Should You Stop Buying P3D/X-Plane Addons? The MFS Effect

[Ron Attwood 3,464]

On 2/7/2020 at 1:56 AM, Adrian123 said:

BUT, you can only use a new type of Ping equipment on the new course. Would you keep investing in current equipment?

By equipment I assume you mean hardware. In which case, yes.

[Tom Wright 438]

To be honest I'm looking forward to starting fresh with FS2020 on launch day. I haven't used P3D in a long time and my installation is such a mess now with add ons that either don't work properly, that I no longer use or that are now several versions out of date. One of the things I hope for the most with the new sim is an easy and centrally managed way of installing and updating content for it.

[JonP01 104]

Similar to what some previous posters have written, I will 100% be going to the new sim, but not for a long time yet - probably measured in years - 3 to 4 years from now at the bare minimum. I am so impressed by what I have seen with "FS2020" that I think I would be out of my mind not to upgrade to it, but I want to do it properly on my own terms and with no regrets.

I remember all the previous iterations of the sim that I have used since the mid 90s. All of them entailed a significant and very expensive upgrade of hardware and to a greater or lesser extent there followed a long period of bug fixes, establishing tweaks, configurations, etc. And that is before actually setting it all up to suit the way you use it. Al that effort has easily amounted to several months at a time for each of the older sims. Not to mention I also ran CFS2 and CFS3 which were both trail-blazers of the technology that found its way into FSX.

I generally found in the past that a few years needed to pass before state of the art hardware could really run any of the previous sims reasonably well (at least to me) and I don't really think this time around will be that different, despite the world having changed and this version presumably being much more friendly to large numbers of cores and being 64 bit (compared to FSX). And then when you get into the world of complex add-ons, the system requirements extend much higher yet again. Ergo, I am not in any hurry to spend what is inevitably going to be thousands on a state of the art setup from the ground up (including monitor) if I am not going to get something that can run this new sim really well with add-on aircraft.

But the big thing too is that just like FSX, it will take possibly even two or three years for software issues and bugs to be sorted with the new release and for the community to really get on top of it like it eventually did with FSX. After having gone through all of this with FS95, FS98, FS2000, FS2002, FS2004 and FSX, I don't want to be an early adopter this time around. I am literally getting too old for it! These days I just want to fly. I only tinker now when I have to. 20 years ago I loved doing that sort of stuff - to me it was all part of the hobby.

So to answer the question I am still buying FSX add-ons - and at my highest rate yet. I had held off buying new add-ons for years because my GPU was really holding me back. But since getting a modern GPU early last year (but kept the old machine otherwise as I built it 10 years ago) I have bought several A2A aircraft and am getting a number of Version 3 (2017) Megascenery Earth products.

[Hamish100 89]

I still giggle when I see Orbx peddling new LC areas and to be honest new airports.

There is a going to be a game changer this year no question from what we have seen. I am always fascinated how technology disrupts usually for the worst in most cases but our hobby this is not one of those moments

. This a revolutionary step and yes I have ceased all buying except the PMDG NGXu which can be ported over... No matter how much was invested P3D and Xplane are I hate to say over... This is not FS9 which I loved to FSX this is a well a 14 year light year jump. 

Like a great White Burgundy going to be able to make a grown man cry...Hopefully.

 

:)

[BIGSKY 316]

How many of the 200+ add-on airports I have for P3D are going to be adapted to the new sim? If I had the answer, and it was all,I would continue to purchase more, to do otherwise is a waste of my money.

[LHookins 3,102]

That A2A Comanche I bought 12 days ago just went over 50 logged hours yesterday.  That marks the point that I got $1 per hour out of the plane.  I've flown it enough to require an oil change. 🙂  I'll get at least another 50 hours out of it.  The A2A Cub has 227 hours so far since January 4 and I'll be flying it again a few times before I retire P3D.

I'm sorry so many of you aren't enjoying your sim as much as I'm enjoying mine.

