FSS Embraer E175 & The Microsoft Flight Simulator Community - We Can Do Better.

This is not a review or preview of the Embraer E175 for Microsoft Flight Simulator, but an analysis of the community's reaction to it, something we've seen way too many times.

If you want to check out a couple of good reviews or previews of the aircraft, here you go:

#msfs2020 #msfs #microsoftflightsimulator

[gazzarethx]

Some good points, I thought the rhetoric in Emi's "Betrayers" video (now removed) was a little harsh, but it did result in the dev making major changes to their website.

Overall though the last review video seemed fair, his conclusion actually matching you "I wouldn't buy it yet"..

[eduardoholanda]

My problem with Early Access model is that if you take all the flightsim addons that were released in Early Access, put on one side the ones that eventually lived up to their promise afterwards and on the other side, the ones that were abandoned before they were finished, you'll see that those who lived the promise are so few in comparison that they even sound like an exception.

This reaction from flightsim community against Early Access is even justifiable. Most who are criticizing were victims of this early access. It's a very bad feeling to believe in someone, financially support the project, be fed with promises and more promises, and one fine day, the devs disappear along with the money of the 'muggles' who believed. The double frustration of being seen as an idiot for having believed and of never having the long-awaited addon in the expected quality again.

Anyway, I hope that the FSS doesn't go down the 'expected' path, which is to abandon in the middle of development and that they are the exception. We definitely need more honest people in the flight simulator addon market.

[LizardDoggo]

You make some great points here. I totally agree excessive toxicity is bad. There is no disagreeing in the fact that the community was misled. I looked at the trailers right when they came out and it looked good. (AviationLads can do that sometimes). I then saw the systems trailer which was really interesting. I was excited when they announced the release. But then when I saw the words: “Early Access” my heart dropped. I eventually bought it to see how it really is, and it IS that bad. There is no denying that the product is half-baked. No VNAV and the custom skinned default FMS being little nitpicks, but having the ILS/glideslope capture being almost non-functional, is inexcusable. Sure, you can complete a flight from A to B successfully, but the aircraft is basic in every sense apart from its looks. There are many people, like myself, who feel that they fell victim to the good ol’ bait and switch with glamorous advertisements that looked good, but in reality, we got an unfinished product. They’re now doing damage control. Focusing on the community’s reaction and complaining how we can do better misses the entire point. Yes, a certain few of a community can be toxic, like any community. We were sold on a finished product, and got something that barely functions like advertised, so of course we’re angry.

Cordially,

Lizard Doggo

[talon]

You make honest, balanced points here. However, we've seen this before with other developers who release "early-access" products and promise to update but they never do. I won't name them here, but anyone close to the flight simulation community will know who I'm speaking about. It is very possible that FSS is being genuine, but the flight simulation community is unforgiving and not interested in half-finished products. We simply have too much of that going on and based off of what we've seen of the E175, it is nowhere close to being finished. To many, this is disrespectful to the community. We deserve better than that and FSS is simply not interested in listening. Also, their snarkily comments on their live stream didn't help the situation. With FSS being an official partner with Asobo, I can't imagine Asobo is too pleased about the comments that were made.

Calling FSS liars might be a bit extreme, but they definitely misled people whether they meant to do it or not. You can call it inexperience, an honest mistake or both. Regardless, they've tarnished their reputation. I applaud them for providing clarification and basically redesigning their entire website - this is encouraging. However, it seems like they will go ahead and release the E175 on 1/10/23. A lot of content creators will preview the aircraft and the flight simulation community will be watching. I hope it goes well, but I fear it will be a disaster.

[alexandernovikov]

Early Access 40, 00 Euro ! This is not normal. For example the PMDG 737-600 is a fully developed aircraft and costs the same.
You are not happy with the negative comments - if they sold it for 25 Euro no one would say anything.