11 minutes ago, tamba765 said:

Say what you will about P3D, but I didn't need an internet connection to use it. Yes, it's true that the visuals were way below what 2020 and 2024 have to offer, but I didn't have to wait in line to use it.

And the number of times I've had to "wait in line" is exactly... zero. It's not like this happens a lot. I'll gladly trade the (very!) occasional network /server glitch for the (very large) number of times I'd CTD in P3D. Or the long load times, the lousy scenery, the middling performance, the dead flat runways, the wx that didn't reach the horizon, the limited areas I flew because I couldn't upgrade scenery everywhere... In short - I do NOT MISS P3D. AT ALL!

No, MSFS isn't perfect and there are certainly issues I'd love to see resolved. But for me, it is BY FAR the best, most trouble free sim I've ever used. I'm seeing some pretty strong reactions here, considering the number of times we've been locked out of this thing. Perspective.

Scott

Never got that message (knock on wood...)... Probably because I'm somewhere on the European servers?

Anyway, I am sure that if it starts to happen with more frequence, MS / ASOBO will tke care of it and adapt the Azure ifrastructure accordingly.

Yes, for various reasons, starting wih the expensive maintenance of datacenters, I believe the future may bring a subscription-based offer. Maybe the next version of MSFS will already bring that new model (?)

If it's good, why not? I pay for a lot of stuff these days that uses the subscription model... Actually a good del of the services I use, IT and non-IT...

16 minutes ago, jcomm said:

Yes, for various reasons, starting wih the expensive maintenance of datacenters, I believe the future may bring a subscription-based offer. Maybe the next version of MSFS will already bring that new model (?)

If it's good, why not? I pay for a lot of stuff these days that uses the subscription model... Actually a good del of the services I use, IT and non-IT...

Absolutely. And what I do pay subscriptions for now is much better, more reliable and better maintained than it ever was when it was a one off payment. More than happy to subscribe to MSFS.

If we get to a stage that MS started doing a subscription based service to use Flight Sim then I would reluctantly have to look at alternatives. Individuals are already paying a fortune for add-ons, hardware, Navigraph subscriptions etc etc. Some people may be delighted to pay for subscriptions for everything in life but in many countries, the cost of living is really starting to bite hard for many.

This constant drive to force everyone to subscribe monthly/annually to stream movies, sport, music and gaming platforms or miss out is getting beyond a joke. Yes, I appreciate that the companies have expenses to cover to provide these services but the reality is, they are making a tidy sum as it suits them to host it online and for you not to own it locally (if you know what I mean). If we go down this route with flight sims, then sadly, I fear some people will be driven away from the MSFS product offering, not through choice, but simply because they can't afford to be shelling out every month on non-essentials.

There been a critical bug and patches announced today for PHP which is a fundamental part of a vast number of services across the internet.

The timing makes me wonder if MS as a massive cloud service provider has early access to the announcement and patches and have been progressively taking down patching servers including MSFS related ones reducing overall capacity.

(This is of course entirely idle speculation as I sit on a train home from work and probably nothing to do with the truth)

Edited October 21Oct 21 by Matchstick

Last night I was stuck at 68% anything related to this issue? Yea I synced the time, disconnect and reconnected the internet but nada. I hadn’t chance to test today yet.

1 hour ago, jcomm said:

Never got that message (knock on wood...)... Probably because I'm somewhere on the European servers?

Anyway, I am sure that if it starts to happen with more frequence, MS / ASOBO will tke care of it and adapt the Azure ifrastructure accordingly.

Yes, for various reasons, starting wih the expensive maintenance of datacenters, I believe the future may bring a subscription-based offer. Maybe the next version of MSFS will already bring that new model (?)

If it's good, why not? I pay for a lot of stuff these days that uses the subscription model... Actually a good del of the services I use, IT and non-IT...

Same, have never had the issue over here in east Asia

1 hour ago, tttocs said:

I do NOT MISS P3D. AT ALL!

I miss the A2A Civilian Mustang. A few others, but that one most of all.

I still crank it up and fly it over True Earth now and again.

But yeah, I miss having the plane, not the sim. 🤙

2 hours ago, tamba765 said:

Say what you will about P3D, but I didn't need an internet connection to use it. Yes, it's true that the visuals were way below what 2020 and 2024 have to offer, but I didn't have to wait in line to use it.

You can say that about 90% of how we do things today.

But it does make sense to keep P3D or another sim as a backup!

On 10/21/2026 at 9:57 AM, St Mawgan said:

More than happy to subscribe to MSFS.

If sub fees are demanded to keep the sim afloat and preferably continuously improving, sign me up. "Performance", defined as a combination of image quality, complexity along with ultra smooth animation, freedom from stutters w/ sufficient frame rate is absolutely fabulous. Considering what it takes to stream this sim and its continuous development it's really kind of odd it hasn't happened already. Perhaps one tier could be by sub, and another 'free'. This way those who wish to dabble on a console or who aren't really committed...yet...can still use it, while perhaps being somewhat limited, or with a 'watermark' like P3D had or something along those lines to differentiate the two. Heck, we sub to Netflix and Amazon Prime and I use MSFS far more than those services.

43 minutes ago, Noel said:

If sub fees are demanded to keep the sim afloat and preferably continuously improving, sign me up.

Of course a subscription would have to be a feature of a new version of the simulator if it was to be if introduced. Many countries (including the one I'm in) would consider it ilegal for Microsoft to "sell" MSFS as it has done since 2020 and then change MSFS 2020 and 2024 to it being dependent on an ongoing subscription.

13 hours ago, mfahey said:

Of course a subscription would have to be a feature of a new version of the simulator if it was to be if introduced....

MSFS 2028 😉

Did anything special happen last night, around 0000z? Except for Day One, I had only one or two "bandwith too low" messages in MSFS2024 ever, until last night, that I got like 10 of these, including once that big gray one that freezes your flight. I'm puzzled.

15 hours ago, Noel said:

If sub fees are demanded to keep the sim afloat and preferably continuously improving

I'd consider it, as long as it doesn't mess with currently installed products (exception: they are starting from scratch).

Edited October 28Oct 28 by Luis Hernandez

Microsoft is offering buy outs to 60,000 people. It would be foolish to believe MSFS won’t be affected by this.

on my trusty FS24 I literally never had this message.

in fact this is the first time I hear about this 🤔 bug