REX and other external weather tools are just global presets, the weather doesn’t behave real and dynamic. They don’t have to deal with blending in modeled weather.
That’s not a great comparison since in order to compare how the weather operates now compared to back in SU7 would be to remove the METAR function. Funnily enough, before the METAR implementation it was MeteoBlue that was the sole determining factor for the weather. To say whether we have METAR or MB and the weather still sucks has no backing because there’s no way to see just how MB only weather would work. My assumption why REX looks “better” can be concluded by the way that the sim reads the data being injected. AFAIK REX only provided METAR based data for clouds and interpolates winds from the reports and the upper level wind from which provider they use for that which is most like NOAA. To get a full understanding you would need to compare side by side the data being provided by MB and that directly from REX since the METARS would be exactly the same and the only difference is how the data is being interpreted. What data outside of just METARS does REX provide? What about its function if supposedly providing the same base information allows it to provide “better” or more “accurate” depictions? To simply say yes things look better with one and not the other without understanding why is a key factor in making comparative statements.
Here’s a quick comparison I loaded up. First photos is real weather and then a clear shot and then with REX.
Yes but that’s what i meant, at least rex even though we cannot know the data, but at the very least it looks a lot better. The first photo shot exactly shows how mfs breaks the clouds all the time, hence why the puffiness, the lack of overcast and clouds variety, and so on and do forth…
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If you can show a comparison about the data coming from REX specifically since we already know where MSFS gets it, then we can further the discussion. You’re just supporting that METAR data gets interpreted from different programs, the sim vs. REX. What I want to know is what is different about the data coming from REX than from MSFS to provide this effect. Otherwise it’s just a difference in engines interpretation. As we currently know REX is just METAR strings with interpolated winds from NOAA.
Unfortunately it has not been acknowledged nor has the respective thread been tagged yet, that the cloud density in Live weather obviously reaches a maximum value of 0.01 only, whereas in preset weather the maximum density value reaches 0.25. I have run the weather debug window a few times recently and I only saw values of 0 or 0.01 in Live weather as well.
https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/live-weather-clouds-density-opacity-always-zero/544158
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This is the future of flight simulator 
But now that is a thing of the past already because as you say, we want to live in the past.
I want to move forward, not backwards. This new system feels like a big step backwards. Now we are back waiting for improvments of hard transitions that we will see the remaining of this sim development time. It has already been a year since su7 released and we can still see hard transitions in clouds and popins of fog layer that is fixed in place with airport in the center of it.
I will continue telling my opinion. But what is the point if we all need to use a weather system that fits VATSIM users only. It’s only VATSIM users that is real simmers? Well if that is the case, after 20 years of using flight simulators i now know that i’m not a real simmer.
In my opinion the weather we had at release 2020 were the most realistic weather we ever going to have in a flight simulator. Because no new flight simulator dev will try something new and unique. We will always have ”VATSIM” weather.
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Doing a flight from MDW-STL using REX and the departure was nice. Flying into STL and reported broken at FL250 and so far on the approach it’s nothing but clear skies. Once I get on the ground will switch to LW and show the difference.
The joke is that the topic on this was closed with a “fixed on live” and “resolved” tag:
Of course, since SU11 I haven’t had a single flight where I haven’t encountered cloud poppings and hard transitions.
Asobo - again - did not start the simulator they had programmed. 
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Well nothing to report as REX and LW both gave me the exact same clear skies even though it was reported broken at FL250. Here’s a screen grab from the airport itself. Both the LW and REX don’t match.
But they can’t get rid of hard transitions if using METAR. Name 1 METAR addon without options to tune transitions between METAR. It’s the point to set weather as METAR says if using METAR. If they not change the weather it doesn’t match METAR.
The more changes between the reported METAR the more noticable changes.
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Well, that is the big issue. We have no option to do that. They forced this worse weather system on all of us. Even if we not asked to get METAR interfare with Meteoblue weather. They didn’t even released an open beta for it.
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It’s not just VATSIM. You use the Fenix A320 do you not? The takeoff performance calculator in the EFB is based on the current METAR for the departure airport for calculating V speeds and reduced thrust temperature setting. If the actual weather in the sim does not match - (at least for wind, temperature and pressure), then that calculator is pretty much useless.
Asobo has significantly changed the way METAR is integrated into the overall live weather in SU10 and SU11. I fly almost every day and have not seen any “hard transitions” or “METAR bubbles” for weeks.
It took me about 10 minutes to find one:
The hard transitions are harder to show because I don’t record videos and I would have to see into the future to get the shot to run at the exact moment they happen.
But believe me, they exist…
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Now envision this. The METAR used by the EFB is from a virtual weather station in the sim reporting the actual weather conditions. No bending of the global weather system required. It just works. Switch to real world METAR and bending of the weather is required but if that is what one wants no problem. It should be a choice.
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But i could check Meteoblue webpage to get wind, winddirection, pressure and temp. Even easier if they added that information in the sim directly. Same calculations. Only a different source but dynamic/simulation of weather.
Besides the simvar values are there to use and put in that data. I used that at release 2020. I didn’t compare it with METAR. And that was what i had in the sim. I made my own observations in real time. If i could see clear skies then my observation were clear skies. And my own observations were always accurate
What is worse: having the Fenix EFB calculating V1 2 knots wrong, or having to live with this Frankenstein weather in the sim?
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agree and when we actually take off the METAR have changed and those calculations done is then useless. And because we needs the wind to fixed as METAR says the winds changes instantly maybe 20Kts to the opposite direction.
yes, because two knots in a simulation crashes the plane…people man.