Everyone has a right to their opinion, and considering P3D as "dead" is simply an opinion. I am sticking with P3Dv4.5HF2 for the moment simply because my requirements are quite "narrow" in scope, and also because I do not have the cash to start again from scratch. It would cost me at least £60 to purchase Microsoft Flight Simulator, and another £35 for the PMDG 737-600 (and that would still leave me with a quarter of the number of 737 versions that I fly in P3D, and no 777 or 747). I know that some users of MSFS state that it can be used "straight from the box", but I know that this would not be the case for me. I would need lots of high quality airports, and that would ultimately cost me a lot of money.

Switching from my current simulator is not an option for me at this time unless I win the lottery.

 

Edited December 23, 20223 yr by Christopher Low

5 minutes ago, Christopher Low said:

Everyone has a right to their opinion, and considering P3D as "dead" is simply an opinion. I am sticking with P3Dv4.5HF2 for the moment simply because my requirements are quite "narrow" in scope, and also because I simply do not have the cash to start again from scratch. It would cost me at least £60 to purchase Microsoft Flight Simulator, and another £35 for the PMDG 737-600. I know that some users of MSFS state that it can be used "straight from the box", but I know that this would not be the case for me. I would need lots of high quality airports, and that would ultimately cost me a lot of money.

Simply put, switching from my current simulator is not an option for me at this time unless I win the lottery.

 

After, It really depends on what you are flying, if it's FSL than you should be fine, but I am not sure PMDG and a lot of third party dev will continue to make new products or even improving the existing one on P3D.

As for airport investments, between all the ones from de standard+deluxe edition, 40th anniversary, the world updates, freewares, you should be more than covered. if half dozen are missing from your list, they are not too expensive on MSFS and there are big discount 3-4 times a year. 

18 hours ago, abrams_tank said:

Yup, absolutely agreed.  Navigraph users are the real hardcore flightsim enthusiasts.  The overwhelming majority of hardcore flightsim enthusiasts prefer flying MSFS!

however it points outs the clear overwhelming majority have no flight experience or not enrolled in any formal flight training or not employed in any aviation industries

so how come, forums and social media is flooded with experts 

 

11 hours ago, Doering said:

I follow Aerobask very closely. From all indications, they are not interested in developing for MSFS.

And that's a shame... I quite sure no third party dev got this kind of working relation with Dassault Aviation before. They said that they want a sim that works under Linux and they don't want to spend time learning new way to code.

But the interview was nearly 2 years ago, when Inibuilds also said they would stick with X-plane, so maybe there is some hope.

Edited December 23, 20223 yr by bendead

1 hour ago, UrgentSiesta said:

 it's still quite early (and still inaccurate) to declare that the addons and other features "far surpass anything else in any other sim."

That's like saying Usain Bolt is a pretty decent runner or that Mike Tyson knows how to throw a punch.

IMHO, this debate was settled the day MSFS 2020 was released.

Edited December 23, 20223 yr by Ricardo41

6 minutes ago, bendead said:

But the interview was nearly 2 years ago, when Inibuilds also said they would stick with X-plane, so maybe there is some hope.

Haha, did someone from iniBuilds say this?  I would love to read this. If anybody has a link where iniBuilds said this 2 or 3 years ago, please post it here.

Edited December 23, 20223 yr by abrams_tank

24 minutes ago, Christopher Low said:

Everyone has a right to their opinion, and considering P3D as "dead" is simply an opinion. I am sticking with P3Dv4.5HF2 for the moment simply because my requirements are quite "narrow" in scope, and also because I do not have the cash to start again from scratch. It would cost me at least £60 to purchase Microsoft Flight Simulator, and another £35 for the PMDG 737-600 (and that would still leave me with a quarter of the number of 737 versions that I fly in P3D, and no 777 or 747). I know that some users of MSFS state that it can be used "straight from the box", but I know that this would not be the case for me. I would need lots of high quality airports, and that would ultimately cost me a lot of money.

Switching from my current simulator is not an option for me at this time unless I win the lottery.

 

I was a hard core P3D user until the 737 released on MSFS and made the final switch and could not be happier. I do procedural simming only, but MSFS is still another dimension of immersion due to the visuals. Just the clouds alone are worth it. And the satellite terrain looks incredible even from 36000 feet, it looks basically the same as in the real world. The difference is huge, in regards to immersion it's like simulator training sessions and real flying, it's that big of a difference. Having been a hardcore FSL and PMDG procedural simmer on P3D I was one of the most critical guys of MSFS in the first two years, but right now with AIG and GSX and all those study level planes there is absolutely nothing that I miss from P3D.

