1 hour ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

Microsoft's servers will be costing them and who knows how long they'll remain free. Maybe a subscription model might come in which would definitely make some think about staying with them.

The thinking that there will be a subscription model for specifically streaming data for MSFS should end.
Before its release, I'm guilty of stating on the forums that subscription for MSFS would be a thing.

That's wrong on two counts, IMO:

1. Streaming data is a 'proof of concept'/real world test of the capability for a much larger/profitable venture (cloud gaming technology); and,
2. Xbox Game Pass *is* the subscription model, just not as granular as specifically streaming MSFS data.

 

While reports of its death are greatly exaggerated, P3D is not in a healthy place for casual simmers. The platform is hugely dependent on third party developers to make the sim look and feel good to use.
As exciting as it is to hear that TFDi is still working on bringing the MD-11 and some of the mid-tier developers like MK-Studios are still bringing scenery to the platform, there's no denying that a plethora of other larger developers are finishing off W.I.P. projects and shifting focus to the new MS sim.

The preview videos of P3D v5 were laughed at when compared to MSFS. It's hard to see where LM should make changes without fundamentally breaking the backward compatibility that most of us rely on to keep using P3D as a mature flight sim.

I feel that the P3D team at LM need to (at the very least) work on getting trueSKY to work properly with several cloud layers and cirrus coverage, plus be able to show weather fronts rather than globally display the weather from one wx station. Additionally, they should make it easier for developers to incoporate undulating runways in their sceneries.
Just two aspects of MSFS that make it obvious where P3D's limitations can be seen.

13 minutes ago, F737NG said:

Xbox Game Pass *is* the subscription model, just not as granular as specifically streaming MSFS data.

I don’t have an Xbox. Is a game pass mandatory to use MSFS? Given I would never want to buy any other games I would have thought that buying the sim outright would be the end of my payments to Microsoft.

9 hours ago, simbol said:

it seems you will have 3 platforms to choose from during the next 7-10 years.. is that a bad future? :wink

Except in rare cases like me. I don't have to choose anything. I have all three in very active use and they will stay that way regardless of what MSFS does. As long as we have THIS happening, I can't see myself ever getting away from P3D or XP. 

(19) JU-52 is completely broken - YouTube

18 minutes ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

I don’t have an Xbox. Is a game pass mandatory to use MSFS? Given I would never want to buy any other games I would have thought that buying the sim outright would be the end of my payments to Microsoft.

That is one of the things I have been mulling over about buying this new Sim.  I have seen plenty of suggestions stating that the belief is Microsoft will start charging a monthly subscription to their server if you want the beautiful scenery to continue.  I don't think they are in business to supply freebies. 🤔💰💰

22 minutes ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

I don’t have an Xbox. Is a game pass mandatory to use MSFS? Given I would never want to buy any other games I would have thought that buying the sim outright would be the end of my payments to Microsoft.

No. GamePass isn't necessary at all. I have the product through Steam. 

3 minutes ago, BostonJeremy77 said:

No. GamePass isn't necessary at all. I have the product through Steam. 

Is that the alternative method of purchase and installation? Never had Steam and would rather not have to install it. Can I just buy the product as I can with P3D or XP without additional software?

5 minutes ago, charliearon said:

That is one of the things I have been mulling over about buying this new Sim.  I have seen plenty of suggestions stating that the belief is Microsoft will start charging a monthly subscription to their server if you want the beautiful scenery to continue.  I don't think they are in business to supply freebies. 🤔💰💰

Something just doesn’t ring right about buying the product for a paltry $100 or less and never having to make any further contribution to fund the servers holding over 2 Petabytes of data. Whatever type of drives they are replacement is guaranteed at some point. There must be dozens of them. Microsoft aren’t a charity.  I remain sceptical it will remain free for its lifetime.

15 minutes ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

Is that the alternative method of purchase and installation? Never had Steam and would rather not have to install it. Can I just buy the product as I can with P3D or XP without additional software?

There are three ways to get it: 

1) GamePass subscription. Not for me. It will remain playable as long as you maintain subscription. 

2) Steam - an outright purchase but you have to have Steam running. 

3) Microsoft Store - Outright purchase, but requires an XBox app to be running for updates etc. Also, places files in weird places and locations you may not have direct access to. Not for me. 

 

So no... you have to have some sort of storefront running at all times, whether Steam or Microsoft's Store and XBox app. The XBox app can be shut down though if you aren't updating. But I have seen a ton of people experiencing issues with MS Store version. Steam is very simple and auto-updates the Client. The Client is what actually updates the majority of the sim regardless of where you got the Client. 

Edited September 29, 20214 yr by BostonJeremy77

Isn't there one more option to buy MSFS on disk? 

@BostonJeremy77, it sound a right palava! Yuck!

Does the Steam version give you a huge path name to the parent folder? I’m guessing it wouldn’t be succinct like D:\P3Dv5 for example.

14 minutes ago, Patco Lch said:

Isn't there one more option to buy MSFS on disk? 

Available on 10 DVDs here...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Microsoft-Flight-Simulator-2020-Premium/dp/B08D193VQT

Reading the reviews I wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole! 😳

Edited September 29, 20214 yr by Ray Proudfoot
Additional info

1 minute ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

Available on 10 DVDs here...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Microsoft-Flight-Simulator-2020-Premium/dp/B08D193VQT

Not a very attractive option. I have it on Steam which I purchased  for the PMDG DC6 but got fed up with the arduous many hours long update process and uninstalled it a month ago and reinstalled V4.5 for the DC6.

1 hour ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

@BostonJeremy77, it sound a right palava! Yuck!

 

It's not 😄

11 hours ago, simbol said:

P3D development is not stopping, now when I go and ask Lockheed Martin devs for new features they normally put then in place withing 1 or 2 point releases

Great to hear Simbol. Do you have current requests in?

Ted

14 minutes ago, EGLD said:

It's not 😄

If that was a sales pitch you’re going to have to do more than that. No interest until the massive updates have finished.

I'm not trying to sell you anything 🙃