Why the need for an active internet connection

[JRBarrett]

1 hour ago, Raven9000 said:

Wow.. what a good thing I happened to see this post... I can understand needing internet to ACTIVATE,  but needing it every single time? I definitely will NOT be buying this product now that I know this...

I agree. I have heard a lot of good things about  CP, but the requirement to have a constant internet connection is not acceptable. 

Sure, programs like Active Sky or VATSIM require a constant internet connection to be of use - and that is logical and understandable - but on the rare occasions that the HiFi servers go down, it only means that you can't fly with current real weather. You still have the option to fly with a pre-defined weather theme, or simply fly with weather "off". If VATSIM is offline, it just means you can't fly with realtime ATC. You can still fly.

But, as I understand it, if the CP servers can't be reached, it renders the sim completely unusable, since the camera system becomes locked? That is not a reasonable or defendable practice. I appreciate that the developer is now working on an offline option - but that option should have been part of the software from day one - before it was ever put on sale for the first time. FSX/P3D is designed to be a standalone sim, that should always be useable even with no connection to the outside world.

I'm all for "The Cloud" - it's a great way to keep documents and photos synced between multiple computers, tablets etc. But.... the idea of having to store one's specific CP camera presets on a remote server (rather than in config files on the local computer) is insane.

[pete_auau]

2 hours ago, Raven9000 said:

Wow.. what a good thing I happened to see this post... I can understand needing internet to ACTIVATE,  but needing it every single time? I definitely will NOT be buying this product now that I know this...

you  didnt  need  to read  this  thread  since it  mentioned on the product  page  before  you purchase  cp

[JRBarrett]

12 minutes ago, pete_auau said:

you  didnt  need  to read  this  thread  since it  mentioned on the product  page  before  you purchase  cp

That is true. However, many (like myself) have heard a lot about CP, but have not yet gotten to the point of actually going to the vendor's page to investigate pricing and purchasing options - and even though the CP web site does indeed mention that an internet connection is required - that note does NOT tell the whole story.

As in my examples of ActiveSky, VATSIM etc, there are certainly other addons that require a constant internet connection for proper functionality - BUT - those addons do NOT render the core simulation unuseable if the necessary Internet connection is not available. The vendor's sales note does not make that clear - which is irresponsible.

In that regard, threads like this, that serve to warn potential purchasers of what can happen if the requisite internet connection fails (for whatever reason), are valuable. 

[Nyxx]

Keven from Yesterday.

"The server issue has been resolved, we are back online. An official statement will follow later today."
  1
 
Keven Ménard 
Co-Founder and Developer, FSFX Packages.

Servers go down, well that's life, stuff happens. If it would have been a week day the impact would have been far less.

I find it disappointing that the topic showing what happened gets locked and also  "Official" statement also never came.

All I want to hear is that this will be sorted and there servers going down will not render for many there sim INOP. 

 

[Gregg_Seipp]

My mind shuddered when I originally saw that it required an internet connection at start up.  What if aircraft developers used the same logic?  Sorry, can't connect to our server so you can't use our plane.  What about if you're flying from an FSDT airport to an Orbx airport and they require the same thing?  Sorrrrry, can't use our scenery right now.  The list goes on.  Suddenly, you have an 'online only' version of a sim.  Yes, there's piracy but you generally don't use a sledgehammer to drive in nails.  A little more finesse and you can reduce piracy without harming your users.

[eNVee]

8 hours ago, JRBarrett said:

That is true. However, many (like myself) have heard a lot about CP, but have not yet gotten to the point of actually going to the vendor's page to investigate pricing and purchasing options - and even though the CP web site does indeed mention that an internet connection is required - that note does NOT tell the whole story.

As in my examples of ActiveSky, VATSIM etc, there are certainly other addons that require a constant internet connection for proper functionality - BUT - those addons do NOT render the core simulation unuseable if the necessary Internet connection is not available. The vendor's sales note does not make that clear - which is irresponsible.

In that regard, threads like this, that serve to warn potential purchasers of what can happen if the requisite internet connection fails (for whatever reason), are valuable. 

