F/A-18C donations

[Cookie]

We should have DCS:Cookie

Huh? What? I´m here already... :D

[howie87]

:poster_offtopic:

[Lucas_From_Hell]

I disagree - DCS: Cookie could be the goldmine ED's looking for, we don't have German aircraft with AFM, and Cookie is combat-proven (270+ posts) :D

[Hawk_5]

As far as original post is concerned I completely disagree with the crowd funding. IMO, that system is and should be to help new starters get a helping hand with a new business or concept, not for established businesses to coax additional funding from established customer bases.

If you want to give the company more of your money, buy another license or 10 or more. Become a major shareholder or investor.

 

If you under the impression that throwing money at ED will make a specific new favorite aircraft model be available sooner is just more speculation and assumption on how the internal business operation at ED functions and what goes into creating a new DCS level aircraft or indeed what factors influence the speed at which these are produced.

[LAB]

I only bought FC3 for two reasons

 

1.To support ED in a A10c level Fast Mover(preferably the Hornet)

2. So i can fly fast

 

But TBH I still fly the A10C more due to the detail in everything. The High fidelity is why I am here.

 

Also I wouldn't mind a kickstarter. Would be cool. Or even donations because I like supporting developers I like. That is why I own P51 and the VRS Tac-Pack even though I don't use them.

 

same here. I also bought BS2, P51, FC3, CA, A-10C

but I only use A-10c, but I thinks it's a stupid way of supporting them, now they think I might like products such as FC3

donation to a specific product / module is a better way,

[EtherealN]

Or, of your objective is specifically to support, simply purchase the same module several times. :D

 

You can always offer the extra serial numbers you won't use to a friend.

That way, you can support AND give the "right signals" at the same time. :)

 

But to be serious for a moment, I really doubt that there is a sufficient amount of people buying modules they don't want in order to "support" to change the statistics meaningfully. Only the really hard-core fans do that.

[Revvin]

The idea behind Kick Starter is to fund small indie developers, perhaps even those small independent teams doing DCS add-ons not established developers like ED and certainly not people like Chris Roberts, David Braben or Peter Molyneux who have the money to get their own projects off the ground (certainly the case with Peter Molyneux) Its because of people like that using Kick Starter that proper indie projects don't get funding.

 

I find the idea of donating money to ED quit bizarre, 159th Viper's suggestion is perhaps more sensible, buy a few modules. You could give those modules to friends, maybe they will start playing and then in turn buy their own modules and further support ED.

[TwoLate]

Or, of your objective is specifically to support, simply purchase the same module several times. :D

 

You can always offer the extra serial numbers you won't use to a friend.

That way, you can support AND give the "right signals" at the same time. :)

 

But to be serious for a moment, I really doubt that there is a sufficient amount of people buying modules they don't want in order to "support" to change the statistics meaningfully. Only the really hard-core fans do that.

 

Could be more than you think. I just bought Flaming Cliffs 3. I might never use it. Or fly it couple times a year. I mainly bought it for support. I see the vision here and it is worth the money here to support my addiction.

 

I mainly fly the A-10C or P-51. Now when F-18c comes out I will be flying that one. But still I will buy other modules.

[EtherealN]

Could be more than you think. I just bought Flaming Cliffs 3. I might never use it. Or fly it couple times a year. I mainly bought it for support. I see the vision here and it is worth the money here to support my addiction.

 

I mainly fly the A-10C or P-51. Now when F-18c comes out I will be flying that one. But still I will buy other modules.

 

Let's put it like this: even if everyone that has logged into this forum in the last 12 months had done it, I still don't think it would show up as a serious blip in the stats.

 

This "buy-extra" phenomenon is a very small one, and self-selects for the "fanatic" so to speak - which also happens to be the population that self-selects to "show up" on the forum, which means that the forum posts will give a very wrong impression of the habits of the general population.

[ishtmail]

Makes sense.

 

If there are 1000 really hardcore fans (that regularly post on this forum, voice their opinions, contribute to the development by posting bugs and wishes), and if a quarter of those buys modules 'just for support', that's a really small fraction of total sales that can't really impact the totals (and for example tip the scales).

