An open letter to MS/Asobo regarding MSFS 2024

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AI generated TL;DR at the bottom. (warning, long text)

Hello all,

I normally don’t write these types of posts and am more of a lurker, but with yesterday’s 2024 launch I felt the need to share some frustrations, but also hopefully some constructive items.

First let me go back in time and share where I come from, and why this impacts me more than I thought it would.

My journey with 2020 started with the initial Tech Alpha back in January 2020. It was a truly ground breaking experience and I really enjoyed chatting with other testers at the time. However, when we heard the sim would release in August of that same year, we all got a bit worried because there were still a lot of things that weren’t quite ready for primetime. But sure, we went with it and had faith in Asobo/MS.

Launch was somewhat rough, but in an ok enough state. We did get the promised updates and patches over the next few weeks and months but we had to be patient. Sadly quite some frequently reported bugs never got fixed at all but we learned to live with them.

Fast forward to today and 2020 has matured quite nicely and we have a healthy 3rd party addon scene. Everyone seemed happy and we were all looking forward to the new kid on the block: 2024.

The excitement however quickly faded, and downright turned into anger and disappointed after 2024 released. Look, I can somewhat understand that the servers had a hard time, but for a major tech company like MS it’s still inexcusable. In a quick video update we later got we learned that they only tested for 200K simultaneous connections… that sounds like a serious underestimation no matter how you look at it. People took days off, streamers prepared for launch but all we got was looking at a “You’re in a queue” message. In the end, the launch was quite the disaster.

That’s for the server side (which will get ironed out in the coming days hopefully) but leaves us with the core sim. Sadly, also for the core sim I quickly discovered that a lot of things were not ready for prime time yet, and I’m really baffled how some of these bugs went past QA. I went from one disappointment to the other. Things we got used to in 2020 suddenly are gone, or changed in such a way that makes it confusing to use (the UI for example). Reddit is full of posts with people experiencing all sorts of bugs (UI, visual, VFX).

Now, that was mostly the objective observation. I think I can say I speak for the community here, but our trust we had build during the past years all seem to have been for nothing. We didn’t get an alpha, nor beta (excluding the tech alpha) and were suddenly given the “release” version.

What happened to the good relation we had during the 2020 alpha and beta days? We all poured so many hours into testing, giving feedback and generally making sure 2020 would be the best sim possible. Why was all of this ignored for 2024? Why didn’t you trust the community on this one giving you feedback? To me this really feels like we’ve been left outside in the cold, assuming we would swallow another disastrous launch… Frankly, I’m not sure if many of us are ready for that.

It’ll take months again to come to a stable version of 2024. Many 3rd party devs are struggling with the SDK and were not given enough time to prepare (like come on, giving them access a mere 3 weeks before launch?) and I fear that some might not even bother with 2024 for the time being.

It just feels like such a step back, especially after how 2020 matured. There’s so many issues I can’t even start to list them all here. Old wounds have been ripped open again.

So, please keep communicating with us. The video you posted yesterday was already a step in the good direction, but ideally we get a post-mortem of how all of this could even happen. Give us (closed) beta’s again so we can help with fixing bugs and testing stuff. Give us a roadmap of how the next few weeks/months will look like. The holiday season is coming up but how will 2024 be around mid-December? Will the Marketplace be live by then? Perhaps delay content updates like you did in 2020 to focus on core sim update?

Please don’t leave us in the dark again after this, it hurts the community and trust we’ve built over the years. We all want the franchise to be healthy and grow, but it’s difficult to that with how things went yesterday.

Added 22/11/2024
What I forgot to mention is this: how? How did we come to this release version? Was it perhaps a forced pre-Holidays release day? I’m not talking about server issues, but core sim and features that are broken.

We have a matured 2020 version, so how come features that work fine there are now back to tech alpha 2020 states? We of course don’t know how it went in the internal Asobo/MS kitchen, but we feel like there wasn’t any QA or proper testing. It could be of course that the most blatant bugs were already logged pre-release, but as of today we’re still missing a proper known-issues list. So again, please keep the communication open, let us know where we can help or which bugs we can ignore because they’re already fixed.

