About P3D forum. An old chap suggestion...

[David Roch 1,980]

Dear valuable admin team!

 

Some of you know me, I was an admin here for over a decade.

I love this place and this community Tom has leaded for years before leaving us.

I respect your work but with your permission I would like to give you my opinion about this P3D forum.

 

Actually, there is no community because there is no life.

Every post about a new addon, a hardware related issue, a screenshot or whatever subject which is linked to P3D is immediately moved elsewhere.

So here we only talk about VAS issues, FPS comparisons and ask the same questions about graphic settings and cfg's.

It is soooo boring..

If a new P3D member discovers this sub-forum he/she will immediately ask for a refund from LM and stuck with FSX because the forum is well organised but not sexy at all.

A new camera tool for P3D?

No more post about it, one has to search within the hundreds of sub-forums to find it.

A new texture addon for P3D?

Zero post about it, they are all gone to the screenshot or hangar or whatever other forum.

A new GA airplane for P3D?

Yes, in the Carenado or Alabeo sub-forum. Go and search it!

A question about photoscenery and P3D?

There is nothing, one has to search within the hundreds of sub-forums to find an answer.

 

An example?

I just posted a thread in order to compare Zinertek HD textures and the new REW WWA before purchasing it or not.

With screenshots to show the differences.

I did that to help folks compare between the two products.

Why was this thread immediately moved to the screenshot section?

I didn't post flight shots for the show but for a precise P3D comparison.

 

I believe most of the P3D users don't use FSX anymore.

I also believe they would love to find a central place where to share all the info which is related to P3D.

I can understand when you move hardware posts to the hardware forum. This is OK, software here and hardware there, no problem with that at all.

But I don't believe that moving a typical ASCA and P3D question (for exemple) to the HiFi sub forum is always the good thing to do.

In my very humble opinion, P3D users should be able to talk about the Simulator together with its addons as a whole.

This should allow a much more active and friendly P3D community, instead of a sterilized and cold place as it is today.

 

Just my 2 cts.

You can now move this topic to the Hangar!!

(just kidding)

[1st fltsimguy 466]

Hi David.

 

Interesting points.

 

I have just started setting up my P3Dv3 to replicate as much as possilble my FSX.

This takes some time of course.  So I'm going to be running parallel sims for a bit.

 

I am not that experienced with P3D and now that I have all my Orbx regions, Global Base, UTX and Vector installed I am working on airports. However, I have notices all sorts of undesirable graphics that might be just what P3D looks like but I'm not happy.

 

So I need a place to find out what is normal what is not and if not how to adjust to fix it.

 

cheers

Bryan

[RALF9636 1,920]

Dear valuable admin team!

 

Some of you know me, I was an admin here for over a decade.

I love this place and this community Tom has leaded for years before leaving us.

I respect your work but with your permission I would like to give you my opinion about this P3D forum.

 

Actually, there is no community because there is no life.

Every post about a new addon, a hardware related issue, a screenshot or whatever subject which is linked to P3D is immediately moved elsewhere.

So here we only talk about VAS issues, FPS comparisons and ask the same questions about graphic settings and cfg's.

It is soooo boring..

If a new P3D member discovers this sub-forum he/she will immediately ask for a refund from LM and stuck with FSX because the forum is well organised but not sexy at all.

A new camera tool for P3D?

No more post about it, one has to search within the hundreds of sub-forums to find it.

A new texture addon for P3D?

Zero post about it, they are all gone to the screenshot or hangar or whatever other forum.

A new GA airplane for P3D?

Yes, in the Carenado or Alabeo sub-forum. Go and search it!

A question about photoscenery and P3D?

There is nothing, one has to search within the hundreds of sub-forums to find an answer.

 

An example?

I just posted a thread in order to compare Zinertek HD textures and the new REW WWA before purchasing it or not.

With screenshots to show the differences.

I did that to help folks compare between the two products.

Why was this thread immediately moved to the screenshot section?

I didn't post flight shots for the show but for a precise P3D comparison.

 

I believe most of the P3D users don't use FSX anymore.

I also believe they would love to find a central place where to share all the info which is related to P3D.

I can understand when you move hardware posts to the hardware forum. This is OK, software here and hardware there, no problem with that at all.

But I don't believe that moving a typical ASCA and P3D question (for exemple) to the HiFi sub forum is always the good thing to do.

In my very humble opinion, P3D users should be able to talk about the Simulator together with its addons as a whole.

