Well, obviously Asobo/Microsoft do care.
Look how fast they shut down the vfr-tool thing for career (BTW, you can still do that with another tool). And even sim-rate was not supposed to work in career. So they intended for career mode to be a really long grind. And it has been mentioned here as well that they probably had or still have in mind to sell us some sort of booster packs (for real money), once the Marketplace actually works.
So, they can’t have 3rd party aircraft for 1 dollar in the Marketplace. And I guess they also have to rule for how much money one can make with any given aircraft in career mode. That is certainly not something they would leave to a 3rd party.
You are right, that is the only reason that makes sense, because they want to sell you coins to avoid grinding or other things like liveries.
But if it is the case, that makes sense, even if I vehemently disagree with it and will never participate. My point was from a users perspective, there is no reason anyone should want this.
I seem to recall Jörg denying this in a recent stream, and I’m inclined to believe him. I think they just see the highscore list and this gamification of points and whatever as a fundamental cornerstone of where they want to take the sim. Whereas a large part of their more serious userbase just doesn’t care and cannot understand why we get locked out of missions and career because we don’t want to compromise on our addons, or “mods”.
Because people have been complaining about realism in MSFS since the previous version came out and the mode is designed to serve as an actual virtual career in aviation. Purchasing a big jet for nearly free in career mode’s credits model will take away that realism.
That’s the whole purpose of free play vs career mode. Want to fly any plane from any location without restrictions? Go into free play mode and you can make up whatever storyline you want if you feel the need to have a purpose for that flight.
Not to mention there are so many other career mode issues that need to be resolved first before they even think about allowing third party support.
Old time flight simmers seem to view career mode as an activity, like photo mode or something…not understanding it is a RPG that has a MMORPG future. This is a problem and here is why.
MSFS is not going to be continually developed with millions of dollars by XBox Gaming if it is just a niche sim like FSX was or Xplane is now. It needs a large player base that will give MSFS value in the XBox portfolio of games for its subscription service. It needs a properly developed and structured MMORPG. That is what career mode is…the trial run to see if it can be developed.
As such, it needs to be standardized to that genre and to a multiplayer environment…and at as lowest cost of maintenance labor as possible…this is not going ever be a top ten budget item in XBox Gaming’s budget.
As it is it was done pretty much on the cheep as we can see by the not so great roll out. Asobo has not had experience in this genre of gameplay and it shows.
If it is to be turned into just another “activity” then sure God mode will do that, but then there is no point in developing the role playing aspects of it, no economy, no skill tree, etc…they are stupid expenses if players can just ignore them…which they will within a week of play if God Mode is available.
As to other mods, some can be good but then it’s a matter of cost and server security to have them implemented…this is a server based game and any really great mods will need some access to the core game services instead of just reading output.
So…it’s more complicated than a lot of people expect.
It’s all I do currently in FS24. I visited just about everywhere and flew about every plane in MSFS 2020 extensively, so just flying around has less appeal. The career mode gives me something to progress with.
No losses. I have all the fixed wing certification except for Jet Airline. I have flown all the planes except for the airliners as an employee. And flown all over the planet as an employee. No issues except the odd airport having trees in the way now and then
On my own companies I have all Cessna 172 in 4 companies at the moment set as “crew on”, working out of one airport as I build money to buy more expensive planes and open more companies. I just switch between companies depending what I feel like doing, sightseeing, sky diving, cargo, advertising. Next company is search and rescue when I buy the DH2. So far that is all working fine and I am earning passive income.
I would be completely fine with that as it would be my fault? I’ve lost skyrim savegames that I’ve played for that long before. That’s part of the risk of modding, I don’t need a company telling me I “don’t need mods for my own good”. It’s a singleplayer profile, allow people to back them up, literally not a blocker at all.
Isn’t it already a MMORPG or better yet a MMORPS (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Simulation)? There is the likes of Vatsim, you can fly with friends, etc. In fact it is even developing into a MMORLIS (Massive Multiplayer Online Real Life Integrating Simulation) with add-ons that integrate live real world traffic in the simulator. Btw FS2020 had all this too. Hence, I don’t think the career mode is here for this specific purpose. And if it somehow is, they should honor this wish (open it up for mods) as it would accelerate the process.
I also don’t think they will offer ‘packs’ for the career mode. What would those be? “Credit money” for real money? I think that would expel the core simming community (players and developers) and eventually has the risk of transforming this into just a ‘game’, like so many others. Quite frankly, I think they’ve been quite generous offering free planes, free airports, free scenery, etc. My guess is that in 4 years they will release the next platform that takes the next leap toward the goal of the digital twin and simulating aviation…
At the roll out they underestimated the appetite for the new platform (perhaps strengthening their belief that it is a viable business model to release a big paid ‘update’ in 4 years time). Other than that Asobo got pushed into releasing a plafform that was not ready.
No, career Mode is not yet multiplayer MMORPG. It would be great if a small group could join a Fire Fighting company and go as a group and complete fire fighting missions. That would be Multiplayer MMORPG
Yes Vatsim does provide multiplayer environment, but it is not a RPG. There is no Economy, Missions, Ranks, Trees, etc. And there is no direct value in it for XBox…in that Vatsim does not generate XBox subscriptions.
I am not privy to the XBox Boardroom, so I cannot say this for sure, but logically looking that the XBox business model and knowing a bit about business models…it is about gaining Market Share in the Monthly Subscription Service. Allowing mods is a complicated issue…I have explained it in earlier posts…there are costs and security concerns. Yes, some mods would not be a problem, and they will likely be allowed…but Career mode would and should have limitations so that modes cannot defeat the design, cheat, or attack the servers.
I agree with the rest of the post, with one caveat. I don’t think Asobo is innocent in the roll out issues…I am almost sure they were the reason it went bad and they are certainly responsible for all the bugs. That is not an attack on them, they have done great things with the simulator. But like any gaming company, when you have to roll out a brand new design you are going to have issues…and they did to an extent that was embarassing…not good.
And I would add, that I am flying the Beta version and I do not see much improvement, and I actively follow the bug lists etc. The progress on fixing very important things like a broken User Interface has been pushed off for months into SU-2. I get the impression that they are already in over their head and overwhelmed. Another reason, things like adding more work load such as mods, should be avoided. They really need to fix what they have and quick.
We really need to have access to all the toolbar items in career mode, such as the replay functionality, navigraph, 3rd party apps… I cannot think of any valid reason to turn them off.
I have noticed in career mode that 3rd party tolls are not allowed. Are there any plans to fix this as i would like to have access to my ops viewer pro and push back pro and also flow from paralell 42 when they finally (if ever) release that on xbox thanks
This is just an agricultural GPS added to existing, standard aircraft that can all be used in career mode to fly ag missions.
This mod adds realism, fixes issues, like it shows how much product you have left, and gives you guidance, because in Asobo’s implementation, even if the field has some visible rows you could use as a visual reference, they are blurred with autogenerated flora making it difficult to fly straight and return to the next pass.
Again, these are the standard aircraft with just an instrument added. Why on earth I’m not allowed to use them in career mode?
I fully support the original post and would like to emphasize an additional critical aspect for VR users. I would love to use SimXR for enhanced immersion through passthrough, but unfortunately, it’s currently impossible to use it in Career Mode due to existing restrictions. The absence of passthrough significantly diminishes the VR experience and immersion, making it difficult to fully enjoy the potential of this mode.
Passthrough is nearly essential for comfortable and immersive VR gameplay. It allows players to safely interact with their physical environment without breaking immersion. The current restriction not only limits functionality but also negatively impacts the overall experience, which is especially disappointing in an otherwise excellent Career Mode.
Please consider enabling the use of essential VR tools like SimXR in Career Mode to improve accessibility, immersion, and overall player satisfaction.
Thank you for your understanding and continued efforts to improve the simulator experience