I was able to do an Atlantic crossing via the Azores in the Comanche, hand flying and no GPS.  No amount of videos and screen shots will ever equal that experience.  The Comanche is the only single engine plane I have that could do that crossing, and it required a lot of tailwind, available courtesy of Active Sky's real time real world weather.  

Hook

[martin-w 3,234]

I'm somewhat amused by those that proclaim how they aren't interested in the least in the new FS2020 sim and will carry on spending big money on the old sim...

I wonder if they will change their minds when the sim is released and it turns out to be just as amazing as we suspect it will be.

I'm wondering if they should wait and see if the new sim is as spectacular as it very well could be, before making definitive statements.

I'm wondering how they will react if videos are posted of the new sim, in all it's glory, stunning scenery, awesome flight dynamics and spectacular weather, and if they might find themselves reaching for their credit cards. 

After all, just because you adore the old sim, doesn't mean you can't install the new sim alongside it. It's not compulsory to abandon your old sim, just because you have the new sim on your hard drive. Why not enjoy both. It's also not compulsory to spend a truck load of your nations currency on new add-on's for the new sim. And from what we have learnt so far, it looks like you wont have to. 

[tweekz 2,165]

4 minutes ago, martin-w said:

After all, just because you adore the old sim, doesn't mean you can't install the new sim alongside it. It's not compulsory to abandon your old sim, just because you have the new sim on your hard drive.

I guess most simmers will do that anyway. Except for some who don't reach the minimum requirements, aren't really interested in simming or are just too stubborn to try out new things. 😉

[LHookins 3,102]

3 hours ago, martin-w said:

I'm somewhat amused by those that proclaim how they aren't interested in the least in the new FS2020 sim and will carry on spending big money on the old sim...

Name two.

I'm interested in the new sim, I'll buy it as soon as the reviews start coming in, but in the mean time I'm not giving up flight simming.

My average historical budget for aircraft has been $180 per year.  I've still got $100 of that left to spend if I find something I like.  That's another two to three aircraft.  The utilities budget is separate.  I do not buy scenery.  Hardware doesn't have a budget.

Hook

[LHookins 3,102]

Up to 75 hours on the Comanche. 

Frooglesim called this a study level aircraft.  While nothing like a PMDG airliner, the Comanche has a lot of depth:  I noticed my oil consumption was higher than expected and eventually had to repair some oil leaks.  Also had to repair a broken flap linkage which I found on the walk around pre-flight inspection.  I'm currently in the Faroes on the way back across the Atlantic and just did an oil change to winter weight oil.  This is what "study level" means in a GA aircraft.  

Scott at A2A owns a real 1959 Comanche and the sim version is modeled after his personal aircraft.  They put a lot of work into getting it right.  I found a pdf version of the pilot's operating handbook online for a 1959 Comanche and it's been fascinating reading;  everything in the manual is pertinent which is something I've never experienced before with a sim aircraft.  The Comanche just feels like a real aircraft.

What all this means for MSFS is, I didn't give up flight simming, uninstall all my current sims or decide not to "waste money" buying anything else because I might be getting a shiny new toy next Christmas.  I just recently turned 70 and I just don't have time to put my (simming) life on hold based on a promise.  The Comanche story illustrates what I would have missed if I'd done any of that.

We might eventually get the A2A Cub and Comanche for MSFS, but "eventually" is a long time coming.  I expect the initial aircraft available for MSFS to be very good, but I'm not waiting to experience them;  I'm flying the best available sim GA aircraft right now.

Hook

[Krakin 5,724]

There is no wrong answer here.

[Chock 17,769]

I seems from this thread that most people would agree that it would be silly to simply abandon your P3D, FSX or XPlane (other sims are available ™) simply because there is a shiny new one on the way, or even eventually available.

Like those people, I'm sure the new sim will be very groovy and a must have and all that, but it's going to be a long time before it will have a high end study sim of an airliner or some such in it of the kind you get from the many excellent developers there are who have created stuff for the aforementioned sims. We know those things take years to arrive. Yes some of these will be ported over or at least the basis of them could be used to create something specifically for MSFS2020 (or whatever they are calling it when it finally comes out), but don't hold your breath waiting for this to occur. 