This should allow a much more active and friendly P3D community, instead of a sterilized and cold place as it is today.

 

Just my 2 cts.

You can now move this topic to the Hangar!!

(just kidding)

+1

 

I'm always wondering where the interesting threads have suddenly gone...

[michaelray 236]

What an excellent post David. I feel this hits the nail on the head.

 

There is definitely no community feel to the P3D Forum. Considering the fact we know many advanced users have switched to P3D, a look through the forum reveals a lack of solid community driven discussion and detail.

 

I hope the Admins give consideration to your comments.

 

Best regards

Michael M

[Bobsk8 12,584]

Dear valuable admin team!

 

Some of you know me, I was an admin here for over a decade.

I love this place and this community Tom has leaded for years before leaving us.

I respect your work but with your permission I would like to give you my opinion about this P3D forum.

 

Actually, there is no community because there is no life.

Every post about a new addon, a hardware related issue, a screenshot or whatever subject which is linked to P3D is immediately moved elsewhere.

So here we only talk about VAS issues, FPS comparisons and ask the same questions about graphic settings and cfg's.

It is soooo boring..

If a new P3D member discovers this sub-forum he/she will immediately ask for a refund from LM and stuck with FSX because the forum is well organised but not sexy at all.

A new camera tool for P3D?

No more post about it, one has to search within the hundreds of sub-forums to find it.

A new texture addon for P3D?

Zero post about it, they are all gone to the screenshot or hangar or whatever other forum.

A new GA airplane for P3D?

Yes, in the Carenado or Alabeo sub-forum. Go and search it!

A question about photoscenery and P3D?

There is nothing, one has to search within the hundreds of sub-forums to find an answer.

 

An example?

I just posted a thread in order to compare Zinertek HD textures and the new REW WWA before purchasing it or not.

With screenshots to show the differences.

I did that to help folks compare between the two products.

Why was this thread immediately moved to the screenshot section?

I didn't post flight shots for the show but for a precise P3D comparison.

 

I believe most of the P3D users don't use FSX anymore.

I also believe they would love to find a central place where to share all the info which is related to P3D.

I can understand when you move hardware posts to the hardware forum. This is OK, software here and hardware there, no problem with that at all.

But I don't believe that moving a typical ASCA and P3D question (for exemple) to the HiFi sub forum is always the good thing to do.

In my very humble opinion, P3D users should be able to talk about the Simulator together with its addons as a whole.

This should allow a much more active and friendly P3D community, instead of a sterilized and cold place as it is today.

 

Just my 2 cts.

You can now move this topic to the Hangar!!

(just kidding)

 

You are spot on. I have been involved with Avsim forum for almost 2 decades, and I just don't understand what is going on anymore. I posted a thread about the new replacement for Ezdok, when it was first announced, and about 35 posts later it was suddenly moved to Hangar Chat. I thought I was living in the  Twilight Zone. All I see are endless posts about VAS issues ( which I have never had by the way and have been accused multiple times by forum members of lying about that), flickering, tweaks, etc.   I don't get it.. probably why I get most of my info on Facebook P3D groups now. I just am tired of the constant complaining and whining. 

[Jim Young 2,356]

I suppose we could close the CaptainSim, Carenado, Screenshot, Hardware, Windows10, and other sub-forums and just have P3D, FSX, and X-Plane forums. Many of the sub-forums were added at the request of our membership over the many years AVSIM has been in existence. When FSX/P3D/X-Plane were first released, there were a lot of discussions going on and members wanted some organization...

• "Hey, how about a hardware forum for video cards as I'm sick and tired of reading posts where people are having problems with their video card or they want to know what is the best card for FSX. Can we have a forum for that? I want to know how to configure and tweak FSX and learn how to use the add-ons."
• "What are screenshots doing here? Can't we have a separate forum for screenshots and flightsim videos?"
• "I could care less about Carenado and Captain Sim issues. Can't we have a separate forum for those products?"
• "Hey!! How about a forum for things that don't fit in the FSX or P3D or X-Plane forums? You know, just general stuff or new stuff being developed?"
• "Why was the information about a new product to replace [name of product] placed in just the FSX forum? It applies to P3D too! Maybe that stuff should be in the Hangar Chat for general discussions. You know, where people enter a hangar and ask whoever is around whether they heard about this new product being developed to replace an existing product."
• Etc., etc., etc.... There are many other examples.