 

Or, for example:

if FC3 sold 20.000 copies, while A10C sold 5.000, and if a quarter of A10C bought FC3 'just to support ED', that's not a large enough percentage. Sure, you sell 1250 copies of FC3 than you would otherwise, but that's barely 6 percent of the total.

[TimeKilla]

Makes sense.

 

If there are 1000 really hardcore fans (that regularly post on this forum, voice their opinions, contribute to the development by posting bugs and wishes), and if a quarter of those buys modules 'just for support', that's a really small fraction of total sales that can't really impact the totals (and for example tip the scales).

 

Or, for example:

if FC3 sold 20.000 copies, while A10C sold 5.000, and if a quarter of A10C bought FC3 'just to support ED', that's not a large enough percentage. Sure, you sell 1250 copies of FC3 than you would otherwise, but that's barely 6 percent of the total.

 

Problem is we don't know the figures so there's no way to know if the total figure is a'lot lower where it may be affected or not this is all just assumptions. I tend to buy the modules I'll use that's it don't have the money to buy something I don't need or just to support a company.

[ishtmail]

My assumptions are based on Matt's own statement that FC3 sales represent a major piece of the sales pie.

 

But yeah, we're still just assuming here :)

 

 

Some of my own purchases are made partly to support the company (CA and FC3, specifically), but I do tend to use those modules as well, every once in a while, because sometimes it's just fun flying a SU33 from the carrier, even if it's with a non-clickable outdated cockpit with poor graphics, no 6DOF, and with only SFM.

[GGTharos]

The crowd may be making assumptions, ED isn't - they're going by their sales data.

 

Problem is we don't know the figures so there's no way to know if the total figure is a'lot lower where it may be affected or not this is all just assumptions. I tend to buy the modules I'll use that's it don't have the money to buy something I don't need or just to support a company.

[Biggles07]

One can only imagine the outrage and furore that would ensue if an ED 'Whistle-blower' revealed that donations to the 'ED Development-Charity fund' were in fact being surreptitiously siphoned off to buy all their staff gold plated toilet brushes, hand made rudder optimised cashmere 'Combat Slippers', and remote controlled diamond encrusted robotic dogs to fetch their morning newspapers.

 

Oooh, the scandal!

 

What? Trust no one. Stranger things have happened. :D

Edited May 12, 2013 by Biggles07

[Suchacz]

Excuse me, but what donations are you talking about? Is ED some type of charity? If you want to talk about money, lets talk about buying goods or investments to the development... :doh:

 

...and of course, I want to fly DCS: Hornet so badly as you all. I will gladly pay its price right on the first minute, when the beta will be released! :D

Edited May 11, 2013 by Suchacz

[basset]

By buying a companies product you are making a difference, individually it matters little, the 39.99 is but one drop in a rain storm.

 

Collectively it is everything.

[schkorpio]

Buy a module or two or even three every month. It all adds up.

 

I bought FC3 :) but my concern is that if everyone buys additional modules it will skew the sales data, and what if ED then keep releasing lower fidelity stuff because the sales figures will show an artifical demand for them.

 

I'd much rather a kickstarter/pre-order style system so that ED know exactly what I'd like to buy, and that money is going directly to that project. If the project was to be pre-paid even before development started then it would surely encourage things along and even give some opportunity to hire more staff (if that is an issue).

 

I do enjoy FC3, but my first sim that i've gotten to know is DCS:A-10C and going fromt hat to FC3 it feels really basic (but still great fun). I really love the sea of buttons in a cockpit that i can play with :)

 

TL:DR - if there ever is a pre-order or kickstarter style project for F/A 18C (or a just about any multirole fast mover) count me in. infact count in 2 copies as i'll be pre-buying for a friend.:thumbup:

[JetBLASTER]

I have all the module including 2 BS2 with I purchased buy mistake.And I don't mind to purchase any product come up from ED on the future .

Love DCS and I will guive any support if need.

