The best helicopter producer has made an announcement
http://cerasimaircraft.com/
I cant really blame them.
http://cerasimaircraft.com/
I cant really blame them.
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Please see the most recent updates in the "Where did the .com name go?" thread. Posts number 16 and 17.
CERA SAD DECISION RE PIRACY
- Thread starter Barnes
- Start date
The should have had a going out of business sale. That would have told them whether the problem was piracy or product cost in this abysmal economy. When Rasbam and Iris lowered their price to below rock bottom, their servers were shut down from activity. This sort of says people will buy if the price is low enough. Everyone who bought at those sales were customers that were not influenced by the free availability from the pirates and decided to part with their money because the price was within their budget and couldn't resist a bargain. I myself bought stuff at the Rasbam sale that I have not even installed yet but could not resist the price.
Helos are a niche within a niche and without support from the vendor just wasted bytes on the HD. I would believe most morons who dl a pirated version of their code would first have a hard time getting the engines started then crash repeatedly followed by deleting them to make space for other stolen software.
Just my 2 Cents.
Helos are a niche within a niche and without support from the vendor just wasted bytes on the HD. I would believe most morons who dl a pirated version of their code would first have a hard time getting the engines started then crash repeatedly followed by deleting them to make space for other stolen software.
Just my 2 Cents.
Fireball6
Charter Member
It is a shame - they were on the right way and get better and better with every helicopter they released - simply unbelievable that so many pirates are under us Flightsim-enthusiasts. I am so tired to read more and more about pirates. Thank you very much all you pirates - it is so nice to see that our hobby gone down .........
strykerpsg
SOH-CM-2026
Wow! Was just considering purchasing their 222. I see it's still available, guess it just means no support is all.
Matt
Matt
A big, fat, red "Bankrupt" sign on the front page. Really? Are they really Bankrupt from piracy? I've been eye-ballin' the 222 in the past week and I don't even fly helicopters! It's a great looking model. Hope it's still available somewhere from a distributor after this.
And in regards to Iris, that was one of the best things EVER in the sim-payware business. I picked up three aircraft that I would have not had an interest prior to that week and absolutely love them.
And in regards to Iris, that was one of the best things EVER in the sim-payware business. I picked up three aircraft that I would have not had an interest prior to that week and absolutely love them.
Prowler1111
Charter Member 2011
I´m going to comment in this since i already been there and i still have the t-shirt to prove it..
Piracy is not always the main reason, lack of interest is..no matter how cool, great looking and outstandingly precise a given add on is, if it does not rise enough interest, it´s a dead fish in a barrel.Pricing also has some of the culprit but not all, sure, a low interest add on coupled with a high selling price is a recipe for disaster, most belly up projects end there just because there is not enough interest in a very small customer base (helicopter customers). You combine all this, plus 2 or 3 MFers (sorry, it´s not a bunch, it´s just 2 or 3 MFers doing all the FS piracy, and yes, i know you are reading me, and yes i KNOW who you´re, and no, it´s not SOH fault(or all the FS dedicated forums), these imbeciles know how to camouflage themselves to the level of almost non detection)who are in a personal vendetta towards commercial FS developers trying to overcome their small manhood due to nature´s silly sense of humor, there you have your worst wake up call, **tch slap telling you were wrong with your predictions as a developer on a given project.Absolutely ALL of us are victims of piracy, don´t go around believing there is a magic wand to solve this, there is not , no software, dedicated dll´s etc, will stop it.It will delay it, yes, long enough for you to cover your costs? that´s the idea,making a dime or two out of it, that´s the whole point, but if even after all that, no dice, then the product was the problem independently of how good it is .Now, there is also something the fellows at CERA should take in consideration, most if not all low profile FS addons (by this i mean anything that is NOT a P-51, Spitfire, German ww2 figther, Any Boeing, Airbus and MD tubeliner, cessna prop job, vintage civvie prop jobs..you catch my drift) are not short time investments but long term.If you invest in creating something you know it´s going to be quick**s but it turns into a belly flop aircraft/chopper, then wait for it in the long term.Also, if the real thing didn´t do that good, that´s also an indication of how "good" it might do in the FS world.I´ve heard of just 3 fellas who broke the 6 figure barrier in this biz, 2 of them with REALLY clever stuff and NONE doing airplanes and or sceneries, so "hitting it rich" is not part of this and bad sellers are a constant in this biz.
Screaming bankruptcy and stop any development due to a low blow, and in this particular case, seems like a hurried up decision taken while been in a bad mood, IMHO it´s not the right path.If the guys at CERA are reading this, drop me a PM, let´s chat a bit guys...
Best regards
Prowler
PS: forgive me for my foul language, but i simply can´t find words to describe these scum...