I think in the end this is what most people keep asking themselves: how did this all happen? I can only ask for an honest reply to this.

Lastly, I want to tell that I do feel sorry for all the developers and tech people involved. You all probably worked many long hours and did over time but were most likely restricted by a certain deadline. We still believe in you, and know you only mean the best, but it’ll take some time again to get back on the trust level we had with 2020. The Sky is maybe Calling Soon again?

TL;DR: The user shares their frustrations and constructive feedback regarding the launch of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. They recount their positive experience with the 2020 version, which started with the Tech Alpha in January 2020 and matured over time despite initial bugs. However, the 2024 launch was disappointing due to server issues and numerous bugs in the core simulation. The user feels that the community’s trust has been broken, as there was no alpha or beta testing for 2024, and many features from 2020 are either missing or changed. They urge the developers to communicate more, provide a roadmap, and involve the community in testing to restore trust and improve the simulation. The user also expresses sympathy for the developers who likely faced tight deadlines.

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Thanks for sharing your frustrations and thoughts in a constructive way, we appreciate it and will pass it up to the team.

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It’s performance is gonna be optimized within a few days to weeks … I take it back - lots of issues at present … will sit in the Barcalounger for a while, or drive my car … :sneezing_face:

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A viewpoint from a seldom poster, an 81 year old previously a Software Quality Manager in a large UK Defence Contractor. Not being privy to the MS/Asobo business model, nor should I be I have one observation concerning a potentially weak calculation. Is there just one huge database which serves both PC users [me being one] and XBox users? If so, then I imagine the 200K users simulation was a serious miscalculation on Asobos part. Gamepass users presumably had full access to the simulation at “opening time” and surely all the server quota [200K] was quickly surpassed. I was, and remain, most unhappy that I have yet to be able to get to the Main Screen, much less fly!! Super disappointed! :frowning:

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Agreed and well said, Tom.

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wise words mate, I could not agreed more.

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I feel like most of their thin-client improvements could have been achieved by making fs-base-cgl an optional package while still keeping aircraft and other assets locally. This would also have lessened the server issues yesterday

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Excellent post Tom and you’ve captured the thoughts of many who have been here since the MSFS 2020 release.

In what little time I’ve managed in the sim it can be truly impressive and immersive but I’ve also encountered many things are aren’t working, UI regressions, and baffling choices.

I will be providing feedback where I can on those items later but for now the priority is to fix and stabilize the cloud architecture and thin client streaming design of MSFS 2024.

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That’s unfair.

There are many game franchises that have had a long history of new release cadences including Microsoft Flight Simulator.

There are always advances in technology and game development and its not uncommon to reach a point where it’s better to create a new version than continue to work within the limitations of a previous one.

Sport game franchises often have yearly seasonal releases and you either buy into that or you don’t, or you can skip years or whatever, its on the individual to decide.

I’m very happy that Microsoft and Asobo continue to develop and push the MSFS franchise forward. There will always be bumps in the road but the last 4 years have shown that they are invested in fixing problems, adding content, and supporting 3rd party developers. I’m optimistic that MSFS 2024 will be in a good place in future even with the rocky start.

The alternative is stagnation. How many other games are there where the community is begging for a new version release that never comes?

I’d take the former over the latter.

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Hi Tigger…

As someone who worked in IT for 35 years I’m all for development & progress, but I just don’t believe the title was ready for release yesterday, in its current state.

Happy flying…

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On that we are in agreement.

Unfortunately the business side of companies usually dictate the release schedule whether or not the software is technically ready in the eyes of the consumer.

The good thing is that we have a history of MS Asobo fixing things and responding to community issues and wish list requests.

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Regardless of whether that ship date was hard, it is inexplicable to me that ISVs were not given early builds and ample time to ensure that their products worked in MSFS 2024 on day 1. Many simmers have considerable investments in the MSFS eco-system and for that not to be honored on day 1 is both disconcerting and disappointing. It is equally inexplicable that no beta test was conducted. For that matter, even just running major design decisions by the community would have avoided a bunch of the fallout that is now occuring around bad decisions. The community collectively knows far more about aviation than Asobo, and we know far more about how the product should work. For example, we could have told you that remapping control bindings wasn’t going to be a winner or that walkarounds, while great, need to be optional. You could have found out that while the UFT is the right idea, some key features aren’t discoverable, etc. Had the community been involved from the get go, the product that we were finally able to load would have been manifestly good enough that people would be able to overlook the launch fiasco. Instead, many of us are going through a whole bunch of “what the heck?” moments as we try to figure out what has been done to our sim.

