Statement as posted over at the developers forum:
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Dear all,
After a period of silence, let me give you an update on where we are with the third release stage of the Ultimate 146 Collection.
Unfortunately there are still some open items, the biggest part being finalizing the Thrust Management System and down-scaling the VC to be FS9-compatible (which is not an easy task). We would have hoped that these tasks were done already but due to some unexpected real life changes for some of our members, progress in the last months has been much slower than initially expected.
Flight Simulator Add-ons still remain a niche-market and although it’s a nice extra income, it’s nothing a company of our size can do full time. Thus our working schedules are always subject to our real life responsibilities. So there’s a choice we have to make: Do we let it have an impact on the development time or do we sacrifice quality? Needless to say the latter is not an option.
For this exact reason I will refrain from giving an estimated release time frame, as those are often taken as a promise by some users. What I can tell you is that the plane is actively being worked on in all remaining areas and we’re currently in the process of wrapping things up for FSX Beta testing.
We will keep you informed when we’re getting close to release.
Thank you all for your patience!
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Visit the developers forum and see the applicable thread - click here
18 comments:
Thanks ADX for the update - I have given up looking for the 146, but I'm glad to see it's still on the 'to do' list. It's just real world getting in the way of flight simulation....
The FSX beta probably just needs a bit of wing flex tuning before release....
;)
Yes, we need a dedicated wing flex preview before commenting further lol....
I support QW, I would always prefer to take longer and get it right than fast and sloppy. Their current Avro variant release for FSX is excellent.
I wonder if we had not prepaid whether the 146 might not now been released?
Once they have your money there is little incentive left, particularly if sales were not as expected. AirSimmer, Fokker, 14 .....
Trust me, very few developer do it for the money. I've been involved in many considered 'best sellers' since 2008, and I would make more money with a paper round than I do from development...
For example, a certain 737-100/200 released for FSX/FS9 was only selling 5-6 copies a week after being on the market for just 3 months...And even then, in the first month of release it had only sold in the range of 800 copies. That may seem like a lot, but we have yet to reach the 2000 mark still, nearly 2 year after initial release. Even with a decent cut I've only made around 45000RUB (about 1500 US Dollar) in that two year span- that's 60USD a month.
"Once they have your money there is little incentive left, particularly if sales were not as expected. AirSimmer, Fokker, 14 ....."
For those developers above, I have to agree to some extent. But I also think that in many cases developers simply find that they have bitten off more than they could chew.
As far as QW goes, I think there's a decent amount of incentive for them to complete it because they want people to buy their future products (including the 787).
I can't fault QW too much for the delay. After all, the Avro RJ variants for the price they charge seem like a good deal (though I can understand why some are really longing for the BAE 146 variants).
It actually seems a bit odd to me that they chose to include all variants of both lines in the same product with no expansion. It fits their "Ultimate" line of products in having all the variants, but it's not like the 757 and 787 where the cockpit and systems are the same.
At any rate, good on QW to keep customers updated.
I can't say I'm not disappointed. After all, it was promised at least as early as Q4 2012 (I think maybe even earlier), then Q1 2013, then nothing. We're now almost Q3 2013 and it seems like it's still not coming out anytime soon. I understand "real life" can get in the way sometimes, but this isn't freeware, it's a paid product. Better to under-promise than to under-deliver. I'm willing to be patient, but a firm date (or at the very least, regular status updates) would be very welcome.
As a RJ customer I would've preferred to buy something now rather than to wait forever for something which is free.
We want to reward developers who make good products, and QWings is one of them.
If I did this in my business (take tens of thousands of dollars from hundreds of customers, give them half of what they expected to receive and say sorry but my other job pays me better so you'll have to wait 6 months or more to receive the other half of what you paid for, no promises though that I can even deliver at all)
...you know what? I'd be a damn fool if I didnt at least offer partial refunds to those who want it and a huge apology.
If you are in the states you could face serious legal issues if people start complaining to your local authorities.
Forget legalities and just do what's morally correct and professional...if not, you end up looking like a turd....lots of talent out here in FSX land....everyone's a "professional developer"....with zero business experience...and in some cases few morals or brains for that matter.
...and no, im not even a customer...just a business man who's seen the situation unfold since last November 2012.
I find this all very disappointing .and a poor way to do business take full payment, deliver half the advertised product ,then just keep people waiting ,with no real update on a Delivery date just waffle and excuses,please deliver what you owe me and lots of other people ,do you really believe I want to purchase from you again , after being treated this way
Just thought I'd correct you in that they never promised it'd be out by Q4 of 2012, they just estimated that'd be the case. QW have never 'promised' any timescale for any release.
Well Mr Business Man, why dont you setup your FS Company with that refund wisdom and policy and I see how long you will survive.
For many reasons, refund policy will simply be abused, and not used for true genuine purpose.
Going with this attitude of a experienced businessman here will only mean you wont last long in this industry.
Your reply itself is indicative of how little experience you yourself have of running a successful little business.
Tell it to Flight1, Carenado and even RealAir...all who know how to conduct themselves professionally and would never screw over a customer who is seriously disgruntled...they ALL will issue a refund when it's necessary and the correct form of action...AND, they all are about as successful in this industry as you can be.
So go ahead...preach your load to them, because IMO you have NO clue. In fact it wouldn't surprise me if you were the guy from QW himself.
The 8:21AM post makes no sense. Refund policy will be refused if a promised product is not delivered and customers ask for partial refunds of the product they were promised but never delivered??? That makes no sense whatever.
Whatever, the point is that QW gladly took our money with the promise that the third stage would be released, and given that fact we are entitled to regular updates. This is not like the FSLabs A320 or PMDG 777 where it's simply a product in development that no one has actually prepaid for. Stage 3 was already PAID-FOR by customers, and that is the point. We should know when to expect it, and if it's not going to get done (or get done anytime soon), then QW should offer partial refunds.
"Refund policy will be abused" not "refused"
I find the way this company works very strange ,they release an add on for fs 2004 an approx 10yr old Sim ,they then announce that they sold only 25% of their estimated sales for fs 2004,which is a loss of 75% of targeted income from the fs 2004 version,QW then announce they will no longer dev for fs2004 ,maybe they have some cash flow issues ,that is why they are working on there next product and ignoring their existing customers
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