Sack the Saboteur - Seriously!...

[bobcat999 8,444]

I am giving MSFS a rest for a while now.  I have no other sim to go back to, and I won't reinstall FSX, X-Plane, or P3D as it just isn't worth the time and trouble.  So this isn't one of those 'I'm going back to...' posts that I detest so much myself. 😁

If you check my previous posts, I am one of the ones advocating perseverance and patience with the sim.
However, please listen and see if you understand my frustration, which it seems a lot of us share over this sim, and that hopefully will improve over the coming years.  (Yes, years, at the current development pace).
My issue is not so much the slow development pace actually, but more to do with the constant issues, bugs, regressions (call them what you want) after every update.

What makes me frustrated is that I have a sim that has regressed to the point that I am now really frustrated with it and I am not enjoying it so much anymore.  The big one for me after the latest update is the micro-stutters and pop-up scenery.
I also have a number of broken payware aircraft in the hangar that I have paid a good price for - I do blame MS/Asobo for this by the way, and they even admitted they broke the aircraft in the latest twitch video, and that they are getting emails from the developers over it, so lets not argue any more over that one. 

With the micro-stuttering that I never had before (and others are reporting), going up and down on resolution, or complexity settings, does nothing to remove this - so much for the recent 'optimisations'.  ☹️ 
I don't use any caching by the way, and it locks fine at 30 fps though RTSS, 37-38 fps when unlocked.  So this is not a frame rate issue, it is a stuttering/micro-pause issue.  

I now also have white lines running through scenery, more pop-up scenery than ever - the Hover Dam bridge literally built itself in front of me from about a mile away - but the canyon walls were also trans-morphing from close range in anyway!
The bridge builds itself and then disassembles itself as you fly away, all in easily visible range - LOD issue?  Mine is set at 200 and has been for ages.  So poor optimisation, or the LOD settings are being played with again.  Why bother making such great scenery (which it is) if it is going to be immersion busting by having it display poorly like this?

And of course, don't even mention the lethargic autopilot after this patch - what were they thinking to release it in this state?

So, the point of my post.  Firstly, I really like the developers.  They are really passionate, and we have never had communication like this before.  BUT!  With the silly errors that have been happening, it either comes down to incompetence, or someone at MS/Asobo messing things up on purpose (maybe an employee with a grudge?)  At the moment, and with people calling for respect for the developers, I simply have to think this is down to one employee slipping in one of his or her own little 'fixes'.

My reasons for this are that they always seem to say 'but we haven't changed anything with that!', they just don't seem to know or understand what has happened sometimes.  😐  'But we haven't changed this or that' etc., and they genuinely seem confused.

But the worst ones are where there really is no reason for it to happen, as they really haven't tried to change anything (unless they are being insincere with the patch notes).  Here are some issues with previous patches.

The control sensitivity box inexplicably disappeared, so we couldn't alter our joysticks etc. Then the USB port issues that stopped many getting into the game, and we now have an inexplicable keyboard swap-out that was confusing many until someone found out you had to go back to settings and swap it back, and who knows what could now be causing the fuzzy dialogue boxes for heavens sake - if they aren't altering graphics settings, how can that happen?  I am sure people could think of many more; we all know it has become a fearful thing waiting for the next update, and a bit of an embarrassing joke in some circles (I don't find it too funny myself).

So, if they aren't meaning to alter these things, and they claim on most that they haven't, or didn't mean to, then what is your opinion?  Incompetence?  Or a saboteur?  Discuss and give your thoughts! 🙂

PS.  I don't care if feathers get ruffled by this post.  As you can probably tell, mine are already ruffled a fair bit, so to the flamers in advance, do your worst and fire away. 👍  I will at least be able to get a good laugh out of it - heaven knows I could do with it! 

Edited November 28, 2020 by bobcat999

[Kilo60 660]

I share your frustrations and too have kind of put this on the back burner for now for all the same reasons and issues you mentioned.  I feel like I'm constantly trying to bang my head against the wall when playing lately and am spoiled by the great Payware A/C that I own in P3D that have perfectly functioning IFR systems.

 

It's had for me also to go back to P3D but I believe MSFS will be an excellent sim in a year or two!

 

For now, I just do short VFR hops, enjoy the scenery, don't use the AP and patiently wait for more updates.

Edited November 28, 2020 by Kilo60

[MarcG 2,922]

It's always good to take a break and come back later on, MSF is clearly a Sim that needs a lot of time to mature and now that the initial release hype has died down it is showing its weaknesses. The Patch release process is awful, I've posted on the Official Forum about how bad I think it actually is, I've never seen anything as bad as this - patch after patch introducing new bugs that are so obvious they clearly should've been fixed prior to release, but the deadline dates they adhere too are seemingly unmoveable (bar one patch). They need to learn and learn quickly.

