Potential customer with a question about activation

[levada 1]

How does it work? I tend to be a guy who likes to upgrade his system, I see problems when activation is linked to hardware. How can I be sure that my product will continue to function or is PMDG basically dictating how many times we can upgrade our systems?

 

Thanks!

 

PS: Do they ever have sales?

[scandinavian13 5,192]

 

 

How does it work?

 

You buy the product and get an email with a link to download with a license key in it.

 

When you next launch the sim, you enter the license key and it will be stored on your system.

 

 

 

tend to be a guy who likes to upgrade his system, I see problems when activation is linked to hardware. How can I be sure that my product will continue to function or is PMDG basically dictating how many times we can upgrade our systems?

 

There is a max limit that, if you hit it, you can submit a ticket to have us look at it and determine that it's just system upgrades and not the key being shared, etc.

 

HOWEVER...

 

The 777 has a feature that automates this entire process by allowing you to return a license before an upgrade / system re-image, allowing you to get that license activation back when you go to re-install. The intro manual that comes with the 777 outlines the process. It's actually very simple and avoids the issue entirely because each time you go to upgrade, you just return the license, do your upgrades/reimaging, and then re-activate.

[Ponk 51]

There are no sales, the price is the price, so it's equal for all and you never get caught out by buying a product just before it goes on sale (which tends to send a community into chaos!).

 

You get value for money with PMDG  ^_^

[Werner747 107]

 

 

PS: Do they ever have sales?

 

Of course, everyday they sell something or else they would be out of business  .   Seriously though, no they don't have sales, but then again you get what you pay for!

 

Kind regards

[MorsAbAlto 19]

There are no sales per se, but as you can see in the shop, there are discounts on legaxy products and manuals from time to time. You can try buying via Paypal and save a small amount due to currency exchange rates if applicable.

[levada 1]

You buy the product and get an email with a link to download with a license key in it.

 

When you next launch the sim, you enter the license key and it will be stored on your system.

 

 

 

 

There is a max limit that, if you hit it, you can submit a ticket to have us look at it and determine that it's just system upgrades and not the key being shared, etc.

 

HOWEVER...

 

The 777 has a feature that automates this entire process by allowing you to return a license before an upgrade / system re-image, allowing you to get that license activation back when you go to re-install. The intro manual that comes with the 777 outlines the process. It's actually very simple and avoids the issue entirely because each time you go to upgrade, you just return the license, do your upgrades/reimaging, and then re-activate.

 

Thanks for the detailed answer. I asked a company the same question and I got nothing but a rude response and they almost treated me like someone with the wrong intentions.

 

One more question. If I would buy it now, install it and would restore my partition (I use Norton Ghost) and forget about "returning the license" as you call it, does it mean that I can't reinstall it, even when the hardware hasn't changed? Mind you...I probably won't forget it, but in case I'm getting annoyed with my OS and restore my partition in a quick move of frustration, I would like to know what the possible consequences are.

 

 

 

Ok, so there are no sales, so is this allowed?

http://www.amazon.com/PMDG-737-NGX-Windows-Pc/dp/B006NU6HAS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1418226794&sr=8-2&keywords=pmdg+777

 

$70.53 yet PMDG sells it for $89.99 or am I missing something?

 

 

And how about this? That most definitely looks like a sale to me:

http://www.precisionmanuals.com/ProductCart/pc/viewCategories.asp?idCategory=13

 

PMDG 737NGX Base Package for FSX

Price $69.99

List Price: $74.99

You Save: $5.00 (7%)

 

That would also explain the Amazon price.

 

 

There are no sales, the price is the price

 

Seriously though, no they don't have sales

 

There are no sales per se

 

No offense people, but what's the point of you guys to help others, when your claims are just based on assumptions? :unsure:

 

PMDG 747-400X

Price $54.99

List Price: $79.99

You Save: $25.00 (31%)

[scandinavian13 5,192]

One more question. If I would buy it now, install it and would restore my partition (I use Norton Ghost) and forget about "returning the license" as you call it, does it mean that I can't reinstall it, even when the hardware hasn't changed? Mind you...I probably won't forget it, but in case I'm getting annoyed with my OS and restore my partition in a quick move of frustration, I would like to know what the possible consequences are.

 

Sorry that I wasn't more clear in my initial post. If you forget to do it, you would probably have a few activations left. If you ever do brush up against the limit, though, all you'd need to do is submit a ticket to have us look it over. As long as it doesn't look suspicious there isn't too much of a problem.