Piracy is not always the main reason, lack of interest is..no matter how cool, great looking and outstandingly precise a given add on is, if it does not rise enough interest, it´s a dead fish in a barrel.Pricing also has some of the culprit but not all, sure, a low interest add on coupled with a high selling price is a recipe for disaster, most belly up projects end there just because there is not enough interest in a very small customer base (helicopter customers). You combine all this, plus 2 or 3 MFers (sorry, it´s not a bunch, it´s just 2 or 3 MFers doing all the FS piracy, and yes, i know you are reading me, and yes i KNOW who you´re, and no, it´s not SOH fault(or all the FS dedicated forums), these imbeciles know how to camouflage themselves to the level of almost non detection)who are in a personal vendetta towards commercial FS developers trying to overcome their small manhood due to nature´s silly sense of humor, there you have your worst wake up call, **tch slap telling you were wrong with your predictions as a developer on a given project.Absolutely ALL of us are victims of piracy, don´t go around believing there is a magic wand to solve this, there is not , no software, dedicated dll´s etc, will stop it.It will delay it, yes, long enough for you to cover your costs? that´s the idea,making a dime or two out of it, that´s the whole point, but if even after all that, no dice, then the product was the problem independently of how good it is .Now, there is also something the fellows at CERA should take in consideration, most if not all low profile FS addons (by this i mean anything that is NOT a P-51, Spitfire, German ww2 figther, Any Boeing, Airbus and MD tubeliner, cessna prop job, vintage civvie prop jobs..you catch my drift) are not short time investments but long term.If you invest in creating something you know it´s going to be quick**s but it turns into a belly flop aircraft/chopper, then wait for it in the long term.Also, if the real thing didn´t do that good, that´s also an indication of how "good" it might do in the FS world.I´ve heard of just 3 fellas who broke the 6 figure barrier in this biz, 2 of them with REALLY clever stuff and NONE doing airplanes and or sceneries, so "hitting it rich" is not part of this and bad sellers are a constant in this biz.
Screaming bankruptcy and stop any development due to a low blow, and in this particular case, seems like a hurried up decision taken while been in a bad mood, IMHO it´s not the right path.If the guys at CERA are reading this, drop me a PM, let´s chat a bit guys...
Best regards
Prowler
PS: forgive me for my foul language, but i simply can´t find words to describe these scum...
strikehawk
Charter Member
Same here, I got a bit of OT hours last paycheck and was looking at the 222 and the 212.
wombat666
Administrator
Crying 'Piracy' is not a valid reason, just an easy cop out.
Prowler1111 sums the situation up succintly, a niche market subject within a niche hobby will always be tight.
Piracy will always thrive, so the best way around the problem is to work with one of the 'Big dogs' in the retail business and let them worry about the bottom line.
Prowler1111 sums the situation up succintly, a niche market subject within a niche hobby will always be tight.
Piracy will always thrive, so the best way around the problem is to work with one of the 'Big dogs' in the retail business and let them worry about the bottom line.
While it must be really frustrating to find your product being pirated, I wonder how much business pirates really steal. What I mean is: the type of person that would install a pirated copy of something probably wouldn't have bought it anyway.
I think those of us who buy payware wouldn't intentionally install a pirated copy, at least I wouldn't. I like to support my local developer and encourage him (or her) to continue to bring me cool new toys.
I think those of us who buy payware wouldn't intentionally install a pirated copy, at least I wouldn't. I like to support my local developer and encourage him (or her) to continue to bring me cool new toys.
I'm sorry but I don't believe that. It's true you can't stamp out piracy by purely technical means. What we (as a society) should address IMHO is people's morals and values, or better the lack of them. The anonimity of the Internet and the virtual nature of products make the "crime" anonymous, easy, perceivedly victimless and thus enticing for a larger group which would refrain from an act of "physical" shoplifting for fear of getting caught. In a society where the individuals' desires are deemed more important than the needs of the collective and "being part of society" is measured by how much stuff you can amass, "for free" appeals to basic human instinct. That's the real damage that piracy does: luring people over to "the Dark Side". It is also a sign that our society is adrift and we need to take a long and hard look at it.I admire the sentiment, and agree with it, but ........
In the UK we have had an endless succession of news stories over thae past few years; our MPs are fiddling their expenses (hugely - my favourite was the MP who claimed for the cleaning of his moat); all bankers are b******s; Rupert Murdoch has our politicians in his pocket; Murdoch's journalists illegally obtained news stories; journalists are 'paying' police for stories .... well, you get the picture - I'm sure it is the same where you live. The point is, the people at the top of our society and the guardians of that society have demonstrated time & time again their lack of morals and their debased values; from the view at the bottom of the heap they seem to be getting away with it as well. So these scummy pirates are simply following the example set by people who should know better - not condoning it, I think it is totally reprehensible at all levels, but sadly it is the society we now live in.
