If casual chit chat on Q&As and discussions on panels now institutes as marketing discussions on panels now institutes as marketing
Casual chit chat on Q&As and panels ARE marketing. They exist solely for marketing reasons. Of course, there are no ads showing helicopters yet because helicopters don’t exist in the sim (well apart from a freeware H135).
Additionally, those in the heli sim community were actually approached by asobo and MS for their input on putting helis into the sim.
That’s great but what does that have to do with DLC pricing? Besides, Mircosoft and Asobo also approached Garmin or Daher for their input, and look at what we got.
There is also a difference here between “flight models” and the actual core physics that govern those flight model parameters drawn from config files. The core physics will have to be written independently from those that govern traditional flight, as well as tested etc.
The point is, they have done that in the past for no extra cost. Why should that change now, unless the new implementation is far superior to what came before - which remains to be seen, because the flight model for fixed-wing aircraft still has some major issues, pointed out by professionals in this forum and all around the internet.
You know what other game franchise charges for features of previous versions and markets them as new? The Sims. The sell the same DLC every time at the same or a higher price point without adding anything substantially new.
Do you want that for this sim? I don’t.
So let’s see if helicopters will be free or not. Right now, we don’t know.