What's up with the bizarre upgrade edition pricing?

[Flyfaster_MTN002 412]

Purchased the Premium Deluxe $119. Marketplace in the sim shows all these upgrades to purchase. I checked the planes and am missing the Cirrus and Longitude. Filed a support ticket with Xbox/MS and got a canned troubleshooting reply saying 'resolved'. Unreal.

[Griphos 138]

I contacted Xbox/Microsoft game support and asked them.  The support person double checked my account and asked me to send a picture of the in-game Marketplace price and info.  She checked with others above her and assured me several times that once I buy that bundle with the "flightsim credits" I would own (digital ownership) the Standard edition and all the upgrades in the Premium Deluxe version that usually sells for $120, and I won't have to continue my game-pass.

So, I bought it.  I won't be cancelling my Game Pass for at least the rest of this month.  Why should I?  But I downloaded all the new content, and the Marketplace shows all three upgrade packages as owned by me.

If you're having trouble with missing content, @Flyfaster, go into Profiles, Content Manager and download them that way. 

[Flyfaster_MTN002 412]

12 hours ago, Griphos said:

I contacted Xbox/Microsoft game support and asked them.  The support person double checked my account and asked me to send a picture of the in-game Marketplace price and info.  She checked with others above her and assured me several times that once I buy that bundle with the "flightsim credits" I would own (digital ownership) the Standard edition and all the upgrades in the Premium Deluxe version that usually sells for $120, and I won't have to continue my game-pass.

So, I bought it.  I won't be cancelling my Game Pass for at least the rest of this month.  Why should I?  But I downloaded all the new content, and the Marketplace shows all three upgrade packages as owned by me.

If you're having trouble with missing content, @Flyfaster, go into Profiles, Content Manager and download them that way. 

Tried going into the marketplace to 'puchase' the upgrade (which I already paid for!) and it 'failed'. Am on version 1.7.12. What a joke.

[Griphos 138]

You don’t need to go to the marketplace or buy what you already own. Go to Profiles and the Content Manager and just download what you don’t have downloaded yet. 

[bonchie 2,305]

14 hours ago, Griphos said:

I contacted Xbox customer support and asked.  I was told that the upgrade to Premium Deluce (USD 84.99 for me) includes the Standard Edition and I do not need to stay subscribed to Game Pass.

I think I'll try it. 

So all you need is the gamepass, then buy the Premium Deluxe upgrade and you have it?

Edited August 21, 2020 by bonchie

[Griphos 138]

That's what they assured me.  It has something to do with "flightsim credits" which will be a thing in the marketplace, I guess.  Kind of a nice feature for those who try it with Game Pass.  It says I own the standard and all the upgrades.  And I was able to download everything.  Of course, I haven't cancelled Game Pass yet, so I can't be absolutely sure.

I do think they got the pricing mixed up.  I'm betting they meant to set the price for the Deluxe as USD 79.99 and the price of Premium for USD 84.99 and the price of the Premium Deluxe for USD 99.99 but got those latter two crossed. 

Works for me, though.  🙂

Edited August 21, 2020 by Griphos

[buedi 36]

I also had a chat with Microsoft this morning and I also got the confirmation that when I purchase the Premium Deluxe Upgrade from the in-game store for 85€, I get the full game and I can keep it even when my Gamepass expires. He said this is the exactly same thing I can purchase in the Microsoft Store for 120€, just a better deal.

Also below the price it states that you are not buying the game directly, but you by FlightSim Credits which get converted to the game. And this is what happened when I purchased it. It showed me I received 340 FlightSim Credits and it immediately after started to download 3,8GB additional content.

[PickledGopher 0]

Hmm.. I just read in ms flight forums a guy that bought prem/deluxe from gamepass and then he said cancelled gamepass and the game stopped working. To roll the dice or not, lol.

Edited August 22, 2020 by PickledGopher
words

[Wewk584 137]

15 hours ago, PickledGopher said:

Hmm.. I just read in ms flight forums a guy that bought prem/deluxe from gamepass and then he said cancelled gamepass and the game stopped working. To roll the dice or not, lol.

... and he called support and they ultimately either gave him his money back or the sim.. 

 

at least thats the only version of the story that makes (legal) sense

[EmaRacing 302]

Following this.
Selling you fly credits and not software directly, me thinks it's a nice way for them to evade local taxes give us the same stuff for less money.

[109Sqn 1,566]

I appreciate the updates above. I'm still tempted to try it myself before they adjust the pricing but I think I'll let you nice people be the Guinea pigs since I have free Gamepass until the end of October. By that time, those of you on the 1 month membership will have cancelled and found out if it works as they promised and we hope.  Knowing my luck, the prices will have changed before then!🙄

 

Please report back when you've cancelled Gamepass, and if you have any more news before then. Thanks.👍

[howevr 39]

If you are on Gamepass then you can buy the version you want inside of XBox Gamepass for PC otherwise you only have the Standard version while subscribed. If you let your subscription lapse you will no longer have Gamepass access and will have to purchase MSFS direct.

