deathfromafar
Charter Member
LOL, nope although we all speak our minds every now and then with an occasional need to reel it in, the atmosphere here is pretty good and the people here are by and large a great group.
I have zero complaints. :ernae:
Alphasim Forums Still Down ..
- Thread starter expat
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LOL, nope although we all speak our minds every now and then with an occasional need to reel it in, the atmosphere here is pretty good and the people here are by and large a great group.
I have zero complaints. :ernae:
michael davies
Charter Member 2012
Phil may have his reasons, I know that I posted a clarification to the SH-2's PDF and someone with his own agenda hijacked the thread. I had to ask that the thread be locked and that I in no way felt slighted by Phil's reply. It seemed that some members were just looking for any reason to pounce on a mistake.'em, I hope they choke.
That would probably have been me then ?, I stand by what I said then and I stand by it now, the issue was simple, the model was wrong, they were told it was wrong before it was shipped, they were given offers of free help to fix it whilst they slept so as to remove any impact on schedules, it was ignore and refused. They paid for my work but refused all other input to make the product a better deal.
The only persons choking are the poor customers who bought a 'know' substandard rushed released product and had to wait for fixes.
The SH-2 is a product I wished I had had no input or party to, it still sticks in my throat and tastes vile. I have no issue being slighted in a public forum for my beliefs in standing up for a better product, even if it upsets others.
Contrary to some hate mail, I'm not out to air dirty laundry, it just grates me insanely to see customers who parted with hard earned cash complain about the very same issues noticed pre release by internal members, and then in some cases either not answered or fobbed off with some excuse, if you ship a know bugged product, at least have the cahones to stand up four square and take it on the chin.
My views are not anti Alphasim, they are pro quality products, I hope other people can make that distinction.
I'm sorry you feel this way about me, it is not reciprocated.
Sincerely
Michael Davies
wombat666
Administrator
Michael,
Those of us who know you believe in your motivation 100%, and it has always been based on a good product and proper customer service.
No apology neccessary, end of story.
Thankfully there's SOH! Though I've never posted a lot here, I've browsed the forum on a daily basis for two or three years- a friendly and relaxed environment with a huge resource of experience, ideas and assistance.
It would be unfair to watch the AS forum disappear without thanking those who made it a fine place to share ideas, etc for such a long time. There are the developers and team members, past and present. There are the 'civilian' moderators who volunteered their time in an effort to keep us on track, and there are the members without whose ideas, assistance, screenshots and humour the whole thing would have deflated.
Thanks... all of you. It's nice to see many of those characters posting here.
Some of you know my views on communication- face-to-face is first preference, telephone is second, followed by forums then lastly email. The vast scope of this hobby of ours dictates that face-to-face communication is rare and telephone conversations are limited. Accordingly, a lot of us who wish to maintain an open dialogue make regular use of forums. That dialogue may be a technical issue, it may be sharing screenshots, it may be light humour... whatever form it takes, it's all communication.
It is my view that ANY decision to restrict communication is a bad one- bad for morale, bad for (in this case) corporate image, and very likely bad for business.
Fortunately, there's Sim-Outhouse :ernae: !
It would be unfair to watch the AS forum disappear without thanking those who made it a fine place to share ideas, etc for such a long time. There are the developers and team members, past and present. There are the 'civilian' moderators who volunteered their time in an effort to keep us on track, and there are the members without whose ideas, assistance, screenshots and humour the whole thing would have deflated.
Thanks... all of you
. It's nice to see many of those characters posting here.Some of you know my views on communication- face-to-face is first preference, telephone is second, followed by forums then lastly email. The vast scope of this hobby of ours dictates that face-to-face communication is rare and telephone conversations are limited. Accordingly, a lot of us who wish to maintain an open dialogue make regular use of forums. That dialogue may be a technical issue, it may be sharing screenshots, it may be light humour... whatever form it takes, it's all communication.
It is my view that ANY decision to restrict communication is a bad one- bad for morale, bad for (in this case) corporate image, and very likely bad for business.