For now I'm clinging on, hopefully the VR Update and then the UK Update will help things nicely, but I too am getting that burnt out feeling from too many New issues. The future of the Sim is bright, but there's a long ways to go yet!

[Virtual-Chris 682]

I’m also taking a break, but it’s the malfunctioning AP in my case. 

The regressions with every update is mind boggling.

Forced updates in an application with so many 3rd party dependencies makes no sense. It likely means that every update will always be very disruptive, and ultimately a forced update may possibly kill functionality for a vital add-on that is no longer supported by the 3rd party that developed it.

I mean, none of us would be frustrated if we could just roll back to the previous version and carry on until the issues were addressed. 

Edited November 28, 2020 by Virtual-Chris

[hvw 381]

Same here. The malfunctioning A/P did it for me too.

[hjsmuc 393]

One more here. I admit to not being a patient person but at some point things become non-excusable. In times of confinement it would have been wise to keep the sim in a workable state or offer the option to roll back to an older build. At least something to use would then be there.

[edpatino 1,960]

Yes, this is really difficult to understand, a brilliantly developed sim, but with a poor management for the "optimizations" and updates. Two steps forward and one, two, three steps backwards?. Ughhh...!

Cheers, Ed

[ChaoticBeauty 6,692]

I didn't think I'd ever say this, but sadly I have to agree. For all their transparency, it is regrettable that they are trying to sweep certain issues under the rug. For example, the bug that has made it impossible for me and many others to play with weather on, because suddenly my hardware is incompatible without anything in the patch notes, and with the system requirements continuing to remain out of date.

Considering the complexity of an application like this and the apparent rushed launch by Microsoft, I can excuse some of the regressions, but not when they fail to publicly acknowledge them and provide a definitive answer.

I've also put the simulator aside for now, and unfortunately I will have to keep it that way until I can get a new system. And being told to upgrade is not very decent when the majority of regions worldwide are experiencing supply and pricing issues due to the pandemic.

[Mike S KPDX 597]

I am personally loving it, things get better and better for me.  I wish you all well and look forward to your return which will be marked in time when this sim shines for all of us.  Thank you for your thoughts.

[Ricardo41 5,935]

31 minutes ago, bobcat999 said:

and we now have an inexplicable keyboard swap-out that was confusing many until someone found out you had to go back to settings and swap it back,

...which took an earth shattering, "game-breaking" 4 seconds to fix.

[Carts85 1,203]

Im not quite at the point of stepping away but I’m in total agreement in what’s being said here so far. I could allow for the early update mishaps but it seems they haven’t learnt there lesson and it’s now looking poorly managed. They really need to get this back on course an quickly.

[EmaRacing 302]

+1, not even trying the world updates till it's fixed, The sim is worse than on day 1: 
-Performance 35fps on NY to 20
-Stutters
-Scenery tiles completely blurry that never load, or load in front of me.
-Way worse night lighting
-Controls surface authority at low speeds still a joke
-Turning ratio on ground unbelievable
-No believable turbulence
-Metal bridges look like solid blocks even after us world update, following the route THEY designed!

I'll do just a couple of flights a month, to maintain my fleet expenses in FSE.

[frankla 44]

I dont know why I can't stop laughing at the title of this thread. LOL

[MikeyOnTheFlightDeck 189]

Add me to the list as well. Given up with it now due to malfunctioning AP. I actually think Asobo are not competent enough to deliver on the potential promise of this game. The degree in which patches get released ends up being just as regressive as progressive each time. I’m starting to think the project is too ambitious for Asobo full stop. Obviously I would love for them to prove me wrong on this. For now MSFS is sidelined and that’s a real shame. 

[OSM 683]

FS2020 is not a Flight Simulator anymore and flight simulation community must accept this sad fact!!!

FS2020 is a MMORPG - a massively multiplayer online role-playing game.

"As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a character (Pilot in the FS2020) often in a fantasy world or world, and takes control over many of that character (Pilot) actions. MMORPGs are distinguished from single-player or small multi-player online RPGs by the number of players able to interact together, and by the game's persistent world (usually hosted by the game's publisher), which continues to exist and evolve while the player is offline and away from the game."

Now logically expect any farther improvements will be MMORPG updates and not a Flight simulation improvements.

 

Edited November 28, 2020 by OSM