Fly before you Buy?

[AvgWhiteGuy]

Note to ADMIN: I posted this on the Payment & Activation forum as well, just looking for a large audience, please except my sincere respect, I'm not complaining about anything. If it's not appropriate please advise me.

 

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I may have missed the inflight annoucements but is there any way to test fly a DCS aircraft before buying? If Yes, please point me in that direction for details. If NO please consider reading on.

 

Has DCS ever considered a 'Fly before you Buy' program?

 

Before you roll your eyes and move to the next thread let me elaborate, I'm not after 'free' stuff, I'm a businessman (software) and I understand marketing. More on that later but first a little background...

 

A friend gave me DCS A-10C as a gift & joke about 4 years ago. That 'joke' has had me invest several thousand USD in peripherals (listed in signature) because I wanted to make the most out of it. A couple thousand more USD went to hardware upgrades to have a rig that could happily support it.

Since then I've gone on to purchase additional DCS products including Black Shark 2, UH-1H, NTTR, Normandy, WWII Asset Pack & Combined Arms, and in the near future I look forward to buying more aircraft and the Persian Gulf Map.

While the money spent is of little consequence, the time spent has been beneficial from the mental enjoyment, and there's some financial benefit because it keeps me off the streets and out of the bars. Thankfully DCS fuelcosts are a hell of a lot cheaper than beer (especially here in Shanghai) :)

 

It was on a LSD binge buying spree that I acquired my helos cuz I've always been facinated by them. But I've never registered them in DCS, just don't have the time to learn them. I can't give them away, gift them, part them out or even donate them to an under priviledged day care center....any suggestions would be appreciated. Anyway, let's move on.

 

RATIONALE for FBYB Program

 

Buying an aircraft is like buying a car...kinda.

I want to buy an aircraft that I will enjoy flying in an environment that I enjoy working in.

I want to buy an aircraft that I am capable of operating within my personal limitations (physical, mental, etc)

I want to buy an aircraft that I will accept the challenge to learn the systems and capabilities.

I want to buy an aircraft that provides me the capabilities in co-op (multiplayer squadron) environment, if I choose.

I want to buy an aircraft that is an asset to my brothers & sisters at arms during these times of conflict.

I want to buy an aircraft that I'm proud of......and the chicks dig!!!! (cue the music):megalol:

I don't want to buy an aircraft that regretfully sits in my virtual hanger gathering virtual dust for all the reasons above. See 'LSD binge buying spree' above

I want to test drive that bad ass machine, if only for a few sorties!!

 

So if I, and many others here in the DCS world of things could test drive an aircraft with reasonable limitations for a reasonable length of time, wouldn't that enhance the potential sales of the various aircraft models; especially the newer releases? Wouldn't it accellerate sales to exisiting DCS customers that are undecided and just need that spark in their pants? I had that experience a year ago between the AJS-37 Viggen vs M-2000C....unsure I climbed back into my Warthog. I love watching YT videos of the various aircraft but I still need that 'hands on' moment before I pull the trigger on spending (time & money). I'm sure there's a whole crew of DCS'ers that have experienced this.

 

I expect some will say it's a Dev thing, too much time & effort....but from software dev experience, licensing restrictions are child's play compared to the amazing work DCS developers have already done, and the 2.5 release obviously has a module that checks login details and authorization.

 

So if anyone has read this far and can see some potential, please continue on because here is a simple draft of some MY suggested limitations that might answer other concerns about who-how-when someone might be able to participate in a 'Fly before you Buy' (FBYB) program.

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You must be a current DCS customer having at least 1 (maybe 2) purchased aircraft ...and 1 purchased Terrain (demonstrates previous investment of time and money). Depending on what stats might be available from DCS, a period of X months, flying hours, or ???? could further qualify someone.

 

You may only 'lease' a specific FBYB aircraft one time, you can't lease a AJS-37 Viggen (example) everytime your spouse goes to the inlaws. There could also be some limitation on how often you can 'lease' a different FBYB aircraft.

 

FBYB aircraft are not available to operate in the free DCS World environment.

 

FBYB aircraft are licensed with 15 day (or XX) lease period; no extensions permitted.

 

FBYB aircraft is licensed for Instant Action & Training only, FBYB is only there is get a feel for the cockpit system and flight characteristics; Takeoff, Land, Free Flight and some limited weapons employment.

 

FBYB aircraft is not licensed for co-op muliplayer, network environments, or Steam; standalone only.

 

FBYB technical support ('how do I do this') is not available thru DCS directly, some informal support can be available thru some Forum threads and requires registration.

