Well there should be something given that we can’t judge something from a few photos. I bought a heli that is an ovbious cheat - mathematically just a Cabri with perhaps some extra inertia. Locked files also mean I can’t put it through the SDK & correct it myself.
So no refund, no way to try before we bu making the marketplace effectively a money-trap.
Implementing a system where users can try aircraft before purchasing would be challenging and come with several potential downsides.
Wouldn’t work I don’t think. Be too easy to just keep the files and continue using the content. People with a bit of know-how would then be able to collect stuff for free.
I agree - so there should be a refund then for anything obviously bad - not for minor niggles perhaps. OK so that could be abused so instead perhaps buying something could trigger a time limited download that would have to be confirmed if we want it or expire with a refund if we don’t
I am quite sure Microsoft can deal with that as indeed other ‘try before you buy’ companies do.
It isnt really all that difficult to stop those people ‘with a bit of know-how’ from stealing.
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Sorry to (strongly) disagree, but it really is hard. Actually almost impossible.
Yes it is. It’s nearly impossible. I mean it’s totally possible as it is right now, but it takes a bit more knowing what you’re doing. It’s at least difficult. Using any kind of try before you buy with the way this game is set up, it’d be really easy.
I think offering trials or time-limited downloads for aircraft could benefit users in some ways, but it would also introduce complexities, potential for abuse, and increased development and support costs.
Yea. As a user I understand that sometimes it’d be nice to have, but if I was a dev, I doubt I’d consider trying to offer it. I only buy what I’ve researched, and I’m rarely disappointed.
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I think it a bit naive to assume that Microsoft would roll out ‘try before you buy’ on the SIM as it stands now.
The changes I am thinking about would involve you requiring to hack into the MS server in order the steal a plane. It would require some additional data and codes connected to downloads and payment that would show immediately at the server end a plane that wasn’t paid for was being used and would render the plane unusable/remove it.
There are ways but it would require some deep and significant changes.
But why focus on a few criminals to avoid having this useful facility.
There will always be those in society who think stealing is acceptable, be it in shop or online.
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Good developers should welcome it, bad ones won’t. Yet another reason to do it.
As mentioned elsewhere, good research is important. I would like to do that on my setup.
A plane may work well on yours, but it may not work well on mine.
You may like a plane. I might not.
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Sadly, this is how many things in this world are done. Law-abiding citizens are punished for the sins of criminals. This is true for all crimes, from copyright protection, to the TSA, to DUI checkpoints, to crimes against persons where the criminal uses a firearm.
Many times the rules are written “For the greater good” and those rules end up hurting the 99% of us that are honest and responsible. It’s the easiest way out of having to prosecute and punish the criminal. And the law-abiding become the victims.
The world would be a much better place if there were no thieves; but sadly, that’s an unrealistic dream.
In this case we sometimes have to purchase MP items that fall woefully short of our expectations, with no recourse. We are tasked with having to rely on 3rd party reviews to help guide us through our purchasing decisions. I accept that responsibility because I have no choice. It doesn’t mean I don’t wish for a trial period. Microsoft would have to balance customer satisfaction against ‘acceptable losses’ due to theft.
All security is based on layers. The easier you can make things for honest people, while at the same time making it reasonably difficult for thieves, without spending too much money on that security, the better.
It is all a question of burying tokens into planes that need to be exchanged with the servers to run and a payment has to be present on the MS database. Tokens that have to be valid, are unique to the BIOS, can’t be duplicate etc. Etc. And there are more ways. So no need to tolerate thiefs and cheeters.
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There wont be returned sales, as you simply don’t buy after the trial period.
It will benefit MS as their reputation for quality will be enhanced and bad developers won’t have an income and disappear .
No downside.
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FSRealistic Pro does it best, they offered a 7 day trial and after mine expired I realized I missed the plugin and instantly purchased it. If executed correctly, this would be an awesome feature and I think it could even boost sales for some developers.
Offering time-limited trials with FSRealistic Pro, can be effective in certain simple scenarios, but there are reasons why it might not be universally applicable or straightforward in a complex ecosystem like MSFS.
Because it’s really unneeded. Just research before buying. It would take uncountable hours of work for them to implement it. I’d rather they used that time to give us new things or fix bugs.
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Pretty much every aircraft in sim has some kind of Hobbs Meter installed, and the logbook also tracks each aircraft’s usage, so the sim is well aware of how long an aircraft has been used… no reason this couldn’t be implemented using that data.
And that data is also very easy to edit/alter.