PSS Press Release - 16/1/2008

[Guest jaglover]

>Mark,>>Whilst I agree the general thrust of your comments, the>generalities in para 2 have less credibility. Rob has>formally been providing Airbus support for several years and I>have been doing the same for the Boeings for well over a year.>To my knowledge neither of us have done any of the things you>accuse us of.>>As to the PSS delivery system, it requires one connection to>the internet on initial purchase. After that you can>copy/paste the files from FS9 as a backup or carry out a>further download into a dummy folder. In either case you can>them re-install the aircraft as you wish without the need for>the internet.>>That said, I think we all hope that Antony is successful. >Having been testing until last Autumn, I believe that with a>new management the development team has much to offer for the>future.>>John Rooum>Once again John I've been too general. The support from you and Rob has been (and continues to be) top notch. My comments of poor customer service should be limited to the Boeing forum only.Regarding the delivery system. The method you described, while functional, is a bit of a chore for a typical computer user. This is, after all, the year 2008 and not 1992. An end user should NOT have to visit an internet forum to learn what directories and files constitute an installed software package. Add to that the potential issues of said end user unwittingly backing up all files save one. There are better installation alternatives out there and there's no reason PSS needs to stick with the current system as it obviously has done NOTHING to curtail piracy. Mark

[Guest coolfront55]

John, With all do respect, doing the way you suggest is ,in my opinion, a pain in the butt. Instead of allowing the installer to do the sorting for you, you have to do all the work and possibly make errors in location or some other mistakes. I know where Mark is coming from on that remark.Jorge

[Guest Ronnie_BVA]

Antony,My thanks for your statement, co-incidentally issued on the day that I made a suggestion here about getting the site back up - even if only for customers to recover their purchases. This is welcome news indeed.PSS have, in my opinion, a huge following of pilots - evidenced by the activity here since your brief 'outage'. There are even more enthusiasts that I know of who have the CD versions, who might not even be aware of the on-line side.I for one am proud to be a PSS pilot, and have flown nothing else since the FS2000 747 and 777. You have fantastic products, and to see you up and running again will be very welcome indeed. You are assured of my continued custom.I have great sympathy for Graham, and I wish him well.Good luck in your endeavours, and I look forward to seeing PSS fully functional again and creating some more brilliant products.Thanks also to AVSIM and to the unofficial support team who have been looking after us here. I don't post, but I read a lot and learn a lot more.With Best RegardsPaul

[FOD 23]

Mark,Quite right. I've been around too long. When I started it was only freeware and it was all manual installations so we were soon used to playing with the file structure and aircraft.cfg etc. Today's paying customers are quite right to expect a one click installation and then get on with flying. {The word dinosaur springs to mind?}Also I found the discussion going on on the FSX forum on piracy very interesting and particulsrly Phil Taylor's input.John R

[Guest SilverCircle]

>Is there any way that the people who pirated the products can>be banned from the PSS forums - even if it means ultimately>that the reborn PSS manage their own support in another place>a la Level D? Great shame that these people have have spoilt>the hobby for us and caused the problems for PSS.Actually, the much easier solution is to run your own support forum and only let registered users read and post there.In order to register on that forum, users will have to provide valid customer information (like name, order #, email etc.). If one cannot provide this information, he cannot register an account. Pretty simple.There could still be a "open" area for those who have not yet purchased and just want to get information or ask pre-order questions. But for real support, you need a valid account and you can only get one by proving that you actually own a legal copy of the product.Just look at how Level-D handles it.

[rosariomanzo 0]

Go ahead Antony!FS world cannot be the same without PSS.

[kapapilot 0]

when will the install servers be back up? I am ready to fly the 757 and 777 again, I was forced to do a system restore to factory settings and lost everything, I can't wait.

[kand 205]

HiPSS definitely raised the Fsim bar back in the FS2000 days and sincerely deserve credit.The hobby has evolved because of pioneers like PSS but they severely fell to the wayside with terrible customer support later on in their era. The release of the Airbus was bug riddled and for me unusable as I remember the flight model constantly nose diving and doing strange things. This is when I stopped purchasing/using PSS add-ons. I think they sealed their own fate. To heap everything on software piracy is absurd and arrogant, users were regularly asking for fixes/support but it seemed PSS were unwilling to answer or address these issues instead they would hide behind a heavily guarded/moderated forum and delete posts that they felt were damaging to their business. I know this may sound scathing but in my opinion reflects the truth surrounding their demise, it would take a major breakthrough/release to ever get me to purchase any re-badged PSS product now, the Airbus series left a bitter taste in my mouth but nonetheless I wish the new admin every success and hopefully they will remedy the old PSS business/customer service model

[Guest jaglover]

I agree. Blaming piracy is comical. It seems that PSS doesn't really understand what happened to them. I do have to wonder about the sincerity of Antony's words and whether or not a new PSS is doomed to a fate similar to the old. I expected some feedback from Antony by now, at least to address the issues we've raised in response to his original comments. His statements about piracy and the fate of his father were so very unprofessional and non-business like.

[FOD 23]

Mark,Again, although none of us really know, I have to agree with your second sentence. But {and there always is a but} I have watched the PSS forums since before the 777 release and there were obviously problems that have not been mentioned in this thread but which were far more intractable.Putting a positive spin on the PSS statement, I suspect that Antony had to choose his words very carefully, particularly if he is in negotiations to raise capital. For similar reasons, I would not expect to hear more until he has made some progress. However, he would certainly been helped by a bit of PR advice!John R

[Guest franksalot]

Hi John,I agree 100% with your last sentance, and I think we should not let this thread descend into more PSS 'bashing'!"he would certainly been helped by a bit of PR advice!" That's true also, funds might be a problem, unless he can get the advice free?Ken

[norman s 15]

Folks."Enough is enough", so the saying goes and with regards to PSS bashing I for one says "Enough".Let us all display a little bit more dare |I say it "professionalism"and let Anthony etc get on with trying to sort something out for all of us,whilst we can then do some flying .To John and Rob it is time to draw aline under this whole matter.The forum has all of the detail contained on it for people to see the flavour of the events to date.Norman Bowman

[FOD 23]

Norman,Well said!When Rob gets back I hope that that he does just that.For me, I am not really interested in the politics; I much prefer the "support" title of this forum.John R

[norman s 15]

Hi John,It is all too easy to get carried away when such emotive events occur.Many times people voice concerns and complaints in the wrong quarters and then everything gets blown out of all proportions.Whilst I have been upset I learned along time ago to display a little bit of patience and very often you get a result.Norman Bowman

[Guest coolfront55]

The only thing I care about is getting my purchases back, nothing more nothing less. I agree that being OVERLY AGGRESSIVE gets nothing of VALUE accomplished.Jorge