An argument AGAINST the long term use of FSX:SE

Dovetail is like any other business. They need to generate positive revenue to exist. No harm there. In taking on FSX their long business model to generate revenue is solely to be the middle man. A extra middle man only means only thing to the consumer. Higher prices! Add to that that by its very nature the Steam folks also not only get a piece of the pie, but have leverage to dictate how big a piece of pie.

Look for instance at Orbx offerings. Historically they run $20-45 USD. The prices when offered via Dovetail are already noticeably higher. Are the Dovetail offerings better in terms of what it adds to our hobby? No. So why the higher prices? Middlemen is why.

If Dovetail is successful at cornering the market by compelling developers to only develop for the SE version we can expect to pay 50-100% more for addons in the future than we have in the past. As the additional prices effect the consumer base the next effect will be less addon even developed for the platform. Rumor has it that Dovetail is working on some flight sim. I'm sure their working on making a Microsoft Flight model so that all sales have to go through them. They have no love for flight sim or the experience. They simply want to monetize it.

With Microsoft leaning so heavily into my system via W10 and the possibility of FSX getting locked into Steam pricing, A Mac and XPlane are visible on the far horizon.

FSX is very old and no longer supported by Microsoft. If FSX is your preferred simulator, then Steam is theoretically the only option open to new simmers. It is a personal choice as to whether you like the Steam business model. At the very least, Dovetail Games has ensured the continued survivability of FSX for the foreseeable future.

If you think their prices are expensive, don't buy from them, simple.

No need to "bag" them on a public forum.

Sent from my tablet thingy!

I would pay a premium to have automatic installation and a complaint department to deal with if my sim was crashing. I've been mucking around with FS installs and tweaks for almost 20 years. It would be magical if I could just load up and fly.

Some parts I enjoy screwing around with, but I've largely gone to payware because I don't want to mess around with panel issues, gauges not working, flight dynamics wonky, etc. I buy from respected producers. But...when it's time to reinstall I have to reinstall 20-30+ aircraft, plus scenery. If it's F1 wrappers usually easy, but sometimes you need to reset you license. More time. Downloading Gigs of scenery and aircraft. Time consuming.

50% more no. But if there's a premium for simple DLC that automatically augments my sim...I'm in. They're not there yet, but hopefully someday.

Steam stole $40 from me

I bought 2 train simulator games, not knowing anything about steam.

I thought I'd install the games and enjoy trains

Nope, steam had to interfere

Long story short, I never got either game to work

Steam ruined them for me

And, as far as I'm concerned, they have ruined the entire industry

You are only about 14 months too late about any of this.

Maybe a late, maybe not, but..........IMNSO he's certainly right. - Doug

I paid something like $4.99 for my Steam copy of FSX:SE. I have bought all my purchased aircraft and scenery on the open market - direct from developers, companies like Alabeo and Carenado, and from the various flight sim add-on sites. I actually feel a bit bad that I haven't been buying anything for FSX through Steam and Dovetail but I want to get stuff I can use in both FSX:SE and P3D.

I don't see any problem whatsoever in the Steam or Dovetail model. FSX:SE has a number of fixes that the boxed version doesn't have, better memory management, etc. That's worth $4.99 to me and more.

Microsoft abandoned FSX and sold the code to Dovetail and Lockheed-Martin. Anyone who thinks Dovetail is hurting us is deluding themselves. Maybe it's not getting huge updates but it isn't abandoned either. Don't like it? Stay with the boxed version. That certainly is a choice and nobody is forcing anyone to use the Steam version. Or buy the $300 license for P3D. That's another option if you don't like the $60 academic alternative.

I don't get the anger at Steam for providing a platform and avenue to get an updated version. Much ado about nothing.

Steam stole $40 from me

 

I bought 2 train simulator games, not knowing anything about steam.

 

I thought I'd install the games and enjoy trains

 

Nope, steam had to interfere

 

Long story short, I never got either game to work

 

Steam ruined them for me

 

And, as far as I'm concerned, they have ruined the entire industry

Did you know you can refund purchases through Steam?

http://store.steampowered.com/steam_refunds/

"You can request a refund for nearly any purchase on Steam—for any reason. Maybe your PC doesn't meet the hardware requirements; maybe you bought a game by mistake; maybe you played the title for an hour and just didn't like it.

It doesn't matter. Valve will, upon request via help.steampowered.com, issue a refund for any reason, if the request is made within fourteen days of purchase, and the title has been played for less than two hours. There are more details below, but even if you fall outside of the refund rules we’ve described, you can ask for a refund anyway and we’ll take a look."

Sounds like your beef is with Dovetail or Microsoft. I think you posted this in the wrong forum. This is FlightSim.com. I can't believe the moderators have allowed this post to remain.

