I'm speechless. Call me old fashioned call me old, whatever, this is beyond ridiculous. First the Dune splash screens and now this.

https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/call-to-action-against-inappropriate-advertising-in-msfs-2020/643240

Obviously the thread has been closed, because things. Money talks.

It got closed because there was already another thread addressing the issue.

 

https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/advertising-integrated-into-the-simulator/643225/27

Edited May 27, 20242 yr by Krakin

You're neither old fashioned nor old. Being confronted with advertising as a person has a monetary value, in other words: If companies pay to bring advertisement to you (e.g. tv ads), you actually watching this advertisement is something you should get paid for. In practice it's mostly done by offsetting this via your costs (e.g. watch ads on Netflix -> pay less for the subscription; watch ads in the internet -> you don't have to pay to read an article etc.), but the principle still applies.
If FSDG wants to advertise towards me, they better pay me for that (or offset this by reducing the price of MSFS etc.).

Edited May 27, 20242 yr by Fiorentoni

Not seeing that as a massive issue to be honest, the user in question has one of their airports loaded. Much like if you have the 737 loaded you get comments relating to the 737.

Perhaps not the best way to advertise since it clearly triggers some people, but at least it's relevant, unlike the Dune screen.

G

Edited May 27, 20242 yr by Gazzareth

It looks like this is something FSDG did on their own. It doesn't look like any agreements were made with microsoft and you have to install one of their sceneries to see it in the first place. You can't compare MS splash screens to this.

Good morning Captain! Would not a Sargent Sim Jumbo look good in your hangar! Land on Runway 23 for 10% off today!

Apparently this will only come up if the option to show landmarks is active. Still, this looks like desperation to me.

15 minutes ago, Krakin said:

It got closed because there was already another thread addressing the issue.

 

https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/advertising-integrated-into-the-simulator/643225/27

Thanks for the HU, not as bad then.

1 minute ago, Krakin said:

It looks like this is something FSDG did on their own. It doesn't look like any agreements were made with microsoft and you have to install one of their sceneries to see it in the first place. You can't compare MS splash screens to this.

Yeah. Whether we like it or not, we all benefit from the collaboration between MS/Asobo and things like Dune, the Top Gun expansion etc., but this is something completely different.

If they only would have been a bit more creative, nobody would complain.....

I can understand the intrusion in this sense as that particular "advert" is shockingly in your face and so out of place with the scenery, other than that advertising has been in games for well over a decade now. Racing Sims have it (track adverts which are actual real adverts for example), I think Far Cry or some other First Person Shooter had it with Product Placement once (Monster Energy Drink as a consumable).
So yeah it's nothing new but when it looks as bad as that thread links too then yeah it needs some sort of moderation from MS I would agree, can't see them worrying about it though.

 If 3rd party devs are advertising within their own add-ons about their future add-ons, those offended by that need to take it up with the said 3rd party developer, nothing MS/Asobo can do about it (and I don't think MS/Asobo should get involved in over-policing 3rd party add-ons, which they can only do for marketplace entry anyways).

As for MS/Asobo showing splash screens etc in MSFS about other aspects of MSFS and the add-ons MS/Asobo themselves provide.. why not? It's still part of the core sim after all. If certain splash screens are bothering folks I'm afraid it's down to one or more of these few options: deal with it, look away, don't use the sim 🤷‍♂️
 

Edited May 27, 20242 yr by lwt1971

44 minutes ago, lwt1971 said:

I don't think MS/Asobo should get involved in over-policing 3rd party add-ons

Len, you are being extremely liberal and that is your free opinion, however, given the reactions on the official MSFS site and here, it is obvious that a majority of users find this marketing approach shocking and thus unacceptable. We pay to buy MSFS, we pay to buy add-ons, we have every right to demand that our game remains free of ads, developers have plenty of options to promote their products outside the sim and, yes in my view, MS should forbid such aggressive marketing approaches, the Marketplace has a window for that in a prime spot each time we open the sim, retailers (Simmarket, Contrail, ORBx, JustFlight, etc) all of them have an interest in promoting new products and the space for that, even emails if one choose to receive them, Now to get inside the sim is another step too far and should be off limit..

16 minutes ago, Bernard Ducret said:

Len, you are being extremely liberal and that is your free opinion, however, given the reactions on the official MSFS site and here, it is obvious that a majority of users find this marketing approach shocking and thus unacceptable. We pay to buy MSFS, we pay to buy add-ons, we have every right to demand that our game remains free of ads, developers have plenty of options to promote their products outside the sim and, yes in my view, MS should forbid such aggressive marketing approaches, the Marketplace has a window for that in a prime spot each time we open the sim, retailers (Simmarket, Contrail, ORBx, JustFlight, etc) all of them have an interest in promoting new products and the space for that, even emails if one choose to receive them, Now to get inside the sim is another step too far and should be off limit..

That's fair, but what can MS/Asobo feasibly do outside of adding restrictions/rules to govern the entry to the marketplace? If 3rd party add-on developers insert advertising for their own future products in their own existing add-ons (be it in scenery, or something as simple as livery on an aicraft, etc) and sell it outside of the MSFS marketplace, what is MS/Asobo to do?

Again this is not getting "inside" the sim, or doing something internal with MS/Asobo's help.. this is 3rd party devs placing ads in their own add-ons, and then those add-ons being used in the sim makes it look like it is coming from "inside" the sim (and in the case of scenery add-ons this increases that perception and blurs the lines betweeen core sim and add-on I guess).
 

Edited May 27, 20242 yr by lwt1971

34 minutes ago, lwt1971 said:

hat's fair, but what can MS/Asobo feasibly do outside of adding restrictions/rules to govern the entry to the marketplace?

Well ... this. They could threaten to ban FSDG from the marketplace. That would be a huge loss for scenery developers (losing minimum all XBoxers as potential customers).

Really no idea what went into FSDG. They are long established scenery devs and while not the best they haven't shown any "shadiness" in all those years.

Edited May 27, 20242 yr by Fiorentoni