An interesting thing developers could do if this scenario is affecting their sales, is issue a promissory note that a discount will be made should one purchase something which they plan to port or develop a version of for to use in the new sim. This has been done before, for example with the QW Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which, if you bought the FSX version, was then available at a discount for P3D when that version came out. I in fact did buy the FSX version of that 787 on the basis of this, and subsequently bought the P3D version too, which of course means that I bought it twice (albeit at a discount), but then again I also did that with the FSL A320 as well, and a few others (with little to no discount, ouch!). We might choose to regard this as perhaps a waste of money, and there's no denying that this sort of thing can put a dent in your wallet, but it is the price of admission if you want something now rather than in what has on occasion meant a wait of several years.

So I'll be enjoying flying my Majestic Q400 and my iFly 747 and my QW 787 etc in the interim, and when I feel like flying a Cessna over the shiny new terrain in the new sim, I'll be able to do that too.

Edited February 20, 2020 by Chock

[Mengy 814]

13 minutes ago, Krakin said:

There is no wrong answer here.

Very true, everyone has their own preferences and priorities.

For myself I just don't like investing in sunk costs, when an investment is trending downward and will never trend upwards again I get out of it.  That's how I feel about FSX/P3D/Xplane now, with MFS coming later this year I know full well that I will be migrating to it and that I will be uninstalling my other sims within the next year or two.  It's happening, that's just a fact.  Knowing that I will not invest any more money into the current sims, to me that would simply be poor investing.

But to each their own!  I'm glad many people will continue to support the current sims, that's good for the market.  It's just not what I will be doing anymore.

Edited February 20, 2020 by Mengy

[tweekz 2,165]

2 minutes ago, Mengy said:

Very true, everyone has their own preferences and priorities.

For myself I just don't like investing in sunk costs, when an investment is trending downward and will never trend upwards again I get out of it.  That's how I feel about FSX/P3D/Xplane now, with MFS coming later this year I know full well that I will be migrating to it and that I will be uninstalling my other sims within the next year or two.  It's happening, that's just a fact.  Knowing that I will not invest any more money into the current sims, to me that would simply be poor investing.

But to each their own!  I'm glad many people will continue to support the current sims, that's good for the market.  It's just not what I will be doing anymore.

About the same here. But to me it's still worth the fun in the meantime. Also MSFS will need some time to gain momentum addon wise. Although I expect that to happen sooner rather than later.

I will not invest in expensive addons tho. As well as weather or scenery addons. Basically just planes.

[RALF9636 1,884]

28 minutes ago, Chock said:

I seems from this thread that most people would agree that it would be silly to simply abandon your P3D, FSX or XPlane (other sims are available ™) simply because there is a shiny new one on the way, or even eventually available.

Like those people, I'm sure the new sim will be very groovy and a must have and all that, but it's going to be a long time before it will have a high end study sim of an airliner or some such in it of the kind you get from the many excellent developers there are who have created stuff for the aforementioned sims. We know those things take years to arrive. Yes some of these will be ported over or at least the basis of them could be used to create something specifically for MSFS2020 (or whatever they are calling it when it finally comes out), but don't hold your breath waiting for this to occur. 

 

I'm not so sure that it's going take years until we will have so-called "study level" airliners in MSFS. I rather expect that to be a question of a few months if not even the included A320 and B748 will already fall into that category.

But regardless how long it will take, I also see now reason for me to stop enjoying what I can have now just because I might get something better in the future. In fact I am enjoying P3D more than ever: all its long standing flaws don't bother me that much any more because of the prospect of the new sim on the horizon. So I bought the FSL A321, the AS A330 and the A2A Cub lately and with all the hours I will have on these until MSFS arrives this investment will long have paid off.

Edited February 20, 2020 by RALF9636