I’m very much looking forward to a high fidelity A380 for my xbox. It’s one of my favourite airliners both as passenger and to fly. If Aerosoft aren’t going to make it then I’m sure someone else will, and I’d be very happy with that.
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MK is indeed, like me, a Dutch guy who is thinking and writing out loud. He tries to make a business decision on what project to invest in. Developing a new aircraft is very very expensive and takes many man-hours. So he tries to get some feedback from the community on what product they would prefer.
I actually think they can succeed with a Airbus A32X family. However, the offering should be really good and frequently updated. They can design a really nice external model and implement features that FBW doesn’t have the resources for. Why they can’t develop an aircraft that is suitable for beginners as well as advanced users. Just add a virtual co-pilot to handle the systems and a beginner can start and learn. Add a few aircraft states (cold and dark, AP running, taxi, etc.) and everyone can fly the plane. Its just a matter of being creatieve and thinking out-of the box. MK should realise that a good product will sell itself. This is how PMDG became a market leader.
This. I never understood the “we simulate a pilot’s job” line, either. It’s a pilot’s job to fly the plane, sure, but that entails knowing how to use it and its various systems, its quirks and features, its pros and cons, etc.
I get what he’s saying. I’ll not begrudge anyone trying to make an honest buck, and he’s got the marketing smarts to know what the biggest demographic is. I hate that it’s the super casual Marketplace crowd, but it doesn’t really surprise me. He has said elsewhere that they’re not aiming for Xbox with the new Airbus(es), but that they’re still aiming for the Marketplace doesn’t really fill me with confidence. Not big into modern tubeliners anyway, so it doesn’t really affect me, however if that’s the AS trend then yeah, after the CRJ I guess they really aren’t for me. I’m with the handful of people above who took them off my instant-buy list after the Twin Otter. It’s not that it’s a bad plane, I don’t think they were fully clear about how simplistic it really would be. There’s definitely some fault of mine for expecting $50 quality at $35 (maybe it just wasn’t as complicated, I don’t know, I’m still learning these things), but the sheer number of missing and cut things is just too much for me.
For all his faults, at least from what we can know of the man just by internet posting, he is willing to admit when he’s wrong. I agree with I think it was @SkyVagrant4490 who said it’s probably a cultural thing with how forcefully direct he is. I’ve butted heads with him several times over there, he banned me wholesale from the forums, but when I got in touch with support to appeal it (the post I got banned for was telling him he could close a topic of mine, and also acknowledging some mod mail he’d sent asking me to please not cause trouble as they had refunded me on the TO, and he was very right in asking), he replied that he had indeed been too hasty and I was correct in reaching out and he unbanned me. I also don’t think he’s trying to insult other devs, he will actively tell you to go buy their products if AS ones don’t live up to your expectations.
What I hate most is that I don’t think he is wrong about the market demographics. I mostly fear that there won’t be much room for the super serious people because others will follow the money and start dumbing down for the masses.
I am wondering why he posted that to the forums, though, when he has stated several times that the forums users are, on the whole, part of the more serious, in-depth, willing-to-read-a-300-page-manual crowd, so I’m not sure what answer he would be expecting from that demographic other than “give us the deepest plane you can, please.”
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I don’t think this will be an issue, I think there will always be those developers out there, that will want to replicate the real deal as far as is possible on every platform.
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Once the PMDG 737, iniBuilds A310, Fenix A320 are all out I think this will change the market somewhat. There are always going to be those who dont want study level, or those who want the latest shiny planes but cant be bothered to learn it. However this needs to be a natural or organic process, not forced and fake funnelled in to being to suite one dev’s bank balance.
I also agree with some of what you are saying, but I still dont agree with how some of that post was put across.
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Yeah I’m with you all the way.
I don’t think the Twin Otter turned out to be a bad plane, it’s just a bit more shallow that I anticipated. And I did add the extra 15 bucks to include the TSS soundspack as a workaround. So for me it turned out to be a 50 buck product without the full 50 buck feel of it. Haha.
Well anyway, I enjoy flying it. But I don’t love it, like I do the Justflight Arrow III or the DC6. Let’s just say it’s Carenado quality for now, but without the sexy looks of one. 
I hope developers will continue to work on quality that they can be proud of and I don’t mind them charging more than casual products if that market remains smaller, like in the old days. Eventually, that will hopefully find its right course. If you just hear people talk like SWS with their Kodiak and now upcoming Dash 7, those are ambitious and enthusiastic and seek pride in their products. They will probably remain and perhaps their pricing will just go up a bit and I don’t mind that for a great plane.
