the enterprise failed so miserably.

You could if you had killer content in the addon store from the get go, and that's one of the reasons the enterprise failed so miserably.

  You are correct. That is what turned so many people off. I could wait for what I wanted as it came out, but so many people today want instant gratification. Again it was not the game that failed but total mismanagement by Microsoft that did not realize what they had. I will continue to use what I have, even if it is offline only because it is still the best at what it does!!

 

Steve

 

 

Then again, Microsoft's all about the money, and not the audience.

 

All companies are after the money - not just Microsoft. Also, the audience may not be big enough to justify catering to it.

Flight some of made us the made the mistake of condeming it before giving it a chance develop and have on materials and content. Think GA type flight sim was not a bad idea but its approach and marketing is what resulted in its failure. Hope microsoft gets back to making flight sim or revive flight. Odds are not likely for microsoft as cost to make one would fetch it profits as it would years ago.

AMF Ballmer, Thanks for killing a true marvel of art and science and a great human accomplishment!

Tech companies need to balance the books and this includes 1) making the board happy, 2) meeting payroll and last but not least 3) staying relevant for continued success.  Bill Gates had a much easier time attaining these objectives because MS had an open door into the PC world since it was at its infancy back in the 80's.  Today - Ballmer, who can be considered a backward thinking manager has no easy targets to push MS forward.  IOW the consumer software world has changed to such a point that MS can easily be made irrelevant with little or no impact on it.  That said MS does have its teeth sunk deeply into the XBox franchise so it is there that all there gaming software efforts will be sunk so the PC platform is not even a factor here.

 

Unfortunately for us Flight Simmers, we have been caught up in the new software world and are (seemingly)  suffering as a result.  This forward movement (AKA change) is certainly nothing new.  Just search out the history of our field and look at all the companies left in the dust such as Digital Research, Blackberry, IBM and the list goes on.

 

The awesome thing is that since the digital industry is so dynamic new ideas and technology keep things fluid so at any point a new flight sim could be released OR companies like ORBX, LM, PMDG and RealAir can continue to move the marker forward with the much denigrated FSX platform.  

 

IMO the best thing in all of this is that FSX was designed as an extensible platform (thanks to the ACES Studio Team) so FSX is not totally left out to pasture.  This platform will survive and grow outside the new consumer software realm regardless of who rules MS.

 

Cheers

jja

Is this why you should stay a small studio, so you have basically no board, you can achieve what the community wants, and make payroll at the same time. I wonder if not only did ACES open it up to third party, but they continued to develop patches for FSX that would make it better.

 

Now please guys, if you hate Flight, simply leave it alone. If you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all.

It would be a very boring forum indeed if only glowing supportive comments were permitted. 

It would be a very boring forum indeed if only glowing supportive comments were permitted. 

Have you scanned the PMDG 777 forums lately?    lol