In today's blog post announcing the sharklets for the Fenix A3xx series Amir revealed that they are not allowed to be part of the Dev Tech Alpha for 2024, really???

What gives? The Fenix aircraft is one of the best 3rd party aircraft around, some may argue, the best.

I hope it that they will get access ASAP. Sometimes I do not get the decisions that are being made at MS/Asobo. Common.

Quote from the post:

"Unfortunately, we were not permitted access to the DevAlpha (though we did ask Microsoft), which means we still don't have an answer for you on compatibility and timelines for adjusting to this new platform."

1. The SDK Dev Alpha is open to Marketplace Dev Teams Only, I don't believe Fenix is.
2. Asobo are working through a lot of issues & bugs (as seen in the link below), so it might be wise for other Dev Teams to just wait it out for a little while, otherwise they'll end up chasing their tails every time an issue arises that's not been fixed internally yet.
3. Overall it's not really a big issue IMO, patience is a virtue and when they get their hands on the SDK it'll only be a matter of time before they update their aircraft to MSFS24 standards. There's no rush, not every mod has to be updated ready for release day, it may well take a few weeks or months but it's going to be a lot lot quicker than the waiting we had to endure with MSFS2020 before the really decent high quality mods came about.
   
   https://devsupport.flightsimulator.com/

People always oversimplify this kind of issue. "It's the best so they should get access." Easy, right? Not.

The only objective discriminating factor was marketplace presence.

Ultimately, if they start making exceptions based on quality (or perceived quality, because then other developers with high opinions of their work would feel slighted) where do they draw the line? 

Who decides that it's the best? Who decides how many of the "best" should be included? Who tells the others that they're not among the best? 

You "don't get" the decisions made by MS/Asobo because your only responsibility is posting on a forum. It's super easy to "make" decisions when that's the case. It's a lot harder when you're actually in charge of something.

And mind you, the Fenix is literally my favorite aircraft addon for MSFS, not by a small margin. I have incredible respect for Aamir & C and I'd have loved for them to get early access. The difference is that I don't believe Microsoft should engage in favouritism based on my favorites. 

Edited November 5, 20241 yr by Abriael

I appreciate the sentiment (and boy do I share in the frustation) but it's worth noting that we don't believe we were ever entitled to or owed access to the DevAlpha - it'd have been lovely, but I totally understand and respect their reasonings for making it Marketplace-dev only. We're very open to the idea of the Marketplace, and if it was technically feasible under the current requirements you'd see us there too. We don't have any ill-will towards Microsoft or Asobo on this, our messaging is simply to share that we've done our best to get up to speed with the new platform, and are very willing to work with it, but that it's out of our hands for now. What we gain in some ways (flexibility of the external process) we lose in others (early access), and we're under no illusion that we're owed anything just because a tiny fraction of a percentage of their customerbase have a little pretend pink and orange airplane on their computer called Fenix. Give it a couple weeks and we'll have no excuse but to get to work! 😄

19 minutes ago, Silicuss said:

In today's blog post announcing the sharklets for the Fenix A3xx series Amir revealed that they are not allowed to be part of the Dev Tech Alpha for 2024, really???

What gives? The Fenix aircraft is one of the best 3rd party aircraft around, some may argue, the best.

I hope it that they will get access ASAP. Sometimes I do not get the decisions that are being made at MS/Asobo. Common.

Quote from the post:

"Unfortunately, we were not permitted access to the DevAlpha (though we did ask Microsoft), which means we still don't have an answer for you on compatibility and timelines for adjusting to this new platform."

Unfortunately, the Dev Alpha is for registered marketplace partners. Fenix is not selling in the MSFS marketplace.

I was hoping that the MSFS team could make an exception for companies like Fenix but I guess they couldn't.

The MSFS team has to draw a line somewhere. They can't let all companies not in the MSFS marketplace access to the dev alpha. You could have bogus companies with no released MSFS products asking for access to the dev alpha. Then comes the problem of how to verify a non-marketplace company has sold X amount of products for MSFS, if you want to set a criteria for non-marketplace companies to enter the dev alpha.

