Beyond ATC has just updated their pricing model and lowered their base price to $30!

 

The lower the price, the greater the uptake will be.  It's simply a question of adjusting yhe price/uptake to maximise profit.

At $30 I, like most others will be more likely to buy it. The major offput of course is the cost for the ongoing premium services (which the developer seems to have little control over).

I'm not sure about this. On the surface it is definately a welcome thing when something is going to be available much cheaper.

But what does that say about them if their initial calculations for their business model can be swayed in the court of public opinion? Usually this only happens after distribution has already started and a company notices that they have misjudged the market situation.

 

And for only half the initial price tag? How is that even possible? Were they trying to rip us off with the first price? Or did they feel basically the same way as the majority of the community about the price of the AI Service and went back and had some long talks with the people who provide it?

 

It's the 50% reduction that rubs me the wrong way. How is there so much leeway in the price-tag?

As I said in the other thread,  the unlimited PTT is so much better. It wasn't bad before because if you used offline for everything, the transmission time for PTT could last up to several years. But if this is the new pricing scheme, it is good to know that PTT doesn't consume any "credits" at all. Basic voice model is free too? That's a good deal if basic voice model is free.

And of course the drop in price to $30 makes this really good, especially if MSFS 2024 comes out with a new overhauled voice ATC system. I don't know that MSFS 2024 will have an overhauled ATC system that uses voice, but in case it does have something like that, I don't mind being out $30 with BeyondATC.

Finally, it's very nice to have so much competition between 3rd party add-ons in the MSFS space. We can choose between BeyondATC, SayInentions.AI, etc.  So many options to choose from, this is a nice perk of MSFS.

18 minutes ago, Farlis said:

I'm not sure about this. On the surface it is definately a welcome thing when something is going to be available much cheaper.

But what does that say about them if their initial calculations for their business model can be swayed in the court of public opinion? Usually this only happens after distribution has already started and a company notices that they have misjudged the market situation.

 

And for only half the initial price tag? How is that even possible? Were they trying to rip us off with the first price? Or did they feel basically the same way as the majority of the community about the price of the AI Service and went back and had some long talks with the people who provide it?

 

It's the 50% reduction that rubs me the wrong way. How is there so much leeway in the price-tag?

That's certainly a negative position to take. I had the complete opposite reaction to this news, to be honest - maybe I'm just naive... I personally think it's amazing to have a developer, who actually listens to the feedback and concern that their potential customers have. It's quite a deduction in the base-price and with the basic-voices included (as well as PTT). Now, I don't know the fundamental reasons for their original pricing, but since they've said that they have negotiated some deals with their voice-processing suppliers, it could very well account for the deduction. It's hard to say really. Since we don't know why they arrived at the initial pricing strategy. 

I can (kinda) understand your concern, but I don't think there's any nefarious will here. It could be, that the revision of their pricing-structure and an overall simplification of how they're charging for the services, combined with better deals from their suppliers, have led to less expenses overall... I don't know. 🙂 

Did they mention if they are including their own AI aircraft models?

Did they mention what AI service they will be injecting? like radar24 or other service ?

Are they going to include annual airlines flight schedules for people who chose to play off line?

1 hour ago, Farlis said:

But what does that say about them if their initial calculations for their business model can be swayed in the court of public opinion? Usually this only happens after distribution has already started and a company notices that they have misjudged the market situation.

BeyondATC also seem to have noticed that they misjudged the market situation - but at an earlier stage. If they solicit feedback early on and act on it, isn't that better than going to market with a price based solely on gut instinct? Would you prefer that they did this and only noticed after the launch that no one will buy their product?

1 hour ago, Farlis said:

It's the 50% reduction that rubs me the wrong way. How is there so much leeway in the price-tag?

$30 or so of the original $60 was to cover the 3.75 million AI voice 'units of transmission time' we would haved received with the initial purchase.

Now that this third party cost has been renegotiated, this $30 extra in the base cost has been removed, hence the price reduction.

It's a great move, making pricing far more affordable (and understandable) for everyone.

Very fair and great value now in a much simpler plan.    Day one purchase for me.   

11 minutes ago, penta_a said:

Did they mention if they are including their own AI aircraft models?

BATC won't be providing aircraft models, but they do traffic injection with their own injection solution that manages the aircraft, not MSFS's AI engine. Apparently there's support for FSTraffic and FSLTLs models. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGkFZRal4II The video explains more about it. I didn't have time to sift through and find out the provider

 

55 minutes ago, F737MAX said:

Now that this third party cost has been renegotiated, this $30 extra in the base cost has been removed, hence the price reduction.

This was always my initial thought, they should've offered two prices, $30 for no TUs and $60 as a bundle. Would've made it much more approachable, but this new pricing strategy is way better anyway.

New pricing I will give in pay the $30 for the base the unlimited PTT is a win. I will go ahead and purchase the premium addon as well for a total of $60 and see how many flights I get. I average 1-2 flights a week I will see how long it will last me 3 months and I like it I might continue to add premium every couple of months. I will start with the base see how far that gets me after seeing how the program functions. 

At this rate we’re all going to have both AI ATC products installed which will lead to confusion and AI arguing.

”turn left heading 050” 

“ no don’t listen to him ,turn right heading 120”

” I’m in charge here and I say turn left”

”the white zone is for immediate loading and unloading only, there is no stopping in the red zone”

”no,the red zone has always been for loading and unloading, there’s never stopping in the white zone”

etc

 

Edited March 6, 20242 yr by jon b

2 hours ago, F737MAX said:

$30 or so of the original $60 was to cover the 3.75 million AI voice 'units of transmission time' we would haved received with the initial purchase.

Now that this third party cost has been renegotiated, this $30 extra in the base cost has been removed, hence the price reduction.

It's a great move, making pricing far more affordable (and understandable) for everyone.

I hadn't considered that the transmission time that came with the original pricing made up THAT much of the price. Well in that case, I consider my doubts about this eased.

3 hours ago, anden145 said:

That's certainly a negative position to take. I had the complete opposite reaction to this news, to be honest - maybe I'm just naive... I personally think it's amazing to have a developer, who actually listens to the feedback and concern that their potential customers have. It's quite a deduction in the base-price and with the basic-voices included (as well as PTT). Now, I don't know the fundamental reasons for their original pricing, but since they've said that they have negotiated some deals with their voice-processing suppliers, it could very well account for the deduction. It's hard to say really. Since we don't know why they arrived at the initial pricing strategy. 

I can (kinda) understand your concern, but I don't think there's any nefarious will here. It could be, that the revision of their pricing-structure and an overall simplification of how they're charging for the services, combined with better deals from their suppliers, have led to less expenses overall... I don't know. 🙂 

I guess he will be happy if they change their mind, and raise the price back to $60.. LOL