yo one time i asked for clearance to Las Vegas and the controller was like "you’re cleared to Harry Reid International Airport kinda passive and condescending like bro…The Airport is literally right next to the Strip…i’m flyin to Vegas…
Since we are vatsim lovers…maybe we should make a group..I’ll make the discord tommorow
VATSIM has a discord Server.
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Since you asked for opinions, I’ll give you mine. I haven’t read that anyone actually hates Vatsim, but that they simply don’t want to deal with the (in their words) hassles of having to interact with a live controller for the entire duration of their flight. Many reasons have been given for this, like having a limited time to fly, wanting to get into the air and just go where they please, not being able to devote the entire time of their flight to ATC interaction, not having enough experience to be comfortable, and (again, in their words) not wanting to deal with some personalities involved.
I haven’t tried it because my ATC needs are simple - for what I need, ATC works. I file my flight plan on the world map and set an altitude, and ATC gets me to that altitude and has me descend properly. Of course I’m flying in Miami now - when I was flying out west I would occasionally be directed into a mountain, which was no fun.
My guess is that most people’s opinions are already made up. If someone doesn’t want to deal with Vatsim, they’re not going to try it. But if you think you might like it, you’d probably end up like the rest of the posters in this thread. Either way works. I’d say if you’re on the fence, try it - you can always say “been there, done that.”
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Like a flight group
join a Virtual Airline.
Thanks for that, it looks very good and going to give it a go - probably deserves its own topic as well. 
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I personally am terrified and havent tried it after one attempt 10 years ago. This video provides me some confidence to give it another go. I mean whats the worst that can happen…
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Darth, man - I was you. You’re gonna be nervous, but it is SO worth it. Just make sure you’re in a plane you know how to fly, because once the commands start coming, for some reason the complexity goes up!
Just jump in the pool and swim. You’ll get the hang of it!
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You can also join in “observer mode” which allows you to listen in and get a feel for it.
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Hey,it’s gunna be ok
If a 13 year old can do it,you can too
Thanks guys. You’re right. I will try to pluck enough courage to jump in again.
Look at it this way - you’re flying a flight simulator for fun. The folks on the controlling end are doing that for fun. They want you to use the service. WE want you to use the service. Unless you decide to invade a major event and don’t know what you’re reasonably doing, you will be absolutely fine. Absolutely fine. (read that last part again) 
My advice is this - figure out a flight of a decent length so that you’re not going to be going through all your phases of the flight in 20 minutes. Then, take the time to write out your clearance request. (I do this) - that way, your first transmission to the controller is going to be exactly what they need. The rest of it may be a flaming dumpster fire, but my god you’re gonna come out of the gate sounding good
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Haha thats exactly the reason I didnt wanna do it. Its meant to be fun. Why put yourself through uncomfortable situations if you’re pursuing it as hobby. Let the real pilots do it as practice for the real thing.
But I totally get it. it takes flight simming to a new level. Thats why I want to do it. Only been a couple of months since I got back into flight simming. I know after the novelty of MSFS2020 wears out, I will want more. This is for then
I had a long break with MSFS. I was heavy into it in the late 90s, and then for some reason, it just faded away until MSFS2020 came out. Man, I have more than made up for the missed time!
I picked up a program called PRO-ATC/SR from Pointsoft. It’s payware, but the default ATC is …well, there’s lots of room for improvement. The PRO-ATC/SR allows me to use speech to communicate with the program’s ATC. I’m trying to get the hang of it so that I can practice. It’s kinda neat, 'cause it will tell you what to say if you’re unsure!
Same here, but I took a break because FSX wouldnt play nice with pc. It got so frustrating that I had to give up on it. Tried X-plane but it never did it for me. MSFS hooked me in the moment i watched its 1st trailer. Somehow managed to wait a couple years for them to iron out some of the initial bugs.
Yeah Im still deciding between Pro-ATC and Pilot2ATC. Do different voices in the same sentence not bother you when using Pro ATC? Thats what has kept me from getting it thus far.
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