Orbx Discounts

[PilotPete99 915]

I just saw that Orbx has released Gothenburg for MSFS. It seems to me that the discount of 20% for previous P3D owners is a bit on the lean side. I am saying this in comparison to many other developers. For example, LatinVFR offered the KBDL for free to owners of the P3D version. I thought they used to offer 40% for bundle discounts, such as X-Plane product if you had the P3D version. This just seems odd to me.

Cheers, Pete

[DPSimulation 235]

It's a solitary developer behind ESGG isn't it? I suppose if you offer a discount larger than 20% then by the time Orbx take their percentage then there would be little left for the developer.

Even undiscounted I don't really see the price for that product as unreasonable at all.

[PilotPete99 915]

I’m not in any hurry since I am waiting for some good airliners, so I suppose I will wait for a sale.

Cheers, Pete

[curt1 79]

I was hoping the sweet spot for addon airports would be $10-15 US.  It appears that most developers are going to be just under $20 US for their sceneries.  At the lower price I buy straight out, but at $20 I will likely hold my money for a sale.  

[Glenn Fitzpatrick 3,798]

1 minute ago, curt1 said:

I was hoping the sweet spot for addon airports would be $10-15 US.  It appears that most developers are going to be just under $20 US for their sceneries.  At the lower price I buy straight out, but at $20 I will likely hold my money for a sale.  

I doubt they have realised the appeal of the new sim is the "fly anywhere you want" nature of it as opposed to the previous generation where yu tended to focus on building up collections in a specific few small areas you fly a lot.

TBH ... I suspect if a good developer started offering nominally priced well made airports for $5 to $10 US they would make more money than pricing the same content at $25 US .

[RustyFlyer 182]

4 hours ago, curt1 said:

I was hoping the sweet spot for addon airports would be $10-15 US.  It appears that most developers are going to be just under $20 US for their sceneries.  At the lower price I buy straight out, but at $20 I will likely hold my money for a sale.  

 

4 hours ago, Glenn Fitzpatrick said:

"... TBH ... I suspect if a good developer started offering nominally priced well made airports for $5 to $10 US they would make more money than pricing the same content at $25 US ."

I totally agree with both of these points. It is becoming increasingly difficult for me to spend more than $15 for an airport addon. Sure, I used to purchase tons of them in the past (for FSX), but that was then, this is now.

I will willingly and happily spend $60 for five or perhaps four airports, however I will no longer spend that same $60 for only two or three. For me, those days are over.

It would seem to me that, from a 3PD's perspective, euphemistically, a haul of 10 dimes ($0.10 each) is better than a haul of 2 or 3 quarters ($0.25 each). There is a lot to be said for a volume versus a net margin approach. But what do I know, I'm simply a "supply and demand" practitioner in differing industry...

Edited October 19, 2020 by RustyFlyer

[Steve Dra 7,574]

Thank goodness most, if not all good devs are trying to adjust to the new norm....and I can't be happier that these days below are all but over.... 🙂 

I forgot to add a column to my sheet that denoted if I got the scenery on sale, if so, what was the discount.   I usually waited for sales, but some areas I wanted, regardless of the price, LoL

Edited October 19, 2020 by Steve Dra

[Glenn Fitzpatrick 3,798]

13 minutes ago, RustyFlyer said:

 

I totally agree with both of these points. It is becoming increasingly difficult for me to spend more than $15 for an airport addon. Sure, I used to purchase tons of them in the past (for FSX), but that was then, this is now.

I will willingly and happily spend $60 for five or perhaps four airports, however I will no longer spend $60 for only two or three. For me, those days are over.

It would seem to me that, from a 3PD's perspective, euphemistically, a haul of 10 dimes ($0.10 each) is better than a haul of 2 or 3 quarters ($0.25 each). There is a lot to be said for a volume versus a net margin approach. But what do I know, I'm simply a "supply and demand" practitioner in differing industry...

My attitude as well.

As a hypothetical example:

-  if I was one of the old school "study level virtual airline simmers" I might pay $40 for say KLIA as KL is  probably the major SE Asian hub and I might need to land there in my airbus
- However in reality if I actually had an interest in Malaysia it would be to have a look around and paying $40 for KLIA is just a waste of money. On the other hand if there was a batch of airports around KL and environs at $10 each I might happily choose 5 or 6 of them and spend more than $40 .

