Prepar3D Forums

Hi Everyone,



I know i'm fairly lucky in that i am allowed to use FSX/P3D (on occasion) as part of my work enviroment, and because of that, my opinion is not that of a casual user, (i'm not a gamer but i do enjoy simulations, and i was a licensed rotary wing pilot before my eyes went bad in real life) I know that my office has to repay licensing fees for certain programs on a YEARLY basis. I may be speaking as an actual commercial client, but when Adobe releases new versions of their production premium every 18 months or so, there is NO free upgrades Same for AVID video editing products. In both of those cases the "upgrade" charge is never less than $700.00 for either program and can be as much as $1100.00+ dollars. (initial cost of the programs is between $1600.00 to $2800.00 and they are NOT something thats enjoyed in use, after is a different story)



I have to agree with FSMP, Ray or cassis87 as well as the others that BELIEVE in the product. Whether they are commercial users or not the pricing is really resonable for a PROFFESSIONAL product that actually performs the way it should. The continuing development of this platform is not cheap and requires people that have the knowledge and interest to really turn this program to it's maximum potential. I have seen (in forum screenshots) alot of simmers that obviously spend thouands of dollars on their personal simpits which i know i cannot afford myself, however from everything i have read P3d is not for casual simmer and that is not the focus of thier efforts even though they are making the effort to not exclude this part of the market either and i applaud them for this.



Just a personal observation here but i doubt that Lockheed Martin is looking at the gaming/sim market for their next business venture, from what i have always known of the company, they have always produced seriously proffesional products for proffessional people and that ALWAYS comes at a cost.



CB

$49ish for v2 academic is cheap, i spent more than 4 times that on v7 windows ultimate

John ... this is probably a misquote of an eminent American President but Abraham Lincoln said something along the lines of: 'you can't please all the people all the time'. A fact i feel you will take on board pretty quickly in your dealings with the Flightsim community. My personal perspective is that for a major aerospace company to take on board, fix and develop what is an interesting but very dead-in-the-water sim as a commercial proposition, but have the breadth of vision to not exclude the home-based devotees of that very dead-in-the-water sim is really a bit of a gift. Take heart from the fact that there are those of us out here who appreciate that fact and are heartened by LM's early commitment to keeping us on board. There will always be people who, to use a phrase close to my Dad's heart: 'like to have their cake AND eat it'. Keep up the good work!

If I spend $500 on version2, can I actually get a friend to download it for me?y plan only allows 15 Gig per month, and I cannot upgrade yet

If I have 1.3 an an academic licence, save and buy a professional licence, I would then get v2 as a free upgrade? What about downloading, I only have a 15gb allownace and it's my sister's account anyway, could I get an internet cafe or a friend to download it for me?

Hi,



Thanks for your question. There is no upgrade pricing available between the Academic and Professional versions. I see no issue getting the software from another person, the license is specific to the user and activation. The price is $199 for the Pro version, not $499, the price was reduced last month, so hopefully less time for saving!



Regards,

John

I buyed 1.3 version and have a very bad performance on a high end machine.

I payed for it and I want a program that works fine.

If you makes me to pay for a next versión, then I think perhaps is better to request you a refund and think in other options.



I understand that we need to pay for new versions, but not if your product not works fine. A lot of people has reported in this forum loss framerate and stutters.





Regards,

Austin

Austin: do you want it fixed? what's in that high end machine? Make a new topic if you please.

Hi Jan,



My english is not very good, sorry. I was to say "high end machine", not "ultimate machine". I edited my last post.



I understand to pay for new versions, but not in case that previous versions not works fine. Many people are reporting performance issues about P3D. Yo can see it in this forum.



I think the new version should be free until the resolution of errors.



Not understand my words as hostile. I think prepar3d is the best thing that happened in years to the flight simulation enthusiasts.