[ishtmail]

You can buy a copy of DCS A10C, DCS KA50, DCS P51D every month, that should theoretically skew the sales data well towards DCS modules :)

[Pyroflash]

You can buy a copy of DCS A10C, DCS KA50, DCS P51D every month, that should theoretically skew the sales data well towards DCS modules :)

 

This ^ is probably the best way to show ED what you want. Now granted, things aren't really slowing down in favor of anything else right now; however we still won't get the F/A-18C until later next year presumably. Though at the very least, you are contributing to further product development by spending the extra cash. Also, it can prove to be a good idea because then you will have extra copies of the modules to throw at people. I've done this a couple times in the past, and people who would have otherwise scoffed at the idea of playing such a game, are now fans.

[jaroslas]

The logic behind the donations is correct and everything works fairly, except we're forgetting that ED already has enough money to develop an F/A-18C module.

 

The only so-called "problem" about it is that development of a hi-fi model takes time, and people don't like waiting. But you can give ED all the money in the world, they'd still take around the same awfully long time to develop a a module. Even if they could pay extra-hours for their employees, the day only has 24 hours. Hiring more people wouldn't help much either, as assigning tasks all over the place in the end would make more of a mess than help, and I'm failry sure they're running at a near-optimal number of employees already.

 

While it's great (really, it is) that we're all so excited to get this thing going, just donating a pile of money to them won't do much at all. ED is going fairly well in business. We're not the only ones to fund it, as well. They have contracts with the Russian Air Force, the USAF - that's someone funding a module fully, but the difference is, we're talking about a single costumer with very well-defined needs, not an An-225 full of loonies with all sorts of opinions, aka, us lads and lassies down here.

 

Throwing money, donating or funding, however you call it, won't help much.

 

If you really want to make a difference, think about this: everyone get a fund together, and pick some kids, boys and girls, with a passion for flying and/or who want to join the Air Force or Army/Naval aviation, but don't have enough money to get a computer that can run DCS together, or to get a decent HOTAS, or to buy the modules themselves, or whose parents simply don't want to help (a problem most girls will find more often than boys, under that cheap old excuse that it isn't a "girl thing"). Find some of those kids, get the money you can spare, make a fund and give them whatever you need. Get them a GPU, or give them that old one you have which is still pretty good, hand down your old HOTAS set, and buy them a copy of a DCS aircraft depending on what they intend to fly for a living (attack heli, attack a/c, utility, fighter whenver an ED one or 3rd party comes out...), and give them a printed manual and a book about that aircraft with it too, both to be their bedside read.

 

This way you're funding a pilot for the future, you're funding Eagle Dynamics and showing them you want high-fidelity modules, and you're also funding the future of flight simulators, because odds are this kid will surely buy future ED modules not only for themselves, but for their kids, friends, or another kid who's in the same place they once were.

 

ED has the present under control, we can help with the future though - and it's much better than buying modules for yourself which you never use at all :)

 

Well put Lucas, I second that ! :)

[Lucas_From_Hell]

JAR, we're not talking about trying to introduce kids for flight simulation.

 

What I meant is, we can find people who ALREADY have a passion for flying and simming but lack the means to do so. People who already know they like it and love it but are 'grounded' for 'lack of spare parts' shall we say, be the reason 'budget cuts' or just plain bad administration of resources by their parents/guardians.

 

Those people know how to fly, they just need... an aircraft, basically. Or a virtual one.

[SkateZilla]

Here's a dumb question.

 

if F-18C is being worked on..

 

Can ED do a "F/A-18C for DCS World" Module, release it with Simplified Systems and AFM.

 

That way we can start throwing money at you guys to help with DCS F/A-18C :p

 

ps. you can thank me later.

[graywo1fg]

Here's a dumb question.

 

if F-18C is being worked on..

 

Can ED do a "F/A-18C for DCS World" Module, release it with Simplified Systems and AFM.

 

That way we can start throwing money at you guys to help with DCS F/A-18C :p

 

Or you could just buy existing modules again to throw money at them :smartass:

[SkateZilla]

Or you could just buy existing modules again to throw money at them :smartass:

 

been there' done that... i bought A-10C twice, once for me from steam, and again on my brother's steam account, and he doesnt even play it.

 

"I have no HOTAS" he says..... "Get a Job" I said.

 

:joystick: