Xbox release, SU5. If I can muster up more patience than I generally have I might try to hold off a few days and let the dust settle before firing up the sim. Maybe just watch the forums and see what’s happening with others. Kind of wish it were on a Friday so I could have a cocktail while I watch. AT any rate I know its not going to be a boring day.
Good luck to all and 11 days from now I hope we are all singing its praise.
What were things like on the original launch day, last year?
I’d expect it will be 2x to 5x that.
That’s not to say it will stay at those levels for long as many will be trying it for ‘free’ on Game Pass and some will just be flying into things and each other for laughs before getting bored and moving on.
Kind of wondering how big the SU will be by itself. If its not crazy big I may give it a go on launch day. I never even considered the load for actual flying. Maybe not so bad day one as most xboxers will still be trying to figure out how there controller works before they can fly and then be looking for there house in mostly non photogrammetry areas
I suspect it will be quite bad for a week maybe, because as @SofaJockey said, there will be lots on xbox who will try it out with game pass, probably mess about and make popular airports a mess for those who try to sim realistically and other lack of etiquette (which I hope will not be too big an issue and do have faith people will be respectful of runways and others and those who aren’t will leave quick) however I know the dev’s will do their best to ensure we can all fly so hopefully they will figure out rough numbers within a week or so to boost server space if required.
Overall though I am super excited for this as even if a small number of those who just try it with games pass enjoy flying then that’s more people in the community which is always a good thing.
Sadly I am too impatient and given still shielding I doubt will manage to hold off so hopefully download servers can manage it so can at least enjoy the new lessons!
I guess I could still have that Friday cocktail and just sit to the side and watch the multiplayer frolics. Its twenty four hours from bottle to throttle anyways. I would love to have a tower view for it
It would be wrong to suggest that the Xbox audience are more ‘juvenile’ but it might feel that way for a few days. For every ‘barnstormer’, there will be a dozen sincerely engaging with this Sim that they have been unable to access previously.
I recognise the ongoing flexibility of the PC as the ‘best’ way to play, but having not owned a PC in 15 years (ok, a Mac is technically a ‘personal computer’ but it’s not the right platform) it means that the Xbox Series X is my way in.
It’s possible that MSFS will become slightly more ‘gamified’ as a consequence of the Xbox version. More tutorials, more challenges and even the Top Gun DLC are examples of the game offering up more things to do over and above the simulator sandbox that currently exists.
Didnt mean to come off like that and I think most of us PC gamers will have patience for it. We have had a year to play around with it anyways. Like I said it will be fun to watch and if only 1 percent of the new xbox users become truly interested in aviation as a result it was worth it.
Oh totally. My saying about the airports and general etiquette isn’t at all about xbox users. It happened at launch on PC and it happens with basically every big game sadly.
Though I’m not totally sure how you “cheat” in flight simulator lol
Very much so. For sure, the PC is the most adaptable platform, but frankly I tired of installation issues, driver issues, configuration problems, finding that a component was below spec or a host of other frustrations.
Sitting on my sofa with a console that does have its limitations, but for what it does, it by and large ‘just works’ is hugely relaxing. ‘Gaming’ has become a relaxing joy, not a job in itself (when I used to PC game).
As you say, each to your own, but the Xbox audience is certainly not inferior even if as a group their playstyle tendencies may be slightly different to PC gamers.
Absolutely, I just couldn’t justify the cost versus the time I actually have to game these days, that was my choice. I realise my little outburst isn’t really called for on this particular thread, but it’s just something that I find with *some PC gamers.
Pity they didn’t release SU5 a couple of days before XBox release to ease the server load a bit. As I recall, launch day wasn’t too bad, but I suspect that the load this time will be an order of magnitude higher.
Server farms are pretty “elastic” and more or fewer CPUs can be allocated to tasks. There will be some overall limits to bandwidth and max CPUs available, but Microsoft can set how much resources to devote to this rollout all the way to paying for resources on other server farms.
The download servers are what I am worried about. From what I have seen and read they seem poorly optimized. I’ve never heard anyone talk about leveraging Azure for the install/update process. If I where to bet this is going to be a pain point.
Other than the issues that X-Box services had that effected MSFS and that Asobo has little control over it seems the back end component of MSFS is pretty stable and should scale well.
There will defiantly be an influx of new users at the popular airports. Some will be learning, some be doing “arcade stuff” like having fun. I do think this might have been a good time to remove starting from a runway in Live mode, but it is what it is. If new users bother you that much, turn off multiplayer.
Personally I just started a new job where I need to be on site to do my work. Also other personal projects have taken away from MSFS. Ill probably remote in to my gaming PC to kick off the update, take a test flight when I get home from work, and then leave it until the weekend. Mostly because that is all the time I realistically have regardless of a major MSFS update or not.