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Yes, and we also have our friends at MilViz, who have the ATR and 310 I’m looking forward to, up and comers like BigRadials with the Goose, and JustFlight who have that excellent series of Pipers and the 146 coming up. And I had to edit in SWS since I don’t own the Kodiak and forgot, but leaving them off is a disservice.
I suppose it’s not as dark as that after all.
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Ohhh I’m SO looking forward to that 146 coming around the corner. I’ve checked out some youtubes on it from a real world Braathrens crew operating it and I can’t wait to have my own turn now. Haha.
I’m even more hyped for that one than for the 737! …But it’s also because its new and I have new confidence in Justflight delivering (and improving) their own new set standards. That team is going places, I’m sure of it.
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After a lot of “encouragement” from a very helpful member of the Steam MSFS community, I found the ■■■■■■■■■■ fortitude to try my hand at flying on VATSIM. I noticed one night that I couldn’t receive on both Com1 and Com2 in the JF Arrow, which coming from Pilot2ATC I didn’t think much of, but I happened to switch to Com2 at some point and noticed suddenly I could receive on both Com1 and Com2. Back to Com1 and I could only receive on Com1. Weird.
I later had one of those random thoughts that comes to you as you’re falling asleep and realized that Com2 in my Arrow was not set to phone or speaker and had no output set. Next time I logged on I switched it to phone and bam, suddenly I’m able to receive on both.
The audio output switches on the dash actually do something under the hood.
That was about two weeks ago and I’m STILL tickled over that discovery.
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And then there’s the other half of that statement, and it seems the more forums I’ve been reading I in here lately, there more of the “other half” of that statement there are…. LOL.
Question for the masses??? Why not just enjoy what we have and stop complaining about what we don’t. If you don’t like the platform, switch to another and stop moaning about what this platform “can’t do” at this point…. Sorry for my rant…
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I think I read MK’s post a little differently because I didn’t really find it too offensive, and I would consider myself an in-depth simmer flying XP’s Tolis, Flightfactor, Hotstart, etc. I don’t think he tore down or poked at any developer in the post. He simply pointed out how they are aiming at a different audience or product from their direct competitors (He even outright complemented FBW). PMDG actually tore down one of FBW’s team in a direct and very rude manner. I read this post as a fairly truthful telling that Aerosoft is bending to the times and catering to the broader market to include the XBOX.
All of that to say, I might not agree with their approach but I can understand their decision based on their sales reports which I don’t doubt at all. I might not buy another product from Aerosoft based on things like this, but time will tell that for sure. I think the difference for me is that I have no personal tie to Aerosoft since I come from XP. I would probably feel very similar and hurt if Toliss suddenly said they were going to cater to XBOX rather than the series simmer. There should be plenty of quality serious simmer content coming so I’m not going to worry too much. Even Toliss is interested in MSFS, and we have Fenix A320, PMDG 737, and Ini’s A310 in the near future so I at least respect Aerosoft for being so forthcoming.
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I have no first-hand experience, and therefore no strong opinion on Aerosoft’s public relations skills, but I will say this: Business companies decide for themselves what market segment(s) they want to target.
If Aerosoft are somehow betraying the (capital H!) “High end simmers” and MSFS’s future as a “sim for simmers” by targeting a wider audience with cheaper and more accessible products than some other companies, so are Honeycomb Aeronautical, e.g.
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I am not saying he is betraying anyone, what direction he wants to drag the company he works for in is up to him. What I take Umbridge with, is the way he say’s things which cast anything but his direction in a bad light as other’s have noted too.
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I have been saying this about MK and Aerosoft for months. Finally more people see it.
CRj was first and last. Still bugged … no responses in bugs FOR MONTHS. Even adding names of MK via @ and the programmer … no response.
Even bashing and insinuating things about AIG and openly calling people “AIG fanboys” just to promote their horrible simple traffic with the DHL A380 (!!) 🤷
I highly respected MK in the years … but he broke down Aerosoft in just 1 year. Think its time he retires …
The forum is horrible and arrogant.
To bad this is happening and hope for a fast good regional airliner soon so I can put the CRJ in the desert.
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How’s your anger management class going though? @AppliedPython94
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Failed 
🤷
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Ya wouldn’t say…! 
Ah man, and yet I’m over here patiently waiting for the FBW A380. I’m really looking forward to it.
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this is some hardcore gatekeeping
Not sure what you’re referring to?