PMDG 777-200LR/F Released

Given the amount of time, people, and code that were put into this product, the cost is more than justified. We're getting quite the deal, actually. Remember that PMDG is a full-time developer with several full-time employees. They need to make a fair amount of money to support such a large development team.

Their addons are the most complex out there. As long as you put the time into learning them, you more than get what you pay for. PMDG could release any plane and I'd buy it instantly, without hesitation. A2A might be the only other developer I can say that about.

This 777 is a game-changer like the NGX was. Without spending multiple millions of dollars for a commercial simulator or multiple hundreds of millions for the real plane, I don't think it is possible to get any closer to the experience of flying a heavy. $90 seems cheap. :medals:
 
At first I also found it odd that many quality add-ons cost more than MSFS itself. However, it's economy of scale at work. Someone mentioned earlier that FSX sold 280K copies. If each and every FSX user would buy PMDG 777, perhaps it may be priced at $9.00 and still make a tidy profit. Unfortunately, that's not going to happen.
 
Kiwikat said:
Given the amount of time, people, and code that were put into this product, the cost is more than justified. We're getting quite the deal, actually. Remember that PMDG is a full-time developer with several full-time employees. They need to make a fair amount of money to support such a large development team.
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My comment was less aimed at the justification of the price and more at the sales theory behind it. A lower price will generate greater sales (within the means of a market) and higher one will generate less. Somewhere along that curve is a peak revenue. Too far to the left (cost too low), and you've oversold/underearned; too far to the right (cost too high) you've undersold/underearned. Releases of past products can be used to add points from which the curve can be empirically constructed and a little calculus will generate a solid estimate. Otherwise there has to be an educated guess. Given the small number of products in the PMDG price range and the large timescale over which they are released (and the corresponding change in market size), I was simply noting that the overall response in this forum indicates the drop-off might mean they've drifted right of the peak with the recent release.

However, if you're wanting to create a plug for the product I would suggest fewer bold assertions and more showing off. This thread is very sparse on pictures.
 
JohnC said:
I was simply noting that the overall response in this forum indicates the drop-off might mean they've drifted right of the peak with the recent release.

However, if you're wanting to create a plug for the product I would suggest fewer bold assertions and more showing off. This thread is very sparse on pictures.
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SOH has never been big on airliners. It is wildly popular at other forums.

Unlike it's competitor who's only strength is the graphics, the main point of the PMDG plane is the systems. It is hard to take screenshots of intangible things. As with the NGX, the sound set is one of the best there is. It will take me months to get completely comfortable with the fly by wire. It has a completely different feel than the NGX.
 
Kiwikat said:
It is hard to take screenshots of intangible things. As with the NGX, the sound set is one of the best there is. It will take me months to get completely comfortable with the fly by wire. It has a completely different feel than the NGX.
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Very true, but it does help with the setting. Take a nice screenie of the cockpit at TO and describe how you can hear each stage of the engine whine as you push the throttle forward (aren't there something like 10 compared to the standard 4?). You say the feel is different, but how? Does it feel light and responsive for such heavy aircraft; does it transition from pilot input to FBW orientation hold in a seamless and natural way? Describe those items (or others) with a couple of well crafted shots and pretty soon you'll put the audience into the sim.
 
Naruto-kun said:
I find the lack of response here compared to the NGX release and that servers are crashing elsewhere intruiging...
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While I'm not too much into tubeliners and prefer low&slow flying (the A2A C172 really hit the spot), I was really excited for the 737NGX a couple of years ago (has it really been that long already?) and purchased it right on release day. I had, and continue to have, lots of fun with it. It's an excellent add-on and well worth its money.

However, after seeing the 777 video made by Nick Collet and hearing about the price I was sure that I will not get that aircraft for a long while, if ever. Due to Boeing's standarization it's just too similar to the 737 to justify that kind of expenditure and I'm certainly not a long haul kind of guy. I'm sure it's excellent, but it's too expensive and simply not for me. I rather stick to short hops with the 737.

I'll be back as a PMDG customer when they release their DC-6, if that bird is still in the cards that is.
 
Jigsaw said:
Due to Boeing's standarization it's just too similar to the 737 to justify that kind of expenditure and I'm certainly not a long haul kind of guy. I'm sure it's excellent, but it's too expensive and simply not for me. I rather stick to short hops with the 737.
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I can tell you it is nothing like the 737 at all. That seems to be a big mistake people are making when flying the 777. Parked next to each other, the 777 absolutely dwarfs the NG. It is quite surprising how big it is. The T7's fly-by-wire gives it a completely different "feel" when hand flying. It feels like a 600,000 pound fighter jet in a lot of ways. The amount of power you have at your fingertips is insane. PMDG does an awesome job of making you feel that power via the flight model and soundset. She's an absolute rocket when you don't have long-haul fuel loaded. 220,000 lbs of thrust is just a hoot. :icon30:

Really about the only similarities is that they both have two engines, a wing, and a somewhat similar FMC unit.

I definitely understand not liking long hauls though. I'm really using it as more of a 757 or 767. Not really accurate, but then I don't have 8+ hours to do a simulated flight.
 
Kiwikat said:
Parked next to each other, the 777 absolutely dwarfs the NG.
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There was a screenshot posted yesterday at AVSIM demonstrating that the 737 NGX fuselage will fit inside the port engine of the T7. "Dwarfs" is a very appropriate adjective to use... :icon_lol:

As far as total sales of FSX are concerned, over the years since release it has to have surpassed several million legal copies. Lord alone knows how many (*cough*) "less expensive versions" have been downloaded and are being used...

It's also important to note that FSX continues to be sold via brick and mortar stores as well as MS's own online store.
 
Given the costs of even taking a coffee break at MS, there would have to be millions of copies out there to break even. The new 747-8 that I fly has partial fly by wire, ailerons and some weird stuff on approach called flare assist. It does feel somewhat different, smoother and somewhat less feedback. Both the 737 and the 747 fly a lot alike, just the bigger plane needs more time and space. They should be flow smoothly, but are capable of rather amazing roll rates in either experienced or ham fisted hands. I have seen new pilots comment "boy is it turbulent today" when it was actually pilot induced through strong over control.

You don't fly these by feel so much as by instruments.

T
 
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