Taxi2Gate KMCO releasing May 31

[threexgreen 3,135]

34 minutes ago, Jeff Nielsen said:

You aren't going to hold off releasing a ready product just for that.  It is what it is.  That's not how things work. 

That's actually entirely how things work... I'm not talking about holding off for weeks or months while it's ready, but strategically placing the release time according to factors like holidays that happen to be very close to projected release date anyway (FSDT for example literally said the goal was to release before FSExpo). Holding off for a couple of days or releasing a few days earlier if possible to release while everybody's ready to enjoy a flight simming weekend can go a long way. May be less relevant for a small flight sim dev, but generally, it's a big deal to consider release times for any product. This isn't something I just came up with, I've had a semester or two on this stuff (just saying to show I'm not just looking for an argument).

Edited May 28, 2023 by Nixoq

[B777ER 2,484]

The one man show that T2G is, is not the savvy to say the least. I think he is French chap so he may not realize he missed his opportunity to maximize release day profit by waiting until after the first big US summer holiday period by releasing on a Tuesday. Absolute marketing fail. 

[Jeff Nielsen 1,385]

26 minutes ago, Nixoq said:

That's actually entirely how things work... I'm not talking about holding off for weeks or months while it's ready, but strategically placing the release time according to factors like holidays that happen to be very close to projected release date anyway (FSDT for example literally said the goal was to release before FSExpo). Holding off for a couple of days or releasing a few days earlier if possible to release while everybody's ready to enjoy a flight simming weekend can go a long way. May be less relevant for a small flight sim dev, but generally, it's a big deal to consider release times for any product. This isn't something I just came up with, I've had a semester or two on this stuff (just saying to show I'm not just looking for an argument).

Nobody ever sits on a completed project.  Never have, never will.  I've been a FS developer before. I know how these things work. Reality always wins out before your perfect marketing timeline as much as you may try otherwise.

[Jeff Nielsen 1,385]

1 minute ago, B777ER said:

The one man show that T2G is, is not the savvy to say the least. I think he is French chap so he may not realize he missed his opportunity to maximize release day profit by waiting until after the first big US summer holiday period by releasing on a Tuesday. Absolute marketing fail. 

He'll still get all the sales in the big picture.  It's not that big of a deal guys.  Relax.

[cmpbellsjc 2,960]

8 minutes ago, B777ER said:

I think he is French chap 

If I recall, I think he’s from Latin America, can’t remember which country though. I think I spoke with the owner or main guy years ago when they first got started, but don’t remember his name, but it was a Latin name as I remember.

[Fiorentoni 4,120]

Has anyone thought of that he maybe *wanted* to release it for the holidays but just didn‘t make it? Last minute critical bugs etc., not rare with one-man-devs. Releasing this in a buggy state can seriously hurt your overall sales

[threexgreen 3,135]

1 hour ago, Jeff Nielsen said:

Nobody ever sits on a completed project.  Never have, never will.  I've been a FS developer before. I know how these things work. Reality always wins out before your perfect marketing timeline as much as you may try otherwise.

I'm not talking about reality vs. theory. That's not the point. I said that release timings, for any product in any industry of any business trying to sell a product and maximize profit, absolutely do matter and are given consideration to as well as have an impact on sales, regardless of if it goes to plan or not. That's normal business economics and I'm not sure why you're so adamant it doesn't exist. Netflix releases new shows on Fridays, companies sell lots of new stuff just before Christmas and even PMDG talk about delaying the 737 MAX because of 737 market oversaturation and all of it is in an effort to increase sales by timing the release. Flight sim devs (or software in general) probably aren't as "sensitive" to release timing as much as businesses in other branches, but that doesn't mean it can't impact their sales.

I don't know what T2G's plans are or what their sales will ultimately look like or if they even care, I'm just pointing out it that it's logical that releasing on a three day holiday has a higher sales potential than releasing on a busy workday, therefore US holidays matter in the context of it being a US airport, which was the original point anyway. So if your release date falls (very) near a holiday in the end, it's wise to factor that in.

[Jeff Nielsen 1,385]

5 minutes ago, Nixoq said:

I'm not talking about reality vs. theory. That's not the point. I said that release timings, for any product in any industry of any business trying to sell a product and maximize profit, absolutely do matter and are given consideration to as well as have an impact on sales, regardless of if it goes to plan or not. That's normal business economics and I'm not sure why you're so adamant it doesn't exist. Netflix releases new shows on Fridays, companies sell lots of new stuff just before Christmas and even PMDG talk about delaying the 737 MAX because of 737 market oversaturation and all of it is in an effort to increase sales by timing the release. Flight sim devs (or software in general) probably aren't as "sensitive" to release timing as much as businesses in other branches, but that doesn't mean it can't impact their sales.

I don't know what T2G's plans are or what their sales will ultimately look like or if they even care, I'm just pointing out it that it's logical that releasing on a three day holiday has a higher sales potential than releasing on a busy workday, therefore US holidays matter in the context of it being a US airport, which was the original point anyway. So if your release date falls (very) near a holiday in the end, it's wise to factor that in.