I think I'm about the main mover of topics here at AVSIM but other moderators have moved topics. I usually check the box to leave the link in, say, the P3D Forum showing that it was moved to another forum. Many of our members, especially the new, are not aware we have a Crash to Desktop Forum or a Hardware Forum or a place where Windows issues are discussed. The issue or problem may have already been discussed there and, in most cases, this is where our experts reside to help others. We have some really smart people on hardware and Windows.

We (I) make mistakes occasionally and I sincerely apologize for those mistakes. Is there a perfect moderator out there? Sometimes we do not have the time to read every word in every post/topic but move things based on just the title and a quick scan of the OP. I have been guilty of that in the past and, when it is brought to my attention the topic was not about where the topic was moved, I usually move the topic back. Did you know each post, each topic has a 'Report' button at the bottom where members can click on and report an issue immediately to our moderators (okay, we are not here 24 hours a day so there may be a delay) about an issue with a topic. We sometimes listen and sometimes do not if we disagree. The moderators make the final decision on all reports. I will usually PM someone about their report if I feel it needs further explaining. I would hope our moderators would do the same.

P3D is not a sub-forum. At the bottom of this page it shows you exactly where P3D Forums are located - under The AVSIM Community. P3D, FSX, X-Plane, DTG's FlightSim, and Hangar Chat forums are the main forums here at AVSIM. I try to keep stuff related to FSX in the FSX forum and stuff related to P3D in the P3D Forum although both sims are similar as they both were originally developed by Microsoft. If someone is having a Windows 10 problem in the FSX Forum or P3D Forum, the topic clearly belongs in the Windows 10 Forum; otherwise, why have a separate forums? If we are going to discuss new product releases in the P3D Forum but not in the FSX Forum, then that's not right unless the product only relates to that flight simulator.

Heck, Dave, when you were a moderator here, FSX was pretty much the only forum on the block and everything was in the FSX Forum. Everything! And that included most of our membership. Now we have more flight simulators to play with and we have several new OS's and new hardware arriving. So yes, it is probably getting harder and harder to have extensive discussions in just one forum where everyone feels like they are part of the simulator community. Maybe we will eliminate some forums but I always hate it when someone posts a topic about a new NVidia driver that has a bug in it and it is only being discussed in the FSX Forum. What do you mean? I have to go to every forum to find out what's going on? I usually just hang out in the DTG FlightSim forum!

The PMDG Forums are a great example of what you are talking about as they discuss things about CTD's, new products, hardware problems, Windows, and just general chat. It is their support forums and they have their own moderator team and commercial support forums hosted here at AVSIM can discuss whatever they want. The AVSIM Moderators use to get involved and moderate those forums and they moved topics belonging, say, in the CTD Forum to the CTD Forum but I stopped all of that when I took over. We only police for violations of the AVSIM Terms of Service.

Most of the other forums, ActiveSky, Orbx, Carenado, FSCrew, etc., are "unofficial" support forums as the developers have their "official" forums on their own website. If you want official support for a product, you go there. If you don't, then you can go to one of our "unofficial" forums and ask your questions. Sometimes the developer visits and answers your questions but mostly it is done via user-to-user support. If you have a question about AS16, it is best to visit our ActiveSky forum and ask there because the question usually relates to FSX, FSX-SE, and P3D and those users would like to get involved too in the discussions.

So, bottom line - our community has grown by leaps and bounds over the years and it will continue to grow.

Thanks for your observations and concerns. Since it is mainly related to P3D I see no reason to move it to the Hangar Chat as it has a good purpose for being posted in this forum.

Best regards,
Jim

[Guest]

Well, let me ask you this David, how many 3rd party products are P3D exclusively? (meaning they only work with P3D and no other platform?) ... I'm not aware of any 3rd party product that is exclusively P3D (they may exist, I'm just not aware).

 

As a result, P3D forums seem to be getting questions just about P3D (i.e. VAS  usage, 64bit version x.x, etc.).  Questions about add-ons being used with P3D do seem to end up elsewhere (either in FSX or vendors support forum).  I personally have NOT moved any threads (for better or worse) but I try to focus mostly in P3D forum and not elsewhere ... for example the latest nVidia drivers in SLI only impact P3D particle effects, they don't impact FSX, FSX-SE (not sure about DTG) as FSX and FSX-SE don't have SLI support.  But does this belong in hardware forums or in the P3D forum ... I feel it's a P3D issue so P3D forum, but I could see the justification to put it in the Hardware forum also.

