All,
Like many, I have not been impressed with the SU5 release. As many (many) users, topics and comments on these forums have said, I to feel uncomfortable with how integration with the Xbox platform (not community, let us not wrongfully confuse the two) is going, especially based on the SU5 experience.
I have ranted and raved for two days now and I have landed where I am now.
I have written this in the vein hope that getting this off my chest may help myself and others. I hope it provides a pragmatic and balanced view - though I dare say others will have their opinions and this may not match with theirs. I am prepared to put my tin hat on as those people who disagree will no doubt make their own views known.
I have seen many fellow PC users say things that boil down to ‘why is MS/Asobo sacrificing high fidelity PC gaming to integrate with the Xbox and are we as PC users going to have our high fidelity simulator ‘dumbed down’ to make it work on the Xbox?’
This is easy to answer, but first we PC users need to remember a few things and take a few bites out of a reality sandwich. Ultimately it boils down to this; what option(s) has the bigger market opportunity for MS/Asobo ($$$)?
The real question’s we should be asking are:
-
Can Microsoft/Asobo effectively integrate Xbox users into this game without compromising either users experience?
-
If MS/Asobo cannot integrate the game effectively for cross compatible gaming without sacrificing either user types experience, would MS/Asobo create two separate entities of the game to ensure user experience is not compromised, even if this means a public admission of a failed vision and probably wasted investment from MS/Asobo?
-
If MS/Asobo cannot integrate the game for cross compatible gaming and cannot/will not create two separate user experiences, where will they choose to accept compromises to the user experience.
Either way, the answer still comes back to what I said at the start - what will make MS/Asobo the most money? Sorry but business performance will trump user experience almost every time and I dont think MS/Asobo will ever put themselves in a position where they will loose revenue opportunity just to create a better user experience for a smaller market.
Sorry but that is the bite of the reality sandwich we all have to start chewing on. We all knew this was coming as MS/Asobo have not hidden their plan to make MSFS20 cross compatible with Xbox, and that is another bite of the sandwich we are all eating here.
If I were being cynical, I would say it is no accident at all that MSFS20 was released first as PC only and now, having got all the hard core PC sim fans invested into the game they can pursue a wider market. From a business perspective if MS/Asobo released on Xbox first then PC, would PC simmers have been as keen to invest? Based of what we think we are seeing as a result of SU5, would PC simmers have bought into the game if it was PC and Xbox enabled at point of release or might the reviews have kept large proportions of both user communities (PC/Xbox) away? Yet another bite of the sandwich.
Until a practical and desirable alternative (competior product) exists for either PC users and/or Xbox users to purchase then MS/Asobo will chase the biggest return on their investment, which at the moment is going to be accessing both the PC and Xbox user groups with one product. That is the final bite of the sandwich.
Having eaten this sandwich, this is where I have got to today. I hope others will ultimately get to the same point.
We have to have faith that MS/Asobo can do everything they have said they can do without compromising the core tenants of what the PC sim community want from a commercial flight sim whilst opening up this hobby to a wider user group.
MSFS20 is a product from a business seeking to make money. Have faith that MS/Asobo are able to build a multi platform compatible flight simulator that forces neither user to make compromises while offering both user communities the experience they bith want - as MS/Asobo have said they will from the get go and which will probably make them the most money.
Nothing works perfectly first time, things should improve - stay the course. In the mean time accept there is not a huge amount we can do to change decisions that were probably made years ago. Our options are to invest in other products or accept and fly through the inevitable turbulence we are all currently experiencing with our chosen product.
In the mean time I look forward to flying the sim again soon (when the bugs have been squashed). I also look forward to welcoming (and flying with) our new fellow aviation enthusiasts on their Xbox’s - I hope the sim isn’t giving you guys too hard a time nor that us grumpy PC hard core types are putting you off too much!
I will finish with this: As a nervous flyer myself i don’t not like long flights, especially as there is often turbulence which I really don’t like. I always have to remind myself that turbulence is normal, to be expected, not catastrophic and that we will land eventually and be where we wanted to be.
.