p3d upgrade route?

[Sunjunkiesi]

Now hear me out... I realise that this is something that you guys at a2a are twitchy about and I do understand that when we buy our a2a products we are making our choice. I also run my own business so I am definitely empathic to the need to protect and safeguard ones business.

Please indulge me while I present the case to you for an 32bit to 64bit upgrade route.

Up until v4, p3d only offered incremental gains over fsx. The biggest problem - fsx being 32bit and the resultant OOM and VAS issues - was never addressed. When I purchased my a2a aircraft I had already made the decision that the incremental gains offered by p3d were, on balance, not worth it to me. Furthermore, there was no indication that a 64bit p3d was even on the horizon. Therefore when I made my a2a choice of licence, the idea of a dual licence would simply not have been relevant to me and, I am confident, many other users.

I am not suggesting that fsx users should get a free copy of the p3dv4 versions of their aircraft. Far from it. However, given the above, is there some movement from a2a on whether or not a lower charged upgrade route could be put into place specifically for 32bit to 64bit switchers?

[patful]

You've obviously already seen other posts asking the same thing, so I think you know the answer.

[Medtner]

You run your own business? Then you should see that this post is, however mildly put, little more than a whine.

People should be able see that the actual cost of the A2A-planes aren't high in terms of the extreme amount of pleasure, fun, and learning. Also the longevity of the fun - buy a handful of tickets to the cinema, get perhaps 10 hours of fun, but how does that compare to the possible lifetime of enjoyment from an Accusim-plane?
Furthermore - A2A isn't a big mass producing entity in the flightsim community, but rather a small band of hard working and dedicated researchers and modellers that do exquisite work on a level that isn't matched anywhere else. They aren't pumping out one mediocre plane after another as many other companies do, they make pearls, slowly and carefully. This needs to be recognised.

This is the long winded way of saying that they have earned every bit they charge, especially the porting of older generation planes to P3D - this is likely not trivial when it comes to the complex Accusim-engine. I am tearfully happy that it is at least possible, and for this I will gladly pay the full price again.

[MarcE]

There's no charge for switching from 32 to 64bit... Just from FSX to P3D which is mostly up to the new and completely different license of the non entertainment Prepar3d.. Between different P3D versions A2A have never charged anything..

And you will find that almost every developer of airplanes or tools has done the same.. FSX->P3D new purchase, P3D->P3D no new purchase...

Or do I get your concerns wrong?

Cheers,
Marc

[Sunjunkiesi]

I think whine is a little harsh Medtner, but I certainly take your criticism on board and thank you for taking the time to respond. To me, a whine would be to ask for free upgrades to v4 wah wah wah cus i is leet. That's exactly not what I am suggesting.

I also agree that the value of the a2a aircraft is very good and absolutely agree that, on balance, the money is well spent. Marke, to answer your question, my decision to upgrade was based on how much of my existing scenery and aircraft I could bring with me In fact the only ones that I can't bring with me are the 3 a2a aircraft that I own. Everything else I use regularly is either already ported or the developer has already agreed to do so. Again though, I am not suggesting that a2a should offer this. Their products are too valuable.

Yes Medtner, I do run my own business, and most of doing business is about finding ways to the middle ground. I am simply trying to crack open a route to it. I am not in any way devaluing a2as products and have no wish to inflame or be flamed.

And no patful, I had not seen other posts of this type. I have only upgraded in the last week and this subject has been far from my mind until recently. Apologies for necroing old subjects that are dead and buried if I have.

[patful]

Sorry, I guess I interpreted "I realise that this is something that you guys at a2a are twitchy about..." wrongly. The requests aren't dead and buried, they come up often, and figured you had already seen them. Again, sorry about that.

Pat

[Tomas Linnet]

today I called my local Skoda Dealership, since they are now selling the newly face-liftet Citigo. Since my wife and I already own 2 of the 1st generation Citigos, I asked them if I could have 2 new for free.




I could not!

[Sunjunkiesi]

Again, I am asking for nothing for free. I am asking for a compromise.

Tomas your argument is without merit. You would in fact be offered a fair trade in price for your old vehicles by the dealership, meaning that you would not be paying the full value of the new vehicle. This analogy is not a fair one as when dealing with physical items such as cars, you can sell them on once your needs have expired. Selling on an a2a aircraft is neither possible nor allowed. As real as a2a feels, sadly we are not buying actual aircraft. Sorry to burst a few bubbles there.

In fact your argument could be perceived more along these lines. The dealership tells you that they have a new technology that allows you to use the car and the roads to their fullest potential, and that up until now you have only been using a fraction of the potential of either. The car is, to all intents and purposes, exactly the same, just with a small change to some of the internal components. However you cannot use it unless you buy a new car AND scrap your current car.

If the dealership then said that for a surcharge they could retro fit such technology to your existing car, I am sure I know which option you would choose.

I would implore people to stop trying to inflame this thread with talk of "free". Nowhere do I ask for anything for "free".

[Lewis - A2A]

Hello,

We offer point-of-sale bundles in our store in the same way you can buy bundled goods commonly offered in other retail outlets. We can’t offer long term P3D discounts because it is a new platform that is constantly changing.

thanks,
Lewis

[rayh]

Just reading through this topic and it strikes me the originator was being reasonable in asking if there was an upgrade transition price.

While this is a public forum I was bemused at some of the aggressive responses on behalf of A2A staff.

I first heard some time ago that A2A was going to allow a free upgrade to the P3D platform - If you google this topic you will see what I mean.

It never concerned me because i had invested too much money into FSX to want to migrate for a while, especially since P3D was then only 32bit.

Now its 64 bit I have taken another look at it.

I purchased the Qualitywings 787 and operating it on many add-on 3rd party airports blows out my VAS until the inevitable ping ping crash OOM. This has inspired me to think about getting P3D V4.. and Qualitywings has advised there will be a upgrade price for those who bought the QW 787 for FSX. This I felt, was a good marketing response to increase sales and protect those curious buyers who used it in FSX.

I now realize that A2A do not offer an upgrade transition from FSX to P3D, and I can see the argument as to why. But for me, this means Paying again for the A2A aircraft I already have at a higher cost, or just skip a repurchase altogether and do without a lovely batch of planes.

Well, i have decided that personally, I am going to do without. Guess you could say if A2A had decided to offer an upgrade price this would be a no brainer for me.

I don't expect a backlash in offering up this opinion. Just agreeing with the original poster.

[Lewis - A2A]

Hello,

We offer point-of-sale bundles in our store in the same way you can buy bundled goods commonly offered in other retail outlets. We can’t offer long term P3D discounts because it is a new platform that is constantly changing.

thanks,
Lewis

[rayh]

Thanks for response, which is effectively that same answer as before.

Just to clarify; The amount of redevelopment to work in the P3d platform may be fully justified but I reiterate. I am going to abandon FSX and move to P3D v4.1 -- in this sense the bundle you are charging me is at a higher price for the P3Dv4.1. What is so hard about offering an upgrade price to those of us who invested in your FSX products? Even if the versions continually change you can still choose to either charge another upgrade price or not. Nothing is fixed in stone. Thanks for reading this but it is obvious A2A has made a business strategy decision on pricing - and I doubt anything I say will have any effect - so thank you for the lovely aircraft I purchased from you for FSX in the past - they have been a joy to fly.

All the very best.