Unfortunately, this seems to be the (sad) trend in the gaming industry. Apparently, dlc is where the monies are.

How does $100 bucks for a plane sound to you?...

  Well, that's exactly what EA is charging for their latest "premium elite" vehicle. 

*I'm not allowed to post a link, yet. Just google "ea dlc car" if you're curious*



  Of course, it's just a psychological marketing ploy. I doubt they'll sell many, but now the $50 vehicles look like a bargain! 

I just googled that ea dlc car... that's just insane! How is that good business? 

That's exactly it, kind of like gas prices (but not as complicated); $3.00 a gallon seems like a steal now. DLC (not true add-ons per se) is becoming the baggage fees of gaming. 

Keep in mind EA are also the ones that really pushed the "online pass" style of charging for used stuff and released $300 worth of DLC on LAUNCH day of the last Tiger Woods game.

I know why Microsoft set up flight this way, I just don't think it was a good decision.  I won't be buying anything for it, I'd rather deck out FSX more.

We could try to force Microshaft to release an SDK or such. Simply give it low ratings on websites like metacritic for the reasons of not having any freeware addons because there is no SDK. Doesn't matter if we're a minority. We can be a loud one and influence the majority.

Modern Warfare 2 on PC for example, has a user rating of 3.7/10 from >5000 ratings because they removed features the community wanted.

Thoughts?

In other news, apparently Prepar3d v2.0 will be improved a fair bit over FSX. All new FTX products will be for both P3D and FSX. I just hope LM comes out with a cheap version of P3D for private use - it currently costs $500.

where can i get p3d?can i get a link

M$ have shot themselves in the foot by releasing flight free. People will download it see how arcade-like it is & they won't buy any add-ons for it. Saying that I will download it to see how bad it is. If M$ don't release a SDK for it so people like Xpand & Alrot can make a/c for it I’ll go off it very quickly. Freeware is the only reason fs has been around as long as it has.

pfevrier wrote on Jan 5^th, 2012 at 9:16pm:


From the site:
"As provided in our End User License Agreement, the Prepar3D application is not to be used, offered, sold or distributed through markets or channels for use as a personal/consumer entertainment product."

Quote:



"Just to be clear (and trying not to sound defensive!). Anyone can purchase Prepar3D. We do not sell it as an entertainment product and the EULA talks about that, which means that it will not be appearing on the shelves of Best Buy next to Call of Duty any time soon..... I am not sure where the rumour started that we sell only to certain people, but anyone can buy it. It isn't about consumers, but end-use. If you are a pilot, simulation user, student, whatever and want to use it for familiarization, training, taxiing over bugs then go for it. If you are 10 or 110 it doesn't matter. If you want to use it at an arcade game, then buy something else. You can go to our website and purchase it with a credit card and download it. The commercial license version is $499 and we have added a considerable amount of features and made a lot of bug fixes to the code that we were fortunate enough to procure from Microsoft. A list of features can be found on our website at www.prepar3D.com. We certainly have added in bathymetry data to allow the use of submersibles and we have added in a few features for hard-core users that they should find interesting including true multi-channel (spreads the load of the image generator across multiple PCs), update to DirectInput 8 to allow up to 32 axes and 128 buttons per joystick, sensor views (night vision and infra-red), updated landclasses, GPS upgrades and so on. We have also updated and improved the SDK documentation and added more samples for developers. We are also going to be releasing an update version 1.2 of Prepar3D and the SDK in the next few weeks.

Those that are looking to test, integrate, develop, investigate etc and therefore do not require a full commercial license can subscribe for $9.95 per month and receive 2 copies of the software. That is an option that many people are taking and I would be glad to see more people come on board and see what they can do with the app! There are no restrictions to joining the developer network.

If people are using Prepar3D for commercial activities, then switching to the commercial license is appropriate and required.

For Victor, sorry that the website isn't clear enough. I will work with Lockheed communications to try to get some clarity on that. We are just a bunch of engineers and not necessarily the best at marketing!!

Regards,
John Nicol
Prepar3D."

So anyone can get P3D. But since you cannot buy it a walmart or whatever and it's not aimed at consumers, I doubt it will get as much traction behind it as FSX / FS9. I hope they aim at the hard core flight simmer market as well in the future although given it's LM I don't see it happening.