Picking up on Prowler's comments, and Sieggie (and others) comments; some time ago, in another thread here about piracy, I made an observation. I pointed out that most developers had made the conscious decision to no longer develop for FS9, thereby immediately cutting their potential market by about 40%; further specialisation & increasing complexity would reduce that potential market even further - I was flamed & howled down, to the extent I stayed clear of the FSX forums for a very long time!! But, in retrospect, was I wrong?
As people here have said (and they were my very words at the time), this is already a niche hobby; complex helicopter modelling for FSX is a niche, within a niche, within a niche - blaming it all on piracy is far too easy (although it is undoubtedly part of the problem). IMO Prowler has it spot on.
Feel free to start the howling & flaming, I'll just retreat to my little hovel in the FS9 forums.
GundamWZero
Members +
Wait... was it me or am I mistaken that they were working on the Bell 407 GX or the Bell 429?
Either way... it was a blow the the helicopter side of FSX. I was watching the development of their 222 right up until they released it. It can be refined a bit more but I guess you have to do what you have to do in this day and age....
Either way... it was a blow the the helicopter side of FSX. I was watching the development of their 222 right up until they released it. It can be refined a bit more but I guess you have to do what you have to do in this day and age....
I´m a FS developer too...
If piracy is the reason I really understand them.
Spending 100 of hours on an addon only to see it being distributed on pirate sites a couple of minuttes after release is very discouraging.
I have seen this with all the projects I have been on.
But its´not different than for any other media - be it music, movies or games.
I hardly know anyone who doesn't "exchange" movies. They bring hardisks full of the latest movies etc. and exchange them with comrades.
It´s more common than not - sadly.
People don´t feel like thiefs when they sit at home at their computers and grab stolen content, but taking stuff that was meant to be paid for is stealing regardless where You are - even at Your home.
For flightsims it is even more bad, since it´s a real niche' and rather fragile. As a developer You don´t earn alot of money for Your hard work.
I have even seen alot of those thiefs show up in support forums asking for help.
The only way to change this is to change those peoples mind.
Just my words to it...
I feel sad for Cera Sim.
Finn
If piracy is the reason I really understand them.
Spending 100 of hours on an addon only to see it being distributed on pirate sites a couple of minuttes after release is very discouraging.
I have seen this with all the projects I have been on.
But its´not different than for any other media - be it music, movies or games.
I hardly know anyone who doesn't "exchange" movies. They bring hardisks full of the latest movies etc. and exchange them with comrades.
It´s more common than not - sadly.
People don´t feel like thiefs when they sit at home at their computers and grab stolen content, but taking stuff that was meant to be paid for is stealing regardless where You are - even at Your home.
For flightsims it is even more bad, since it´s a real niche' and rather fragile. As a developer You don´t earn alot of money for Your hard work.
I have even seen alot of those thiefs show up in support forums asking for help.
The only way to change this is to change those peoples mind.
Just my words to it...
I feel sad for Cera Sim.
Finn
heywooood
Mayor Emeritus of Taco City
I think developers must get discouraged when they check those sites and see the number of downloads of each of their products...you cant help but convert that to lost dollars and see the difference between working at net loss - to breaking even or turning a small profit...
It would anger me and discourage me from putting in the hours - why should a developer be different...
the difference between me and this type of thief is that I know the consequences - soon no one is developing anything... and/or the cost gets prohibitive and the online only, code pinging, anti-theft, anti-piracy methods we all love become standard.
It would anger me and discourage me from putting in the hours - why should a developer be different...
the difference between me and this type of thief is that I know the consequences - soon no one is developing anything... and/or the cost gets prohibitive and the online only, code pinging, anti-theft, anti-piracy methods we all love become standard.
warchild
Charter Member
Everything i've ever developed has been on pirate sites within minutes after its release. Yes, its discouraging, but, some of you folks seem to like my work a lot and to throw in the towel just because my work is being pirated means i'd feel like i was letting those who like my work down.. I can live with discouragement far better than living with the feeling ive betrayed someone..
Pam
Pam
NO!!!
I have just recently bought the 222 and it was my first ever Helicopter payware, and it is just brilliant! I have some of the fantastic repaints from Jeansy and other good folk here at SOH; I have been flying this thing all the time!
I was about to buy the 412, darn!
Regardless, I salute CERA for the beautiful 222 :salute:
I have just recently bought the 222 and it was my first ever Helicopter payware, and it is just brilliant! I have some of the fantastic repaints from Jeansy and other good folk here at SOH; I have been flying this thing all the time!
I was about to buy the 412, darn!
Regardless, I salute CERA for the beautiful 222 :salute:
get it anyway if you can afford it, who knows how long it will remain for sale, it may disappear for good in a few days or weeks
its another lovely package