hmmm... probably not exactly to the point, but i find something disturbing in this thread... people, if you can even t h i n k of comparing an evening with a friend, a dinner out with a family, to an airplane model, get the model... you will sure enjoy it longer than you will the friend;-)

>Justin Tyme would be a great example of a payware author>that puts out an excellent product with minimal cost.Maybe. But his product is primarily "data". I doubt it takes him 30,000 man hours to compile his product but this is what it takes these days to cpmplete some of the more complex airplanes add-on these days. Don't compare apples with oranges. Michael J.WinXP-Home SP2,AMD64 3500+,Abit AV8,Radeon X800Pro,36GB Raptor,1GB PC3200,Audigy 2

That sir, is an excellent analysis of the current situation.Why complain about add on pricing. Too much? Don't buy. Capitalism at it's finest. The free market will sort things out.Cheers,bt

>Could you clean my house for free?>Shops also won't give me food for free.>Every work should be paid in some way. >And many freeware developers goes to payware world finally.>Or you like go to work every day and not earn salary at all?And I'm guessing you buy everything at the shops, or are you selective, do you do all the work around, or just the around the work you are employed to do?Realistically the guy had a view - a view that is just as valid as anyone elses, including mine, and also yours.Personally - I'm just getting picky - but then again when the us$ is converted to our currency - I'll only buy the top quality stuff, and the stuff that I'm likely to use for a long time.With the prices increasing, I can't/won't just buy addons because they're there - like I use to.

Prices going up is fine when the quality is there to match.Examples of good quality: PMDG 737 NG, Flight 1 ATRI feel there are other payware vendors who are simply rasing prices to match the above packages without having the required quality.So far, after seeing the FeelThere CRJ, I most certainly would NOT be spending $35 on the ERJAs already said, we all have a choice right?Glenn

>>And I'm guessing you buy everything at the shops, or are you>selective, do you do all the work around, or just the around>the work you are employed to do?>I pay in shops. If I do some work I earn money for it.If I hire someone for some work I pay him/her. Everething costs something. This can be money or your time.

Hi Barry,are you refering to an email in which can be read "don't mean to be rude" but "VP of Marketing at Reality XP needs to re-evaluate the Reality XP sales model here" in addition to (written in Arial - 24 - BOLD ITALIC letters) "Please forward this email ...." ? Also including "He who hesitates is lost. Just give me 10% for the idea! To me this is a NO-BRAINER. Oh well, another company makes a GNS 530 as well for $5 less. Going to check them out.."Well, if this is the email you are refering to, I guess you may have received an answer such as:"There is no discount or special offer for a bundle like this. We are offering a special bundle discounted price on the 530XP when purchased with the Apollo only."Yes! this is true! Reality XP was one of the first to introduce a discounted price when purchasing 2 products! furthermore, Reality XP also actively designed the idea of the eCoupon system with the Fligth1 wrapper!The available offer may not be on your purchase preferences (Wx500 + Gns 530) but Reality XP offers a discount on the Apollo stack and the Garmin GNS 530 stack.Say you want to purchase Windows XP and Office XP, is there a discount? but say now you want Office 2000 instead. Do you still have a discount? Do you think the VP of Marketing at Microsoft should reconsider is marketing strategy because some customers want different bundles? Is KMart offering a bundle if your purchase Sprite + Coke? say now you want Pepsi + 7up?Now, I can tell you that I would love being able to have any "modern eCommerce driven" packages and bundles, but there are also strong technical limitations given the available eCommerce tools which prevent doing so...Hope this helps!

I'm not sure why threads like this keep popping up. Is the notion of selectively choosing what we are going to spend our money on some sort of radical revelation? Frankly, I don't care what the price is, I'm still choosey. If an add-on stinks, I don't care if its ten dollars or a hundred dollars - crappy is crappy. Conversely, if an add-on is superb (a la the RAS SPitfire for instance) I will gladly pay $35 or $40 dollars. Where has anyone ever suggested we need to go out and buy every piece of payware thats released? Its true that theres been a gradual decline in the number of freeware offerings over the past year or two, but I think the reason for that is fairly obvious. It is to me anyway. Just look at the monumental complexity of even a relatively simple add-on now - something like Airheads Deke or Pipers Chipmunk - and consider the skills required and the time involved in creating it and you have your answer. The number of people not only willing to do that much work for free but even who are able to commit that kind of time and energy to a project is small and only going to get smaller. Freeware authors have lives to live and mouths to feed just like the rest of us and to expect anyone to spend hundreds of hours developing a plane for a flightsim for nothing is ludicrous. The fact that there are ANY freeware authors still able to do it is amazing and makes the work of people like Milton Shupe and the project Tupelov guys that much more remarkable. But anyone who thinks the guys at RealAir or Dreemfleet or someone like Bill Lyons are just in it for the bucks is totally missing the boat afaic. The simple truth is if the price is too high, then you don't buy and the market will take care of things just fine...

>I feel there are other payware vendors who are simply rasing>prices to match the above packages without having the required>quality.>Of course that happens. But those vendors were (most of them) already below par at the lower price level as well.Exception are a few who got left behind in the scramble to create ever more complex (from a development point of view, not necessarilly the end user) products.

