A question came to me a little awhile ago - would I be willing to join an opt-in subscription of 10, 15 dollars a month if it meant that Microsoft/Asobo/Whoever Else could expedite updating the satellite data, or even the beloved photogrammetry, above and beyond what they’re already doing with the monthly/bimonthly “world updates”?
If they were transparent about where exactly these community funds were being spent, and showed us exactly what we were helping to get mapped and into the sim, then personally I’d at least strongly consider it. My 2c
This would also be terrible for the 3rd party industry. I would rather pay for the quality addons that I want. A subscription model with everything included would be giving low quality developers the same amount of money as high quality developers. If you just mean things from Asobo well, so far they’re already giving us 97% of their stuff for free.
When Microsoft did their initial announcement event at Rainer Flight Service, they said they didn’t want a subscription model.
Originally, I was happy about this, but now looking back, I’m disappointed. The simulator is very expensive to run and maintain, and as far as we can tell they’re making their money through the Marketplace. However, the marketplace is a ■■■■■■■■ and shows no sign of improving. If Microsoft is relying on marketplace transactions to pay for the sim, that concerns me…
The other reason I am disappointed is a subscription would give us a carrot to dangle in front of the management team in Redmond. Basically, when they created a colossal ■■■■ up and then tried to bury their head in the sand (I can think of several examples), we could incentivise them to fix it by cancelling our subscriptions. - Sadly, we don’t have that power, we’ve all paid for the product, now they only make money by making new addons.
You flag a post, but I sense you were being sarcastic more than anything. Perhaps respond with why you like/dislike an idea.
Pay up front:
Microsoft make money by releasing DLC, tempting us to keep buying new content to replace old content. Incentive to keep releasing as much content as possible and never fix issues in things we already paid for.
Subscription:
Microsoft make money by making us like the game enough to keep paying. Incentive to fix issues with what we already have so we keep paying for it.
Not a good idea…but if it happened, aircraft quality/fidelity would have to increase significantly to payware level at the very least. We can of course talk about better ATC, charts, etc…
I paid 120 for this and aint paying no more. If they go to subscription model, I am gone. FWIW-FSX costs 19.95, and I got the Origianl box to prove it. Yes, two SP’s and Accleration Pack, but it works. XP-11 costs 59.95 for either DVD option or Downloadable one. So nope, aint paying no more, thank you very much.
Yeah that would be completely unacceptable. That ship has sailed.
A subscription model could have been used from the start or could be used for new customers, definitely not introduced for existing customers of the existing product.
Which is of course easily circumvented, if a subscription-only model were to be introduced in 2023 say hi to the “brand new” product MSFS 2023 and sunset the “old” product MSFS 2020…
Its already available as a subscription. I pay $10.50 AUD per month for the xbox gamepass for PC. For this I get MSFS Standard edition and 100 other pretty decent games. Great value subscription really. I haven’t been tempted to buy any add-ons yet as my favourite plane the Cesna 172 is included. Some additional hand crafted airports and aircraft don’t aren’t incentivising me to upgrade to deluxe version. I am perfectly happy flying around as is.
The subscription model in business takes advantage of leeching money out of people who are unaware that their subscription exists or have forgotten to cancel in time. I would much rather pay $100 once for MSFS (which I’ll be playing for many years to come), than $10 a month and ultimately paying more than its worth after 10 months.
Terrible for consumers, great for billion dollar corporations.
BTW - OP there is a MSFS subscription service. Its called Xbox Game Pass.
Just out of curiousity: How do you spread your 24hr/day over those 101 games?
Before I purchased MSFS2020 ( € 129 or so for the ultra de luxe version), in August last year.
I played XP-11 and DCS world a lot before but now… they’re building up a pile of dust.
Important reason for this is that I also have a full -time+ job, a household to run and such…
Happy
I have no issue with paying a fair subscription fee for something I use regularly. However, I also expect that for my money I get a fully working service and timely fixes for issues that arise. As good as MSFS CAN be when everything is working, I wouldn’t pay a sub for the product or service we currently have.
You don’t have to try all games at once that’s first. Second let’s say year of game pass coast me around 120. I have played roughly 5-6 games, that’s already $300+ if I would buy them. Plus sim on top as a nice bonus. I’m not arguing it’s not for everyone but this is a good deal.
Though back on topic I wouldn’t pay higher per month price just for the sim even with addons simple cause sometime I don’t use it for most of the month and don’t need all add-ons.
What are you on.
I have already outlaid a heap of hard earned and I don’t want to have to pay an annual subscription.
By the way, if what you are on is making you happy, can I have some.