This may have been discussed elsewhere, but there are just too many threads on the PMDG 73 to scroll through after a finite search.
Am I going to be the only one to wait until ~September for the -900 release before purchasing the aircraft? As badly as I want the -700 (because it is available NOW), id much rather have the -900, but it appears each aircraft has to be purchased separately. I personally cannot afford to drop the $ on both, and it does not sound like you can obtain the -900 for a reduced price if you already have the -700ā¦Am I correct here? Or is it buy one, get all as they release or even for a reduced price? I have heard of a āmove upā program, but unfamiliar with it, and I havnt purchased PMDG since FSX.
Any insight would be much appreciatedā¦Thanks guys and gals.
The pricing model (at this time) is the 700 reduced to 69.99 while the 600 will be released next at $50.
The 800 is to be priced the same as the 700 and there was no set price for the 900.
There are no plans to bundle or discount until mid 2023.
As for waiting, I like complete sets so will buy them all as they release.
Your wanting the 900 ultimately but really wanting to buy the 700 for now is exactly the marketing strategy. I think itās safe to say most want the 800 and 900 so by releasing the 700 first, youāll get the dollars from everyone who simply canāt wait and just want a 737. Then the 600 next at a reduced price to catch anyone still holding out. Then release the 800 and 900 that the majority want and those who held off will pick it up along with those who couldnāt wait and bought another model, then the 800 or 900.
Thereās no discount for owning the -700 and then buying one of the others. Iām waiting for the -800 since thatās the one I really want, and $75 for the -800 on top of $70 for the -700 is too much for me to justify to myself. Especially because I know once I get the -800 Iāll almost never use the -700 again.
Copy thatā¦and I can understand why they do that. Gotta spend money to make money, and now they need to make it back. Ive waited this longā¦i can wait until Septemberā¦maybe.
At least most bugs (which i havnt heard of much besides a few click spots being finicky) that are left will likely be resolved then along with more improvements.
If i buy the ugly 700 i feel i will have no desire to biy the 8 or 900 by then. Id rather have something more comparable to the fbw a320.
They explain it by saying the 700 has the base features that are shared amongst all the 737 variants, with the 600 the same but needing new modeling, etc. Then the 800 and 900 have additional features that need to be modelled onto of the 600/700. Pretty much, its like the CRJ. The 500/700 came out, then the 900/1000. In this case, its basically 600/700 and then 800/900 after.
But your explaination does fit for the 600/700 case. The 600 is the more popular version, but they released the 700 first. If they had released the 600 first, then the 700, the 700 sales probably would have lagged.
I may be wrong, but I didnāt think there were any technical differences between the models outside of size (length / weight).
The CRJās actually have functionality differences between the models, which is real world but I thought the 737 was standard across all 4 and only differences in dimensions and cabin layout?
The biggest bug that seems to have slipped in (and I havenāt yet encountered it) is a flickering PFD with one diagonal side going black and back to normal. This is definitely confirmed by PMDG as one that slipped through and only became evident with the much larger customer base compared to their testing team size. Randazzo says the team believes it is NOT related to any 3rd party mods or add-ons, but rather a clipping plane error with some of the graphics elements used in their PFD display code.
There are some other niggles people have brought up, especially a few sound issues a couple people have reported that their team is looking into, and some stuff that is Asoboās responsibility to address (WX radar, for instance).
I havenāt yet encountered the PFD issue but Iām also flying completely solo for now while I learn the plane. There are some hints that the bug might be linked somehow to other PMDG 737ās in the same rendering area in multi-player but nothing for sure.
The PFD one is very random, Cpt Canada streamed the 737 for 4 days and only had the PFD issue on day 2. All flights were on VATSIM with other 737ās around. Seems very hit or miss.
The WX Radar should be good to go with SU10 when they open it up.
Iāll be tough and wait for the -800. I dare say the removal of any ābugsā or making of improvements etc will find their way into the initial release of the -800 too, so may well be a very clean pick-up.
To me itās bad to have the same price for those that already bought -700. We are just paying for different sizes. We have no option to choose now. If we had we would have chosen the type we wanted right? Then why not have a discount for those that wanted a different model but bought the -700 model anyway. Now maybe they miss out on those that actually wanted another model but stick with the -700 model because itās too expensive to pay just for a different size. Strange in my opinion. I wanted the -800 but will stick with -700. Not going to pay full prize for a different size especially when they canāt release all of them at the same time.
For the recent years I have flown aboard the -700 as a passenger. Sometimes, when it was very busy, the airline (Transavia) used a -800. So, I am fine with the -700. The PDMG 737 is interesting to learn and fun to handle.
If the 737-700 is just something to fly temporarily while waiting for the variant you actually want then the pricing scheme is not a good deal. I want both the -700 and the -800 and then it is an OK deal. Users who want all four get an extremely bad deal, and those are (were?) probably PMDGās most loyal customers who routinely buy everything they release.
The previous pricing scheme where you paid full price for a ābase variantā and then paid for variants on top of that was an extremely bad deal for those who only wanted one variant that was not the base variant, so I think it is great they finally moved away from that model.
One metric for pricing being fair is that it represents the supplierās cost (direct and indirect) plus a fee for their profit. By that metric their current pricing model is totally unfair since it does not reflect the huge code reuse between different variants.
A fair pricing model by that metric would be one where the first model is full price, no matter which model that is, and then a steep discount for additional models.
Wondering how many people will buy the -600. Very few were sold, most of those have already been retired, and as far as I can tell there are less than 10 in service anywhere in the world. I see just two remaining operators, and one of those is pretty hard to even book a flight with.
But I bet there are some people for who the -600 is their all-time favorite variant, so it is cool that PMDG go ahead and make it.
Iāve only been able to do two flights so far and my first one I had no PFD issues but on flight two I had it on the right side. The thread for the issue over on the Pmdg forums makes it seem extremely random. The hardest issue to resolve
I havenāt purchased a PMDG plane since FS9. I am not liking the pricing scheme they are using. Plus I really want the -8Max which I guess they are not making. I am going to stay with the FBW A320 and buy the Maddog. I am on a fixed income as I am retired and PMDGās pricing assures I wonāt be buying from them. Plus they donāt have the variant I want to have. I also had an issue with PMDG years ago with their 1900. I was charged twice and PMDG refused to help me. That also plays into my decision to buy the Maddog instead.
Way later onā¦major changes to the cockpit alone seem like a time consuming upgrade, though the exterior upgrades are probably relatively easyā¦and since pmdg fully simulates almost all systems, the new ābrainsā of the plane im sure are a game changer.