My impression is MSFS is attracting more of the second type of customer and selling more at a cheaper price may be a viable option.

 

[officercrockey 196]

I agree, 20% is rather on the low side of discounts. Seeing all these add-ons pumped out on a weekly basis, even from the small developers, shows me that the conversion is rather easy. So I just wouldn't be willing to pay 80% again, unless it is an airport I REALLY want. I also think, that the developers have to wake up a bit. I for one (like many of you) spent a ton of money on airports before. But I haven't spent a dollar yet for MSFS airports. Partly because I am waiting for proper planes and more updates and partly because I am not willing anymore to spend that amount on scenery because in the past I found out that I am not getting my money's worth out of it if I am flying there 2-3 times per year.

FSDT seems to be the one to understand, selling their airports at 10-15$ and I can totally see myself buying those, as soon as I use the sim regularly. Flightbeam with 15$ for a big airport also seems attractive. But 15$ for a runway with 3 buildings, no thank you. Default is good enough for that (If the airport exists in the sim 😉 )

[log_0_Inf 14]

Hi there,

I was wondering the same thing and asked via e-mail about the 40% cross-platform discount announced here:

https://orbxsystems.com/forum/topic/198113-first-products-announced-for-microsoft-flight-simulator/

Just heared back from ORBX support and apparently that was a time limited offer that expired 30th of September, which I find quite peculiar as, at least as far as I know, it was never communicated to be a time limited offer, and it also makes little sense imho to limit a cross-platform discount (in contrast to a launch offer for instance). Well, I will probably wait for the next sale then, just wanted to let you know what I heard directly from the developpers.

Best,

Alejandro

 

Edit:

I stand corrected, it was mentioned in a forum post on 23rd September:

https://orbxsystems.com/forum/topic/200063-alesund-msfs-cross-platform-discount-expiration/

I still find it a little puzzling why it was not broadly communicated to all potential customers.

 

 

Edited October 19, 2020 by log_0_Inf

[Farlis 2,277]

The stingyness of some people is really off the charts.

Add-On Airports have reached the 30$ mark years ago and now that MSFS add-ons are sold for less, people still complain about the lack of discounts?

[CFIJose 5,485]

6 minutes ago, Farlis said:

The stingyness of some people is really off the charts.

Add-On Airports have reached the 30$ mark years ago and now that MSFS add-ons are sold for less, people still complain about the lack of discounts?

Completely different sims & EULAs. You have to remember why you were paying such high prices for P3D add-ons. Also keep in mind that the number of customers for this new sim is going to be much greater. That said, the prices for most MSFS add-ons is very reasonable when you consider inflation and cost of doing business.

[log_0_Inf 14]

1 hour ago, Farlis said:

The stingyness of some people is really off the charts.

Add-On Airports have reached the 30$ mark years ago and now that MSFS add-ons are sold for less, people still complain about the lack of discounts?

Hello Farlies,

Apologies, but I do find your statement actually a little bit out of place. Companies are free to choose the price points for their products and I do not question that right nor do I complain about the lack of discounts. I for one have a limited budget and will simply prioritize buying discounted MSFS sceneries, but I do not feel entitled to any discount and I accept that other customers choose differently.

I do however have very strong preferences for transparent communication with your customer base and I do believe that free markets are dysfunctional with that sort of asymmetric information. Orbx have always been very transparent about their end of year sale for instance and hence I wonder why they choose to not communicate the end of the “launch window” in a similar way.

Best,

Alejandro

[tpete61 225]

I'm baffled as to why all these expensive airport add-ons are even necessary. Most of the large airports I've checked out in the united States are plenty good for simming. You fly in and out and the aircraft simulation is most important.

I can't see spending additional money for all of these airports. Heck I would be spending quite a bit just to cover say 10-20 airports I regularly use.

No slight to ORBX but most of the samples I've seen look like fast port overs of existing stuff. Most of it doesn't look earth shattering as far as improvement from the default scenery.

 

 

[Kilo60 660]

18 hours ago, PilotPete99 said:

I’m not in any hurry since I am waiting for some good airliners, so I suppose I will wait for a sale.

Cheers, Pete

This ^^^^
 

Really don’t see myself going crazy on adding a ton of worldwide airports until I have some decent fully functioning, study level, heavies to fly...

PMDG has spoiled me in P3D...!

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 19, 2020 by Kilo60