After reading PMDG's OP-ED it brought back why I never liked the Steam concept.  Now with the advent of a version of FS being 64Bit and the likely forcing of add-on developers to use that platform to distribute thus cutting into profits it's more apparent my dissatisfaction with Steam.  Many people praised Steam as the best way to get software to users but realities like PMDG's post is insightful to it's usefulness in this community.

Steam is good for games, I'm using it for 10 years and love it. For another kind of software or simulators, I'm not sure if is a good option, and after reading the PMDG topic, they say something true and fair.

Perhaps even more important than the quality and capabilities of a new sim is the business model it follows... will users be required to add-on (whether it be payware or freeware) thru the distribution system?  If so will the sim survive?  Time will tell...

Greg

Tbh, it does have its advantages, for instance when it comes to DRM: 3PDs don't have to develop their own protection, but can rely upon steam to do the job for them. That means: Not having to switch off antivirus software, not needing to beg devs for additional activation keys only because you have a new PC or did a re-install, etc. Steam refunds policy applies to all purchases, so if you find out a specific addon doesn't work on your machine, there's no need to beg devs to take it back. So it is very convient for users. I wouldn't want to go back to the times when I had to download every single community-made item for every single game I owned from a different obscure website.

It is just a tradeoff between having more sales, but less profit on steam or less sales with more profit outside of steam. How the numbers work out, everybody has to figure out him or herself - especially when another distributor charges an additional 30% on top of the steam fee.

Steam is great.  It may not fit the model PMDG require and i completely understand that, but Steam itself is a fantastic idea and piece of software

1 hour ago, WotanUK said:

Steam is great.  It may not fit the model PMDG require and i completely understand that, but Steam itself is a fantastic idea and piece of software

Agreed!

1 hour ago, Dillon said:

After reading PMDG's OP-ED it brought back why I never liked the Steam concept.  Now with the advent of a version of FS being 64Bit and the likely forcing of add-on developers to use that platform to distribute thus cutting into profits it's more apparent my dissatisfaction with Steam.  Many people praised Steam as the best way to get software to users but realities like PMDG's post is insightful to it's usefulness in this community.

Respectfully, I must disagree...

Personally I love Steam, and I'm trying prioritize my purchases so I can centralise my games. The refund policy, the handling of DRM and installation, updating and inspecting integrety of your games. All in all, I like Steam - especially compared to other similar services (Origin, UPlay etc...).

Of course, this is just my humble opinion. 

Every version of MSFS I have ever bought, from FSW95 to FSX, I bought in a box from Game on the high street. In the days before widespread broadband Internet, I bought a fair few addons that way as well. 

As we know, since FSX was released in 2006, the bricks and mortar high street shop has largely gone the way of VHS and audio cassettes. Steam is just a 21st century shop window.

PMDG have a right to a view on whether that particular shop window is worth being in financially, of course. But Randazzo's point about needing cash to reinvest applies as much to Dovetail as it does to PMDG. Let's not forget that MS ditched FS because it simply wasn't economically viable to sink millions in to developing a platform to sell for £30-£50 once every two years (if they were lucky, given that there are still people here who haven't yet upgraded from FS9!) and not get anything out of the third-party market.

DTG so far seem to have learned some of the lessons of MS Flight. Whether it will work in the long term remains to be seen, but Steam is not unique as a concept: there was a bit of fuss about the Apple App Store, Google Play Store etc a few years ago and now they are the norm if you own a smartphone or tablet.

PMDG have done a lot of good work, that is certain. But they are not the beginning and the end of the flight simulation community. There have been other devs before and there will be others afterward. 

FSW is a mass-market product on a mass-market platform. However good P3D is, it is not either of these things and due to the EULA, can never be. Can PMDG afford to not be selling to the mass market going forward?

What's good for the masses is not always good for the simmer!

Steam is a great platform and makes installing and keeping track of addons very simple. The way I see it is that PMDG don't want Steam to take a cut of the sales for selling on their platform. That's all it is.

What I think is the issue here is the high costs associated to the Steam distribution channel. If the Steam platform is interested in growing itself, they would need to approach all single developers and offer something financially feasible. Forcing, pushing someone to do something not feasible is not going to be a successful effort at the end. So please, DTG, with that in mind, sit down and negotiate in fair conditions and do your homework!.

Cheers, Ed

 

6 minutes ago, Pineapple_Wizard said:

Steam is a great platform and makes installing and keeping track of addons very simple. The way I see it is that PMDG don't want Steam to take a cut of the sales for selling on their platform. That's all it is.

I agree. And i personally find it not very objective from AVSIM that Mr. Randazzo´s post was pinned on the front page. There was already a lively discussion on the PMDG forum. I do not see the necessity to post it again.

Regards

Christian

 

3 hours ago, Dillon said:

Now with the advent of a version of FS being 64Bit and the likely forcing of add-on developers to use that platform to distribute thus cutting into profits it's more apparent my dissatisfaction with Steam.

There seems to be a disconnect with reality in many of these ruminations...

DTG has made it clear that any developer can continue to sell via their own online stores, provided they also make that same product available for purchase via the Steam portal.

From my perspective valued customers will continue to shop at the developer's store. For the most part those who buy via the Steam portal would likely never have become a customer otherwise!

Granted, net-net from Steam sales would be less than selling direct, but it seems to me that even so it's a net win-win for the developer. Revenue earned that otherwise would have never been earned is a plus.

Now if DTG did insist (as MS did!) to limit sales to the Steam portal, that would not be a good deal at all. Fortunately, that is not the case!

Domae001 (above) hit the nail on the head. The world gets bizarre pretty quickly when you are dealing with many many vendors each with their own DRM, distribution, licensing, keys etc. Every time there is an update, addition, change you are off on a search to see what you need to do and half the time it does not work or the connections are terrible. This all makes it hard to mange and control for the user and most of these vendors do a poor job of it because they are aircraft and scenery producers and not "platform" or e-commerce developers. so... Steam all the way!

2 minutes ago, Rivet said:

Every time there is an update, addition, change you are off on a search to see what you need to do and half the time it does not work or the connections are terrible. This all makes it hard to mange and control for the user and most of these vendors do a poor job of it because they are aircraft and scenery producers and not "platform" or e-commerce developers.

The exact reason I abandoned Orbx for years until they introduced some sanity with Orbx central

Every time a new Flight Sim Platform comes out their is always 'The Sky Is Falling' types. 

When FS5.1 jumped to FS95 everyone went nuts because that meant Flight Simmers were forced from DOS to Windows.....but now that has become the norm hasn't it

DTG has been really accommodating from the details they have released so far. Buy from their store, or don't. those options are available to you. 

I for one really like ORBX FTX Central and what they have done. If the success from that moves to PMDG or others then great. If you still want to purchase from separate vendors and save an archive and uninstall and reinstall from your hoard.....you can still do that too, your sky isn't falling after all.