HelloThere have been a few people who have raised the question about why these types of threads crop up from time to time.I guess it all boils down to sticker shock pure and simple.It is worthy of note.Troy

>I'm not sure why threads like this keep popping up.I tell you why. Because people look at what they get for their money and buying an add-on that costs as much as the original program or even more, is not what seems to be reasonable for something that is just considered an "add-on".>Frankly, I don't care what the price is, I'm still choosey. If an add-on stinks, I don't care if its ten dollars or a hundred dollars - crappy is crappy. Conversely, if an add-on is superb (a la the RAS SPitfire for instance) I will gladly pay $35 or $40 dollars. How am I suppoesed to evaluate whether a program is worth it's money if I have to buy it first to find out?

A couple of years ago I started buying payware stuff for FS. I've spent a lot of dough since then but the last many months I've reevaluated my purchasing habits. The cost has become unreasonable and many times prohibitive or unjustified. Misty Fjords is a prime example. It works out to approx. $60 Canadian. This is ridiculous. Looks nice but I'll pass. I've taken the same mentality with respect to planes. For example, several months ago I purchased Eurowings ATR. I won't buy F1's ATR. Couple of years ago I purchased Capt Sim's 727 and it was upgraded to FS9. I won't buy Dreamfleet's 727. I purchased PMDG's 737 series so I won't buy Dreamfleet's/F1's 737, etc. etc. Moreover, I don't need more planes, sceneries, etc. I need greater realism and depth. So bypassing several recent payware planes I instead opted to enhance PMDG's 737-800, 900 by purchasing FS2Crew. I also purchased FlightKeeper. Both of these are excellent immersive addons which I can use with existing quality products.More and more people will be making these decisions and narrowing their purchasing habits. The cost will be an important element in that equation.

How about reading the forums like this one and getting a sense of what an add-on might have to offer that warrants the price being charged for it? That's what I do and generally speaking, within about 2 hours of the release of any product I know from reading posts on the forums whether it interests me at all. As far as the add-ons costing as much as the original program all I can say is I have four or five add-on planes every one of which I'd take over every defualt plane that comes with the sim. If I had to choose between the Dreamfleet Archer or Flight1 Meridian or ATR on one hand and all the defualt planes on the other, I'd choose the single payware plane - they are that good. If you don't feel its worth it, that's your choice. The fact is, it's going to be a long long time before models of that caliber are built into the game by MS becuase there just isn't broad enough demand for that level of detail in the sim from most of the people who buy it. It's up to small developers to satisfy that specialized market, and anytime a market is specialized prices tend to be a bit higher.

Sticker shock, and value recieved. Two good words to say the least, and it applies to EVERYTHING. If it is worth it to YOU, then by all means, buy it. If not, don't or, make some other arrangements.Case in point:I raise Quarter Horses. I need a big truck to pull my 6 horse enclosed trailer with living quarters. This spring I decided that I wanted a NEW truck. I went to look at a 2004 Dodge 3500 Dually Diesel. MY old truck was a 2001 Dodge RAM 3500 Dually Diesel with 100,000 miles on it. Ran great, functioned wonderful, a few scratches, and a ding or two, but it got the job done fine. STICKER SHOCK:The old truck was paid for, the new truck was $48,000 US! (Ten years ago I bought a new RS Porsche for that!) Damn the horse business is getting expensive, LOL. I'll make this short, with what the dealer wanted to discount the new truck, (3200) and what he offered me for my old truck $12,500 made me gulp at the difference . . . just to have a NEW truck. The horse business has been really bad this year, so I passed. Instead I had the dents, dings and scratches taken out, $1200. I bought 6 new 10 ply tires, $920. New floor mats, $38.50. Had the truck lettered with my stables logo, $350.00. And lastly, completely serviced, minor items fixed and a new diesel HP kit added which brought the horsepower up to over the new truck, $2950. For $5500 bucks, US I HAD a new truck and the only thing I was missing was the larger grill of the new one! AND NO PAYMENTS!REALITY:At 59 years of age, this truck might just last me till I pass on, it seems new to me, and I am happy with it, lots happier than what I would have been with a new-new truck and 600 dollars a months payments. I look at payware the same way . . . it has to be lots better than the coresponding freeware available --- only then, do I buy it, UNLESS OF COURSE I JUST HAVE TO HAVE IT! BUT IT AIN'T 48k!Bottom line, if it IS worth it to YOU, then buy it. If not, then pass and go with freeware . . . cause I'll tell ya folks, there are tons of really great freeware out there . . .and also some very exceptional payware.It's all individual choice, what you desire to pay and how desperate your need is.Best to all . . . I do love this hobby!Clayhttp://www.dreamfleet2000.com/gfx/images/F...ers/Dopke01.jpgClayton T. Dopke (Clay)Major, USAF (retired)"Drac"

Ahhh Jeez ClayI had so much respect for you until you mentioned Dodge Rams.Get yourself a real truck for God`s sake.;)Oh sorry as far as FS addons are concerned I agree that if you have to have it go for it but you have to agree that for the casual user it`s a bit much as for some bush scenery.Troy