I'm saying that stuff doesn't really apply to flight sim sales...lol.  People will get it either way.  I speak from experience, you do not.  This isn't car sales or brick and mortar.  It will not impact their bottom line, I promise you that.

Edited May 28, 2023 by Jeff Nielsen

[threexgreen 3,135]

2 minutes ago, Jeff Nielsen said:

I'm saying that stuff doesn't really apply to flight sim sales...lol.  People will get it either way.  I speak from experience, you do not.  This isn't car sales or brick and motar.

No offence but maybe explain that a little instead of basically just saying "no" all the time. I may not be a flight sim dev but I'm not clueless when it comes to business economics and I find it a bit hard to imagine none of this apparently exists in flight sim sales at all, especially when there have been several developers actually making comments about release timings to help sales.

[Jeff Nielsen 1,385]

2 hours ago, Fiorentoni said:

Has anyone thought of that he maybe *wanted* to release it for the holidays but just didn‘t make it? Last minute critical bugs etc., not rare with one-man-devs. Releasing this in a buggy state can seriously hurt your overall sales

That and it could have also been the holiday itself.  Even if it was ready, he might not have been able to make it into the e-commerce system in time, who knows.

Not sure why everyone is so worried about it..lol.  It's his business, not ours.

[Jeff Nielsen 1,385]

Just now, Nixoq said:

No offence but maybe explain that a little instead of basically just saying "no" all the time. I may not be a flight sim dev but I'm not clueless when it comes to business economics and I find it a bit hard to imagine none of this apparently exists in flight sim sales at all, especially when there have been several developers actually making comments about release timings to help sales.

Well, you can tell him that then.  Maybe he'll hire you as a sales consultant.   🙂 Why don't you let him run his company for a couple of minutes.  

[Silverbird 115]

3 hours ago, cmpbellsjc said:

If I recall, I think he’s from Latin America, can’t remember which country though. I think I spoke with the owner or main guy years ago when they first got started, but don’t remember his name, but it was a Latin name as I remember.

Yep....Mexico I believe 

Edited May 28, 2023 by Silverbird

[threexgreen 3,135]

52 minutes ago, Jeff Nielsen said:

Well, you can tell him that then.  Maybe he'll hire you as a sales consultant.   🙂 Why don't you let him run his company for a couple of minutes.  

No idea why we can't just have a normal conversation about it. I touched the subject slightly to make a point about something completely different before you replied to it. Since then I've explained my reasoning behind what I said from my own experience in business and after merely getting a couple of one liners about being wrong with regards to flight sim sales wondered if you might actually elaborate on it a bit, but I'm just getting a dismissive comment instead... I'm not trying to run anyone's business, just interested. That's all.

Edited May 28, 2023 by Nixoq

[Jeff Nielsen 1,385]

14 minutes ago, Nixoq said:

No idea why we can't just have a normal conversation about it. I touched the subject slightly to make a point about something completely different before you replied to it. Since then I've explained my reasoning behind what I said from my own experience in business and after merely getting a couple of one liners about being wrong with regards to flight sim sales wondered if you might actually elaborate on it a bit, but I'm just getting a dismissive comment instead... I'm not trying to run anyone's business, just interested. That's all.

It's all good, I'm just in the 'tough love' mood that's all.  Dealing with my IRL flight crews today.

Anyways, FS sales are/were kind of weird.  Even though I've been out of the scene a while, most of the rules of sales still apply, even a hundred years later.  We had sceneries that still sold years later on outdated platforms.  No idea why.  We always had dates in mind that for whatever reason or another would have been great to start selling.  When we missed those marks, we found out that it didn't matter after all.  All that mattered were that people knew a head of time it was coming.  Some sceneries we did thinking they wouldn't sell that well at all, sold great.  

In the end, most of the conventional rules don't really apply, and you never know when or where they will apply.  Then there are your own internals to factor in also.

Anyways, hopefully he does good with MCO.

[threexgreen 3,135]

11 minutes ago, Jeff Nielsen said:

Anyways, FS sales are/were kind of weird.  Even though I've been out of the scene a while, most of the rules of sales still apply, even a hundred years later.  We had sceneries that still sold years later on outdated platforms.  No idea why.  We always had dates in mind that for whatever reason or another would have been great to start selling.  When we missed those marks, we found out that it didn't matter after all.  All that mattered were that people knew a head of time it was coming.  Some sceneries we did thinking they wouldn't sell that well at all, sold great.  

That's weird indeed. Save for those that have special interest in a certain airport, I would have pictured a flight simmer sitting in front of their PC over a long weekend to be far more likely to decide to buy a brand new airport then rather than during the next workweek when they're psychologically in a different place because of work, appointments, etc. and completely miss the news, forget about it or just decide it's not worth it. Usually I would expect a boost in starter sales on a long weekend over a busy Wednesday, i.e. giving people something new they may like when they're most approachable in that regard.