18 minutes ago, Lorby_SI said:

  I suspect that with the release of MSFS, sales of FSX/P3D addons will almost cease for a while. M 

 We still don't know what rabbit Lockheed Martin will pull out of the bag with v5. As you say it is a very fluid situation.

5 minutes ago, domkle said:

Is it definition 1 or 2  😉 ?

Definition of anxious

- characterized by extreme uneasiness of mind or brooding fear about some contingency : WORRIEDanxious parents

- ardently or earnestly wishingShe was anxious to learn more.

Truthfully? Both actually. Definition #2 for the "looking forward" part, definition #1 for the last part...

If there is something worth buying, I will buy it. But the last months are really slow from the developers as well. Maybe they are already knee deep into it. Who knows. Look at the flightsim show in Cosford. Not one thing from there that seems news worthy. X-Plane announcing a few more better landmarks and default airports for 11.40 and orbx and Aerosoft had basically nothing for P3D. Flightsimlabs and the A321 is also suspiciously quiet for the last few months. So, what can we actually buy to support them? On simmarket there are only the usual suspects releasing some bad quality for high prices but from the top tier developers you hear nothing.

15 minutes ago, domkle said:

We still don't know what rabbit Lockheed Martin will pull out of the bag with v5.

One thing we do know: it will not be a mass-market product, not in any way like what Microsoft is currently doing.

If MSFS takes off, then that is where the money will be and where the developers will go. I guess that it will take MSFS about two days to achieve the same number of users that are currently on P3D. 

Best regards

Just now, Lorby_SI said:

I guess that it will take MSFS about two days to achieve the same number of users that are currently on P3D. 

Honestly it might be two hours..

There is ton of runway for the buzz to keep building before launch, and look at where the interest is already at!

18 minutes ago, n4gix said:

Truthfully? Both actually. Definition #2 for the "looking forward" part, definition #1 for the last part...

What I liked in the two FSElite interviews was that the four French guys were genuinely jubilant about explaining their views and the iteration process of their work.  Be  the same jubilation be yours. 

18 hours ago, Casualcas said:

Good point someone brought up in another thread, but let's expand that...

Who's going to keep buying addons, or are you in wait and see mode now.

Honestly? If it's a wow factor, I would probably buy it. But its gotta knock my socks off. Like accufeel did for me

You do what is best for you.

Personally I am not spending on any on new P3D addons. MS has stated that legacy FSX models (probably goes for P3D) will work in some shape or form with MFS. But for the third party devs to update to their models to MFS you will probably have to buy it again.

14 hours ago, Greazer said:

Let's be real, truth be told here.... most flight sim developers are moon lighting second jobs on the side, it's a hobby, not their main source of income. If they make some money it's a bonus. 

You're quite wrong here. I and many others I know do this as their main source of income. I've just come back from the Cosford flight sim show and there are a lot of other developers and companies there who do this full-time. 

Of course, nobody should buy addons just out of sympathy, but remember that many will suffer and likely won't survive to make addons for the new sim if sales of their products in an already niche community grinds to a halt, and it's quite tiring now to read under any new product announcements quotes such as  "I'm not buying this, I'm waiting for FS2020, you're irrelevant, ha ha ha". For some reason, there is suddenly an awful lot of hate for developers who have kept this hobby alive all these years. It's these same companies that are now for some amazing reason being essentially boycotted and hated upon because they somehow are bad for wanting to be paid for the addons they create. I remember the same hate being thrown at Dovetail when all the flight sim team lost their jobs, and it's a sad state of society and the community today that people are actually behaving like this.

Over the years, a niche industry has arisen around FSX, P3D and X-Plane and it's very possible that in a few years time all that will be left is Microsoft's Flight Simulator and several large companies churning out content for it (Pretty much like DTG's Train Sim or DCS). As a simmer, this makes me pretty sad and I'd probably leave the hobby and find something more approachable (and cheaper) and as a developer, pretty uneasy about depending solely on one company who could pull the plug at any time, and they have done this now, twice). 

9 minutes ago, Rob_Ainscough said:

So how many users are currently active with P3D?  😉

The real draw for developers will not be PC sales, it will be XBOX sales (several magnitudes larger market due to low cost of hardware entry).

Cheers, Rob.

My estimate is that there are between 100 - 200K P3D users. Maybe even less than that. 

Personally I think that the exposure and they way of distribution will have the most impact. P3D you only buy if you happen to somehow stumble upon it, and there is the licensing to consider. MSFS will greet you in the Windows 10 start menu tiles on every new installation, it will be present in all MS publications, in all media, on all social platforms - flightsim related or not. Heck, it is like that even now, months from release. Just a click away so to speak. And you just take that click and minutes later you can fly over your own house in a realisitc aircraft. 

Best regards

 

Edited October 6, 20196 yr by Lorby_SI

28 minutes ago, Rob_Ainscough said:

So how many users are currently active with P3D?  😉

The real draw for developers will not be PC sales, it will be XBOX sales (several magnitudes larger market due to low cost of hardware entry).

Cheers, Rob.

Hmmm...Google tells us that there were about 41 million Xbox One sold in the last years, while there are some 1.2 billion PC players in the world. Currently on Steam alone there 16 million online users (not total users, but online at this very moment).

I still believe the major market for a simulator like MSFS is the PC platform and not Xbox, which is not even the premier console worldwide. 

Edited October 6, 20196 yr by GCBraun

I see no reason to avoid buying something I'm interested in, where the likelihood is that it won't show up for years in MSFS. Scenery, maybe not, but it's going to take a long time for my favorite aircraft models to show up there.

For example, Thranda has what looks to be a terrific model of the Pilatus Porter in development for XP. For me, that's an insta-buy when it's released. One of the iconic bush planes, and it will benefit from the upgraded PT6 turboprop modeling.

What are the chances MSFS will launch with a Porter? Or that we'll see one by a 3rd party in the first year of release? I doubt it will be in the first wave of aircraft released, so I'll be happily flying that Porter for a while in XP. The same might go for purchase of any upcoming helicopters, since that doesn't seem to be a priority for the initial MSFS release.

I know we don't all have the same perspective on this. Some people don't care that much about specific aircraft, and will fly anything offered in MSFS just to see the scenery. I'll do some sightseeing in MSFS with what's offered, but a love of certain specific aircraft will probably keep me flying and buying aircraft (if not scenery) in another sim, for quite a while yet.

1 hour ago, tonywob said:

 

There is free loader mentality that has always been the scourge of this hobby as long as I remember, specially from people who, of course, have not done any freeware ever for the community. I was also appaled to see the venom of some posters against developers since the E3  announcement  (including some on this thread). Nobody obliges you to buy a PMDG, an Orbx  product etc . 

The end of the road if the cottage industry dies will be a monopolistic EA of the flight simulation. Heaven forbid ! 

On the optmistic side, I was glad to see the Asobo French engineers be so happy, jubilant, to make the new sim and their deep wish to work with 3rd party devs.

Edited October 6, 20196 yr by domkle

21 minutes ago, tonywob said:

Over the years, a niche industry has arisen around FSX, P3D and X-Plane and it's very possible that in a few years time all that will be left is Microsoft's Flight Simulator and several large companies churning out content for it (Pretty much like DTG's Train Sim or DCS).

If the others can't keep up then what can you do. It's been at least a decade with very slow progress. We need this simulator yesterday.

IF the landscape and the Clouds in FS2020 are this quality out of the box, me as a casual VFR flyer dont need new addons of this kind then anymore,

maybe an Airport here and there i especialy like and if it gives me even higher res, but new Airplanes will still keep me very interested in Addons!

The other thing is you would get rid to start/install a bunch of additional programs to let our todays FS look good,

each re-install takes time, more addons = more time and one of the addons needs an update and so on.

Edited October 6, 20196 yr by Nedo68
typo

I'm saving for a new system so no more software for me. I don't use everything I got now.