Hi All,I have been lurking for a long while here and in other flight sim forums over the past few months. The release of FSX is, of course, an extremely interesting time to be a sim-enthusiast. As with all previous releases of flight sims, it brings out the absolute best and worst in the community that we have all become a part of.I just wanted to peek out of lurking mode for a moment to comment on what I see as the Best aspect of FSX's release:Watching with utmost respect the actual developers and insiders within the ACES team actually interact with the users and end-user developers of their prized work!It has been a LONG time coming as some of you long time members here know. There have been many current and previous games where the standard of developer interaction within their own community was succeedingly set higher and higher. Its no wonder that a fervent community such as the sim community saw the ultimate pinnacle of that standard (in my humble opinion): by the dedicated and very Personal involvement of the Fly! team during its unfortunately short shelf-lifespan. Richard Harvey, may he continue to Live in glorious Joy throughout the hereafter, personified the very definition of Community... From the inside out.I am overjoyed to see the direct and Active participation of the ACES team here on these forums and elsewhere in the sim community! It can be nothing short of intensely difficult in times like these to deal directly with end-users and end-user developers during a release such as FSX, of this have no doubt. It takes very thick skin (flame retardant, of course) and a great deal of patience while being hit so hard by so many users as is always the case during initial months of release...And yet, they stay. The rewards are immeasurable in the end, of course: for them and for us. There is *nothing* like the *direct* support and open ear of actual the actual developers to make a piece of software easier to understand, run and expand than their interactive presence. As a developer, I also know with absolute certainty that the pride and joy of seeing your community through the difficulties and successes of your hard work is next to priceless.Community *Is* Everything.I pay my sincere respect and admiration for you ACES and Microsoft developers and insiders who have finally opened communication directly with Your community.I heartily applaud you.Sincerely,Elrond Elvish(a very warm hello to all my friends and acquaintances here at AVSIM: its wonderful to see so many of you still thriving and participating in this very warm community. Wonderful job, Tom and team, keeping this, the most successful online community I've ever seen or been lucky enough to be a part of, still thriving with such dedication and heart. Peace to you all.)

Welcome back and that was a calming, well thought out post. I've been a lurker myself for 9 years and on occassion will come out of the swamp for a flurry of activity. Fly was one of them. Richard Harvey was one of a kind may he rest in peace. My opinion of the FS team has become admiration as they calmy deal with the tumultous responses of this release. I find myself biting my fingers at some of the irresponsible postings, I wonder how they deal with it, or do they just take it in stride as part of the growing pains of a new release?Ian.

Elrond, is that really you? It is so nice to see you around here! I hope that you are feeling well and that you can continue to participate with us.Best regards.Luis

Great post, Elrond. I think it's actually MS policy that has changed to allow the interaction, but kudos to the Aces team for taking the ball and running with it. Just because the are allowed to post does not mean they are required to. It's great to see you poke your head in here as well, Elrond. I hope to see you around more as well.Tony, a former Fly! fan as well.

Ditto, I too am very glad the ACES team members are now actively involved with the community. I know several members have been involved with the community for some time but now they have the "OK" to do it as representatives of MS. This can do nothing but increase the level of quality products for the sim community.

Well said Elrond !!RegardsEddy North Wales - UK

Thanks for noticing, we are trying to stay engaged and up to date. It will be harder to stay caught up as the number of users increases, but we will do our best! :)If we are absent for awhile, it's probably because we got behind on our scheduled work...

Yes, you guys have done an awesome job with the community, and tomorrow morning I go to pay my meager $70 respects. -Jeremy Burchhttp://home.earthlink.net/~dawgfighter/sit...es/swvasig1.gifSWVA4806 http://www.virtualswa.com/home.phpThe Ozark Dogfighter http://forums.avsim.net/images/wedge.gifCurrent system:Pentium 4 Cedar Mill 641 (3.40GHz), Abit AW8D, Gigabyte GeForce 7900GTX (512MB DDR3 PCI-Express x16),Corsair XMS2 Pro 2GB PC2 6400 (DDR2 800), 2 SeaGate Barracuda 250GB hard drives, Sound Blaster X-Fi PlatinumKlipsch ProMedia Ultra 5.1 speakers, NEC 20" CRT, Microsoft SideWinder Force Feedback 2Please note: System specs are for reference in tech forums only and are not to be taken as meaning anything else.Doing so will result in eye-rolling, possible teeth grinding and perhaps mild internal chuckling.Happy Flying!

i must say thank you as well... not often you get this kind of customer service :) But more so than that, as Elrond said: Community