Is this why MSFS is fantastic for releasing wonderful new stuff but a tad slow at fixing bugs?

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MSFS New Aircraft and Scenery Department:

MSFS Bug Fix Department:

Cannot hear ATC instructions and other aircraft suddenly while AI copilot still responds…Arrival parking preselected in the World Map not used by ATC since SU6…Toolbar Missing and ability to change certain weather settings missing when loading a saved flight…Drone camera rolls left very slowly left with no user input…ATC Assigns Wrong Runways with Wind Direction…(more)

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If only that was the list of all the bugs.

But the bottom line is quite literally the bottom line. New content generates revenue. Fixing bugs that a large number of the people spending money in the marketplace don’t know or care about costs money. Guess which takes priority?

By no means am I saying bugs don’t get fixed. But the long-standing, very overt ones that everyone experiences and are 100% reproducible really should be taken care of. And the glacial pace of updates now (2 per year) doesn’t help.

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i recall one reason why it takes so long to fix bugs was the difficulty in reproducing said bug.

That is:

How is it that out of two identical or very similar PC builds, one will handle the sim in a completely different way than the other?

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There are some bugs that are really obscure and hard to reproduce. You can have 2 identical pieces of hardware (like Xbox X for example), and the experience is completely different on both.

However, the list of bugs the OP listed are all easily reproducible bugs that pretty much everyone experiences. These are the kinds of bugs that should be prioritized and haven’t. And there are a lot that fall into that category that have been there since launch that haven’t been addressed.

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I’d call it the quality of life update. Little things like when on the map screen you click at the top left for your departure airport, but you have to click again in the search box beneath it. No reason for it to be like that, and would probably take no time at all to fix.

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The current load on the MSFS servers connected to each PC can make a big difference.

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They could fix it if they had even one workstation in the MSFS Bug Fix Department, but alas, all I see is paperwork in the photo.

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In-flight issues can definitely be due to connectivity. That can add variance between one system and another.

But bugs in the UI, systems, rendering engine, etc that pretty much everyone experiences really need to be prioritized. So far, it doesn’t seem like they have. And the reduced cadence of sim updates to 2 per year has not yielded any better results in terms of product quality than the 2 month schedule between updates we had previously. I’m sure it’s less hectic on the devs, but as end users, we haven’t seen any benefit. Now we just have to wait much longer between updates in hopes that bugs introduced in the last update will be fixed in the next. If not, then it’s yet another 6 month wait dealing with said bugs until the next update rolls out.

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Hi,
I bet “Revenue Stream” has had an impact on updates and development.
Maybe “someone” is thinking of releasing MSFS2025.

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It’s always more “FUN” to write new code, than to fix old code.

The only thing worse than having to fix someone else’s old code, is to have to write any documentation.

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100%. I wish they would have a dedicated team focused on working through the list of core areas and do 6 Sim Updates per year (bug fix updates).

Hey, a guy can dream, right?:blush:

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Featuring overhauled core areas with what they’ve learned since release?

Makes me weak in the knees🥹

Could be called MSFS Pro. I’d happily pay $200 for it.

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Oh yes… that’s what they want to hear !

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They’re not “neglecting" bugs, that’s plain from the bug reporting process and structure of the forums as well as zendesk. Regular development updates also communicate what’s happening as well as status. Even if the progress is not to your speed taste, at least you have some insight into where things are. eg: https://www.flightsimulator.com/may-11th-2023-development-update/

Not to mention, Beta releases. They just launched a new one, AAU02 Beta. That’s all about new features and bug fixing.

Look how many job openings for MSFS Asobo have: Careers | Asobo Studio
I count 21. That’s hardly neglecting anything, that’s a serious recruitment effort.

Bugs are hard, take time to fix, and time to test. Complex software with complex user setups make it harder. Sometimes they need to be sequenced as they rely on other parts to be fixed first. Above all, they rely on people knowing the codebase & the area of issue well enough to be able to investigate them and fix them. These people don’t grow on trees, especially for the gnarly hard to replicate issues.

Even the so called “simple, should be an easy fix bug” rarely are when you put it in the context of a complex application and development pipeline with multiple workstreams, testing, QA, and cross platform deployment.

ATC issues

This has been well discussed. The WT FMS revamp is a dependency (among others) that needs to be completed and working before the overall ATC & AI system. It’s in progress.

image

No, we’re not. Obviously.

Join the queue with the VR people? The Asobo/Microsoft VR TEAM - #274 by Sonicviz

However, they could harness the developer community to turbocharge the bug hunting/fixing process perhaps, with a bug bounty system😜

Content development

This is a lot more involved than people think, I suspect.
Check out this bit about the World Update Development Process for some better insight:

I’m not white knighting MSAsobo here btw, I’ve had/have my own fair share of issues with the sim, but as a developer it pains me sometimes that people don’t seem to appreciate how hard it is to make something like this. Sometimes you need to step back and see the wood instead of the trees. Between MSFS and IL2 I’m personally in flightsim heaven atm, even with any issues on both of them. Ditto with AMS2 & BeamNG for simracing.

DIY

Of course, with the really annoying itches that seem to be in the slow queue you can always knuckle under and do it yourself too, like I did!
eg: Favorite aircrafts to choose - #3 by Baracus250

All that said, I think the key to enjoying MSFS is expectation management (and good bug reporting).

Expect nothing, enjoy what’s there, work around what’s not (or DIY), and you’ll be pleasantly surprised when fixes come though, features get added, and new content drops.

It’s also a lot less stressful😂

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Yeah way to go maybe just call it newsim less bugs for more mugs with extra bucks. Or am I way too cynical.

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“And if you don’t expect too much from me, you might not be let down”

From Hey Jealousy, Gin Blossoms

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Really ?
Missing bridge spans that have been missing from almost every bridge in my home area of Pensacola Fl (KPNS) are still missing. These “bugs” were reported a few weeks after release of MSFS2020. …
…
Not only missing spans here but all over North America and the world… local bridges, big bridges, small bridges, Interstate Bridges… (i.e. Interstate 10 in Pensacola, FL)… These bridges are starting to feel NEGLECTED ! Of course they know that they play “Forth Fiddle” to Eye Candy.
…
I might have an engine failure and have to make an emergency landing on one of these bridges…
Well, that will never work… too many missing spans !

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The ATC voices disappearing are a pet peeve of mine. That and snow hitting the plane as rain. And even sounding like rain. Heck back in FS9 snow was snow. MSFS 2020 is a step backwards in this aspect. I don’t think either of these will ever be fixed.

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a) That’s not a bug but a systemic issue caused by the way photogrammetry works.

b) They have stated multiple times that they have an on-going effort to manually fix hundreds of PG bridges so it’s certainly not being neglected.

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In your opinion, it is not a bug. In my opinion, it is a bug created by the way the photogrammetry and other methods worked when the sim was developed.
…
And you also said: They have stated multiple times that they have an on-going effort to manually fix hundreds of PG bridges so it’s certainly not being neglected.
I agree that “They Have Stated Multiple Times” they have an on-going effort to fix the bridges. Great to hear…
…
I wonder when we can expect the first span replacements to arrive ? Oh, it must be a “Supply Issue”… or could it be a “Priority Issue”… It all makes logical sense: Things that do not Enhance the Revenue Stream receive a lower priority.
…
The bottom line is always: We still really love our MSFS !

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