The flight simulation hobby has been split into two very different communities in a way we haven't seen before. This is not news or a criticism, just a recognition of fact. As we all know, before MSFS 2020, Flight Simulator X dominated. There were those who preferred to continue in FS9, and X-Plane was around then, too, At some point, there were even early adopters of P3D. But most of the traffic here was relevant to FSX. AVSIM remained focused on a single major platform: the latest iteration of the Microsoft Flight Simulator, and I mean not just in name, but (for better or worse) in the code and third-party products. I really don't know if "nearly everybody" has switched to MSFS 2020 (as I read from one dev recently). Perhaps some disinterested party can provide accurate figures. The issue remains the same, however, whether MSFS 2020 has garnered, say 90% of the hobby or even 75%, The community is still split in a way I don't recall seeing before. Some topics are just not going to be relevant to all platforms, while others are unaffected (Hanger Chat being the most obvious example).

The easiest way to service the ever-dwindling number of P3D users would be relax the posting standards in the P3D forum. I think this is already happening some. In other words, P3D users should have the blessing to address all P3D issues in the P3D forum. If the P3D user base is insignificant and actuarial table-challenged, I don't see why this would cause congestion. Something like a CTD might have completely different causes and resolutions between P3D and MSFS 2020. With nearly no new products being developed for P3D (nearly everyone having switched) reviews of anything that did happen to come out for P3D could be placed in the P3D forum. Again, this would not cause undue traffic or confusion since they would be so rare.

I don't think AVSIM should have to reconfigure its boards to accommodate P3D users. I think that P3D should be simply treated the same as X-Plane and be a safe space for P3D users to discuss everything concerning their platform. (Yes, I know there are non-binary users who enjoy both P3D and MSFS, but that doesn't change the argument.)

Happy New Year and God Bless Us One and All

"Relaxing the posting standards"  Can you elaborate, Tim?  The only things I know of that cause issues is the discussion of the P3D EULA and possibly the continuing comparisons of different Sims..."my Sim is better than your Sim"  Yada, yada!

I think it depends on what he means "everything". Speaking for myself, I am not at all interested in reading about FS2020 and comparisons between the two. Any posts about FS2020 in the P3D forum should be immediately deleted. So I oppose relaxing the standards and if any thing, should be more enforced.

I mean P3D CTDs (for example) should be in the P3D forum, not the CTD forum. P3D bargains should go in the P3D forum, not the Bargain Hunters forum. I think moderation already has a light touch, so I am just suggesting that if P3D is now a niche, P3D users might benefit from a focused conversation among members of their own community. I also think that P3D may be heavier by percentage in tubeliner enthusiasts, and even more general questions regarding that sort of flying by P3D users might be better addressed there than elsewhere. I'm not advocating anything like a "my sim is better" relaxation, of course. I'm not sure I can carry this argument to completion without somebody thinking I am comparing the two platforms. I think there are P3D users who tend to check out that forum with its familiar denizens and if their user base is as small as it is held to be, I don't see why it shouldn't be more of a catch-all for P3D users, who will find relevant content harder to browse as MSFS approaches 99% of its well-earned hegemony. If, for example, I want to know what VR gear to buy, it would be nice to just ask in the P3D forum.

Also, I'm not sure what is happening with reviews (perhaps I missed an announcement on that.) Some information is already being supplied via the P3D forum. Would it be wrong to post a user review of new P3D products? I'm sincere when I say I might have missed something, because there don't seem to be reviews anymore, nor even a user review forum (which I seem to recall). I'm not complaining about any policy decision that has been made. It's just a matter of what's considered appropriate.

1 hour ago, pgde said:

I think it depends on what he means "everything". Speaking for myself, I am not at all interested in reading about FS2020 and comparisons between the two.

I agree. I meant to suggest that the P3D forum seems to be a logical place to discuss things related to P3D. It's a different world, and, whether you buy into it or not, the consensus is that MSFS2020 is the "de facto" name of flight simulation. I'm not interested in it either, which is not a comment on its value. But when I want to know what's on sale, I don't necessarily want to pick through the Bargain Hunters forum and decide whether it's MSFS or P3D. Besides redesigning the format, which I would not ask anyone to do, my thought was just keep everything related to P3D in its own forum, or, rather, allow anything related to P3D and P3D third-party products to be fair game for the P3D forum.

Possibly some of your suggestion may be discussed at future Board Meetings.  Any major changes to the forum structure must be thoroughly discussed by ADMIN and the Board.

It's really more of a moderation issue, I suppose, Charlie, and I can't complain about feeling overmoderated in the P3D forum. So maybe there is already some recognition of some of this.