F
fsx
Guest
Well done Francois
Erich
Erich
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The Staff of SOH
Open Letter to Microsoft Games Studios
- Thread starter Francois
- Start date
txnetcop
Charter Member
Francois I support your letter, but also believe it will fall on deaf ears as they have already decided to move the sim to other platforms including Windows Live. PC12 (Paul) might want to comment on this. He and some of the other ACES group are back to work with a project they are being closed mouth about...which is great. Having worked in the corporate world for over 20 years in Silicon Valley, I can imagine the various reasons FS11 and Train Sim 2.0 came to halt, re-organization comes to mind as does Larrabee graphics priorities for Intel graphics chips and a host of other reasons I can think of.
Remember "evil triumphs when good men do nothing," and while I doubt evil is the intention of the "evil empire M$", it does come down to more than economics when a decision of this magnitude is reached. Francois, thanks for being one of the good men who try and get the bottom of things and offer solutions and not just complaints. Your are a credit to our hobby and to the craft at large.
By the way, I want to thank Microsoft for introducing flight simulation into our lives, and withstanding the constant barrage criticisms of each new generation. Somehow we finally migrate to each one while holding dearly to the last one. I do hope they have our best interest at heart down the road as well.
Ted
Remember "evil triumphs when good men do nothing," and while I doubt evil is the intention of the "evil empire M$", it does come down to more than economics when a decision of this magnitude is reached. Francois, thanks for being one of the good men who try and get the bottom of things and offer solutions and not just complaints. Your are a credit to our hobby and to the craft at large.
By the way, I want to thank Microsoft for introducing flight simulation into our lives, and withstanding the constant barrage criticisms of each new generation. Somehow we finally migrate to each one while holding dearly to the last one. I do hope they have our best interest at heart down the road as well.
Ted
Major_Spittle
Charter Member
Perhaps a few hundred letters to the CEO that go something like:
I am retired and currently use your program FSX. X-Plane runs on LINUX which is free and will save me $160 when building my next computer. Linux also comes with a free Office Suite that does everything a person could want on a home PC. This is an added $200 value. Just using Linux will save me over 30% of the cost on my next computer build.
I am retired and currently use your program FSX. X-Plane runs on LINUX which is free and will save me $160 when building my next computer. Linux also comes with a free Office Suite that does everything a person could want on a home PC. This is an added $200 value. Just using Linux will save me over 30% of the cost on my next computer build.
Hear, hear Francois! Very well said, and I believe that your letter speaks for a vast majority of us in the flightsim community. That being said, I am also skeptical that it will make a difference to the pencilnecks at MS corporate, but as others have said, it won't hurt.
It's a shame that with the upcoming advances in computer technology that MS has chosen not to make FS a part of it. I have been an avid flightsimmer since FS98 and it is truely a passion for me. I am also a real-world pilot who can no longer indulge in my enthusiasim for flying because I can no longer afford to. Flightsimming has become a great surrogate for me and has kept my passion for aviation alive.
One thing that I believe cannot be taken away is the sense of community the we share here at SOH and other forums. I've 'met' like-minded people from all over the world, and to me, that one of the best things about our hobby!
I remain optimistic that all the very talented developers of FS software and hardware will continue to develope the outstanding add-ons that make the FSX platform so much better.
Thank you Francois for your letter. I know it comes from the heart. :ernae:
It's a shame that with the upcoming advances in computer technology that MS has chosen not to make FS a part of it. I have been an avid flightsimmer since FS98 and it is truely a passion for me. I am also a real-world pilot who can no longer indulge in my enthusiasim for flying because I can no longer afford to. Flightsimming has become a great surrogate for me and has kept my passion for aviation alive.
One thing that I believe cannot be taken away is the sense of community the we share here at SOH and other forums. I've 'met' like-minded people from all over the world, and to me, that one of the best things about our hobby!
I remain optimistic that all the very talented developers of FS software and hardware will continue to develope the outstanding add-ons that make the FSX platform so much better.
Thank you Francois for your letter. I know it comes from the heart. :ernae:
As a former CEO and President of an Electronics company and two Aerospace companies the third or forth item in our charter was “You shall do no harm to the community” That is funding charities, donating time and help and to give your customers full consideration and service.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com
fficeffice" /><o></o>
As long as Bill Gates was running the place, it more or less subscribed to that item of charter. <o></o>
However, then the Bean counters took over. “Why should we provide service by Americans? We can do it much cheaper by having it done by someone in a barefoot county. So what if nobody understands them? By the way, Why don’t we charge for this “Service”? The Bean counters start to ignore the third charter of the company. <o></o>
“Let’s come out with a totally different operating system that will obsolete all previous systems and make another Gazillion bucks and call it <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comffice:smarttags" /><st1lace>Vista</st1lace>? <o></o>
By the way, what are doing with the Aces Studio, with their Flight Simulator stuff? The most they’ll ever do is 500,000 sales and all we’d make is a lousy 130 million off of it. Close them down.”<o></o>
And so it goes…<o></o>
fficeffice" /><o></o>As long as Bill Gates was running the place, it more or less subscribed to that item of charter. <o
></o>However, then the Bean counters took over. “Why should we provide service by Americans? We can do it much cheaper by having it done by someone in a barefoot county. So what if nobody understands them? By the way, Why don’t we charge for this “Service”? The Bean counters start to ignore the third charter of the company. <o
></o>“Let’s come out with a totally different operating system that will obsolete all previous systems and make another Gazillion bucks and call it <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com
ffice:smarttags" /><st1lace>Vista</st1lace>? <o></o>By the way, what are doing with the Aces Studio, with their Flight Simulator stuff? The most they’ll ever do is 500,000 sales and all we’d make is a lousy 130 million off of it. Close them down.”<o
></o>And so it goes…<o
></o>Railrunner130
Charter Member
Well said Francios. :amen:
I've been trying very hard not to get worked up over this. My initial thought was that it's just a wave to be ridden out until the world economic situation improves and M$ will right their wrongs. However, now I think letters such as this need to be written to ensure the course is maintained.
