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Yoochem

MSFS and tourism

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Hi everyone!

Do you use the latest Microsoft Flight Simulator? Then please keep on reading! Contribute to scientific research by filling out a short 10 min. survey and sharing your experiences in this forum.

MSFS 2020 can easily be considered a new form of virtual tourism: travel without ‘real’ travel. But could this substitute a vacation-feeling to some degree? And why/how? My master’s thesis on Virtual Tourism and Travel will try to answer these questions.

From a personal perspective, this topic really fascinates me: I am both an avid traveller (at least, in ‘normal’ times!) and a MSFS-user myself. My girlfriend and I are both loving this sim since we started using it to fly around both familiar and unfamiliar places around the world… which got me to the point at which I am now with my thesis.

Your thoughts, opinions and experiences can contribute so much to my research and make a difference in a cutting-edge research topic.

Please fill out the survey by clicking on this link. It should only take about 10 minutes of your time, thank you so much in advance!

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All done? Time to discuss the topic! Share your experience, opinion, and/or comments about how Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) simulates (or stimulates?) your travel appetite. And of course, discussion about the topic and with each other is not only allowed, but also actively stimulated!

Thanks again and looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

Jochem Lips

MSc Tourism, Society, and Environment

Wageningen University & Research, The Netherlands

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PS: Wondering what to write about? You can use (but you do not have to restrict yourself to) these questions to get started:

1.      Do you ever have moments when your MSFS experiences make you feel as if you are ‘there’, where you are flying? What were you doing? What do you think contributed to this feeling?

2.      Have you visited any place in MSFS that you would consider really traveling to?

3.      … or are there any places you visited in MSFS that you feel less inclined to travel to now?

4.      Why do you use MSFS? Is this the first time you are using a flight sim?

5.      Who are you? Do you think that MSFS users are a very specific group of people, or do you think anyone could enjoy this sim?

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Note: by participating in this discussion, you consent to your answers being used for the purposes of this research. This means that what you write might be published or used in e.g., presentations or other material that might be publicly accessible. Anonymity of your answers cannot be guaranteed, although you can request to have your (user)name omitted in the research report and other data resulting from this study. Please explicitly mention this in you answer(s).

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Note to moderators: I have tried to contact this forum's admins to make sure that this topic/post does not violate any forum rules. If there are any concerns about this, please contact me and I will make any necessary changes. Note that there are truly no commercial interests vested in this research; its purpose is purely academic.

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As a fellow countryman I almost feel obliged to fill out your survey.

I want to add that I travaled a lot, for pleasure and for business. The covid situation made us (my wife andI) rethink that.

With the current situation (enviroment and pandemic) I feel I can no longer jusitfy to fly from Amsterdam to almost any european city for € 25,-

 


I9-14900K,  Gigabyte B760 Aorus Elite AX, RTX 4080, 32 ram.1 tb nvme  M.2 SSD, MSFS 2020 on 2 tb nvme m.2 SSD

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Just want to say I made this survey and can report that there will be absolute no personal datas you need to share, despite gender (if you like) and natioanlity.


Guenter Steiner
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Betatester for: A2A, LORBY, FSR-Pillow Tester
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Done 👍.

I just realized how MSFS has helped us go through these annoying Covid times 😄. Everytime, I just open the map and pick somewhere new to go, especially these places that I was/am planning to visit in real life 😄 


AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D, 64GB DDR5 6000MHZ RAM, RTX 2080Super 

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I'm well travelled... Good survey...all done!


Regards

Paul EGCC

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Done. Good survey.  Excellent questions.


Call me Bob or Rob, I don't mind, but I prefer Rob.

I like to trick airline passengers into thinking I have my own swimming pool in my back yard by painting a large blue rectangle on my patio.

Intel 14900K in a Z790 motherboard with water cooling, RTX 4080, 32 GB 6000 CL30 DDR5 RAM, W11 and MSFS on Samsung 980 Pro NVME SSD's.  Core Isolation Off, Game Mode Off.

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great topic, I flew to hawaii, took the Icon to a resort hotel and the water, parked and "walked" up to a deck to listen and hear the sounds of the local area... it's truly a real experience

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Done. Interesting initiative, thanks for that. Just wanted to add here that real travel is essential for me and I will continue pursuing it as long as it is doable. 

  • Upvote 1

Hans

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As a good German neighbor I'm pleased to answer your survey.


- Harry 

i9-13900K (HT off, 5.5 GHz, Z690) - 32 GB RAM (DDR5 6400, CAS 34), RTX 3090Windows 11 Pro (1TB M.2) - MSFS 2020 (MS Store, on separate 4TB M.2).

 

 

 

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Hi everyone! What a great number and, most of all, positive replies! Thank you all so much for taking the time and effort for filling out the survey!

4 hours ago, hansb57 said:

As a fellow countryman I almost feel obliged to fill out your survey.

I want to add that I travaled a lot, for pleasure and for business. The covid situation made us (my wife andI) rethink that.

With the current situation (enviroment and pandemic) I feel I can no longer jusitfy to fly from Amsterdam to almost any european city for € 25,

Always nice to see fellow Dutchmen online! 🙂 You raise a very interesting topic, which is part of the reason for this research. Given the negative environmental and (sometimes) social impacts of travel, would you be willing to reduce your number of trips per year by enjoying some digitally sometimes? Why (not) or under what conditions?

