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Emerging platforms pricing policy 2017

John Venema

By John Venema
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John Venema Orbx VIP

John Venema

Posted
Posted

Hello everyone,

 

By now it is obvious we intend to embrace new simulators in 2017 and beyond. Rest assured that our CORE premiere platform will remain FSX/P3D and every new product we release will make it to that platform first. It will take quite some time to release versions of our products for these emerging platforms, perhaps years.

 

If we release a product for an emerging sim platform which you already own for FSX/P3D you will NOT have to pay full price for it again. As an existing customer if you are on OrbxDirect you will get a minimum of 50% off, perhaps more.

 

OrbxDirect has already been built to be multi-simulator, as has FTX Central V3. You will be able to switch simulators with just a click or two. This will allow you to manage multiple collections of Orbx addons in the one place. Remember, once an addon for any simulator platform is in your OrbxDirect account, it's there forever.

 

So if for example you already own a license for KCGX Meigs Field and you decide to buy it for a new sim, you 'switch' OrbxDirect to that sim and make the purchase; OrbxDirect knows you have a license for it and automatically gives you the minimum 50% off. Or alternatively if browsing a product page you can just click on the sim platform you want it for and existing licenses are automatically taken into account.

 

Orbx will never, ever make you buy any of our products twice because we make it available on a new platform. If a clear winner emerges in the coming platform wars over the next five years then we will adjust the pricing policy to reflect the sim where the majority of our customers are.

 

We live in exciting times as simmers, and we believe that people will have three, four, or more sims installed to choose from, depending on their mood, how much time they have at any given moment, what style of flying they want to do, what VR platform they enjoy, and many other yet unknown factors.

 

We want to ensure everyone has the chance to add their favourite Orbx addons to their platform(s) of choice without being penalised price-wise, so this is our way of letting it happen as painlessly as possible whilst still funding the substantial R&D $$ costs we will incur.

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Jon Clarke Life Member

Jon Clarke

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I sincerely appreciate the very considerate news. I had written about being in a "quandary" regarding making further purchase to add to my 65+ FTX products if they were going to be useless in any upcoming 64 bit sim. Being a sucker for new stuff I know I will embrace at least one of them!

Now knowing my potential bill over the next few years will be at least 50% less than i thought it may be, I am a happy bunny.

Kudos to you Mr JV. (oh and a Merry Christmas)

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pmb Life Member

pmb

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Thanks for the clear statement, John. This should alleviate buying decisions for many of us right now. And I am with jjaycee1, I am a "sucker for new stuff" as well.

 

A Merry Christmas and all the best for 2017. 

 

Michael

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John Venema Orbx VIP

John Venema

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12 minutes ago, rdtv91 said:

With the rumour mill that project P is a p3d 64bit - do you define this is an emerging platform or as in p3d? If so is there any indication of the upgrade prices for addons for this ? 

 

We have not stated what Project P is, so let the rumour mill continue :)


*If* there is going to be a 64-bit version of P3D then there will be a cross-grade cost, yes - this has already been stated many months ago.

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andy1252 Life Member

andy1252

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Great news John, and much appreciated. Although I do buy other vendor scenery products, I am doing so less and less as nothing really matches up to ORBX's products, and the lack of this environment is the reason I hardly ever use my copies of X-Plane or Aerofly. Being able to run ORBX in those environments would make them usable, for me, and knowing about this discounted approach makes it pretty much certain that I'll experiment should the opportunity arise.

 

So, thank you.

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Steve Colbert Life Member

Steve Colbert

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Great news and thanks John!

 

I shall continue to buy Orbx with confidence - your Aerofly 2 shots look incredible as do others' YouTube videos...if you can "Orbx Up" and add Regions to that sim and others can develop aircraft and AI for it (they've issued a SDK now), we may have our clear winner.

 

This is as exciting as being a kid at Christmas!

 

In fact, given this news I think I'll load up on more Orbx sale goodies AND Aerofly 2 today! :)

 

Merry Christmas!

 

Steve

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Geezer Life Member

Geezer

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lol I wish you all the success with these new products but I likely won't take advantage.  I change very slowly.  Took me forever to go from FS9 to FSX.  I'm very happy with my sim and Orbx products the way they are and am glad you will continue to produce for FSXSE.  I overspent my budget in this sale and will probably do the same in May.  I think this announcement was very nice for the future. 

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davenicoll Life Member

davenicoll

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That was an excellent, informative post.

 

Thank you JV and we are indeed looking forward to exciting times...Step changes are around the corner and whilst I have invested considerably in add ons for FSX/Prepar3d I also accept that we do need to move on and if necessary re invest...We cannot stop innovation and progress and neither should we.

 

The future looks very bright indeed.

 

Dave

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spiffy_malice Member

spiffy_malice

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Hi John!

