Ha!  I was such a MSFS word not allowed from the early days.  So much enjoyment over the years.  Then came along FSW, XP11 and P3Dv4 roughly at the same time.  So, I ditched my beloved FSX-SE for FSW and quickly realized it wasn't ready for prime time.  So I picked up XP11 and said wow, this is a different sim.  Then, just like curiosity killed the cat, I jumped on the P3Dv4 band wagon because the hype indicated it was the cat's meow.  For 4 months now I have been bouncing from one to the other...not serious with FSW yet.  But I set-up P3D pretty much with everything that was upgraded for free...but I did buy ActiveSky for P3Dv4.  

For some odd reason, I cannot pull myself away from XP11....even with it's minor flaws and missing some stuff (i.e. Seasons, airports with no buildings, etc) it is absolutely the most immersive sim I've ever had the pleasure of using.  The only things I've purchased are XPRealistic, Carenado Beech Baron B58 and SimCoders expansion packs for the Baron and the LR C172.  The rest of the excellent stuff has been free, like SimCoders Headshake, 124thATC, etc.  I have also pulled down some outstanding free sceneries.  I must tell you, and I know I'm preaching to the choir, the past few days I have had more fun flying around than I can remember having for quite some time.  Sure many people can bash XP for one reason or another, but the bang you get for the buck is just crazy!

I think Austin's vision for XP is nothing short of genius.  I say that when I look at the features you get out of the box, like Plane Maker, Air Foil Maker and WED.  Then, you couple in undulating runways, night lighting, flight physics, and general default scenery which are really leading the way.  On top of that, the slick UI, easy controller set-up (I don't have anything complicated so cannot speak for anything outside my CH Eclipse Yoke), ease of installing the sim and the way updates are made and the fluidity and smoothness just to name a few.  Then, as the cherry on top, look at all the really great FREE add-ons like what I mentioned above and the sceneries wow!  Without vision and innovation, you get none of this.  Thank you Austin and team!

i have to admit I had a meltdown earlier today on a competing sim and posted it in Hanger Chat.  I couldn't help it, but I will say I was honest and tried not to be too over the top.  But I just couldn't take it anymore.  So, I thought I'd come here to say that for me XP11 is my every day sim and for many good reasons, some noted above.  Keep up the fight Austin and team!

Well dadgum....it filtered out a word I used about myself...lol

Well said.

I do however, miss the seasons, this needs to get done.

And after flying quite a bit I tried the freeware sky colours and things trying to get better clouds and am having problems with LUA shutting down, that sort of drives me nuts.

And finally,  the overall colour, looks appropriate in many placed but in locations like NW of North American, Norway the textures are completely off reality they need to be a richer green and less the yellowy faded look.

But I do love lots about this sim as you said.

Bryan

4 hours ago, SmokeDiddy said:

For some odd reason, I cannot pull myself away from XP11....even with it's minor flaws and missing some stuff

+1

Started with FS8 ( or was its 7)  , left FS and joined FLYII ( the great sim by Richard Harvey, wich died after Richard had passed away ) had a look at Flight-Gear and X-Plane and returned to MSFS.
Playing with FSX I re-discovered X-Plane and a was Bi-simual for a year.
Then I left FSX and never got interested in P3D

For some odd reason, I cannot pull myself away from XP11....even with it's minor flaws and missing some stuff. ( not my words, but they fully express my feelings. )
BUT it must be said XP11 also have things other sims only can dream of.

1 hour ago, Leen3131cs said:

BUT it must be said XP11 also have things other sims only can dream of.

This is profound and so true.  The other thing I like about X-Plane is that Austin and company occasionally put together a Q & A session and give us direct feedback about what they're doing and things their fixing or adding - even a proverbial put-off of a feature that's been asked for.  Honesty and forthrightness go a long way in maintaining loyalty to a product.  What's not to like about a development team that gives feedback back to their customers?

My favorite items in XP11 are the landclass and the default aircraft handling, as well as the haze effect which really mimics real life.  The mesh is very good as well, especially in the swiss alps where it is very accurate and I can recognize all the major peaks quite well.  Ground torque however is quite strong and there seems to be no way to tone it down, I have to fight with the rudder to keep the aircraft on the runway, not like real life where just light input handles torque and mild crosswinds.  Once in the air however the aircraft are quite controllable and easily trimmed.  XP11 also does not recognize all the buttons on my joystick unlike P3d which does.  Have looked for answers but have found none, so I need to use the keyboard brackets to handle trim, sometimes a nuisance when on final.  Minor things, not enough to keep me from enjoying XP11.  Had a wonderful flight in the Cirrus from JFK to Boston the other day, in late afternoon with fine twilight effects filtering in to the cabin.

John