Dovetail is like any other business. They need to generate positive revenue to exist. No harm there. In taking on FSX their long business model to generate revenue is solely to be the middle man. A extra middle man only means only thing to the consumer. Higher prices! Add to that that by its very nature the Steam folks also not only get a piece of the pie, but have leverage to dictate how big a piece of pie.

 

Look for instance at Orbx offerings. Historically they run $20-45 USD. The prices when offered via Dovetail are already noticeably higher. Are the Dovetail offerings better in terms of what it adds to our hobby? No. So why the higher prices? Middlemen is why.

 

If Dovetail is successful at cornering the market by compelling developers to only develop for the SE version we can expect to pay 50-100% more for addons in the future than we have in the past. As the additional prices effect the consumer base the next effect will be less addon even developed for the platform. Rumor has it that Dovetail is working on some flight sim. I'm sure their working on making a Microsoft Flight model so that all sales have to go through them. They have no love for flight sim or the experience. They simply want to monetize it.

 

With Microsoft leaning so heavily into my system via W10 and the possibility of FSX getting locked into Steam pricing, A Mac and XPlane are visible on the far horizon.

I think FSX:SE is a great idea. In fact, as long as you're smart enough to purchase addons directly from their developers (Carenado from Carenado, Just Flight from Just Flight, Orbx from TheFlightsimStore), the hobby shouldn't cost more than trying to maintain a broken piece of decade-old software that is FSX boxed.

Just to shed some light on my experience, by the way:

In 2006, a wide-eyed 5th grade me cashed out a good chunk of his savings to purchase a brand-spanking-new copy of the boxed FSX Deluxe for nearly $70. I bought it at a local shopping mart and boy, that golden packaging was beautiful! I still have the original box.

In 2014, I bought FSX:SE for $5 on a random Steam sale. 'Nuff said.

I don't care if Dovetail "has no love for flight sim or the experience." They're simply doing business, and just by making FSX available for future simmers, they're doing a great thing.

I'm sure this was discussed here before but I'll say it anyways:

1) The Steam edition provides an easy way for new simmers to obtain FSX. If I wanted the boxed copy I would have to search for one second hand.

2) The Steam edition also provides a very easy way to install the program in it's most updated version. You just download it and you're done.

If I wanted to use the boxed edition how many hours would I need to spend installing it from DVDs and updating it?

3) Payware developers will not move to Steam's distribution system and continue to use their own established methods. Resellers want to maintain their business, and I'm sure developers want to sell add-ons to owners of P3D, FSX SE, and boxed FSX, and not just limit themselves to FSX SE.

The payware on Steam is a small fraction of the payware available for FSX. Even a smaller fraction of that is Steam exclusive. The Aeroplane Heaven Piper Aztec for example is a Steam exclusive, but not many add-ons are.

If I wanted to use the boxed edition how many hours would I need to spend installing it from DVDs and updating it?

About 45 minutes if you have Deluxe and Acceleration.

How long on a slow internet connection does it take some Steam users?

Even with a slow internet connection I think it only takes about 1 min with Steam. Select install and walk away. Everything is automatic.

With the boxed version you had to be around to enter information and switch disks.

Wow ... It is called choice - don't like Steam and its distribution - go boxed -- though they are getting harder to find then hen teeth... DTG has done nothing but help

Improve the abandoned software - again - don't like DTG - go get Prepar3D or Xplane - nothing forcing anyone to use FSX-SE.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sounds like your beef is with Dovetail or Microsoft. I think you posted this in the wrong forum. This is FlightSim.com. I can't believe the moderators have allowed this post to remain.

Why should we close it? It's simply members expressing their opinions. No one is bashing anyone. Should it reach that point, it will be closed. As long as it's civil discussion, there is no need to take any action.

Darrell

Why should we close it? It's simply members expressing their opinions.

When opinions include "software companies are bad because they make money, software updates are no good, Steam is the Great Satan, I don't want anything to ever change on my computer," then I find it best to start invoking the IGNORE function and spare my bandwidth and time.

I run my boxed copies of FSX Gold, and some of my train sims from Steam, without any problems.

When opinions include "software companies are bad because they make money, software updates are no good, Steam is the Great Satan, I don't want anything to ever change on my computer," then I find it best to start invoking the IGNORE function and spare my bandwidth and time.

 

I run my boxed copies of FSX Gold, and some of my train sims from Steam, without any problems.

Yep, like I said their opinions. My opinion? I have both boxed and Steam versions, and prefer the Steam version. Seems to run more smoothly than the boxed version. (Maybe I don't have the boxed version properly tweaked, but have not had to tweak Steam). Steam is a bit more difficult as to installing add-ons, but most will work once you get the method figured out.

Darrell