Fortunately, there's Sim-Outhouse :ernae: !
tommieboy
Charter Member
AlphaSim was always my candy store for military aircraft, and I hope there are still some goofy oddball military releases in the future, and not just the mainstream stuff. If not, I guess we all still have ItoSim.....
I'm not too interested in the civilian stuff, but I wish AlphaSim well. I'll miss the AS forums, as it was a home away from home for many of the AlphaSim supporters.
Tommy
P.S. Hey Phil how about a few more oddball British aircraft in the future....:d....I'm just starting to appreciate those old birds.....just recently picked up the Blackburn Firebrand and love it.....
strikehawk
Charter Member
Michael, my comments were not directed at you, they were aimed at some posters who tried to speak for me. Basically how Phil had disrespected me in his reaction to my post pointing out the MAD bird being misnamed. I posted under the name "Firehawkordy", and I tried to keep my posts few and far between over there.
The ones I hope choke are the ones who pestered for release dates, made criticisms and never any contributions, you know the ones I speak of. As for the average member/customer, yeah I think we all received a raw deal and I hope Phil knows what he is doing. The screen shots of the Osprey repaints are what convinced me to buy my first AS product and then to buy more. Oh well, life goes on.
Anyway, I apologize if you misinterpreted my comments. I meant no harm to the members of that forum that actually gave a.
The ones I hope choke are the ones who pestered for release dates, made criticisms and never any contributions, you know the ones I speak of. As for the average member/customer, yeah I think we all received a raw deal and I hope Phil knows what he is doing. The screen shots of the Osprey repaints are what convinced me to buy my first AS product and then to buy more. Oh well, life goes on.
Anyway, I apologize if you misinterpreted my comments. I meant no harm to the members of that forum that actually gave a
.michael davies
Charter Member 2012
Michael, my comments were not directed at you, they were aimed at some posters who tried to speak for me. Basically how Phil had disrespected me in his reaction to my post pointing out the MAD bird being misnamed. I posted under the name "Firehawkordy", and I tried to keep my posts few and far between over there.
The ones I hope choke are the ones who pestered for release dates, made criticisms and never any contributions, you know the ones I speak of. As for the average member/customer, yeah I think we all received a raw deal and I hope Phil knows what he is doing. The screen shots of the Osprey repaints are what convinced me to buy my first AS product and then to buy more. Oh well, life goes on.
Anyway, I apologize if you misinterpreted my comments. I meant no harm to the members of that forum that actually gave a
As I said, not a problem from me :ernae:.
In defence to those that tried to defend you, Phils comments could have easily been taken by other parties a snub toward you, the comments could have been worded a little better to remove any doubt as to there context.
It did also illustrate that it is very often not the two main parties that cause issues, but those who join later to 'take' sides, this turns it from an individual debate to a us Vs them argument and that is never a good route to go down. Support for a cause is good but must be played out in a controlled way so as to avoid what could become a playground scrum.
I said above earlier, that the SH-2 was a substandard product, on reflection that is untrue, whilst I have personal issues with the product from a production point of view, they should not be indicative of its overall quality.
It is a good package, I am happy with the FDE that I provided, a better summation would be, missed opportunities to reduce negative customer impact.
I hope that clears that up.
Best
Michael
That is the worst part of the forums being taken down. IMHO the screen shot forum sold more aircraft than any other advertising means.
i know that I bought a few after seeing thescreen shots.
Bob
WarHorse47
SOH-CM-2024
Speaking of which, I'm still waiting for Pierre Ilheurux to release the repaints for the SeaSprite. He posted screenshots on the AS forums about a month ago, and indicate a release was forthcoming. Now that the forums are gone, there's no way to contact him and ask him the status. In fact, there's no way to contact any of the team members on any repaint or custom fix for the AS line anymore.
--WH
deathfromafar
Charter Member
WarHorse, try this email from his repaint uploads at Avsim:
pierre.lheureux@skynet.be
pierre.lheureux@skynet.be
WarHorse47
SOH-CM-2024
T
Tigster
Guest
I think Alphasim will now need to look very closely at their beta testing, as without a tech support forum the notorious 'testing by customer' process will be even less palatable than before.