In the Marketplace (MP) there are 3 options to "add" the extra content to the base game. Once paid the extra aircraft/airports will be downloaded and available. MSFS will not show as being owned by you anywhere other than the extra content inside the sim. You will see comments like User owns a digital license which simply means you have a license to use MSFS whilst a Gamepass subscriber.

You will not see any reference in XBox or the Microsoft store that you own the game. In fact you will still see the option to buy MSFS for the full price from the MSFS screen in XBox where it will say "Purchase Options". Those of us that have actually purchased a game via Xbox will know that this Option changes to "Install" when you have purchased the full game.

Another way to look at this is that the Marketplace is only available from within the game. We can therefore assume that you already own at the very least the base (Standard) version in order to be able to access the MP and buy the optional addons and MSFS upgrades.

It is not clear in the MP that those 3 items simply enable access to the extra content for people who only purchased the Standard or maybe the Deluxe version. When you do the math it is definitely cheaper to pick the version you want from the outset.

In my case I've had Gamepass for several months and will keep my subscription at least until it is out of beta and the monthly fee doubles. I'll then cancel my sub and buy the latest shinier version of MSFS directly.

Hope this helps.

Cheers.

[Griphos 138]

No, I don't think this is very helpful.  It's just your interpretation (guess), and I think it's faulty in some ways. 

Do you work for MS or Xbox? 

In the MP the three versions do not state to "add" the extra content.  In fact, they state that buying one of the upgrade packages will give you everything including the new material. “The Deluxe Premium Edition includes EVERYTHING from Microsoft Flight Simulator PLUS 10 additional…planes and airports.”

What you see in the Xbox app is affected by what you do in the Xbox app. 

Again, I will rely on the explicit confirmation from Xbox/MS representatives that my purchase included the whole package and doesn't require a continuing subscription to Game Pass.

I'll cancel Game Pass when I'm ready, and if I was told the wrong thing from the rep, I guarantee you that they will make it good.  But unless you work for the company and know what you're talking about, or have tried buying it and then cancelling Game Pass, then writing your interpretation of matters here on the forum isn't at all helpful.   

Edited August 24, 2020 by Griphos

[109Sqn 1,566]

17 hours ago, howevr said:

 

Another way to look at this is that the Marketplace is only available from within the game. We can therefore assume that you already own at the very least the base (Standard) version in order to be able to access the MP and buy the optional addons and MSFS upgrades.

It is not clear in the MP that those 3 items simply enable access to the extra content for people who only purchased the Standard or maybe the Deluxe version. When you do the math it is definitely cheaper to pick the version you want from the outset.

 

I wouldn't have gone as far as saying it's 2unhelpful2, but what you say definitely doesn't fully correspond with the information in the sim's MP. You say:

17 hours ago, howevr said:

...the Marketplace is only available from within the game. We can therefore assume that you already own at the very least the base (Standard) version in order to be able to access the MP and buy the optional addons and MSFS upgrades.

But that's not the case. I do not own the base game - my only access to it at the moment is through GamePass. I am, in effect, 'renting' it (in my case for free for another 2 months, for others it will be for £1 p/m or whatever). And yet I have the option to 'buy' these upgrades which include the base sim. Nowhere does it say continuation of GP is a requirement for access to the upgrade. Using your interpretation, if I bought one of these upgrades and then cancelled GP, I would have an unusable sim which I could only access again, presumably, by subscribing/re-subscribing to GP.

 

Now, maybe that actually is the case (though it is contrary to what Griphos has been told by MS), but it is ambiguous downright misleading of MS to fail to make that clear in the MP listings.

I'm not saying you're wrong in what you say, but it definitely doesn't tally with either what the listings say or what Griphos (and Buedi) has been officially told. {I can certainly agree that if buying without a GP version, getting the version you ultimately want from the outset makes most sense financially.}

Something's definitely not right somewhere.🤔

[wthomas33065 994]

On 8/18/2020 at 7:13 PM, cepact said:

You are only paying for the upgrade. When your gamepass expires, you will have to buy the base game otherwise it won't launch.

Not True.  The upgrade wording clearly says it includes everything from the base game plus the extras.  I figure the ultimate deluxe pricing right now is lowered to get more people to buy in.  It will probably increase to $120.00 at a later date.  

Once you purchase the upgrade, then you look at your content and it shows all versions as "purchased".  

Edited August 25, 2020 by wthomas33065