What I was meaning was this. At the time, FS2004 was a $79 package when it was released. FS2002 was roughly the same. Comparing that to P3D, where it is $40-$60 when released (and that's assuming Academic version), you're paying roughly $20 - $40 less than you would have for FS2004 or FS2002.
Meeehhh that's not false, but it's a little bit of a spin to make P3D look more economical
Yes, FS2004 was like $79 - IF you got the edition with the collector's tin and all ('tis a nice tin, too
). If you got the plain ol' edition, it was about $50. Same with FSX and I think 2002 if memory serves - the "Deluxe" edition or whatever it was called for 2002 (don't feel like digging my disks out of the basement closet to check) was like $79.99 US, but the Standard edition was $49.99 US. Being a relatively avid simmer, i'd always bought the Deluxe/Collectors/Whatever edition, but there was always a cheaper version available.
Prepar3d is like $59 for the Academic license - yes, about $20 bucks cheaper than the higher end editions of MSFS, but about $10 more than the "standard" edition of MSFS. BUT - not all of us are students or undergraduates... So, there's a lot of people who aren't buying the $59 Academic license for Prepar3d v4, we've bought the $199 Professional version.
But - it's not the cost of the simulation itself that's the issue. To "convert" to Prepar3d, I've spent about $400 on other software "upgrades" alone, and it's only that low because I can't justify shelling out $135 for a particular 777 that I just don't have the time to take on a journey worthy of the cost.... And I have a lot more to spend still on aircraft that are currently available that I used to have for FSX, plus a couple more that AREN'T yet available. Plus, seeing how my previous rig performed with FSX, I didn't feel it was going to be worthy of even bothering to put Prepar3d v4 on it, so add $2200 for that as well....
My point here is that even over the course of their 2 year cycle, in cycles of the releases for MSFS, you could have bought an additional version of P3D, if not two. So that would have given you much more frequent updates, and an additional licensed copy.
True, BUT, consider this..... The fact that FSX wasn't changed is the reason I was able give so much cash to the likes of FSDT, Flightbeam, Aerosoft, etc. I didn't buy a whole lot of add-ons when the simulator was likely to change in two years. Bought a few, mostly aircraft, but scenery? Not really. The fact FSX was all there was going to be for a long time was what allowed me to justify the cost of the many scenery/airport add-ons I have now (and so far, that's been the one major reason I've been able to stomach the cost of moving over to P3d, so, thank you FSDT and others for at least making the scenery work in Prepar3d for generally no or very little cost!!
). I'm willing to bet i'm not alone in that.
In short, understand that there can be a significant cost in moving sim platforms. To some of the other posters on here - please try to respect those that don't have the cash to dive into a major simulator upgrade.... For some it's no problem, for many (like me) we can handle it but only after a LOT of consideration, and for others, it just won't be possible.
As to the topic at hand though - i am really excited for the new features that are being previewed for KORD, and i am glad i am one of those who were able to make the switch to Prepar3d v4. Can't wait to fly into KORD when it's completed!!
