Do we know anything about how updates for products sold via the in-sim marketplace will be handled? Will MS push the updates directly to us inside the sim, or will we be getting popups telling us to go visit the developers webpage to get our updates?

Personally, I hope that devs will let MS push the updates to us. Makes everything super easy. But how about addons that you buy directly from the devs or 3rd parties? I hope they can be added to the push-function and not have to be updated manually. 

Edited August 9, 20205 yr by Andreas Stangenes

These are important questions to be answered and well understood since it not only will potentially effect our decision of where to buy the sim, but also where/how to buy the addons we want in the near future.

2 ways to buy the sim (MS & Steam)

3 ways to buy addons (MS, Steam, Direct from 3rd party site)

Edited August 9, 20205 yr by hangar

Just now, hangar said:

These are important questions to be answered and well understood since it not only will potentially effect our decision of where to buy the sim, but also where/how to buy the addons we want in the near future.

Yeah, I was pondering this when I saw that Orbx having a sale for their products but with the clause that you have to buy it directly from them. I know Orbx has put a lot of work into their delivery application/hub, but maybe that will make things clunky in the future depending on how the updates work in MSFS marketplace. 

I understand, yes you're right. These particulars really need to be made clear soon, both by MS and also by the addon vendors. I'm afraid things like patching will get very messy if we're not aware of whatever limitation may be placed upon us, depending upon how/where we buy stuff.

3 minutes ago, hangar said:

These are important questions to be answered and well understood since it not only will potentially effect our decision of where to buy the sim, but also where/how to buy the addons we want in the near future.

2 ways to buy the sim (MS & Steam)

3 ways to buy addons (MS, Steam, Direct from 3rd party site)

Actually, the last option there is more complicated, because some addon developers have other 3rd party sites that sell their products. So I can have an addon developed and produced by X, and it is also sold by them, but they also have a deal with Y who also sells their product. In this case, some will maybe demand that I update via the actual seller, or in other cases I need to go to the developer to get my update. Sometimes the updates are zipfiles in forum posts that are hard to find. Would be SOOO much better and streamlined if we could have this handled for us internally in-sim. 

Yup I get it and I'm also concerned about that same thing. I think I'd prefer it if we could get game patches from our chosen platform (which is nearly a given)...and then be able to just buy direct from 3rd party sites including using 3rd party patching. But in doing this I believe the vendors will need to offer installations for your specific platform (such as a Steam installer if you have the Steam version of the sim).

ORBX seemed to be suggesting that you'd need to buy their add-ons through their portal to qualify for the discounts...

"As ownership needs to be validated, this discount can only be applied via purchases from OrbxDirect."

...which suggests that the ORBX portal is going to co-exist, unless I've misunderstood. Would have preferred all this to sit within the MSFS marketplace (although having said that, I think the ORBX add-on management system is excellent).

well then it sounds like you will have a choice. They probably be available for purchase from the MS marketplace OR direct from Orbyx (with a special discount). My concern is, will Orbyx need to supply a platform specific installation exe for either Steam or MS installs, should you buy from them directly? (im assuming, yes...but really dunno).

Edited August 9, 20205 yr by hangar

16 minutes ago, hangar said:

well then it sounds like you will have a choice. They probably be available for purchase from the MS marketplace OR direct from Orbyx (with a special discount). My concern is, will Orbyx need to supply a platform specific installation exe for either Steam or MS installs, should you buy from them directly? (im assuming, yes...but really dunno).

Orbx is already able to handle multiple platforms (P3dV4, V5, XPlane,etc), so adding two more should not be beyond their capability, I would think.

And.. the discount is only if you already own the specific airport on another platform..

Edited August 9, 20205 yr by Bert Pieke

34 minutes ago, hangar said:

well then it sounds like you will have a choice.

MS generally states that they leave it to the 3rd parties to either use the integrated marketplace or their own shops.

I didn't make up mind mind yet and would prefer the marketplace in general, but with ORBX it might be different because of the discount (I own their complete P3D product range) and ORBX Central actually became a really good management tool.

But what will be the fate of Simmarket and their siblings? Maybe they will also offer a discount for the Aerosoft, JustSim, Digital Design, Drzewiecki Design ... products you bought for P3D or FSX there?

Kind regards, Michael

The question of how add ons And the marketplace will work and where add ons will predominantly be available Are the primary reasons I didn’t pre order 

Addons can for all their benefits also be a bit of a nightmare. When I've been away from the sim for a time, coming  back is always such a hassle. I have to visit each publisher in turn and update their products. So if I get the urge to fly after a break, then I will have to postpone my flying for at least half if not a full day just so I can get the things I need updated. 

I can see a future where the addon are purchased in the sim store, and there is a great little button to update them automatically 🙂 Would also be nice to have all the verifications of purchases in one place too. 

Edited August 10, 20205 yr by Andreas Stangenes

1 hour ago, Andreas Stangenes said:

Addons can for all their benefits also be a bit of a nightmare. When I've been away from the sim for a time, coming  back is always such a hassle. I have to visit each publisher in turn and update their products. So if I get the urge to fly after a break, then I will have to postpone my flying for at least half if not a full day just so I can get the things I need updated.

That's essentially why I flew so little with P3D. I had a ton of addons that worked reasonably well together, but keeping it all up to date and in working condition just became such a big hassle every time I took a break from flying and playing other games.

Eventually, I just gave up and waited for MSFS.

It's going to be interesting to see what MS, Asobo and the 3rd party developers figure out. I hope they depart from the tradional methodolgy, and do things streamlined. It's much more in line what what Asobo and MS clearly wants to achieve. 

As a user of many add-on products, I want ONE place to perform purchase transactions and updates, and I want those updates to be done either with a single click or in an automated manner. 

This will benefit:

• existing simmers who want a modern method of maintaining a flight sim platform
• newcomers to flight sim
• people who step away from simming for a period of time and come back to it and face multiple third party updates
• third party vendors that want to reduce support requests when their customers don't read update/installation instructions