Personally, I would have included such companies as Fenix and Navigraph in the dev alpha because of their reputation and products in the MSFS community. But yeah, drawing the line somewhere is hard, because showing favortism itself is controversial.

Edited November 5, 20241 yr by abrams_tank

 

5 minutes ago, FNX_Dave said:

I appreciate the sentiment (and boy do I share in the frustation) but it's worth noting that we don't believe we were ever entitled to or owed access to the DevAlpha - it'd have been lovely, but I totally understand and respect their reasonings for making it Marketplace-dev only. We're very open to the idea of the Marketplace, and if it was technically feasible under the current requirements you'd see us there too. We don't have any ill-will towards Microsoft or Asobo on this, our messaging is simply to share that we've done our best to get up to speed with the new platform, and are very willing to work with it, but that it's out of our hands for now. What we gain in some ways (flexibility of the external process) we lose in others (early access), and we're under no illusion that we're owed anything just because a tiny fraction of a percentage of their customerbase have a little pretend pink and orange airplane on their computer called Fenix. Give it a couple weeks and we'll have no excuse but to get to work! 😄

Great post. Couldn't have said it better (albeit I will say it's likely not a tiny fraction 😂)

Edited November 5, 20241 yr by Abriael

19 minutes ago, Silicuss said:

In today's blog post announcing the sharklets for the Fenix A3xx series Amir revealed that they are not allowed to be part of the Dev Tech Alpha for 2024, really???

What gives? The Fenix aircraft is one of the best 3rd party aircraft around, some may argue, the best.

I hope it that they will get access ASAP. Sometimes I do not get the decisions that are being made at MS/Asobo. Common.

Quote from the post:

"Unfortunately, we were not permitted access to the DevAlpha (though we did ask Microsoft), which means we still don't have an answer for you on compatibility and timelines for adjusting to this new platform."

WhaWhaWha

You don't know the reason why so It's pointless to whine about it!

The title of your post even feels like you are whining about something for no reason!

1 hour ago, tpete61 said:

WhaWhaWha

You don't know the reason why so It's pointless to whine about it!

The title of your post even feels like you are whining about something for no reason!

I don't believe the OP was "whining" at all - not being blessed with the inside knowledge behind the scenes like some apparently are - it was a valid question to ask and one I thought of myself.

Pretty quick on the draw there.....

13 minutes ago, DavidP said:

Pretty quick on the draw there.....

Come on David, P really!? Is that whining or not?

16 minutes ago, DavidP said:

It was a valid question to ask and one I thought of myself.

I would argue a valid question is:
"Does anyone know why MS/Asobo didn't invite Fenix to the SDK? They're one of the best 3rd party developers for MSFS. This is a surprise and disappointment to me, so I'd appreciate it if anyone had any insight into this decision."

Tone matters GREATLY in how the attitude behind the question is perceived. It's probably what people struggle with the most in written language, as internet forums seem to highlight over and over. Writing things like, "...really???" and "Sometimes I do not get the decisions that are being made at MS/Asobo. Common.[sic]" takes it from a valid question to someone just complaining about something rather than seeking an explanation or information.

The response from a member of the Fenix team above just further highlights how the initial reaction of this original post is just miles from the reality of the business on the back end, and the developer clearly wants to squash the notion that they're any kind of victim in this situation as the original post seems to imply.  

31 minutes ago, DavidP said:

I don't believe the OP was "whining" at all - not being blessed with the inside knowledge behind the scenes like some apparently are - it was a valid question to ask and one I thought of myself.

Pretty quick on the draw there.....

"Come on, really?" sounds as Karen as it possibly can. 

Marketplace = more money for Microsoft (about 25-30% of developer sales).  Why would they offer Dev Alpha to a someone that isn’t going to make money for Microsoft?

We don't sell in the Marketplace, and we're part of the Dev Alpha.

So if the dev alpha is not just for creators selling on the marketplace, what exactly is the qualifying criteria?

35 minutes ago, timest said:

We don't sell in the Marketplace, and we're part of the Dev Alpha.

You work with partners who do, which likely was a factor.

Edited November 5, 20241 yr by Abriael