I thought I might share my purchasing frame of mind, if it helps.   This xmas season, I was fully intending to buy two more regions for FSX (soCal, and AU or Norway) on sale.  Regions are good value for me, on an older machine, and with limits to what I want to spend on the hobby.  However, friends of mine had been glowing with reviews for AeroflyFS2, so I figured I'd buy that one, try it out, and Steam-return it if I didn't like it.. I half expected to.   However, Aerofly performs amazingly on my machine, and the photoscenery is addictive.  Also, the SoCal scenery pretty much duplicated half of what I was to buy in Orbx (I am fully aware of the lack of autogen, but the photoscenery, ease of use, instant start-up time, crisp textures to the horizon in a jet plane--- versus circling for minutes in a cessna for tiles to load and autogen to pop in--  made up for it.)  

 

The kicker?  Two large region DLC of AeroflyFS for only £6.99 each.  Now, I know that Orbx does a huge amount of work manually placing terrain features, and I can imagine a region populated in the same way would still be labor intensive.  I would love to see NYC area sprinkled with custom buildings outside of the metropolitan area and terrain mesh extruded upwards to show forest depth like in th Swiss DLC, etc etc.  I am willing to pay more for obvious extras.  But there is a definate sweet spot in pricing here, that makes those DLC purchases a no-brainer, rather than an agonizing, comparing of screenshots, wait-a-year till xmas sale dilemma, that I hope you consider. 

 

Again, I have no idea how deep into Aerfly scenery you will be going (just urban centers and photo-tiling?  More autogen placement?  Something we haven't ever seen? )  and that will undoubtedly affect price, understandably so, but I thought I'd share what's happening with my wallet right now, if it helps!  I have no idea how widespread my attitude is, of course, and I'm sure you have good sales data to refine your products..in any case!

 

Many thanks!  Excited for the future.

Michael.

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  • 2 weeks later...
curt1 Senior Member

curt1

Posted
Posted
On 12/23/2016 at 2:29 AM, John Venema said:

Hello everyone,

 

By now it is obvious we intend to embrace new simulators in 2017 and beyond. Rest assured that our CORE premiere platform will remain FSX/P3D and every new product we release will make it to that platform first. It will take quite some time to release versions of our products for these emerging platforms, perhaps years.

 

 

I think your outline of going forward is reasonable and fair, but could you elaborate a bit about your comment of releasing versions over "years"?  If for example, P3D or DTG has 64-bit sims in place, and you need to make changes to each title to make them compatible.  Could that not be done in a shorter time frame?  It's tough to wrap my brain around rebuilding another platform from scratch and slowly adding the airports I already enjoyed in FSX.  

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macca22au Life Member

macca22au

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After watching some videos of XP-11 you have now created one hell of a conundrum for us.

 

Do I buy XP-11 when it is RTM in the not too distant future.  Do I wait for P3D to go 64bit.  It won't be a simple choice, because I watched a video which did a good job of comparing P3D to, I think the beta 11, and no doubt the colours and shades of XP-11 are better.

Or do I wait for the mysterious combo of Orbx and one of the 64bit platforms?

These are not teaser questions, they are based on the reality that I could waste a lot of money this year if I get the timetable wrong.

 

I would not be a happy camper....

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macca22au Life Member

macca22au

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PS:  I note that you mention FSX/P3D as still your principal platforms.

 

But the latest version of P3D is plagued by OOMs which make long-haul flights frustrating.

But when I rolled-back to an earlier version without the same problem, the micro-stutters returned.

 

Surely, we all want, though all may not be able to afford, a new 64bit platform with your fantastic scenery.  I'll migrate for sure, I am fed up with the constraints of an old programme architecture and a 32bit platform, left far behind by modern computer capabilities.

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pmb Life Member

pmb

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Ian, that's a question most of us are facing right now. Personally, I'd rather wait a bit, buy both of the naked sims and see how a comparison between XP11 and P3D4 will turn out and how I like them before investing into addons. I already bought XP11 but will wait with shelving out lots of money for XP11 addons.

 

IMO it's quite ridiculus to compare XP11 to P3D3, though, as a lot of folks do; it's a comparison between two different generations which is just unfair.

 

BTW, asking here might give you a bit of biased answers. Ask at the Aerosoft forum and you'll get the bias the other way round ;)

 

Kind regards, Michael

 

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collensr Advanced Member

collensr

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Posted

Hi John

 

Please can I double check my understanding here.

 

I have all my Orbx scenery operating in FSX currently.

 

I am contemplating a move to P3D.

 

Will I be able to re-download all my purchases in P3D form without extra cost?

 

Thanks in advance for clarification

 

 

 

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Kilstorm Life Member

Kilstorm

Posted
Posted
On 12/23/2016 at 3:29 AM, John Venema said:

 

We live in exciting times as simmers...

That's the truth. The long pause in MSFS platform upgrades like the two year cycle we were having for all of MSFS life up until FSX, has allowed developers like Orbx and the likes to get a great customer base footing and financial cushion to be prepared for the next platform. This also has allowed deep invested quality to be put into the products that with small updates have provided longevity and only improves with technology. No more "out with the bath water" so to say as we look forward.

Additionally, we are seeing platforms that differ enough to have various target markets yet addons that can be shared across multiple sims which benefit the community as a whole. Yes these are exciting times for simmers for sure and I look forward to seeing how much new growth we see in 2017 across the spectrum of our hobby.  

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