Beta testing comes in two flavours. The first, which IMO is only really suitable for freeware, is to distribute copies to a few people who will install, use for half an hour, and report back that it looks fine. The second is to give each tester a detailed checklist to work through, with as much overlap between testers as possible. With the amount of basic errors that make it to v1.0 of most AS releases I would have a huge problem believing the second method is being used, but for a payware product - especially at the higher price range AS have moved into - anything less is totally unacceptable.
I don't blame the individual developers for these errors. I'm well aware of the huge amount of work that goes into even a relatively small project, and how easily one or two small tasks can be missed in amongst hundreds of others, but this is why we have beta testing. Neither do I blame the testers, if each of them is left to independently test every aspect of a project without guidance (ie every aspect that occurs to them off the top of their head in 30 minutes). What I blame is the apparent lack of a coordinated testing strategy as outlined above. A few people have suggested the same thing in the AS forums previously - and promptly been hacked to pieces by moderators and 'fanboys'. Payware beta testers are basically being 'paid' the price of the finished product, so it's not unreasonable for the developer - or the customer who indirectly pays them - to expect a higher level of professionalism than from freeware testers. Most will be happy to provide it (freeware testers too), but you have to ask them for it.
Because of the basic nature of most of these errors, many have in the past been quickly identified and corrected by paying customers who would then post links to their own updated files or step by step instructions. Other customers with less knowledge of the nuts and bolts could then apply these fixes while waiting for them to be officially distributed with the next model update (mdl's being the only files not editable by the end user), or would at least know that a fix is in the pipeline if they prefer to wait for official fixes. Without a tech support forum, AS can no longer rely on this system, and more to the point neither can their paying customers. Each end user, on discovering a bug, will be left wondering whether anybody else has the same problem, whether anybody else has a solution, whether Alphasim are aware of either the problem or the solution, while Alphasim will need to find time to tackle each problem themselves, rather than often having fixes gifted to them within the forum. I would expect this to lead to an increased workload for the individual developers, who will be spending time identifying and fixing things they've overlooked on old projects instead of working on new ones, and a massively increased workload for the management in answering support emails from customers who would previously have turned initially to tech support (and found what they needed without needing to email anyone). I would also expect increasing numbers of AS customers to turn to developers who DO provide support forums (and adequate beta testing). [/RANT]
Having said all that, I do think Alphasim provide some of the best all-round products on the market for FS, and for all the minor issues they've released very few actual duds. I just hope they can sort out the testing and reinstate the tech support. If they can't do both then they probably need to do at least one, or risk a big reduction in their customer base.
Beta testing comes in two flavours. The first, which IMO is only really suitable for freeware, is to distribute copies to a few people who will install, use for half an hour, and report back that it looks fine. The second is to give each tester a detailed checklist to work through, with as much overlap between testers as possible. With the amount of basic errors that make it to v1.0 of most AS releases I would have a huge problem believing the second method is being used, but for a payware product - especially at the higher price range AS have moved into - anything less is totally unacceptable.
I don't blame the individual developers for these errors. I'm well aware of the huge amount of work that goes into even a relatively small project, and how easily one or two small tasks can be missed in amongst hundreds of others, but this is why we have beta testing. Neither do I blame the testers, if each of them is left to independently test every aspect of a project without guidance (ie every aspect that occurs to them off the top of their head in 30 minutes). What I blame is the apparent lack of a coordinated testing strategy as outlined above. A few people have suggested the same thing in the AS forums previously - and promptly been hacked to pieces by moderators and 'fanboys'. Payware beta testers are basically being 'paid' the price of the finished product, so it's not unreasonable for the developer - or the customer who indirectly pays them - to expect a higher level of professionalism than from freeware testers. Most will be happy to provide it (freeware testers too), but you have to ask them for it.