 

It's an interesting observation that I had never really thought about ... and I do see your point, for example if you are having a CTD with P3D, you'd have to surf thru many more threads in the CTD forum that could be specific to FSX, or FSX-SE, or DTG, or XPlane, or P3D vs. surfing just the P3D forum to find solutions to CTD (assuming of course one hasn't downloaded the CTD guide).

 

Thanks for bringing it up, it's certainly a good topic for discussion with Jim and other moderators.

 

Cheers, Rob.

[hesynergy 67]

Dear old Chap...

 

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

 

Chas

[vbazillio 2,226]

An example?

I just posted a thread in order to compare Zinertek HD textures and the new REW WWA before purchasing it or not.

With screenshots to show the differences.

I did that to help folks compare between the two products.

Why was this thread immediately moved to the screenshot section?

I didn't post flight shots for the show but for a precise P3D comparison.

 

 

Only because of this example, I'm 100% agreed David !

 

Ps : ok, now let's find the Zinertech vs REX Airport HD comparaison shots topic ! ;-(

[kevinfirth 1,392]

There are pros and cons to moving threads. However the simplest way to determine where a thread should lie is by the OP making it clear - ie a thread in order to compare Zinertek HD textures and the new REW WWA IN P3D

[simmerhead 885]

Good post David. Mods are doing a great job here, but I agree that things do become a bit too fragmentet at times.

[Dominique_K 10,133]

David

 

You made an excellent point (and an excellent post too about comparing the textures...). This forum is submerged by VAS and Mask affinity issues etc. It has become more technical and less community oriented. 

 

Well, let me ask you this David, how many 3rd party products are P3D exclusively? (meaning they only work with P3D and no other platform?) ... I'm not aware of any 3rd party product that is exclusively P3D (they may exist, I'm just not aware).

 .

 

The point is, Rob, as a P3D user, I am only interested how an addon or a piece of hardware interacts with P3D, not in their merits in general or relative to another plateform, specially when FSX and P3D are diverging more and more.  

[WebMaximus 372]

As many already said, excellent post David and really great to see you in here again :smile:

 

I fully agree with you and at the same time I can see the reason behind all the sub forums.

 

Wouldn't a good middle road be that people can choose more freely where they want to post a topic without having it moved as long as it isn't too obvious it's in the wrong place such as posting about issues in FSX:SE in the P3D forum.

 

Then people like myself who generally spend most time in the P3D forum won't miss out on important information because it was moved to some sub forum and at the same time people who only want to read about a specific add-on and nothing else can spend all their time in that sub forum.

[David Roch 1,980]

I suppose we could close the CaptainSim, Carenado, Screenshot, Hardware, Windows10, and other sub-forums and just have P3D, FSX, and X-Plane forums. Many of the sub-forums were added at the request of our membership over the many years AVSIM has been in existence. When FSX/P3D/X-Plane were first released, there were a lot of discussions going on and members wanted some organization...

• "Hey, how about a hardware forum for video cards as I'm sick and tired of reading posts where people are having problems with their video card or they want to know what is the best card for FSX. Can we have a forum for that? I want to know how to configure and tweak FSX and learn how to use the add-ons."
• "What are screenshots doing here? Can't we have a separate forum for screenshots and flightsim videos?"
• "I could care less about Carenado and Captain Sim issues. Can't we have a separate forum for those products?"
• "Hey!! How about a forum for things that don't fit in the FSX or P3D or X-Plane forums? You know, just general stuff or new stuff being developed?"
• "Why was the information about a new product to replace [name of product] placed in just the FSX forum? It applies to P3D too! Maybe that stuff should be in the Hangar Chat for general discussions. You know, where people enter a hangar and ask whoever is around whether they heard about this new product being developed to replace an existing product."
• Etc., etc., etc.... There are many other examples.

I think I'm about the main mover of topics here at AVSIM but other moderators have moved topics. I usually check the box to leave the link in, say, the P3D Forum showing that it was moved to another forum. Many of our members, especially the new, are not aware we have a Crash to Desktop Forum or a Hardware Forum or a place where Windows issues are discussed. The issue or problem may have already been discussed there and, in most cases, this is where our experts reside to help others. We have some really smart people on hardware and Windows.

