Ive had like 3-4 addons alone I’ve spent like £40 on altogether that just don’t work on my PC, without putting my fps down to 4, they are just glitched. That’s after like 5 reinstalls.
That alone is enough of a reason to make it unacceptable that you cannot trial or get a refund.
I believe it would be good move from developers to give us a limited demo versions of their products (not just in MP). That would also show us how much they trust on their products. And I would test some pruducts I just pass now ( and might end up purchasing some of them). Win-win,
In absence of Market store not allowing demo/refunds, the only other alternative is just to follow the forum and hear what other simmers have to say regarding an addon or developer before making the purchase, rather than blindly paying sometime over inflated prices for a less than perfect software.
I must agree. Pretty shocking that purchases can not be refunded. There are laws in place that protect consumers. For it to not apply here is very unusual. Not sure how MS/Asobo get away with that.
A lack of refund or trial isnt unique to MSFS, many online shops selling digital products do not allow refunds or demos from its digital nature.
That said, there are many content creators on Youtube that review marketplace products and give their opinions it. The marketplace star review system isnt great, but cannot be taken alone as an indicator of quality.
In some specific cases, i’ve seen some refunds happening, but they are more edge cases.
@NotIdentity24 Could you share the addons you purchased and your PC specs?
Because you buy ‘credits’ not the product.
I’ve had a few dogs Iv’e gotten refunded but it’s a pita. A 24 hour trial before committing would be nice but it really would have had to be baked into the system from the start. Maybe 2024 where they have time to make these agreements with developers.
Still waiting on the freeware category in the MP they’re supposedly working on
While I would love to have the option to try-before-you-buy, I doubt that will ever happen because of concerns with piracy. In the absense of having that option, a decent alternative would be to allow comments with reviews. If you read multiple reviews stating that the addon didn’t work or that it was of low quality because of this or that, then you’d be able to make an informed decision before purchasing.
Also, it would help you with the overall decision. If someone rated a plane as a 1 because it didn’t have a modded cabin but you don’t care whether the cabin is modded, then you could apply that to your decision.
If they allowed trials, they would sell very little, because most add-ons aren’t good. The ones that are good break with the SU fiascos and take a long time to get updated.
Easy… they have a goat gaggle of lawyers…If some poor souls want to mount a lawsuit and fork over some cash… lawyers are not cheap they will lose againist MS every time
I’ve stated many times - in case MS / Asobo read these forums - that I have money to spend on MSFS Marketplace (I’m on Xbox…), but simply don’t for 3 reasons:
MSFS is a frankenstein, repackaged old FS code, old Bing Maps, and a marketplace that is clearly not geared well for MSFS - the lengthy terms of purchase are dated 2017, and I’m pretty sure any decent consumer law would blow apart that “buying credits not software” facade.
The ability to try before you buy is not hard - virtually every software make has figured it out with activation and trial expiration. So this is a policy roadblock, not a technical one.
Given the popularity of MSFS, I would hope that eventually Microsoft would see the profit potential to invest in a better ecosystem for customers and developers. But the decision makers are seeing a good enough return on investment from patching together all the old stuff that (it seems) they are not motivated to adapt for a more customer-centric ecosystem. MSFS 2024 may bring some changes - but I’ve learned to lower my expectations.
As an xbox flyer, we are poorly served with dedicated youtube review and developers showing there products on console. and with asobosoft 70`s refund structure i wont risk buying. i have seven aircraft on my wish list because of this and remembering the initial DC-6 release mess
Never said anyone would sue anyone. lol
I said there are laws that protect consumers, meaning Microsoft must abide by laws and regulations in place where they do business. Governments are more than capable of enforcing their laws, even with Microsoft.
Well, not just upfront issues, but you can have decent add-ons for a long time that all of a sudden become broken with either a developer or a MS update.
I guess if it’s good enough for Nintedo, it’s good enough for MSFS MP 
But yeah, would sure be nice
If you’re spending your money on any product, without doing some due diligence, youre doing it wrong. With all the info readily available via forums, Discord, YouTube, etc. I cant believe some still hand over their money without thoroughly vetting the Dev and product.
Expecting MS to check that every offering that makes the cut, to operate flawlessly on the myriad of pc specs out there, is just ridiculous on its face.
Its YOUR money folks. Do YOUR research.
What this overlooks is that IF everyone waits for the research, there will be NO research because no one is buying it because everyone is waiting.
Someone has to be first. Oh, and you cannot trust YouTubers, because this is a business for them and they say whatever it takes to get free stuff and make ad money.
Bottom line is that if a company is worth salt, they will offer trials or swift refunds.
No, youtubers buy junk just to review it too. They’d always get it and review it no matter what because that’s what their viewers want.
Most digital companies don’t offer refunds. That’s inaccurate.
…But they should. Defend them if you want, but you wont sway me. I agree to disagree.
Nah, there some pretty reputable YouTube flight sim guys who tell it straight. They’ve been around for years and call it pretty fairly. Ive never bought an aircraft without doing at least some basic research.
And if 1 of these guys isnt reviewing it, theres a reason.
I’m not defending them, just stating facts. As a consumer I’d love to see it, but if I were running a business, I doubt I would. When everyone does it, you kinda have to, but until then, why give away money? I guess I can see both sides.