Many comments on this Forum along the lines of “is FS2020 a Game or a Simulator” ?
At least one “wiser head” stood above the sound and fury and suggested the current version is a hybrid of both.
I tend to agree…and therein lies the “problem” if a problem exists at all.
It seems to me the “jump in and go” gaming fraternity are happier than the enthusiast hobbyist Simmers, especially trained Pilots, who, while appreciating the superb graphics, find the “gaming” gimmicks and superficiality of the “gameplay” irritating and even annoying.
Personally, with the help of the Community, I am working hard to get rid of,or workaround, as much of the unrealism and gimmickry as possible in my own installation, whilst nagging Zendesk almost every day for changes I cannot do myself.
Now that the new Xbox Console is out I wonder if I might respectfully suggest to the mighty Microsoft that they confine the availability of the present version of FS2020 to that, and develop a FS2020 “PRO” version
where “As real as it gets…with great graphics” is the specification strategy. Hell…I would pay extra money for that !
Might want to move this over so people can get a vote on it! I think you’d get a lot of simmers to go for this idea.
Regards
Sorry but for the $120 initial top package buy I’m not willing to pay extra for a “pro” version.
It should be a free feature at this point.
The whole sim should be “pro” with assists available for those who don’t want that level of realism
That’s what Asobo is working towards, they aren’t trying to “dumb it down”
I agree there should be a pro version but am also acutely aware that MS are in this for the money and that they probably make more from casual gamers than simmers.
Having said that, I would be prepared to pay an upgrade fee for a pro version but honestly, why would MS bother?
It would also have to be a real ‘pro’ version with wholly accurate nav data, proper ATC (preferably with voice interaction) and aircraft that work in a proper manner, all of which would need significant changes to the code.
Given that there are so many problems with the current version, I feel that Asobo have neither the manpower or the knowledge to accomplish such a feat…and it would probably take years to accomplish.
This is the intention. They have said they are marking a sim for simmers. They are working towards the most realistic sim possible!
MFS20 Pro: $400
If its bundled with Honeycomb Aeronautical Yoke/Throttle Quadrant and Rudders sure!
Yep, I accept that but I really don’t want to have to wait ten years for it!
I think it likely that Xpane will achieve more in less time, not least because Xplane is made available for simmers and pilots off the back of an FAA certificated training program, doesn’t care too much about eye–candy and isn’t bothered with ‘challenges’ or other game oriented features in the way in which FS2020 devs clearly are.
As a retired pilot, I miss the things that only a dedicated, ‘pro’ sim would offer.
Such a simulator may be what Asobo intended to produce but MS has clearly pushed them down the game-console route, probably due to the extended profits they are like to accrue.
If it had VR and all that I mentioned in my post above, I’d be happy with that.
I need to check back on XP11 mods…there has to be at least 3rd party addons in 2020 that fix most of the visually lacking aesthetics by now right?
I hope the same thing which applies to aircraft does not apply to MSFS. Multi-role aircraft always turn out fundamentally flawed, full of complexity which you wouldn’t have otherwise, more expensive and way worse at its job than an aircraft solely designed for the job at hand 
. Lets hope MSFS does not become the F-35 of flight simulators 
.
That’s interesting… I just posted nearly the same in another thread.
what does a “PRO” version means really? how is it different from what we have now?
I think we should just wait for the game to be finished. IMO it will be more simmerish (if that is a word lol) by the end of 2022.
I guess we should not be asking a Pro version, all the “Pro” stuff I see in the simm community is more expensive than the muggle version (harry potter reference there). I don’t want them to think they could charge us more. IMO I just want them to finish the game so 3rd parties can build their complex airplanes I/we/many want. Same for other addons.
They are not building the advanced features of the game, they are leaving that for 3rd parties. I believe they don’t have the intention or desire to invest time and money on advaced features. That is why we should be asking for a feature complete, stable game (call it whatever you want, game, sim, potato)
Anyways, they will never build “more than what is needed” to sell the game. That said, the game is awesome when it works, the problem is that everything is breakable and every plane feels like a cheap toy. I think we need to keep asking for improvements and be patient.
This is a $60 entertainment title made by a game studio, a large portion of which is dedicated to an Xbox console port. Let’s push for incremental improvements, but I think folks need to manage their expectations or they’re going to be really disappointed. This simulator we have now is basically all we’re going to get.
What would make it “pro”?
Would we get to file our bug reports in a system we actually had insight into, instead of just screaming into the empty void that is ZenDesk, or trying to get a community mob to upvote things into a Top 25 list of some kind so they can be placed on a list of things that are “not started”/“backlog”?
Would Asobo somehow magically become better software engineers/coders/QA testers with more extensive knowledge of aviation and aircraft by calling it “pro”?
Would being “pro” unlock the water masks shown in all of the World Discovery videos that are a marketing ploy and not in the sim?
I already paid $120, and given all of the litany of issues with what I’ve got I see no reason for another version that would allow them to take more of our money with more unfulfilled promises.
Not buying anything from the Marketplace either, because they break the stuff there with their updates to the sim and then tell people “We don’t provide support for third party content” when they are the ones who broke it. Would “pro” somehow fix that?
Also just going to say, the physics engine of this sim seems great, the default aircraft are just far from perfect and have bugs.
We’ll all see the sim more clearly once the add-ons we’ve come to rely on in other sims like P3D come out
Er…move the post over ?..please advise how and where to ?
You will guess this Forum thing is new and unfamiliar to me ?
Best regards to you too !
I’d move it over to the “self service/wishlist”. Items in there generate the ability to vote on them.
You should be able to edit (use the little “pencil” icon at the bottom of your post) your original post and select which category and tag you want your thread to be in.
Regards
Unless you’re in a commercial level simulator that’s used exclusively for training, it’s a game. Period.
That said…
How one uses it is what really matters.
A well built “game” sim can totally be used for real world training. MSFS isn’t quite up to that level of maturity yet like FSX or XP, but in time it will be. It can certainly be used to complement real private pilot training and keep your skills sharp. As of right now, I will agree that MSFS leans more in the territory of gaming than being a truly useful training tool, as much of the avionics and flight modelling aren’t quite up to snuff with those other titles yet.
Some people want a gaming experience, and that’s totally available in MSFS or any of the other sims by tuning down the experience. You can fly around like an imbecile having tons of fun with zero regards for rules and procedures. In that sense, MSFS already has it nailed down pretty well. It’s got issues, but they’re on the home stretch there for sure. And seeing how XBox is one of their major targeted platforms, it’s not surprising to see that experience being polished up first. And as they said in the last Q&A, Microsoft sees MSFS as a huge success so far. And like it or not, the gamers that aren’t serious will be funding the future development for the more serious simmers.
That latter group want it as hardcore and true to life as possible. And there’s nothing wrong with that at all. We’re going to have to rely on 3rd party devs for that though. Asobo are working hard on the still very lacking SDK to bring us that experience. But it will come in time. I can understand why hardcore simmers are angry or disappointed with the current state of the sim.
But unless you’re specifically sitting at your sim to do supplementary real world training (which atm you can’t really do in MSFS), we’re basically just grown-ups (most of us) with expensive toys playing pretend pilot. As the old saying goes, “The only difference between men and boys is the price of their toys”.
So we don’t need a PRO version of MSFS per se. The Pro version will be coming in terms of 3rd party aircraft once Asobo get finished with the gaming experience. The PRO features are currently being funded by the millions of gamers currently buying MSFS.