 

We (I) make mistakes occasionally and I sincerely apologize for those mistakes. Is there a perfect moderator out there? Sometimes we do not have the time to read every word in every post/topic but move things based on just the title and a quick scan of the OP. I have been guilty of that in the past and, when it is brought to my attention the topic was not about where the topic was moved, I usually move the topic back. Did you know each post, each topic has a 'Report' button at the bottom where members can click on and report an issue immediately to our moderators (okay, we are not here 24 hours a day so there may be a delay) about an issue with a topic. We sometimes listen and sometimes do not if we disagree. The moderators make the final decision on all reports. I will usually PM someone about their report if I feel it needs further explaining. I would hope our moderators would do the same.

 

P3D is not a sub-forum. At the bottom of this page it shows you exactly where P3D Forums are located - under The AVSIM Community. P3D, FSX, X-Plane, DTG's FlightSim, and Hangar Chat forums are the main forums here at AVSIM. I try to keep stuff related to FSX in the FSX forum and stuff related to P3D in the P3D Forum although both sims are similar as they both were originally developed by Microsoft. If someone is having a Windows 10 problem in the FSX Forum or P3D Forum, the topic clearly belongs in the Windows 10 Forum; otherwise, why have a separate forums? If we are going to discuss new product releases in the P3D Forum but not in the FSX Forum, then that's not right unless the product only relates to that flight simulator.

 

Heck, Dave, when you were a moderator here, FSX was pretty much the only forum on the block and everything was in the FSX Forum. Everything! And that included most of our membership. Now we have more flight simulators to play with and we have several new OS's and new hardware arriving. So yes, it is probably getting harder and harder to have extensive discussions in just one forum where everyone feels like they are part of the simulator community. Maybe we will eliminate some forums but I always hate it when someone posts a topic about a new NVidia driver that has a bug in it and it is only being discussed in the FSX Forum. What do you mean? I have to go to every forum to find out what's going on? I usually just hang out in the DTG FlightSim forum!

 

The PMDG Forums are a great example of what you are talking about as they discuss things about CTD's, new products, hardware problems, Windows, and just general chat. It is their support forums and they have their own moderator team and commercial support forums hosted here at AVSIM can discuss whatever they want. The AVSIM Moderators use to get involved and moderate those forums and they moved topics belonging, say, in the CTD Forum to the CTD Forum but I stopped all of that when I took over. We only police for violations of the AVSIM Terms of Service.

 

Most of the other forums, ActiveSky, Orbx, Carenado, FSCrew, etc., are "unofficial" support forums as the developers have their "official" forums on their own website. If you want official support for a product, you go there. If you don't, then you can go to one of our "unofficial" forums and ask your questions. Sometimes the developer visits and answers your questions but mostly it is done via user-to-user support. If you have a question about AS16, it is best to visit our ActiveSky forum and ask there because the question usually relates to FSX, FSX-SE, and P3D and those users would like to get involved too in the discussions.

 

So, bottom line - our community has grown by leaps and bounds over the years and it will continue to grow.

 

Thanks for your observations and concerns. Since it is mainly related to P3D I see no reason to move it to the Hangar Chat as it has a good purpose for being posted in this forum.

 

Best regards,

Jim

Hi Jim,

I perfectly understand your point of view and I am aware of your huge involvement here in Avsim forums.

As everyone says, Rob and you are doing a fantastic job here.

I would be very sorry if my remarks seem polemical to you because of the language barrier and my 'funny English".

This is not my aim at all.

Sure, most of the moved threads are justified.

Sure, you don't have the time to read each post, you can make errors and you rely on the member’s alerts if a topic was moved by mistake.

Sure, forum members are not generally known to be very disciplined but very quick to complain.

Please believe me, I have been in the same “arena” for over 10 years.

But no, FSX was not the only sim, FS9 was then very alive and the funny thing is that I was the admin who opened this P3D forum, long time ago and leaded it for few years.

What I suggest is a bit more flexibility in order to add some “life” and interest, not to break the rules.

Maybe could you allow a single and unique topic to remain in this forum when an important addon is released, like a new weather engine, a new camera tool, a new set of textures.

This is just an idea; I know advice is cheap.

 

Thanks all for your attention and kindness.

[Bobsk8 12,584]

As many already said, excellent post David and really great to see you in here again :smile:

 

I fully agree with you and at the same time I can see the reason behind all the sub forums.

 

Wouldn't a good middle road be that people can choose more freely where they want to post a topic without having it moved as long as it isn't too obvious it's in the wrong place such as posting about issues in FSX:SE in the P3D forum.

 

Then people like myself who generally spend most time in the P3D forum won't miss out on important information because it was moved to some sub forum and at the same time people who only want to read about a specific add-on and nothing else can spend all their time in that sub forum.

 

 

+1