Not Good Enough: Asobo --> Microsoft --> MSFS 2020

Not Good Enough Asobo → Microsoft  MSFS2020

Dear Asobo,

Us flight simmers are a patient lot. We will wait actual years for our study-level addons to be added to our flight simulation software. Some of these mostly 3rd party addons take as long and longer than a AAA game from a major publisher. We are okay with that, and we love it. To know that legends of the community are developing a plane we love or have loved our entire lives is worth a wait.

But this software is proving to test the patience of even the most salty and silver whiskered among us. The news today that PMDG has to set back its launch of its 737 again, due to further limitations introduced as part of service update 7 and that its delay is solely caused by the update speaks to this. On a more simplified scale the SWS Daher Kodiak has been pushed back for most of this year due to continued issues and problems introduces as part of you service updates. And I’m sure the list goes on. PMDG, SWS, and the like, these incredible devoted developers do not want to risk putting their work out their for risking the fiasco that will come of it every time an update wrecks their addon – which we’ve paid for. They do not want to risk losing the license they’ve signed deals for to be able to officially replicate and bring these dream models into your beautiful but never finished simulator.

And then there’s us, the flight simmer. It took me a year to adjust to this sim. I’ve had every iteration of MSFS since 1996. I was happily spending valuable hobby time in X-Plane (and DCS) while MSFS was absent for a decade. A few beautiful and amazing addons for MSFS2020 finally took me away from the very robust XPlane (and yes, I am aware of its problems too but they are nothing like this). Just Flight, PMDG, Aerosoft and others have delivered some fantastic addons, but we have nothing more complex than what freeware devs are doing in the Fly By Wire A32NX and the Heavy Division 787-10. And yes of course the G1000NX and 3000 devs deserve just as much credit. Why? Because they are constantly being thrown curve balls from you.

But it’s not just addons and 3rd party payware that’s frustrating. It’s stuff like the mouse cursor randomly disappearing, the VR menu going AWOL, the insane inflight disturbance that randomly knock the plane out of transit, the infuriating stutter – a MSFS trait that has existed since MSFS2000 with the Concorde on the cover! How is it even possible that this is not addressed when stutters do not happen in the same way in X-Plane or DCS? And what is it with the menus constantly resetting? I can’t even guess how that happens, let alone why.

3rd party developers are afraid to release their work. Your dedicated users and fanbase – of which I am one – is afraid of every update you release and are working around problems that you introduce. It’s not good enough. it’s not good enough. There, I said it again.

Please do better. Please work towards a stable platform so we can start seeing some of these high-fidelity study level (or not) quality additions become available to the community. Let us see something other than 3rd party sceneries and airports being offered for a change. I have so much scenery begging to have study level planes flown to them that I’m worried it’s becoming an airport scenery simulator!

Thank you and have a good Christmas and New Year, and please focus on stability for all of our sakes.

Len

41 Likes

I agree and really I do not know exactly what devs are doing with this sim…seems that its a never ending development without an stable core scope…

not happy with the sim at rhis moment…

4 Likes

With the Xbox release if you wanted a real controller your only choice was the Thrustmaster Hotas One but on the initial release and every update, the sensitivity settings are not saved! We have been complaining about this from the beginning writing the Thrustmaster, who say they’re not responsible. Now there is a new option for a flight controller, the much anticipated Velocity One from Turtle Beach. It has a lot of axes to control and… yep the sensitivity settings also are not saved.

So thanks for supporting the Xbox and I love many aspects of the sim but don’t you do any testing?

4 Likes

Totally agreed.

I would say that It would not bother me in the slightest bit if Asobo would just stop all these world updates and fancy features like Reno race and just direct all resources to make the core of the sim stable.

Just concentrate on making the sim run smooth and the weather system accurate.

That’s it. I don’t care about World Updates or Bush Challenges or Reno Races.

Just get the sim stable and stop breaking it.

After that is done, you can bring us all the World updates.

19 Likes

I’m okay with the sim being a work in progress. I’m not okay with the current level of communication (or lack thereof).

We all have our wishlists and things we want fixed. Because of the nature of a sim sandbox being so open ended, we all use it differently and want different things and that’s fine. VR, Xbox, PC: we’re all a bit different, but a huge amount of the anxiety in this forum if we could see that our issues are 1) recognized 2) we have some kind of estimated timetable for a fix. Perfection is impossible but better communication from Asobo would go a long way.

A good way to start would be expanding the bug list which is currently a paltry 24 items.

5 Likes

Thank you! Yes, the lack of feedback is very frustrating. The “known issues” documentation does not address, for example, the sensitivity settings for Xbox flight controllers. It just feels like there is nobody there… no one listening.

4 Likes

The “Known Issues” page doesn’t even match the issues in the Monthly Snapshot. Neither of which match “Bug Logged” threads.

So in short: we have a three-way ven-diagram that we have to piece together like we’re Nick Cage sleuthing for cryptic clues to find the National Treasure. It’s absurd and needlessly disorganized.

Here’s what transparency looks like: show us ONE list with EVERY BUG and it’s current ranking and estimated fix date in real time. Not holding my breath but that would be amazing.

8 Likes

Mine arrives tomorrow. Wonderful. I knew about the HOTAS issues but I didn’t know the TB also didn’t save. Looking forward to adjusting controls every time I fly.

At least with “Quick Resume” you can fly many times with the settings “saved”. They get lost on a full restart. Why would you ever do a full restart? CTD maybe?

1 Like

Exactly. Just like a PC, if (the Xbox) left on for too long, performance starts to suffer. I can probably only start 2-3 flights max before CTD.

Have none of you ever flown a flight sim before? I can go to any of their forums, Xplane. DCS, IL-2, Prepar 3d…All of them have the same exact threads with the same exact problems, and issues. Same complaints and unhappy people addressing the actual company by name as though they will ever see it and as though their complaints are somehow going to get the company to change it’s business model.
Welcome to software, internet, the new way of offering services for money, and welcome to flight simming gentlemen.

6 Likes

i removed MSFS from my computer it has to many issues with CTD to the point where its not enjoyable and not worth the eye candy I’m using my other sim trouble free although its older its nice doing a flight worry free I have my eye’s on new release of my current simulator that should be coming out next year and it looks very promising

2 Likes

This thread is turning into personal issues or problems, I for one never experienced a CTD. This is the best Sim no one can argue…however competition will be there…but Lets not make into the worst Sim ever. There are options out there.

I have other platforms on my drive, however MSFS is the best at the moment all thats missing are the 3rd parties aircraft, but I am patient.

2 Likes

World updates are all contracted out. ORBX and Gaya do the airports, landmarks, and I think the DIM data. The plane that comes with a world update is contracted out to a third party developer. Training and bush trips are contracted out to FSAcademy. Basically, world updates don’t have any consequences on Asobo development resources at all. Stopping world updates has no effect on speeding up core development in the slightest.

While the sentiments expressed by the OP of this thread are genuine, it is more of a meta thread of lots of other threads that are covered on these forums.

Rather than create a new thread covering content already covered in existing threads, it benefits the forums better to contribute feedback in the existing threads.

As an example, there is already a thread concerning the PMDG news here https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/pmdg-737-development-was-stopped-for-few-weeks-announcements-on-release-date-on-hold/479896

Specific wishes can also be voted on in the #self-service:wishlist category. If your wish isn’t there (and please use the forum search function first) then feel free to create a new wishlist thread.

I am closing this, for now, to try and help keep some sort of sensible structure on the forums.

4 Likes