Tuesday last, Airdailyx sent emails to six major sim-shops. These are only pure distributors and don't develop products themselves. 3 of them answered us : Flightsim pilot shop, Flightsim Store and Simmarket. One sent us back an email but didn't have the time to answer in due form (JustFlight) and one didn't answer at all, AVSIM Simpilot. We will try later to work on a second article, focused on others distributors ; those who have some development or co-development.
Some explanations on criterions ;
You shouln't be afraid by the number of downloads. Webshops make clear that you can reset your amount of downloads. Simshops who didn't answer me have most probably the same policy on this matter.
You will find this criterion, the release date mentionned. As a matter of fact, only a few of them (Sim-shops) are mentionning the release date of their products. If you don't have this information, you don't even know if this old/new stuff. You buy an aircraft, you think it's brand new but it has been released 2 or 3 years ago...
Policy regarding bankrupted designers : now, this is important. Simmers hardly know which designers have disappeared or been bankrupted. If you find their products and buy them on a webshop, what will be the real custom support ? We asked that to the sim-shops and their answers are rather vague..
The sim-shops who answered us are the largest by their library/portfolio size. They have more than 1000 downloadable products. Most of these simshops have clearly mention their term and conditions, their headquarters and payment methods. All except one, the AVSIM store simpilot. There is simply nothing. No address, nothing "about them" and just two laconic lines on store policy. Maybe there is something once you create an account but if that's so, it's unusual.
I am ready to update the article if some comments can prove me wrong.
| Flightsim pilot shop | Flightsim Store | Simmarket | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Location | U.S.A., Florida | Australia | Germany |
| Florida | Shellharbour | Mainz | |
| Base currency | US dollar | Australian dollar | Euro |
| Payment medthods | Credit cards | Credit cards | Credit cards |
| PayPal | PayPal | PayPal | |
| Bank wire | Bank transfer | Bank transfers | |
| Check payment | Check (within AUS.) | Immediate | |
| Cash (within AUS) | Bank transfers | ||
| Cash | |||
| Number of downloads | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Size of Portfolio (downloads only) | More than 1500 | More than 1000 | More than 1000 |
| Exclusive editors, designers : | Don't wish, cannot disclose nature of vendor's agrement | FTX Orbx (download), Real Environment X V2 standalone (download) | Pete Dowson, Ernie Alston, Burkhard Renk, Felix;. |
| Release date mentionned | Yes, in customer's account | NO (possibly soon) | YES |
| Policy regarding bankrupted designers | « We require all developers to provide prompt support or a customer would be eligible for a credit » | If a product cannot be supported by the developers or publishers we will discontinue selling it | As soon as we are aware of the situation we stop sales of their products as we cannot guarantee support. |
Updated with PcAviator :
(Just Flight is a Distributor/developer and will be in the next questionnaire).
| SimPilot | PcAviator | |
|---|---|---|
| Location | U.S.A | US.A. |
| Loris, SC | ||
| Base currency | US Dollar | US Dollar |
| Payment medthods | Airdailyx did not receive answers | Credit cards |
| American Express | ||
| PayPal | ||
| Money orders | ||
| Check | ||
| Phone/Mail orders | ||
| Number of downloads | Airdailyx did not receive answers | Unlimited |
| Size of Portfolio (downloads only) | 200 | more than 600 |
| Exclusive editors : | Airdailyx did not receive answers | No exclusive designers because it limits their sales so we don't ask for it. |
| Release date mentionned | NO | Will have in 6 month |
| Policy regarding bankrupted designers | Airdailyx did not receive answers | We don't carry any product from bankrupt designers. We discontinue their products. |
Airdailyx will update this table upon request.
Article copyright Airdailyx August 2011
2 comments:
In my view, quality of products is a real issue. I have purchased items that looked very good but turned out to be rubbish. Scenery that was not even as good as average freeware, for example. At least if you buy from Aerosoft you know that the product will be good. The other shops appear to sell anything.
Biggles is deluded if he thinks that Aerosoft only sell A1-Quality AAA titles. There's a lot of really bad products on their store. Really, a publisher is there to make a profit margin, and often does not install every single product they sell on their store (it would be impractical or impossible). Ultimately it is down to the customer to do their homework, read review and check forum feedback before purchasing. Also, if a developer offers demos or freeware, that's the best way to get a feel for their product quality.
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