best place to buy msfs?

[hansb57 501]

Thanks for the VERY elborate answer!

[b1bmsgt 207]

I was an Alpha tester and had no trouble with the update process during the Alpha, and all the way up through Sim Update 4. When I tried to upgrade to SU5, however, I found myself trying to figure out how to get it to load. After a day or 2 of jumping through hoops with no success, I decided to take the loss and buy the Steam version. Every update since has been one click and done. Can't recommend the Steam version enough!

[edpatino 1,976]

6 hours ago, Saucey12 said:

Where is the best source to buy msfs from as far as receiving updates, downloads and such?  I will be using it on a PC

Don't rush. Follow the advice from others about which one (MS Store or Steam), but think about buying right now, as the sim is currently having too many issues after the SU7 (Sim Update #7) released days ago.

I went for the Steam version when I purchased the title a year ago, and so far I think it was a good decision.

[Dominique_K 10,152]

Any personal experience is irrelevant, including mine. What is relevant is the trend, the cumulative reports of the many having had issues. And the trend is unmistakable, here and in the official forum. The procedures of the MS store lead to problems for many simmers. and the Steam version is almost never in cause.  

[Dominique_K 10,152]

53 minutes ago, edpatino said:

Don't rush.... think about buying right now, as the sim is currently having too many issues after the SU7 (Sim Update #7) released days ago.

 

A little harsh, if I may dear Ed 😉.  I am not fond of Su7 which seems to have erased, for me, a lot of the benefits of Su5 & 6 (eg LOD) and I find, not very originally, the clouds when they hug the ground, horrible. That being said MSFS stays a great simming experience. I have just flown the Gina in Egypt, from Wadi Abu Shihat to Sharm El SHeikh over the red jebel and then the Red sea and I can tell you I couldn't have had such a nice flight in any other sim . Same yesterday in south Chile/argentina from Pupelde to Bariloche (volcanoes !). Not only the sightseeing, I mean the flying !

Most of us would agree that the evolution of this sim is a somewhat frustrating ambulating mess but the core still makes it a worthwhile buyy anytime. My two euro-cents.

Edited November 21, 2021 by Dominique_K

[pstrub 998]

I strongly agree with the recommendations of Steam, I'm on Steam myself after going the one-month GamePass route in MS Store in August 2020. From a practical point of view, there are no advantages just from using the same account in-game as in the MS Store, the installation of add-ons to the Community folder works exactly the same on Steam as in MS Store. This was the only  time I had to deal with the MS Store, and I didn't like it. Might be a personal thing, I only experienced some minor issues, but all of them added up to the perceived weirdness of the MS Store when compared to Steam (where I already own a reasonably large library of games). I really don't like the encrypted / protected folders where I can't get access without messing around with the file permissions, the strange naming convention with cryptic alphanumeric codes in the folder name, and once I couldn't start MSFS until I logged out and back in in the store app. 

However, keep in mind there are a few points that might be in favour of the MS Store version: So far, all (almost?) closed betas were available on the MS Store version only, updates typically are released about 30 minutes later on Steam, and once I had some issues completing a Marketplace purchase due to a failure of communication between MSFS and Steam. This was quickly resolved by customer service though. If any of this is of importance to you, it may be worth to consider the MS Store, otherwise I'd prefer Steam. 

Edited November 21, 2021 by pstrub

[Dominique_K 10,152]

5 minutes ago, pstrub said:

   updates typically are released about 30 later on Steam, an 

30 what ? the updates are for me released at  same time for both versions.

Edited November 21, 2021 by Dominique_K

[pstrub 998]

29 minutes ago, Dominique_K said:

30 what ? the updates are for me released at  same time for both versions.

ahhh darn it... just edited my post, it was supposed to be 30 minutes ... I haven't followed the exact release time as closely for the past few updates as I did in the beginning, but I remember I was still waiting when the MS Store users already were downloading. If the release time on Steam is in sync with the Store version now, that's one reason less to get it on MS Store. 

Edited November 21, 2021 by pstrub

[edpatino 1,976]

1 hour ago, Dominique_K said:

Most of us would agree that the evolution of this sim is a somewhat frustrating ambulating mess but the core still makes it a worthwhile buyy anytime. My two euro-cents.

Pas de probleme mon Dominique, everyone is up to have his own opinion, and I expressed mine, that's all, and of course I respect yours .

I'm so disappointed, that I've read over the different forums (Official, AVSIM) after the FOTY edition was released last Thursday and discovered the so many issues reported, that decided to take a short layoff and not use the sim for about one or two weeks hoping that some sort of hotfix comes out in the meantime, to avoid falling in the process of tweaking the sim for myself, which is something we're not meant to do.

Something is dead wrong about this updating processes and unfortunately MS (and Asobo, maybe due to contractual obligation) seems not to pay enough attention to. I think we all agree that frequent updates are good for the sim, but we also would agree that the updates have to come out with some kind of pre-testing, independently of their schedule.

And not to mention anything about the SDK....

 

[Dominique_K 10,152]

3 minutes ago, edpatino said:

 

 

well I do not hide my frustration either with SU7,  to tell you the truth I feel a big update fatigue (I am polite here).  If they'd stop SUs after SU8 supposed to be a bug killer, I would be delighted. These updates become a nuisance. But the sim is still fun. 

[Tierborn 191]

4 hours ago, hansb57 said:

I have the store version and I'm not going to dispute people who prefer steam.

I wonder what makes the Steam version easier/better than the Store version.

Can you install steam on a custom location?

 

 

you can install on MS store in customer location as well.  I did it on launch without issue

[Saucey12 40]

thank you all for your input! 

[Brandon01110 407]

5 hours ago, lzamm said:

I too had read all the sob stories about the store version but thought I'd go for it to see what all the fuss was about. 

why would you buy it through the MS store if you read ALL the sob stories.  sounds like you like to go against good advise. Why?

[lzamm 143]

On 11/21/2021 at 5:23 PM, Brandon01110 said:

sounds like you like to go against good advise. Why?

Perhaps I believe the advice is unfounded?  Certainly no regrets so far.

[Isaiah53six 134]

On 11/20/2021 at 9:53 PM, Saucey12 said:

Where is the best source to buy msfs from as far as receiving updates, downloads and such?  I will be using it on a PC..  And is it even worth getting the deluxe versions or just get the basic?   Because I doubt most of the aircraft offered have good realism qualities as of yet.. I am waiting on developers like A2A, which will be coming soon I hear. 

Thank you!

as others have said, highly recommend Steam version.  I would also recommend the Deluxe version, more planes = more fun and no additional upgrading costs later.  For what it's worth, I bought the deluxe version and haven't regretted it.

Edited November 23, 2021 by Isaiah53six