I received the most dismissive response from Zendesk: They said I must open MSFS and go in to Content Manager and apply any updates… They ignored the fact that MSFS would not even open.
MSFS 40th Premium would not open after the 1.30.7.0 update (license authentication error).
MSFS 40th Premium would not open after factory reset and clean install on Friday, Saturday or Sunday…
However, this morning, with no changes to my system, it opens to the first General Settings setup screen (first screen for a new user).
So that proves this WHOLE thing was the Microsoft “Authentication Server” being offline for 3 days. AGAIN, the error messages in MSFS are themselves WRONG. They are worded to blame the paying customer, instead of stating what the actual problem is - that the server is offline.
Regardless of whether my game now works or doesn’t, yet again another terrible experience, and I will restate - another lost sale. I’m not buying MSFS as a present this year as I had planned to do. I’m not giving the gift of disappointment and frustration.