So I asked this question on the PMDG Forums and Mathijs Kok, a PMDG representative, replied “You have to ask Microsoft that question.”
While I disagree with his premise that it’s up to the customer rather than the developer to find a resolution, nevertheless here I am. I hope someone from Microsoft will see and respond to this.
PMDG charges $5/ea for two livery packs for Xbox users that are available for free directly to PC users. They claim that they are forced to charge by Microsoft.
However I have downloaded other items for free from the marketplace in the past, and some from third party developers. In fact, I downloaded the thick scroll bar mod from developer //42 just last night for no charge.
I’m a big fan of their work but their livery approach on Xbox is a missed approach. Let’s hope their go around for the 777 is better
Apart from the charges the packs are all over the shop and now I have 4 or 5 Ryan air liveries in the 737 and no JAL.
I hope the 777 livery packs are released per region. Ie North America, Asia Pacific, Middle East, Europe
They should be free, they say they can’t? So then make them $1
And pls I hope the livery packs are released with the actual aircraft not weeks or months later like the 737
pmdg says that 5 dollars is like the minimum price you can have on the marketplace but I dont believe their saying nothing can be free because uk2000 has a model library for free
Those were sales actions, our liveries were priced $1.99 several times.
We have just asked Microsoft (again) if we are allowed to offer our liveries for free and are waiting for an answer. As we said, we offer all the liveries for free for PC users and want exactly the same for Xbox users. If it was our intention to make money from them we would sell them on all platforms, right? I take offense to the idea we are not open and honest about this.
Personally, I don’t mind too much having to pay for these packs but would prefer more choice, numerous Ryanair liveries isn’t what people want.
How does the livery selection work, is it a licensing issue you need to agree on? As a British simmer, I’d love to see the TUI livery as would many other Brits, so understanding the selection process would be interesting.
I think there’s an actual M/P $4.99 minimum, but you can keep it on perpetual sale for $0.99 if you wanted. And to keep liveries separate from the core aircraft(so XB users could delete it should they choose).
They COULD always include them in an update for free direct to the aircraft, but some may not want them for whatever reason.
I think most WOULD pay for a $5 liveries package provided it was the only one and all new liveries updated to it. This would also let PMDG control the quality of them and update them all together should things change.
Exactly, I think most people wouldn’t mind if you had to purchase the initial pack on the understanding that it would receive additional liveries for free via updates.
Of course it’s your right to choose to take offence, Mathijs; but as mentioned in the previous post, those of us who purchased the base model did so on the commonly-accepted premise that liveries would eventually be free. IniBuilds have also decided to charge for liveries recently but there was never any suggestion that they’d be free for console users. They also released them at more-or-less the same time as the aircraft (in this case, the A300).
While I accept that the whole debacle was likely fuelled by Microsoft’s Marketplace policies, it was clumsily and ambiguously handled, if you ask me. 5-6 identical Ryanair liveries (three in a single pack!) yet no GOL, no TUI, no JAL, no Transavia… I can’t for a second believe your customer base requested this. When queries were made by the console community in your forums, they were basically told to like it or lump it. Your customers are your greatest critics — it’s prudent to listen to them.
So onto a little praise now… you have discounted your livery packs to the bare minimum in the last couple of sales and I don’t think anyone begrudges paying £1.69/$1.99 for 10 liveries. That’s good value, considering the quality. You also addressed the colour inaccuracy with the Ryanair liveries — although when I first raised the issue in your forums, I was told it was correct and that I was basically imagining it. I could have taken offence to that, since part of my job involves imaging and colour perception (within aviation, I might add).
It’s a two-way street. Your work is fabulous but your customer communication needs a little work. I’m not having a go for the sake of having a go — I’m genuinely trying to impart a little constructive criticism. And I think my words speak for many in the Xbox simming community who feel things could have been done better.
Then why didn’t you just say this, rather than the snarky “You have to ask Microsoft that question” like it’s my responsibility to make arrangements between you and Microsoft?
if you want the same for Xbox users then keep the packs on sale, make a collection that has all the packs in, make the percent discount higher.
As for taking offence at stuff I as a customer took offence when you REMOVED the small amount of free liveries from the dc-6 after we Xbox users who purchased at launch had to wait what was it- a year? before we could fly it.
Why was the simbrief import removed from the current version for Xbox. Can no longer import the simbrief from the tablet to the plane. But that went very well before the update today.
The issue come in that Microsoft gets 30% of sales. There is a cost to doing the QA, the encoding, and then placing into the store. Microsoft wants a revenue stream to basically cover the cost of the administration costs required to place an addon in the store. Plus there is the administration cost of maintaining the hosting of the addons, etc.
In the case of libraries, they are a requirement in order for other addons in store. Microsoft has allowed those to be free considering they are getting revenue from the initial addon.
A livery isn’t required to make use of the base product. A base product will require a library though. That is why libraries can be free, but liveries can’t.
