This is sort of derivitive of another thread having to do with the price of payware add-ons but with a somewhat different approach.What I buy in order to be a simmer.BASIC MINIMUMS1. MSFS $60.002. Upgraded sound card $100.003. Upgraded video card $250.004. Basic CH Yoke/Rudder set $150.00So far, we're up to $560.00 for things that relate exclusively to simming.SEMI-REQUIREDUpgraded mesh/landclass $150.00So now, we're up to $710.00 for just bare minimum and semi-essential gear. But wait! We haven't flown an airplane yet!With over $700.00 invested in the hobby, the LEAST of our economic worries would be 35 bucks for a GREAT...you guesed it...AIRPLANE.But wait. There's more. Some of us have PFC yoke/rudder/throttle quad sets. Add AT LEAST $1500.00. Others have the really great Go-Flight modules so add another $150-750.00.See my point? The people who design the products that this hobby is all about and who do AMAZING work based on a huge commitment of man hours (and/or woman hours) deserve ALL OF $35.00.Finally...what we pay for equivalent alternative entertainment.Seeing a movie? 5 cents (US) per minute. You do the math to translate to simming.Pro sports event? 20 cents per minute...for cheap seats.Round of golf 20 cents per minute.For a guy like me who has WAY too many hobbies, simming is by far the cheapest form of relaxation/escapism on the planet all things considered and we should be grateful to MS for providing the basic platform so inexpensively and to the freeware developers who are motivated to contribute to the hobby AND to the payware developers who, as far as I can tell, are producing truly amazing products that makes this hobby nearly come to life.Hey, if you don't want to pay for add-ons, that's cool. Just say no. But I think it is inappropriate to tee off on the payware people on some theory of excessive pricing when few on this forum have any remote clue about how much time and expense went into product development.And finally, we can't impose upon the payware industry the requirement to work for nothing. If that was the standard, then not only would we not have a sim anywhere near the quality of FS9, we wouldn't have any computers or monitors to run it on!All just IMHO.JimPS I have nothing to do with any payware developer.

"Hey, if you don't want to pay for add-ons, that's cool. Just say no. But I think it is inappropriate to tee off on the payware people on some theory of excessive pricing when few on this forum have any remote clue about how much time and expense went into product development."Roger that! And to fault developers for their prices because of the lousy exchange rate for simmers in the U.S. is the epitomy of absurdity.Greg

now why didn't I think of making this post.The idea was floating around my head for almost a week...P.S. I am involved with payware developers but I get no financial compensation from them (only the occasional free product).

I don't know about your price calculations - to me, sound and video isn't FS-exclusive as I play other games and make music, and $150 for mesh/lc is way too high. But the point remains valid - $25 for an aircraft is pocket money compared to the price of a high-end computer and flight controllers of some kind. As for the exchange rate - blame your goverment, not the addon publishers.