I just saw the new F-35 Enhanced Edition from MSScenery on the MSFS 2024 Marketplace.
What frustrates me is the complete lack of information. There is no changelog, no list of improvements, and the old version is still being sold next to it. It’s difficult to understand what “Enhanced” actually means.
Better textures? Improved systems? Better flight model? Or just minor visual updates?
Seeing a 5-star rating appear so quickly, with almost no detailed reviews, also raises questions.
MS Scenery has a rather mixed reputation in the community for this type of release. At this price, a minimum of transparency would be welcome.
Has anyone who bought it found real significant differences compared to the previous version?
I wouldn’t say their reputation is mixed. I think it’s just bad. There are obviously players who like them, but I don’t thin it’s players that frequent the forums.
If you want an F35, there’s a much better one from indiafoxtecho
To be more specific, everything they make is trash and a complete ripoff. It remains a mystery as to why Microsoft doesn’t ban them from the store, when every single one of their products is of terrible quality. They seem to have also found a way to get bots to leave plenty of five star reviews, but they’re almost certainly all fake.
There’s no mystery there at all. They’re some of the highest selling addons. MS gets something - presumably 30% of all that. Plus, as I said, some do like them, or at least think they’re worth the asked price. I have a friend who bought a couple and was fine with them as I’ve mentioned in other threads.
It’s not just quality control taking a backseat to profit. It’s the fact that they sell like hotcakes. People DO like them. Those people just tend not to be on the forum.
On the first day they’re listed in the marketplace they instantly magically get 50 to 80 stellar, 5-star reviews, obviously botted. If that’s not misleading enough to call it a scam, I don’t know what is
I agree that MScenery is operating in a gray area, and should MS decide to shut them out nobody will really miss them much. However, as indicated by the number of purchases, and as theblackwind977 said, these planes are popular outside of our circles. MScenery is essentially keeping MSFS alive. They’re the reason we don’t have to re-buy MSFS every year. Scroll past it, or filter it out, if you don’t want to see it. But don’t ask Microsoft to remove it, because they never will. This is a battle your wallet would be sorry to win.
Selling a lot doesn’t mean they are quality. This OP wouldn’t be asking for feedback if they did not care about the quality. We are informing him to stear clear.
If on the other hand he wants cheap, buyer beware and he can certainly make that choice having done his research.
I mean, look at the screenshots! The improvements are so dramatic they add an entirely new cloud system.**
If you want an F-35, IndiaFoxtEcho is the answer. MScenery’s stuff is off-the-shelf 3D models with mediocre panels and animation added and generic flight modeling.
** Looks like all of their new screenshots have been given the “AI enhancement” treatment. Saw the same thing for MScenery’s latest tubeliner of the day…
I don’t think they would give that to us.
However, I think it is hard to pinpoint exactly which part of the sim is the most valuable.
MSCenery has about 103 aircraft in the MP. That’s certainly a good revenue stream.
No-one cares if they sell there BUT we do care that they are honest about what they are selling - which is poor quality and that they advertise it as thus.
You’re right. I think broad statements like that are unhelpful though. There’s no evidence that MScenery is “keeping MSFS alive”. In fact, I think that’s a ridiculous proposition.
Does MS make money off sales of MScenery products? Yes. Is that singlehandedly supporting development of the simulator? Absolutely not.
I think the situation is pretty clear. MScenery employs or holds other accounts that immediately purchase and review products upon their release. Thus MScenery is effectively paying themselves (and paying a small cut to MS), while also inflating their review score to appeal to actual potential customers. It’s a very scummy and likely TOS-violating tactic.