Regards,

Austin

Quote:
Quote from Legacy Support on April 4, 2012, 20:38

There will be no upgrade price for the Academic version, major releases will need to be purchased, (i.e. you would need to buy version 2.0, 3.0 etc and I hope that this was how my last post was read



Regards,

John



I apologize for bringing up an older post. I am still actually confused by this. The OP asked a very clear question, and this is what I understand:



As of today, if one were to purchase the current academic version of P3D... when the next version is released, as in 2.x, it wouldn't cost anything to upgrade from 1.x to 2.x (for the academic version only). In a following post, it sounded like there is a cost involved for both commercial and academic when moving from 1.x to 2.x. Basically I'm just looking for a clear answer... If I purchase the academic version available today, I would require a second purchase for the academic verion 2.x? (sort of like moving from FS9 to FSX) Do I have this correct?



Thanks!

Hi Darryl,



You're correct.



Buy Version 1.x and get all the point upgrades at no cost, for Academic and Professional. When moving to Version 2.0 of the platform there will be no upgrade option for Academic license holders, but there will more than likely (still being determined) be an upgrade pricing option for those with Professional license.



So buy 1.3 today, and you're entitled to 1.4, 1.5, .... at no additional cost. When they move to 2.x a new academic licence would be needed to then get 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, .... The professional version will be able to be upgraded for a reduced cost of another full Professional licence.



This is typical of all academic vs professional software. And as you make mention, would be like moving from FS9 to FSX. The 2.0 release will be getting an enhanced graphics engine as the core reason for specifying a V2 - there is a possibility it will break backward compatibility with FSX add-ons, so makes sense to call it V2.x to differentiate the versions and ensure developers can market versions of add-ons that apply to the different P3D versions.



For me, I've gone 1.3 to get a better sim experience than FSX. I took the Academic license as I use P3D only for my own personal use and I'm not using it in a commercial sense. The dot releases are continuing to enhance that experience and are improving what FSX should have been allowed to become. When they move to 2.0 I'll look at acquiring another Academic license as I'm very keen to see what DX11 support will bring, and I was a user that moved from FS9 to FSX.



Also, to round off the comments, it is important to consider that a Professional licence is $199, and an academic licence is $49. Therefore you're still well ahead even if you upgrade for the next three full versions, and that doesn't even consider the version upgrades for Professional will probably be $100-$150. Obviously only acquire the Academic version if you're not using it for commercial purposes.



Although I'm not a Lockheed Martin guy replying, and I guess I answered your original question in the first line, I get frustrated by some of the negativity and presumption that goes with upgrades and "entitlement" - not directed at you by the way



Version 1.4 is just around the corner by the sounds of things. Version 2.0 might be quite a bit longer. Prepar3d today addresses many FSX/ESP shortcomings and only gets better.



Danny

Hi Danny,



Thanks for all the info, definitely helps.



Cheers,

Darryl

Why the complaints?



I've been flightsimming since the early 80's original and I paid for every release from FS to FS10 at over $100 a pop and $150 when MS started introducing the "professional versions" that had an extra aircraft or two.



I'm more than happy to pay for each release and quite frankly $50 is too cheap considering people are paying $70 for ONE plane that is as buggy as hell. Did those same people complain on PMDG's forum that they had the FS9 737 so therefore have an entitlement to a FREE 737NGX?



Keep up the good work LM. I for one am glad you guys are doing this.

Cheers.



PS. Purchased last night, now I need to find some time to install it.

Quote:
Quote from as355 on August 8, 2012, 00:22

Why the complaints?



I've been flightsimming since the early 80's original and I paid for every release from FS to FS10 at over $100 a pop and $150 when MS started introducing the "professional versions" that had an extra aircraft or two.



I'm more than happy to pay for each release and quite frankly $50 is too cheap considering people are paying $70 for ONE plane that is as buggy as hell. Did those same people complain on PMDG's forum that they had the FS9 737 so therefore have an entitlement to a FREE 737NGX?



Keep up the good work LM. I for one am glad you guys are doing this.

Cheers.



PS. Purchased last night, now I need to find some time to install it.





I full agree



João Alfredo

Hi John,

just for clarify if now I purchase P3D 1.4 Accademic Version I have to pay 49.95$, correct?



When Accademic Version V.20 will be realesed, if I want it, I have to pay again (49.95$ or higher), is it correct?



Regards,

Riccardo