I would characterize it more as “closed” rather than “solved.” It remains to be seen what the future holds. I too thought that things were mostly going to go back the way they were, but I was really dismayed to see how fs.to treated a very active livery creator when his own work was taken and re-uploaded.
Very few of my add ons have been updated recently. It feels like many creators are stepping back. If this is temporary or permanent, it’s too soon to tell.
I’m in multiple stores, are the update emails automatic, or is it a necessity to check each plane for updates by visiting the store?
If you think you can relax, then do so. Whether this is generally valid, as you present it, may be doubted:
Also whether the issue with flightsimto and their ToS can be considered solved is more than doubtful. What was solved?
Some of it may be legal if you can afford a Tonga domain for 10 times the price of a normal domain (com, org, net, …), but whether it is legitimate, user friendly and whether this is in the interest of the customers, they have to decide.
Actually, it should be clear to everyone what is going on there, if only a little thought is put into it.
It depends on the store and your personal preferences when you registered for an account there. Personally I send it all to an alt account so I don’t mind if it’s spam. Eventually I go in there, pare it down as the reliable stores often have a “subscription type/preferences” - I just go for updates only if there’s such an option.
I see they’re taking a page out of Self Loading Cargo’s playbook then, what a disaster.
I predict that FS.TO will be alive and well despite those who decide to take their work elsewhere. In other words, these people will find that they are not as important as they may think.
The developers need to realize that they would not have enjoyed as much admiration as they have, if not for the popularity of FS.TO.
The exact opposite argument could also be made. What would fs.to be without those developers?
I’m also not sure most freeware developers do what they do for admiration. I think most of them love simming and that’s why they do it.
Sorry, but what does the most of what you are mentioning have to do with the actual problem, that was going on?
A tonga domain? Download rates? Premium accounts? Accusations here and there?
So you are expecting things to be free for lifetime, as they were freely available for some time? Interesting point of view.
I´ve been asking most of my personal favorite devs for their opinion about this issue. As mentioned, most told me, they are ok with the final agreements, some are still thinking about it, a small amount does not wanna come back.
That´s what i can tell from my personal experience. Nothing more. Nothing less.
Over-dramatizing things will help noone. No Dev, no user, no website. If you personally have things about it, that you personally can´t live with, then ok, just avoid the site.
Peace!
I don’t see a lot of discussion points that can be actionable or negotiated on. The original changed TOS was revised, and most developers thought that was at least a reasonable compromise. Some developers are still saying that things are not settled yet, and wanting the community and other developers to act. But I don’t know what exactly those issues are. QuickMantis6690 in response to daScooty listed some.
Two of the sections for the continued protests are talking about no apologies were given. But what if flightsim.to feels were the wronged party? This whole thing started when they proposed premium access. Developers thought that was a slippery slope to .to charging for downloading their work, even though that is expressedly forbidden in section 4.1 of the TOS. People were just focusing on section 4.6 without context of the whole TOS. And when they tried deleting their content, than the argument over rights to delete came about. The TOS was revised to address that. So now the contention point is flightsim.to hasn’t offered apologies. Again, they may feel like they are the wronged party.
Transferring servers to Tonga. Flightsim.to still has offices in Germany, they still have to comply with the laws of Germany. Moving servers to Tonga has no impact on legal responsibilities. Labor rates are probably cheaper there. If there are still offices in Germany, what is the issue? Its being portrayed that they moved the servers to get away from German and EU laws, but they are still bound by German and now Tonga laws. I’m not understanding what it is developers are wanting be done, or why.
Then there was a lot of stuff about the Premium service. If users aren’t up in arms about this, then I fail to understand what it is the developers are wanting to be done about this.
I don’t see anything here that can actually be negotiated. I don’t see anything that can be resolved. The TOS went into effect March 5, which was two weeks ago. CynicalLake3917 suggested that we as a flightsim community help the developers reach a suitable arrangement with flightsim.to for the good of the community. But if the remaining issues are what QuickMantis6690 presented, then I don’t see anything that we as a community can help with, because there is nothing in that list that is actionable or able to be negotiated. Some developers still don’t trust flightsim.to. Ok. But there is nothing that the flightsim community can do to fix a developers trust issue. I’m not making light of it. It’s just I don’t see what it is the community is being asked for help fixing.
I can have a .to domain, a .com domain and a .de domain pointing to one single server located in France if I like.
Domains have nothing to do where a server is located nor do they alter legal rules applying to the company or their offerings on the internet.
The FS.TO started and grew because the developers were already out there. You had to hunt for their content or travel in the right circles to get it, but then FS.TO saw a need / opportunity to make a one-stop-shop for add-ons, and there you go. Add-ons were easy to find and downloads went through the roof. Many ‘cups of coffee’ were sent and developers were admired.
At first, I found fs.to to be a godsend. One place to look for stuff, easy to see when there were updates.
But bit by bit it deteriorated.
Downloads slower and slower, preceded by more and more intrusive interstitials.
Then there was a redesign that made it harder to find what I was looking for, particularly when using a phone.
Then I found that blocked me from making payments to it online unless I switched off the proxy server I run. No other site requires this.
Then addons stopped being updated or stopped being available, with no clear explanation of why.
As soon as it stopped being a one-stop-shop, it lost its advantage.
It’s a pity, but I doubt it could redeem itself now.
I wish this could be the VERY LAST post
so that this Dispute Between FS.to and Devs thread can Finally be CLOSED in a month.
With respect, I don’t think yours will be the last post here 
Your right !
Sadly, I expect this thread to go on and on and on and on… People seem to love disputes, disarray, turmoil and discord these days.
A small mod note (especially for those calling for this thread to be closed)… there is no obligation placed on anyone to keep visiting or reading this thread, especially if it is now of no interest to you.
Threads like this eventually pass into the great unknown of “closed” threads as folks find other topics to engage with.
Thank you for the reminder and I forgot that we can Change Tracking so we are no longer notified of any new posts. I forgot about that feature… Thanks !
Multiple reasons may apply to this one.
Speaking for myself, having uploaded a handful of liveries: I still use them, they’re still working. I could add a few files to make the C172 ones work with the newer updates for the wbsim mod as well as my 208B compatible with the Blacksquare variant. Since there hasn’t been any comments regarding that, there doesn’t seem to be an interest in either.
A good setup would have a way for contributors to easily mark addons as obsolete, no longer compatible or just no longer supported.
We don´t need those 3rd party sites. If someone really wants to raise the quality MS should jump in and do it like apple. Test, certify and get rid of all those asset-flipping-copy-paste-stuff that doesnt work, then put it into a well maintained and up-to-date ingame-marketplace.