I am a 50 year old, long-time user of flight simulator products and spend much of my free time enjoying recreating real-life commercial aircraft operations. Having a good bit of real life GA flying experience as well as a 20+ year professional career in large military aircraft aircrew training (classroom and simulator) I

well said, doug. I agree with virtually everything you said. We have a lot of whiners here and on other forums. I'm sure MS knows what really matters for the success of FSX. For one thing, the development team has been getting regular input from current sim users after they requested that those people interested sign up and respond to a questionaire after each flight. I'm one of those rsponders and appreciate that MS is interested enough in how I and countless others use the sim.Sherm

Agree, 100% You

Oh now Doug, don't get all sane and reasonable on us. You'll taint the prevailing spirit of this debate. Seriously, those of us here who've worked on the product for a while have seen enough not to get offended or discouraged by what people say. (The whole 'sticks and stones' parable I remember from my youth comes to mind.) In fact, I find it all very amusing.Plus, as Jason pointed out recently (http://blogs.technet.com/pixelpoke/archive/2005/12/20/416331.aspx) there's very little we see that hasn't already been requested or suggested. So, if it makes people feel good to add their voice to the chorus that's fine. User feedback is one of many things we look at when making product design decisions. And given that we've been around for 20+ years by trying to make rational business tradeoffs you can be certain we'll continue to do that.

Doug,I am not sure if you were referring to me with respect to the "spot camera" or not, but my recent comments were about a fixed camera viewpoint that can be rotated and zoomed at will. Since Looking Glass Studios sorted this one out a decade ago, I see no reason why it can't be implemented in MSFS.This is only one of the aspects of the Flight Unlimited series that I really do think should be looked at more closely. If I have come across as somewhat "over critical" with these (few and far between) comments, then I apologise. However, I know what features are the most important to me in a flight simulator, and I would simply like Microsoft to incorporate them into FS. I won't be using FU3 forever, and I would very much like to be able to see FSX as a worthy successor. However, I need to feel "comfortable" with a flight simulator, and that means having a few important boxes ticked.Somebody once asked me what I would do when Flight Unlimited 3 fails to work on future PC hardware, as if suggesting that I NEEDED to get used to MSFS for when that inevitable day arrived. My response was simple....IF I DON'T FIND ANOTHER FLIGHT SIMULATOR THAT I AM COMFORTABLE WITH, THEN I WILL NOT BE USING A FLIGHT SIMULATOR AT ALL !Chris Low.

Actully Mike, I just had to get that one off my chest. I do feel MUCH better now :)Thanks for hangin in there!DougDell XPS Gen3 (3.6GHz/800FSB) | 2GB DDR SDRAM | 74GB SATA, 10k RPM (C: ) | 120GB SATA (D: ) | 256MB ATI Radeon X800 XT (Catalyst 5.13) | Audigy 2 ZS Sound | MS Force Feedback 2 | WindowsXP Pro (SP2) | DirectX 9.0c

Hi Doug,I, for one, am thoroughly satisfied with the flight simulator products Microsoft has produced over the years in that they

Hey Doug - I haven't posted in quite some time (undoubtedly long before you got here) but have been lurking a little more actively lately with the announcement of FSX.I've gotta say - if after only the 100 or so posts you have you're beginning to get frustrated, perhaps this isn't the right place for you.This isn't to say what you're saying isn't legitimate - it's partly legitimate. The other part is just a lecture.Maybe you're concerned that the dissident, irreverant, complaining, whining voices in the crows are going to somehow cause the Microsoft guys to decide it's not worth it to visit, pull up their stakes, pack up, go home, and do whatever they want?Seriously - if you don't like it, don't read it. It's been there since the day the internet was turned on and it's not going anywhere.With all due respect, everyone wants something different from their experience and to suggest your desires hold more (or as much) weight as that of anyone else is naiive.Let people be arrogant if they want. And sometimes people don't realize when they're being arrogant.Andrew

Well said in rejoinder. The comment by Doug,Talk about

I've got a couple of more than 100 posts and I think Doug's right on. Some of the stuff posted recently is just over-the-top in most all respects. Add my voice to those who are becomingly increasingly frustrated by the "demands" seen here. The menu has already been prepared and the main course will be served when ready. It's too late to get the cook to change things now."The Other" DougEdited 'cause I can't spel

Hi 'Other" Doug ;)"Some of the stuff posted recently is just over-the-top in most all respects."Like what? I'm sure I've missed some of these. Everything I've read so far (and it certainly isn't everything) sounds reasonable as a wish-list item at worst.cheersAndrew

Doug,You are 50 and I am 54, we both can engage in meaningful debate what is important or less important in this product. But there are lots of "kids" here who view the MSFS through the prism of first-shooter games.Michael J.http://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/pmdg_744F.jpghttp://sales.hifisim.com/pub-download/asv6-banner-beta.jpg

Well, I am 55 and y'all are a bunch of punk kids. :)There is merit to both sides of this discussion. Were you in my shoes, you would see the demanding attitude mulitple times daily. On the other hand, I can see the fervent requests of addicted users as just that, fervent requests.I need to take up another hobby that is less "user interactive", like digging for truffles (I would only then have to worry about my pig "sniffer dude partner" and they are not all that demanding - a carrot, apple, some mush, whatever, they then BE HAPPY!!!) or stamp collecting, or maybe building plank-on-frame ship models where all I have to worry about is cutting myself with an Xacto blade or super gluing my thumb to the main mast!!!

Tom Allen writes....Well, I am 55 and y'all are a bunch of punk kids. :)Awe geez...tom, now you are making me come out of the closet...'cawz you're just a punk 55...:-)I got my medicare card in the mail a couple of weeks ago. Talk about a wakeup call....anyway, back to simming, and this discussion is why I love the hobby as much as you and everyone else!Sherm

Sherm, yeah and I have known you since before you got your AARP membership card. :)And speaking of which, that was the most depressing day of my life; that is, when the AARP membership card showed up in the mail. No actually, a week before, when paying a bill in a resteraunt in Baker City, Oregon, the cashier asked; "are you over 50?". I said; "Yes, but only by two days". His response; "That's alright sir, you still qualify for our senior's discount...". Talk about depressing!!!