Jim, I would completely agree with you if... well, if that would be true. But it's not completely that way. Keep in mind that some guys here got frustrated and then started to flame. But if they would spend a couple of minutes thinking before posting in forum, they'd be flying in a short moment even with FSFX servers down. Yes, I agree - it was unpleasant to lose camera settings on Sunday, but I did some flights and was completely able to do them.
In short. Did I lose my CP camera setups? Yes I did. Was it impossible to fly? No problem to fly, but with some lost viewing functionality. That's all. I was flying online. As many times said here, this is alpha and even such situations are very good for testing. On the other hand, I have never seen so great support as it is for CP. And I like the way these guys operate. So my suggestion to everyone - just calm down and wait until it's released. And then we can judge. I think OldProp got their lesson and there is no need to keep bashing them. 

[JRBarrett]

37 minutes ago, eNVee said:

Jim, I would completely agree with you if... well, if that would be true. But it's not completely that way. Keep in mind that some guys here got frustrated and then started to flame. But if they would spend a couple of minutes thinking before posting in forum, they'd be flying in a short moment even with FSFX servers down. Yes, I agree - it was unpleasant to lose camera settings on Sunday, but I did some flights and was completely able to do them.
In short. Did I lose my CP camera setups? Yes I did. Was it impossible to fly? No problem to fly, but with some lost viewing functionality. That's all. I was flying online. As many times said here, this is alpha and even such situations are very good for testing. On the other hand, I have never seen so great support as it is for CP. And I like the way these guys operate. So my suggestion to everyone - just calm down and wait until it's released. And then we can judge. I think OldProp got their lesson and there is no need to keep bashing them. 

I definitely like the concept of CP, I find EZDOC too frustrating to set up and configure. But... I think I'll let CP mature before purchasing it. I appreciate that the developer is working on fixing the issues, but perhaps they could have used a bit more foresight in seeing the potential problems with losing connectivity to their servers with the software in its current state.

Live and learn....

[Bobsk8]

My EZdok works fine, even if my ISP goes down. I might be tempted to give CP a try, if it offers more than Ezdok, but not worth it if I have  to chain my flying to a camera program that goes belly up when there is some type of server communication problem. I see no earthly reason for this frankly and I have been simming for few  decades. And by the way, stating that a new product poses  a problem that a future purchaser might find an issue with, is not "bashing."   

[spesimen]

12 hours ago, Nyxx said:

 

I find it disappointing that the topic showing what happened gets locked and also  "Official" statement also never came.

 

it was posted on their website, not on avsim

https://fsfxpackages.com/en/blog/2017/02/26/server-outage-feb-26-2017/

cheers,

-andy crosby

[Guest]

I often wonder why people get so emotional about copy protection policies ... if you don't like the policy, don't buy the product.

Internet connections are the most effective way of protecting developers content ... you can thank those that Pirate for these types of requirements.  In fact, the average cost of software would be about 40% less expensive to the honest consumer if there was no piracy, but there is and this is how some developers elect to protect their livelihoods.

But in either case, dial back the emotion and any abusive language.

Cheers, Rob.

 

[franjoflyer]

I am not bothered one bit by an internet connection requirement.  Look at the bright side, if your PC hard drive crashes, who cares.  You don't have to setup your views and everything again.

I had no problem purchasing it and supporting them.  They need to get some money out of this to fund future projects and updates, last thing we want is a Triple A program like this to be pirated non stop and nobody buying it.  

These people deserve our money, internet connection or not.

[Lon Duncombe]

Another disadvantage I've found with being continually online - I have corrupted default views that are residing in the cloud, so even when I have uninstalled and reinstalled chase plane the same corrupted defaults show up. i can delete all preset files but not the default.   It seems I'm stuck in a loop :(

Lon Duncombe

[Keven Menard]

17 hours ago, Nyxx said:

I find it disappointing that the topic showing what happened gets locked and also  "Official" statement also never came.

Apologies if we did not post it on the forums. We posted it on our Blog, Facebook, Twitter and as email replies but we forgot to update the forum. We locked the other thread because there was another one open.

You can read the Statement here: https://fsfxpackages.com/en/blog/2017/02/26/server-outage-feb-26-2017/

[Brian_A_Neuman]

As a reminder folks the forums need to remain civil. It is ok to ask questions, but when the questions start to resort to personal attacks, your message gets completely lost.

 

Also, personal attacks can result in actions taken from post deletion, thread locking all the way up to losing your forum posting privileges. So lets keep on track here or the post is subject to getting locked.

[funkyhut1]

Given the explanation on their website I'm happy. Of course it was frustrating but there will be offline options in v1 and that's just fine by me. Thanks guys for a great product at a good price and great service.