 

FBYB aircraft comes 'AS IS' and no upgrades are available. Full purchase at a later date requires downloading the latest Release Build. (no Alpha, Beta, Delta, etc are available).

 

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If you got this far thru my ramblings and you do have an interest in the matter at hand I'm sure others would appreciate your comments on this, and I would certainly look forward to hearing from the folks at DCS as towards their thoughts on the subject, it's just a discussion; no promises or committments expected.

 

Thank you for your patience & consideration,

 

Regards,

 

Major O'Connor (aka R@tter, aka AvgWhiteGuy)

Shanghai, China

[Johnny_Rico]

You already can

Use steam

Buy the module you are interested in

Try for for less than 2 hours

Don't like it, get a refund

like it, keep it

[NeilWillis]

There are also 2 aircraft that you can fly for free when you download DCS World. The Su-25 and the TF-51D. The TF-51D is a Mustang minus armour and armaments.

[Mars Exulte]

Since they're based on real aircraft, why don't you just study the aircraft online instead of whipping out your wallet because you saw a pretty screenshot?

 

I get the idea you're going for... it's not like driving a car, though. All cars are functionally identical, with minor variations as far as performance curve and speed.

 

A DCS aircraft is sufficiently complex, it's going to take days/weeks to learn systems. A few minutes/hours isn't going to show you much beyond "It has wings and flies".

 

If you don't know whether you like fighters, or ground attack, fast or slow, big or small... then you should probably spend some time learning about aircraft and experimenting with the free/cheaper modules before spending $60-80 on something you know nothing about. Perhaps don't do LSD, then you won't have impulsive LSD binge spending sprees?

 

-edit

 

Also, yes, you can gift unwanted/unused modules to other people. Open a support ticket and explain what you're wanting to do and who you want to transfer it to.

Edited May 2, 2018 by zhukov032186

[AvgWhiteGuy]

Thanks guys, but I'm not talking about flying the basic freebies that come with DCS World, and I don't do Steam. I'm not looking for the basic experience of flying in DCS, been there...done that.

 

I'm talking about briefly getting the feel of an aircraft and it's systems after over a thousand hours of flying DCS (mainly A-10C) with the the specific intention of buying a new aircraft. There is a massive difference between driving an A-10C at 10,000 ft and screaming across the sky in an F/A-18. Neither the P-51 or Su-25 can prepare you for it. Yiou can drive a VW or a Pinto and it won't prepare you for buying Corvette.

 

*****

 

@zhukov....hehehe....gave up the LSD, been clean 2 days now...as I can recall :)

 

On a more personal note I have some eye problems (age & a 'repaired' detached retina) so I can't perform as a fighter; can't find the Hindenburg on a summer day. But I love 'ground pounding' so flying attacked mission is what I'm looking for. And with all the hardware I have I don't want to waste it on a plane that can't use it (see signature).

 

But honestly I think their are a bunch of folks out there that would love to take a spin in one of these for a week or so to make an informed decision before a purchase. As I mentioned above regarding AJS-37 Viggen vs M-2000C..nothing there helped with move forward but the FA/18 might trip my trigger.

 

RE: Gifting....https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=206821

 

Cheers,

Edited May 2, 2018 by AvgWhiteGuy

[PeaceSells]

I don't think you can try the aircraft without learning how to fly it first. And the opportunity to learn how to fly it is one of the products DCS sells you, it's part of the package. You must decide if you like a certain aircraft first, and then consider whether you are willing to spend the effort and time on the challenges that will arise when learning it. It's how full fidelity sims work, and it's a good thing. I don't think you can simply take a full fidelity module on a test drive and decide if you like it or not.

 

Oh, and don't do drugs.

[Mars Exulte]

*stuff*

 

RE: Gifting....https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=206821

 

Cheers,

 

1st part... yeah. They're completely different. Thus it being worthwhile to read about specific aircraft, what they're doing, and what those fancy terms like "close air support", "air superiority", "multi-role", "precision ground attack" mean, and come up with some idea of what you're interested in doing. I don't agree with free-flights. It's just an invitation for extra BS to deal with.

 

As for gifting, I repeat, you open a support ticket and request ED transfer the module. You cannot do it yourself through the UI on the website anymore, no, that has been the case for quite a long time now. You open a support ticket, and request the module be transferred. I've done it myself, so yes, there's a way. Whether you can do it after you've already activated it on your account, I'm unsure. I don't think so.

 

If you purchase a module through Steam, provided you haven't activated it on the ED webstore yet, you can simply transfer it like any other Steam item. So, technically there are two ways.

 

Sorry you "don't do Steam". It has its uses, like anything else on the internet, control the personal info you put on it and it is a non-issue.