 

4 hours ago, guenseli said:

Just want to say I made this survey and can report that there will be absolute no personal datas you need to share, despite gender (if you like) and natioanlity.

Thanks for checking (and filling out) the survey @guenseli, your feedback is much appreciated.

4 hours ago, omarsmak30 said:

Done 👍.

I just realized how MSFS has helped us go through these annoying Covid times 😄. Everytime, I just open the map and pick somewhere new to go, especially these places that I was/am planning to visit in real life 😄 

Thanks to you as well @omarsmak30! You touch upon another good point. Given these extraordinary times, do you think that using MFS satisfies your travel itch a little? And you say the places that you 'were' planning to visit. Is it because of covid that you no longer want to/can, or do you have other reasons?

3 hours ago, tull said:

I'm well travelled... Good survey...all done

Thanks @tull! Nice to meet a fellow traveller 🙂 I guess I could ask you the same question... Does MFS satisfy your travel itch to some extent? What are your reasons for this?

3 hours ago, badger2000 said:

All done.  Hope it helps

Sure does @badger2000, thank you so much.

3 hours ago, bobcat999 said:

Done. Good survey.  Excellent questions.

Thanks @bobcat999, I'm glad you enjoyed the survey.

3 hours ago, JETPETER2 said:

great topic, I flew to hawaii, took the Icon to a resort hotel and the water, parked and "walked" up to a deck to listen and hear the sounds of the local area... it's truly a real experience

Hey that's a great story @JETPETER2. What made you try this, and what made it so real for you?

2 hours ago, hjsmuc said:

Done. Interesting initiative, thanks for that. Just wanted to add here that real travel is essential for me and I will continue pursuing it as long as it is doable. 

As with the others, also a big thanks to you @hjsmuc. What makes real travel more or less doable for you? And are there any conditions (e.g. price, effort, or other limitations) that would make you choose virtual travel over a real experience? If so, why (not)?

2 hours ago, Nemo said:

As a good German neighbor I'm pleased to answer your survey.

And as your Dutch neighbour, I'd like to say vielen dank! 🙂 

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2 hours ago, Yoochem said:

would make you choose virtual travel over a real experience

I reckon that will never be possible. Like with other "word not allowed" experiences, there is no better thing as the real deal. Now, flying a bushplane over Alaska as a pilot may be unachievable for me. but virtual travel cannot substitute for a physical trip to a place. I you were to invent a holodeck, we can speak again. 😃 


Hans

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9 hours ago, hjsmuc said:

I reckon that will never be possible. Like with other "word not allowed" experiences, there is no better thing as the real deal. Now, flying a bushplane over Alaska as a pilot may be unachievable for me. but virtual travel cannot substitute for a physical trip to a place. I you were to invent a holodeck, we can speak again. 😃 

Hah I think that might be my next research topic, once that holodeck becomes available 😉 But to turn the question around then, does MFS inspire you to pick new places to travel to?

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2 hours ago, Yoochem said:

...does MFS inspire you to pick new places to travel to?

It certainly has for me! 

I have spent time flying around Utah in MSFS after I saw videos and photos from some other MSFS users, and I was amazed by the quantity and variation of the beautiful scenery. 
Utah is certainly one of the most beautiful states in the US, and I didn't realise it before.  Me and the wife now have it on the radar to fly/drive some of the routes through the Utah when things return to some level of normality.

Before this in MSFS, I didn't realise there was so much there to see and enjoy - my only interest before this in the US was returning to Florida as often as I could.

In MSFS, I have flown around every part of Utah and the wife has taken a real interest, and then followed this up by watching YouTube videos of the areas where we can.  In Utah, so far, in MSFS we have found and 'flown' around - Salt Lake City and the Great Salt Lake, Moab area and the colourful Potash Ponds (I first saw them in MSFS in someone's YouTube video), Bryce Canyon, Zion National Park, Dead Horse Sate Park, Canyonlands, Bonneville Salt Flats, Arches National Park, Snow Canyon, Goblin Valley...  The list goes on!  Definitely a three week touring holiday in there somewhere! 😀

We have also done recent 'MSFS reconnaissance' missions around the Canary Islands, Montenegro, and the Swiss, Austrian and Italian Alps, and even planned a driving route for this as a 'backup holiday', which is easy enough now with the Eurotunnel.

 

  • Like 1

Call me Bob or Rob, I don't mind, but I prefer Rob.

I like to trick airline passengers into thinking I have my own swimming pool in my back yard by painting a large blue rectangle on my patio.

Intel 14900K in a Z790 motherboard with water cooling, RTX 4080, 32 GB 6000 CL30 DDR5 RAM, W11 and MSFS on Samsung 980 Pro NVME SSD's.  Core Isolation Off, Game Mode Off.

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4 hours ago, Yoochem said:

does MFS inspire you to pick new places to travel to?

I don't think that it does that for me. Let's take an example: I'd like to visit Roatan or St. Barth one day. Now, while the MSFS depiction of the islands is very nice (Roatan with a mod), it does not inspire me more than what I see on videos or google earth pictures of the real thing. What the sim can do though, is help relive moments of places I visited and liked, or places where I had a home in previous times. 


Hans

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