 

Stuff happens and sometimes you don't get the chance to return the license, so any rational developer should be cognizant of that.

 

 

 

No offense people, but what's the point of you guys to help others, when your claims are just based on assumptions?

 

PMDG 747-400X

Price $54.99

List Price: $79.99

You Save: $25.00 (31%)

 

Over time, PMDG occasionally drops the prices for older offerings. That's pretty standard for anyone. Sales usually imply short-time lower prices that return to the original price later on (unless you're talking about a closeout sale, which is a different topic and usually related to tangible offerings).

 

Still, their comments are pretty valid. One shouldn't expect that prices will randomly drop at certain parts of the year.

 

The Amazon link is for a reseller. Their pricing strategies shouldn't be used as an indication for PMDG pricing strategies.

 

 

 

One final thing, and this is just me giving you a heads up - you're supposed to sign your name to your posts per forum rules:

http://forum.avsim.net/topic/245586-you-must-sign-your-full-real-name-to-posts-to-use-this-forum-posts-without-names-will-be-deleted/

[WotanUK 289]

One more question. If I would buy it now, install it and would restore my partition (I use Norton Ghost) and forget about "returning the license" as you call it, does it mean that I can't reinstall it,

 

As a customer, rather than a mod i have brushed up against the limit with the 737 and J41 several times; like you i update fairly regularly and format and re install around every 6 months.  You normally submit a support ticket and either Paul or Ryan (perhaps Kyle now since his promotion) replies that they have given you another activation.  It's normally pretty quick, probably less than 24hrs.

 

Do i like the system?  Not really, I don't like that I as a paying customer have to go through this process, i always feel guilty asking for activation of a product i own, having said that PMDG are a small software company, lost sales do matter and i want to support them.  

 

A small improvement, it would be nice if the activation's refreshed after a while.

[MorsAbAlto 19]

 

 

No offense people, but what's the point of you guys to help others, when your claims are just based on assumptions? :unsure:

 

No offense dude, but why are you even asking about this, when you already know the answers?

 

Our advice was given with years of patronage under our belt. You were asking about PMDG specifically. How can you expect anybody to know if some reseller offers lower prices without looking it up like you did?

 

And if you read my earlier post once again, you will notice how I was talking about legacy products being offered at reduced prices.

 

With that said, you will not regret buying from PMDG. The customer experience is very good, although some people disagree with their extended download policy.

[levada 1]

Sorry that I wasn't more clear in my initial post.

 

No, your response was excellent and it's impossible for you to cover all those unique circumstances in one reply. Thanks for your help!

 

like you i update fairly regularly and format and re install around every 6 months.

 

Actually I don't format, I just restore my backup partition, so basically any copy protection data already stored in my backup should normally not cause any issues, at least I've never experienced any with other copy proctected software.

 

So basically to be 100% sure that I don't need to re-activate, I just need to restore my old backup, add the necessary changes, install their software and make a new backup.

 

With that said, you will not regret buying from PMDG. The customer experience is very good, although some people disagree with their extended download policy.

 

Extended download policy?

 

This is what I read on their site: "MDG offers Extended Download Service to customers who purchased download product from us after October 2004.  simply purchase Extended Download Service and you'll have access to re-download for up to twelve months."

 

I always keep multiple backups of the installation files. I guess this doesn't apply to me, but only to people who lost their installation files, right?

[scandinavian13 5,192]

 

 

Do i like the system?  Not really, I don't like that I as a paying customer have to go through this process, i always feel guilty asking for activation of a product i own

 

Think about it, though:

Someone gets an installer off of a PirateBay (or similar) and a key gets compromised. Without a limit, that compromised key could end up giving hundreds of pirates a "valid" copy. Once it's installed, if I save an image with it installed and the activated key on my system, I can use it forever. With the limit, that kind of thing is at least curtailed to a handful of people.

 

 

 

No, your response was excellent and it's impossible for you to cover all those unique circumstances in one reply. Thanks for your help!

 

You're welcome.

 

 

 

I always keep multiple backups of the installation files. I guess this doesn't apply to me, but only to people who lost their installation files, right?

 

Correct.

[Skinna001 0]

That just reminded me,

 

A (now ex for obvious reasons) member of the VA I staff for told me he had a torrent version of the NGX that didnt need any activation via your servers.

 

He was shown the door rather quickly after that so I didnt get details, maybe something you guys might wanna look into.