Because of the basic nature of most of these errors, many have in the past been quickly identified and corrected by paying customers who would then post links to their own updated files or step by step instructions. Other customers with less knowledge of the nuts and bolts could then apply these fixes while waiting for them to be officially distributed with the next model update (mdl's being the only files not editable by the end user), or would at least know that a fix is in the pipeline if they prefer to wait for official fixes. Without a tech support forum, AS can no longer rely on this system, and more to the point neither can their paying customers. Each end user, on discovering a bug, will be left wondering whether anybody else has the same problem, whether anybody else has a solution, whether Alphasim are aware of either the problem or the solution, while Alphasim will need to find time to tackle each problem themselves, rather than often having fixes gifted to them within the forum. I would expect this to lead to an increased workload for the individual developers, who will be spending time identifying and fixing things they've overlooked on old projects instead of working on new ones, and a massively increased workload for the management in answering support emails from customers who would previously have turned initially to tech support (and found what they needed without needing to email anyone). I would also expect increasing numbers of AS customers to turn to developers who DO provide support forums (and adequate beta testing). [/RANT]
Having said all that, I do think Alphasim provide some of the best all-round products on the market for FS, and for all the minor issues they've released very few actual duds. I just hope they can sort out the testing and reinstate the tech support. If they can't do both then they probably need to do at least one, or risk a big reduction in their customer base.
strikehawk
Charter Member
Speaking of which, I'm still waiting for Pierre Ilheurux to release the repaints for the SeaSprite. He posted screenshots on the AS forums about a month ago, and indicate a release was forthcoming. Now that the forums are gone, there's no way to contact him and ask him the status. In fact, there's no way to contact any of the team members on any repaint or custom fix for the AS line anymore.
--WH
Check the "Unofficial Forum" in the cafe, Pierre posted a reply there.
WarHorse47
SOH-CM-2024
I know. I already contacted him via e-mail. After his response to my question on the repaints, I gave him the link to the new forum. By reading his posts it looks like he's going to crank up the effort to get the new paints completed.
--WH
hae5904
Charter Member
Alternative...for me
At least I see many former AS forum visitors....warhorse, bones and simfreak and not to forget Frank himself here on the forum. I was plain "hank" on the AS forum. Time to post here possible repaints??
I fully agree with the fact, with the demise of the AS forum something got lossed.....
Cheers
At least I see many former AS forum visitors....warhorse, bones and simfreak and not to forget Frank himself here on the forum. I was plain "hank" on the AS forum. Time to post here possible repaints??
I fully agree with the fact, with the demise of the AS forum something got lossed.....
Cheers
planejunky
Charter Member
I've thought for a while that something was definately "up" over at Alphasim. The first thing was that the coppermine screen shots didn't match up properly to their products, and the forum was much reduced by comparison to the old days. Despite forum posts about the screenies, there didn't seem to much interest in changing it, a BIG problem if you want people to buy the product.
The last major problem I had with them was their insistance that "they were right" over the British Army WAH-64 loadout, and what would anyone else know. I live eight miles from WTM and see them every day, plus I also know a 3 Reg armourer! To AS's credit they did issue a new model with the correct standard Apache loadout, but I felt their attitude was a little off.
While I'd never complain about a freeware product (you get what you pay for etc) I'm in full agreement with Michael Davies over payware. If you are charging £20 plus for a product, then the customer has a right to express an opinion if it's not correct without being accused of being a rivet counter. If it's wrong, it's wrong and no amount of name calling will alter a shoddy product.
Alphasim have produced some great products over the years, I have a hangar full of them, but I can't help feeling AS has now somehow gone adrift with no one in the wheel house, and removal of their forum is just another example of my theory.
The last major problem I had with them was their insistance that "they were right" over the British Army WAH-64 loadout, and what would anyone else know. I live eight miles from WTM and see them every day, plus I also know a 3 Reg armourer! To AS's credit they did issue a new model with the correct standard Apache loadout, but I felt their attitude was a little off.
While I'd never complain about a freeware product (you get what you pay for etc) I'm in full agreement with Michael Davies over payware. If you are charging £20 plus for a product, then the customer has a right to express an opinion if it's not correct without being accused of being a rivet counter. If it's wrong, it's wrong and no amount of name calling will alter a shoddy product.
Alphasim have produced some great products over the years, I have a hangar full of them, but I can't help feeling AS has now somehow gone adrift with no one in the wheel house, and removal of their forum is just another example of my theory.