1 hour ago, Republic3D said:

I'm not buying any addon that costs more than the simulator itself. 

Doesn't sound like PMDG is for you, then.

24 minutes ago, Jeff Nielsen said:

And yet there are also people who can barely afford a 14 dollar scenery.  We need to remember there are all kinds of people all over the world, not just those of us who can afford to pay 140 dollars.

Yet it seems like, people in here, aren't complaining about not being able to pay that much for an addon; they're screaming up about not wanting to pay that much for an addon.

6 minutes ago, honanhal said:

I’m an adult with a full-time job. Let’s be clear: $140 is a lot of money for an nonessential good, regardless of your salary or where you live. I think the only single-item purchase I’ve made in the past few years that cost me than $140 was a television, which of course my whole family uses.

I’ve bought PMDG and FSL products in P3D, so I’m not saying I can’t afford stuff at that price point or that I don’t understand the value. But expensive is expensive. And new MSFS users who aren’t used to those prices probably just think they’re bonkers. (They may not be wrong!)

James

But those who can not afford it may not buy, it applies to everything in this world.

25 minutes ago, desbean said:

People pay thousands for a sim computer then balk at paying less than $100 for an expertly detailed addon.

When graphics cards prices and RAM prices were normal were normal last year, my computer cost about $800 to $850 USD (my computer specs are in my signature).  $140 USD, with respect to the price I paid for my computer, is a lot, just for a single add-on plane.

I will probably get a more powerful computer within the next year or two, if the graphics card prices and other hardware prices return to normal.  But the question is, whether the 737 is an absolute "must buy" for some people.  MSFS was a "must buy" for me.  While I purchased the Premium Deluxe version of MSFS, I would have easily paid $200 for the standard version of MSFS if that's what Microsoft charged (fortunately, the standard version of MSFS is $60).  MSFS was a "must buy" for me - I had waited over 10 years for it.

I think for some people, the PMDG 737 isn't a "must buy" add-on.  Some people would like to have it if the price is right, but probably not for $140 USD.  At $80 USD, maybe these same people would purchase it, but they may not purchase it for $140 USD.

2 minutes ago, anden145 said:

Doesn't sound like PMDG is for you, then.

Yet it seems like, people in here, aren't complaining about not being able to pay that much for an addon; they're screaming up about not wanting to pay that much for an addon.

No, that's not what 'everyone' is saying.
 

Edited August 14, 20214 yr by Jeff Nielsen

5 minutes ago, Jeff Nielsen said:

No, that's not what 'everyone' is saying.
 

Just so we're all having a healthy discussion, without misinterpretation, Anden never used the word "everyone".

1 minute ago, WestAir said:

Just so we're all having a healthy discussion, without misinterpretation, Anden never used the word "everyone".

That's why I didn't use the quotes.

Hopefully he didn't get that impression.  Sorry if he did,.

Edited August 14, 20214 yr by Jeff Nielsen

6 minutes ago, Ixoye said:

But those who can not afford it may not buy, it applies to everything in this world.

Or maybe everyone in this thread can afford it, but they prefer to spend their money on other things that they want more.  I bet you some people in this thread would like to have the PMDG 737, if the price is right.  But perhaps the PMDG 737 isn't a "must have" for them.  For example, maybe there are people in this thread that really want the PMDG 777 instead.  So the PMDG 737 would be nice to have, but not at $140 USD.  These people, if given a choice, would rather spend $140 on the PMDG 777 and not the PMDG 737.  But if PMDG lowered the price of the 737 to say, $80 USD, these same people who really want the PMDG 777, wouldn't mind purchasing the PMDG 737 at $80.

40 minutes ago, arwasairl said:

I wonder if there will ever be a point when these add-ons start being more expensive than commerical software. 

Soon we're going to say.... $200? Nah it's fine... $500? Yeah that's fine too...

If it is good enough it is fine by me, I will gladly pay for exceptional software.

5 minutes ago, Ixoye said:

But those who can not afford it may not buy, it applies to everything in this world.

Sure. Not sure that tells you much about how to set your prices if you’re a business, though.

But of course, in fairness, I’m not just a disinterested observer here. As a simmer who likes “study-level” stuff more than “casual” stuff as a general rule, I’d prefer a world where those study-level addons cost $60-80 a pop instead of $120-150 a pop, for a number of reasons. Not least of all because a world where only people over 30 in most-developed countries can afford this stuff doesn’t seem to me like the best long-term guarantee of the health of our hobby.

James

I think the short of it is; there appears to be a new market cap beyond the traditional users that would pay 140 dollars.

Would I pay it.  Sure.  I'm also sure there's more than enough folks who would.  I'm sure they could retain their entire existing user base as well.

The point is, I'm not 'everyone'.  Everyone is different.  IMO, I think there are many more people (new users, etc.) who don't fall in to my category.  I think that market may now actually be larger than the traditional AVSIM type user base.

So I guess the question is; would you want to potentially risk leaving a lot more money on the table by possibly pricing yourself out of that market??

Edited August 14, 20214 yr by Jeff Nielsen

2 minutes ago, honanhal said:

Sure. Not sure that tells you much about how to set your prices if you’re a business, though.

But of course, in fairness, I’m not just a disinterested observer here. As a simmer who likes “study-level” stuff more than “casual” stuff as a general rule, I’d prefer a world where those study-level addons cost $60-80 a pop instead of $120-150 a pop, for a number of reasons. Not least of all because a world where only people over 30 in most-developed countries can afford this stuff doesn’t seem to me like the best long-term guarantee of the health of our hobby.

James

I'm pretty sure that PMDG will sell enough with their price settings, it worked i P3D, why should it not work in MSFS?

1 minute ago, Ixoye said:

I'm pretty sure that PMDG will sell enough with their price settings, it worked i P3D, why should it not work in MSFS?

That's the million dollar question and what we're discussing.  🙂 I think we're all pretty sure they can come out just fine on it's own.

Wow, I really hope that it's not $140.

I love PMDG, and have proudly flown several of their aircraft in past sims, but as much as I admire their work I just don't think that sort of pricing is acceptable for DLC anymore.

I always thought the price hike was originally to do with P3D licensing anyway, back in the day when they charged a premium for the P3D version even when it was essentially the same as the FSX one. 

And that's why I am so excited to see Fenix Simulations in the industry, it's going to give PMDG competition on pricing. PMDG will not be able to charge what they want anyone. I always thought PMDG was a TAD expensive in my opinion. 

11 minutes ago, Ixoye said:

If it is good enough it is fine by me, I will gladly pay for exceptional software.

I'm going to stop you right there. In no world should a virtual airplane cost $500 for the home. I don't care if PMDG modelled the atomic structure of a wooden toy plane, or a 747 down to the proton.