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“Positive feedback” - Yet nothing specific said.

“Things aren’t working.” - What things? Specifically which bugs are you experiencing?

An open letter saying “I am not happy because!” really isn’t constructive criticism. The utter lack of specifics shows the OP doesn’t even know what constructive criticism means.

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… because if I would list all the constructive feedback I would need 10 A4 pages. Let’s first start with opening a mutual dialogue and then we can start going over the many, many things that are broken.

I don’t really need to repeat all of the bugs that are being posted on various platforms. As of now, there isn’t much feedback we can give, too much is simply broken for that.

Let’s give the team some time to reflect on what happened and then we’ll go from there.

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I can assure you, this OP knows what constructive criticism is and has been involved with MSFS since the first Alphas, moderation/admin teams and has met many from MS/Asobo in person. This OP is extremely passionate about this franchise. Like all of us, we want to see this succeed.

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That’s exactly what common sense calls for. It’s pointless to labor and torture ourselves over Control Settings when the game is unplayable. I’ll wait for the server problems to be solved before I attempt installing 2024, even if that takes until next year. There are, in fact, other things to make life interesting for a few weeks. Effort expended now may well be wasted effort. Life is too short and precious to spend it in a frustrated rage such as the one that seems to be engulfing many of my fellow simmers.

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Hundreds of bugs have already been reported, which is what the original poster is referencing. It seems you’re unaware of these issues. Rather than being antagonistic, consider offering constructive input, as you seem to have valuable insights. There’s a significant level of frustration surrounding this release, and it’s important to address it both logically and emotionally to move forward effectively. That said, I do believe there will be accountability, with better decision-makers and executors brought in to address these challenges.

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Can we keep this on topic about Simtom’s message, as well as keeping it respectful towards our moderators and staff? I get it, but it doesn’t help the situation and unfortunately doesn’t help us get messaging out any faster.

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I usually don’t respond to topics like this, however, I will do so anyway.

In addition to the vast majority of the community, I was looking forward to the release of the simulator. I have used the 2020 version of the franchise for multiple years and have always been impressed. No game could compare to 2020. The many things that it has accomplished are things that you wouldn’t think are possible. Upon hearing the announcement of 2024, I didn’t know how much better it could get.

But, here we are. What had happened on Tuesday left me with multiple burning questions, and overall - it led me to scratch my head. While I very much appreciate the responses and constant updates regarding the issue, it shouldn’t have happened in the first place. Yes, there are things that we cannot plan for, but how does this happen?

I only have two questions to ask - what is being done to ensure that this issue doesn’t happen again? What is being changed so the community can enjoy this miraculous game with as few issues as possible?

Lastly - do not take this message as a lack of gratitude towards the franchise. I am very pleased with these games, but I believe this is what needs to be said.

Safe flights, everyone.

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Thank you for that message, Jayne.

I too would like to ask not to go off-topic and start attacking other users. Yes, we’re all frustrated but we won’t get far by throwing words at each other.

What I forgot to mention, and what HamMan has already touched upon, is this: how? How did we come to this release version? Was it perhaps a forced pre-Holidays release day? I’m not talking about server issues, but core sim and features that are broken.

We have a matured 2020 version, so how come features that work fine there are now back to tech alpha 2020 states? We of course don’t know how it went in the internal Asobo/MS kitchen, but we feel like there wasn’t any QA or proper testing. It could be of course that the most blatant bugs were already logged pre-release, but as of today we’re still missing a proper known-issues list. So again, please keep the communication open, let us know where we can help or which bugs we can ignore because they’re already fixed.

I think in the end this is what most people keep asking themselves: how did this all happen? I can only ask for an honest reply to this.

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