3 minutes ago, vp49p3 said:

I've used SI almost daily for a year.  (I'm retired). I thought I'd try both BATC and FSHUD before my yearly SI subscription came up for renewal, so I got both a few weeks ago.  Got them working fine, but neither was as interesting as listening to other SI simmers live on SI, even if the program has some glitches.  I really missed this feature in the other two ATC programs, and have "re-upped" with SI despite some of its drawbacks and cost, and will continue with them, simply because of this "live" feature, which is not available in the other two ATC programs.

I think you've touched on one of the reasons I've stayed with SI as well, and will continue to do so for a bit despite also owning FSHUD and BATC. I really like the underlying approach SI takes compared to the others - the fact that it's universal ATC as opposed to player-centric ATC.

The traditional approach ATC in sims have taken has always been player-centric. In other words, they don't work without you. Can't even start BATC and FSHUD without telling them where you are and where you're going. And then they create the world around you - traffic, controllers, etc. Nothing wrong with that approach necessarily, it's just very traditional and rigid in how they operate, for me going back all the way to using Radar Contact on FSX. When I say rigid, I mean the wheels fall off if you do something they don't expect you to do, you have to use them in a very specific way.

Universal ATC is one that exists with or without the player. SI and default ATC are like that. You just fire it up and it does it's thing in the background - doesn't matter how or where you fly. To me that's more realistic and immersive in terms of how it's supposed to work. It's also much easier to work with. I like the idea that you can hop into a heli and just fly in a random direction. You can tune to frequencies along the way and listen to traffic getting clearances, planes landing and taking off, etc. And if you do participate, you're just one of the many other planes under control rather than the whole reason they exist.

 

 

On 12/13/2025 at 5:23 PM, JYW said:

they've turned into an Indian with a think Gujurat accent

Technically, it was comedy Welsh. 

10 hours ago, wsnd_lepa said:

That said, I’m struggling to understand why this thread has become a platform for what feels like a small group’s personal campaign against the software rather than a constructive discussion. There are tens of thousands of users enjoying this product, many of whom don’t see the same experience described here, yet the tone has been overwhelmingly negative and often unhelpful.

 

Many want SI to be better, hence the frustration. 

19 hours ago, wsnd_lepa said:

So my question to both the posters and the moderators here is: why is it being permitted for two or three individuals to dominate the thread with personal attacks and dismissal of real development progress, instead of keeping the discussion focused on actual issues and solutions?

AvSim has a reporting option allowing any member to bring to moderators’ attention anything they feel breaches AvSim rules.

Feel free to use that facility and explain why you object to the post. It will be considered and dealt with in an objective and neutral manner.

I have both BATC and SI but leaned into SI heavily over the last few months and although I agree that some of the features are a little gimmicky, the sheer amount of flexibility offered by the latter make it the go to. As others have stated here, my only gripe is the rate at which correctly accented voices are being rolled out - BATC in premium mode at least offers a stunning choice of voices that match up with the location and airline. SI seems to have gone backwards perhaps in this regard, although the rest of the functionality has improved. 

8 hours ago, Georgleboui said:

Can't even start BATC and FSHUD without telling them where you are and where you're going. And then they create the world around you - traffic, controllers, etc.

Absolutely incorrect as far as FSHud is concerned. Sure it has to know where you are, but that's part of the sim. There's no interaction with FSHud required - if it's running it will generate traffic around you, and control and communicate with them. Many people, myself included on occasion, simply do that for traffic spotting.

20 hours ago, wsnd_lepa said:

I’ve been a satisfied SayIntentions customer for over 18 months now, and overall I’m genuinely impressed with how much the product has improved and developed during that time — particularly in terms of immersion, realistic ATC behavior and integration with MSFS. The pace of development has been very active, with frequent updates that often fix issues people raise and add new features. 

That said, I’m struggling to understand why this thread has become a platform for what feels like a small group’s personal campaign against the software rather than a constructive discussion. There are tens of thousands of users enjoying this product, many of whom don’t see the same experience described here, yet the tone has been overwhelmingly negative and often unhelpful.

We all know any complex, live ATC system can have intermittent issues — and that’s exactly the kind of feedback that helps developers improve things — but that’s not the same thing as turning a thread into a place for repeated complaints and negativity.

So my question to both the posters and the moderators here is: why is it being permitted for two or three individuals to dominate the thread with personal attacks and dismissal of real development progress, instead of keeping the discussion focused on actual issues and solutions?

Users with real problems deserve a place to be heard, but let’s keep it respectful and productive. If the goal here is helping each other, it shouldn’t feel like a personal jihad against a product that, for many of us, continues to evolve and deliver.

You registered on Avsim just to tell us with your very first post how much you love SI and ask for Avsimmers talking negatively about SI to be banned?
Brian is that you again?

Say Intentions remains something I am conflicted on. I do find it slightly better than BATC, but not gigantically better. I do get better performance since the management of traffic is in the cloud.

But they are increasingly becoming a company that is hard to support.

After another irritating, joyless flight with SI I've decided to put it on the shelf for a bit.  This involved hearing absolutely nobody all flight, despite having AI aircraft around.  Being very poorly vectored in, far too high and at a strange angle (at a major international airport).  Again being taxiid straight into oncoming traffic.  Not being understood despite saying things three times.  Being completely ignored on descent.  This product has not improved a jot in four or five months.  

I fired up BATC, which I owned anyway, and was presently surprised.  Traffic feels less "janky".  It doesn't just disappear.  The airports are really vibrant with radio calls.  I was vectored in really nicely.  Okay you are married to using a Simbrief IFR flight for now, and they have a very strange way to separate traffic, where aircraft will just hang in the sky (I guess it's better than flying straight into your path).  The sounds are really cool. It just gave me a reasonable flight without anything really, really immersion breaking going on, which at the moment SI just does not despite me using it every day.   I'm going to give it another go with a view to cancelling my SI subscription if I still enjoy it into the new year.  (Have been a partner for over a year and just don't feel like there is any improvement).
 

I'd like BATC to explore a bit more on the GA side and perhaps have a more advanced way to separate traffic.  But I had a nice flight with that, instead of a boring, frustrating one with SI.  So that's me sold for a little while at least.  

Edited December 17, 2025Dec 17 by Langeveldt

I learned today that if you select a "mission" from SI there is a frequency that you can tune where you can communicate with other simmers on SI missions.  Haven't used it yet, nor have I explored its parameters, but think it's interesting enough to look into.

6 minutes ago, Langeveldt said:

Wow, and 24 hours later I wake up to this...

Not surprised. At this point, SI is circling the drain and turning into your classic scam company - arguably already there. 

Has this happened to anyone else?  I mean forums are full of unhappy SI users and it's not like I said anything that cutting.  I did notice they took some money out of my account on the same day it was disabled...

2 minutes ago, Langeveldt said:

Has this happened to anyone else?  I mean forums are full of unhappy SI users and it's not like I said anything that cutting.  I did notice they took some money out of my account on the same day it was disabled...

That screams fraud to me. 

Apparently they did it in error and I've been reinstated....

4 hours ago, Langeveldt said:

Apparently they did it in error and I've been reinstated....

Consider yourself warned 😄