I like to make the Sim as realistic as possible.  That means planning flights, going over charts, thinking about fuel and procedures, etc. 

 

Navigraph and study level aircraft help me do that.  You don't see a RL pilot sleepwalking to their plane, firing it up, and just taking off somewhere...  it takes thought and time. 

 

But you do what makes you happy.  

 

I completely agree with the OP that the default MSFS is incredible and, for many, doesn't need any add-ons to provide a rich and immersive flight sim experience. Remember that many of the posts about the dire necessity for add-ons are written by merchants and their affiliates. It's like an insurance agent saying you need insurance. There is also a "legacy psychology" -- it's hard to shake old mindsets. For forty years, we did indeed need add-ons to make a sim look decent. Over the years, I myself have purchased innumerable add-ons for FSX, P3D, and, to a lesser extent, XP. With MSFS, however, these add-ons are no longer needed. MSFS is one-stop shopping for many. Having said that, my understanding is that sales of MSFS add-ons exponentially exceed the current sales of add-ons for other sims. So this would argue against my position. 🙂

I strongly appreciate the one-stop shop that MSFS is.  Early on after release people were clamoring about installing tons of freeware mods and airports and I just could not relate.  I was stoked to finally see something complete enought to satisfy a good part of what I do this for.  Over time I began to look for things to add purpose (AH2 first which was a total waste, then APLv2 which is great), and evenutally added Simple Traffic until I learned that FSLTL had so much to offer yet was every but as 'simple' as ST was, and I needed the density limiter which ST didn't have and of course the other couple things FSLTL is so much better at).  GSX Pro I eventually added, and it's kind of a wash:  a net plus, but really has a hard time with a few things and I really don't want to have to make adjustments to fix those areas, so use it my own way which limits some of its issues.  I like well done airliners in my APL career so use PMDG 738, AS CRJ, FBW A320NX and for now Asobo B78X w/ HD mod.  I've only purchased 6 or 7 airports since product launch because default ones are good enough.  I'm also not hypercritical of imperfections or less than idea aeronautical fidelity--I great part of that is that I am not intimately familiar w/ RW aviation so I don't really have a benchmark to contrast against.

It is a testament to MSFS development that it can be enjoyed straight out of the box.  

Edited February 28, 20233 yr by rocketlaunch
grammer

I am partly on your side, trying to fly more than to configure or install. It isn't perfect, but all the addons don't make it perfect either.

Insteresting replies and they all clearly show: to each his own! 😉 That's the great thing about flightsimming and specially MSFS!

I do think loading up things like Volanta, plugging numbers into STKP, using any offline ATC program, plugging details into PACX...I used to do all these things but Not anymore. I am doing alot more flying in MSFS than I ever did in P3D and with launching half as many programs. 

If I relied on just default MSFS I would can it. No more for me to say.

I was looking at the thingy that adds passengers and pushback trucks and etc last night, all ready with credit card in hand..... And in the end, I was kind of like.... Eh.

Kind of like believing the "true" simmers claims that one has not experienced a realistic A320 until purchasing the Fenix, only to find out that for my purposes, the Fenix and FBW were/are functionally equivalent.....

Or that the Asobo bespoke airports were/are no match for pretty much any given third parties stuff.....

But...

Eh!

I love addons that add to the immersion of the actual flying.  For me that tends to mean addon aircraft, but also some other 'peripherals'; some sound packs (Boris Audio Works - fantastic) and other tweaks that improve that core flying experience.   I did love FSRealistic but have ditched it due to some proplems.

One area of addons that has never appealed to me and I've never bought, is the whole Navigraph / charts / data updates thing.   I'm happy enough with the stock nav data that I get - always gets me where I am flying, and always gives me an ILS etc that I can use.  

I think a lot of people would agree with you, at least in part.   I suspect I am somewhere in the middle of the 'no addons' and 'every addon' scale.    One huge change for me in MSFS, compared to all the previous sims is that I don't buy airports.  I've bought 2 in 2.5 years.   Just don't appeal any more.

If addons were suddenly locked out of MSFS though, it wouldn't stop me using the absolute vanilla, default sim.    Still hours of enjoyment, variation and fun in it.

Edited March 1, 20233 yr by JYW

If I were forced to limit myself to just the default 152, 172, DA40, DA62, TBM and XCub. I would be perfectly happy with nothing more. Heck, I could spend a year flying with just the DA40 and the G1000 and be perfectly happy. And, just like in real life... I don't need more than one paint job.

That being said... it would be tough to fly in and out of Malaga without the nice freeware airport that was made for it. And one can certainly argue that the JPL152 is a magnificent payware aircraft hidden in the shell of the default offering. Ultimately, its those enhancements that I like to focus on.

If anybody here is familiar with Minecraft. You can download so many modifications to it so as to make it a completely different game. I have probably spent 10x the amount of time curating, updating, deconflicting mod packages for Minecraft than I have ever actually spent playing. I have been over it for a while. I have limited time.

I have now subscribed to the philosophy of Vanilla+. A couple of Quality of Life additions and get back in the game. A few very choice addons that make the default, vanilla experience slightly better.

I apply that philosophy to MSFS as well. A few things I don't want to live without, but that is it. More flying, less tinkering.

The irony is that MSFS depends partly on marketplace sales of add ons to keep funding further development and also keep developers like inibuilds making free/cheap add ons.

If you think add-ons make things complicated, you can stick to the marketplace. 

While it doesn't offer the level of control and the output of content that third-party stores offer, it's pretty much foolproof in terms of complexity.

On the other hand, nowadays there are very good third-party installers that make things much easier. If you have Orbx Central, Contrail, Aerosoft one, and the iniBuilds installer, you can cover the vast majority of the good add-ons with a few clicks and easy updates. For me, these programs have made the maintenance of a add-on heavy sim installation basically effortless. 

Yes. I did not include Simmarket's, because it's still not nearly as polished as its competition's installers and it does come with some level of headache that the OP may not enjoy. 

Edited March 2, 20233 yr by Abriael

If you are happy with the standard fair that come with the game, more the power for you, as you are going to save a fortune over time.

I personally only fly one or two un-modded default aircraft on any sort of regular basis.

One is the Pipistrel Virus, something of a hidden gem that came with the Premium Deluxe pack. Another is the default Deluxe pack G58 Baron.  

Now I do happen to fly the c152 and Steam c172 occasionally but both are modded versions.

In terms of what I really fly all the time ... well lately it is the Sting S4, the C310, the Kodiak and the Ant's Tiger Moth.

I suspect out of 1000 odd hours I have in sim no more than 200 of those at the absolute most would be in default aircraft, probably less..

 

Edited March 2, 20233 yr by Glenn Fitzpatrick