As for the financial aspect I understand, but at least let me tell you that there are so many freeware airports that look better than 90% of all P3D payware (I'm serious, I spent a lot of money on P3D payware airports) and also all those handcrafted airports coming with world updates are much better than anything on P3D except for the big players (FlyTampa, Flightbeam etc.).

Edited December 23, 20223 yr by Fiorentoni

2 minutes ago, abrams_tank said:

Haha, did someone from iniBuilds say this?  I would love to read this. If anybody has a link where iniBuilds said this, please post it here.

It was near the time they announced/released the A300 refresh or V2

Edited December 23, 20223 yr by bendead

26 minutes ago, jeansy said:

so how come, forums and social media is flooded with experts

they simulate.

59 minutes ago, bendead said:

And that's a shame... I quite sure no third party dev got this kind of working relation with Dassault Aviation before. They said that they want a sim that works under Linux and they don't want to spend time learning new way to code.

But the interview was nearly 2 years ago, when Inibuilds also said they would stick with X-plane, so maybe there is some hope.

People say a lot of things, until the well dries and they get wind of the money they could make on the platform that's not a commercial flop. 

If I had a dollar for every developer I heard swearing they'd stick to this or that sim over the past 20 years and then jumped ship as soon as continuing to run a viable business required it, I'd at least pay myself a fancy dinner. 

For any one developer who is unwilling to work on MSFS, there are 20 who will happily do so and reap the benefits. Those few who won't, well... It's their loss, really. 

Edited December 23, 20223 yr by Abriael

12 hours ago, Doering said:

Very true Glenn! I follow Aerobask very closely. From all indications, they are not interested in developing for MSFS. There must be valid reasons? They have cut back on their product line dramatically! 

It will be interesting to watch how these 3rd party developers like Aerobask move in the future.  On a similar note, I don't think FSL really wanted to develop for MSFS. It looks like when MSFS was initially released, or even before it was released, FSL had no plans for MSFS and they seemed quite happy on P3D.  Compare FSL to say, Fenix and PMDG, who did have plans to release an airliner on MSFS, upon the release of MSFS back in August of 2020, or in the case of Fenix, I think they were even planning for MSFS before MSFS came out in August of 2020.

But then "the market" happened. The new market forced FSL to realign their priorities, and not surprisingly, FSL would eventually announce multiple products for MSFS.  So it will be interesting to see if the market forces some holdouts to reconsider MSFS.

3 hours ago, jeansy said:

however it points outs the clear overwhelming majority have no flight experience or not enrolled in any formal flight training or not employed in any aviation industries so how come, forums and social media is flooded with experts 

It should be crystal clear by now that being an expert at flight simulation is an entirely different skill from being a real-world pilot.
It has always been crystal clear that "being employed in the aviation industry" encompasses so many skills that have nothing to do with aircraft, let alone flying one, that the question is barely relevant to the survey.
It is also the case that in the event of problems with a home PC flight simulator, the fact that a user might have years in real-world "IT" often hinders rather than helps when to fix a problem with a home flight simulator.
It is not a criticism, they are in both cases, just very different skills.

 

Edited December 23, 20223 yr by Reader

28 minutes ago, Reader said:

It should be crystal clear by now that being an expert at flight simulation is an entirely different skill from being a real-world pilot.
It is not a criticism, they are in both cases just very different skills.

 

So...what should we call them "PC flightsim SME experts", something like that....?

7 minutes ago, adino said:

So...what should we call them

let's call "them" SME gamers 😊

2 hours ago, Fiorentoni said:

I was a hard core P3D user until the 737 released on MSFS and made the final switch and could not be happier. I do procedural simming only, but MSFS is still another dimension of immersion due to the visuals. Just the clouds alone are worth it. And the satellite terrain looks incredible even from 36000 feet, it looks basically the same as in the real world. The difference is huge, in regards to immersion it's like simulator training sessions and real flying, it's that big of a difference. Having been a hardcore FSL and PMDG procedural simmer on P3D I was one of the most critical guys of MSFS in the first two years, but right now with AIG and GSX and all those study level planes there is absolutely nothing that I miss from P3D.

As for the financial aspect I understand, but at least let me tell you that there are so many freeware airports that look better than 90% of all P3D payware (I'm serious, I spent a lot of money on P3D payware airports) and also all those handcrafted airports coming with world updates are much better than anything on P3D except for the big players (FlyTampa, Flightbeam etc.).

I had the experience of-flying with MSFS for a couple of months and then having to return to P3D while my new PC was being repaired, It was beyond horrible, and I quickly realized that having to fly P3D again was no longer an option.