This whole Live thingy idea sounds great to M$, but not to me. I don't want to have to buy FS ala-carte. That's a load of crap. I pay for a program, I want the whole thing. Not a piece of it. Perhaps offer me a combat simulation pack later to revive Combat FS, but that's it. I don't want to have to pay for the basic program, the basic scenery, the aircraft. And then, if I choose to go on a round the world flight, buy more scenery and some other stuff as I go. That's like paying tolls on my computer. That's crap and it's not a good way to do business. Initially, that sounds good for payware developers, but it's not. It would mean more money out of pocket- money that I don't want to shovel out. I'd end up downgrading my capabilities, not expanding in order to do what I want to do. And that's how payware gets hurt.
Additionally, the way I see it, part of the responsibility of any and all aviation related businesses is to foster aviation. M$ became an aviation related business when they released FS nearly 30 years ago. Now, they have a civic responsibility to ensure that that fostering continues.
M$ - Don't screw with a good thing!
I've been trying very hard not to get worked up over this. My initial thought was that it's just a wave to be ridden out until the world economic situation improves and M$ will right their wrongs. However, now I think letters such as this need to be written to ensure the course is maintained.
This whole Live thingy idea sounds great to M$, but not to me. I don't want to have to buy FS ala-carte. That's a load of crap. I pay for a program, I want the whole thing. Not a piece of it. Perhaps offer me a combat simulation pack later to revive Combat FS, but that's it. I don't want to have to pay for the basic program, the basic scenery, the aircraft. And then, if I choose to go on a round the world flight, buy more scenery and some other stuff as I go. That's like paying tolls on my computer. That's crap and it's not a good way to do business. Initially, that sounds good for payware developers, but it's not. It would mean more money out of pocket- money that I don't want to shovel out. I'd end up downgrading my capabilities, not expanding in order to do what I want to do. And that's how payware gets hurt.
Additionally, the way I see it, part of the responsibility of any and all aviation related businesses is to foster aviation. M$ became an aviation related business when they released FS nearly 30 years ago. Now, they have a civic responsibility to ensure that that fostering continues.
M$ - Don't screw with a good thing!
T
thedude247
Guest
20 bucks says that this guy won't even read the f#$%ing letter.:faint:
But the effort is still the right thing to do.
But the effort is still the right thing to do.
V
Vigilius
Guest
Well done François, thanks from us all
I remember the good ol days when flightsims were a developers flagship product.
Then the shooters "Doom" came and 1st person games became their technical showcase.
One by one they started falling off and I do not blame them.
Sims were hard on computers and 80-90% of the forums were not about how to fly them but how to get them to run.
Then the consoles came which were perfect for 1st person shooting games but horrible for flight sims.
We all saw this coming and I am surprised it took this long.
I plan to pickup the GOLD VERSION and keep it boxed just in case.
Nice letter but its about the bottom line,not the flight line.
Maybe if you tell em to put some planes in the next Halo it might work.
Then the shooters "Doom" came and 1st person games became their technical showcase.
One by one they started falling off and I do not blame them.
Sims were hard on computers and 80-90% of the forums were not about how to fly them but how to get them to run.
Then the consoles came which were perfect for 1st person shooting games but horrible for flight sims.
We all saw this coming and I am surprised it took this long.
I plan to pickup the GOLD VERSION and keep it boxed just in case.
Nice letter but its about the bottom line,not the flight line.
Maybe if you tell em to put some planes in the next Halo it might work.
Bjoern
worst developer ever
Let's hope they did.
FS desperately needed a fresh start anyways.
Windows 7 and its public beta and (soon to come) public Release Candidates...are a clear indication that MS *does* care
As long as Bill Gates was running the place, it more or less subscribed to that item of charter. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com
However, then the Bean counters took over. “Why should we provide service by Americans? We can do it much cheaper by having it done by someone in a barefoot county. So what if nobody understands them? By the way, Why don’t we charge for this “Service”? The Bean counters start to ignore the third charter of the company.
As all of this continues to unfold, I can't help but wonder if Bill Gates' departure wasn't a result of seeing the culture changes that were taking place, deciding he wanted no part of it, and getting out while the going was good.
No, there has been no official work from M$ that Flight Simulator will be folded into Windows Live. But, this fits everything I have read about M$ for years; pushing as much software as they can get away with away from software license and CD to "software as a service" model, where you download and pay for what you use. They wanted to do that with MS Office for years; I think only corporate resistance has held them back to date.
It would also allow them to get their hands in the pot in regards to the add-on market. While it is pennies compared to M$ profits; I sure the bean counters were tired of seeing others profit, and not themselves.
I think in the end, they will end up killing the goose that laid the golden egg. And, no, they won't be smart enough to save face like Coke did and release a "FS Classic." :typing: