With great complexity comes the need for thorough documentation. 
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I wish I had more time for the WWII stuff. I try to fly at least one mission on the Storm of War server every weekend. Even though I’m not great at dogfighting with the Warbirds it’s always a blast. Doesn’t matter wether you’re intercepting or escorting bombers, do air support, hunt ships or simply look to defend the airspace, there’s always something interesting to do.
I’m really looking forward to the Mossie. Even if it’s as unfinished as it seems right now I’m going to get it on launch. The P-47 was a good EA launch and it was quickly finalised, so I’m not too worried about the Mossie. My biggest worry is the way DCS handles splash damage and wether we’ll have proper fuze settings for the bombs. That’s going to either make or break the Mossie. A buddy of mine is already working on a Amiens Prison raid mission xD
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I thought the DCS EA standard was higher than previously. The A10C went through a lot of patches before it was any way beta quality. Also we had to wait about 8 years for the free terrain to materialize 
Just playing devils advocate btw.i will buy the Mossie first day and I will put up with any ommisions as long as it can fly and drop bombs 
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The upside of EA is that they release more things, and the downside is they finish less of them.
It’s a balance that they veer around with, but the Falcon was probably the low point. As a business I can see why they do it, as releases generate noise and income, but as a consumer it is starting to feel a bit off maybe.
I didn’t buy the Syria map or other modules from about then onwards because (a) the last thing I bought (Super Carrier) didn’t get updates and (b) I think a map is bad value when in other sims you get that and so much more for free and better fidelity. These aren’t rational decisions, before anyone wants to angrily tell me I’m wrong and I should support them like some football team or a charity, it’s an emotional one tied to how I feel about putting in a credit card number.
I hope they do well and prosper but I’m off the train of getting all the modules now. The new helos look good, so we’ll see how we do for updates on other things when those come to EA.
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Jokes aside, they do seem to have improved a lot of their game in the past year. The 2.7 upgrade will be the proof it those changes in their QA actually had impact. The EA business module has been fine for the most part (meaning, I have confidence on their project timelines and I feel I get my money’s worth), so no biggie for me.
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You’re wrong and you should support them like some football team or charity!
As with most things in life, everybody has their own take…
I always try to push the “as long as you’re having fun” perspective.
EA and unfinished software is probably not going away anytime soon, so if it upsets anybody, then my advice would be to don’t do it… But nobody listens to my advice.
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I suppose a fraction of each purchase also goes toward development of the base sim…which…though those clouds are taking foooooorever to come out…is making progress. So in that respect, even modules I’ve bought that I’ve never even flown (looking at you Viggen and M-2000C) (oh…and countless campaigns)…they are serving a higher purpose.
I’m not interested in the Mossie. Probably won’t buy it. The Supercarrier is pretty nifty and I can’t remember what I paid for it (maybe $11 after a discount of some sort?). I haven’t figured out half of the ATC with it yet though…and I guess there is more to come regarding that.
With Arma taking up a bunch of my time with the boys lately it hasn’t left much time for DCS…but with all the VR performance boosts published lately I really do need to apply those and dive back in. Which means I’ll probably just end up doing ILS approaches in the C-101CC for 3 hours. I entertain easily.
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Are there DCS hooligans? 
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Remind me why we are friends…? 
There’s a whole…Headquarter of them…
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Great pay and benefits?
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Maybe they are taking all the money and putting it towards MAC development? We’re sponsoring some sort of future Air Combat aerial adventure? 
Is MAC still coming out, plus I wonder how much effort has been spent on it over the years? It would be ironic if people who are paying for a future where they are not the market, but we’ll just have to see. The Huey mulitcrew took 7 years, so they do eventually come through, we just all need longer lives.
We’re not investors, we’re consumers I guess I’m trying to say. I don’t want to Kickstarter the Hind or adopt @bignewy, even if he is adorable.
I usually tell people not to reduce things down to ultimatum-based dichotomies, as the world is neither that simple or naïve - but they never listen.
Maybe they should sell scarfs? Actually a Patreon isn’t a bad idea, get the donations rolling in for those who truly believe. We could have a table, with end of season play-offs.
Seriously though, like I said, if they make good stuff I might buy it, but I’m not doing an informal guilt based subscription where I like that they exist as the reason to purchase stuff. I like the old model of transactional based commerce.
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How dare you not support them like your football team. I am officially offended 
I don’t think many people have the time to learn all the modules anyway. There’s no reason to buy everything unless you do it to support the developers. I can ‘fly’ most modules but I am only really knowledgeable about a small number of them.
For example I love the F-14 but I haven’t had the time to learn any of the RIO stuff and I know enough about the Hornet, Viper and the Huey to employ them effectively but I know no other module as well as the A-10C and I doubt I will learn another module as in-depth as the Warthog.
As for Syria - I think it’s currently the best map for modern air combat in DCS. Flying helicopters and discovering all the different areas is a blast. But at the same time it’s very unfinished so I can completely understand not wanting to pay for it at this point in time. I don’t think maps bad value though. They expand the game significantly and it takes a lot of work so I think expecting them for free is a bit unreasonable but I won’t complain if the add more free maps after the marianas map.
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It’s a fair point, that a lot of my purchases are just what I’m ‘in to’ and want to fill my brain with. I never got into the F-14 as much as I wanted, and every time I start DCS it looks at me in a sort of resentful way (I may be imagining that).
One thing that is different (and to back up your point) between the EA A10-C and now is that there are so many other things clamoring for our attention, in high fidelity sims as well. It’s a good time for sims, which makes the market a bit more competitive as well. Less lee-way for shenanigans.
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There’s that…
In a small market like hi fi combat flightsims, of which I know only one producer, the difference between investors and consumers is not easily distinguishable…
I would really, really, not like it if they ceased to exist.
I mean, what would I do…? Take up golfing? Like a common airline pilot?
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@fearlessfrog I am considering the adoption option, but you need to have a well stocked fridge.
Early access isnt for everyone, we get that, some feel like we have let them down in the past, we also understand that, and we know we have to try to do better.
If you support us in early access we are grateful, it helps us continue development on projects that can take years to complete, without you it would not be possible. Early access feedback and bug reports are what makes our modules great, I deal with hundreds of messages and reports every month and it really helps the team and the development of our projects.
If you dont want to do Early access that is fine, some like to wait for a finished product and wait for features to be complete, some dont like to test and have to worry about bugs and changes that can happen during development. Once a project is completed and if you like what you see your purchase still supports us and we appreciate it.
best regards
Bignewy
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My view has softened over time. I bought into the early access on the F14 because with what Heatblur were showing in the videos they released I truly believed that if I paid my money, I would get what I wanted straight away. A flyable, realistic and complete enough aircraft that I have loved since childhood. I totally got that.
However since then there haven’t been any modules I have been so excited about. I’m a fairly sunny side up sort of person and the one I am waiting for next is the Hind. I probably won’t pre order it, but I will definitely purchase on day one. I might even fold before that and order it early.
I’m not a fan of giving money to something that I cannot use straight away as that seems more of an investor relationship with none of the rewards. However as we are specifically talking about early access rather than pre order, I am mostly happy enough with the system. It allows pretty casual players like me to learn the systems incrementally and as new stuff is added I find it easier to integrate them into my knowledge of the plane. Take the harrier. Some might say its taken far too long to get finished, and while I may agree in some respects on a personal level it’s been almost perfect for me. I cemented the basics and now I can jump in and out of that plane without any issues.
I think with planes as complicated as we are dealing with coupled with the sandbox nature of the platform I think its probably the only realistic way we can expect a small dev team to keep competing.
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I would very much buy an official DCS line of T-shirts and hoodies, scarves and hats.
And you guys are doing great with that. Syria and the P-47 are flawless early access releases imo, and I for one have not regretted my viper, hornet or carrier purchases for a second.
No, you better not or you’ll spoil my plan, which is very cunning, as cunning as a fox that’s been to Oxford…
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Hmmm…what are the Dutch cooking up over there.
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Agreed with all of that. I would totally rock a DCS baseball cap.
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I know off-topic, but I friggin’ love Blackadder. Rowan Atkinson is a genius.
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