Classic British Flight Sim

Ben Hartmann wrote:What I do find remarkable is they always blamed torrent sites such as The Pirate Bay for their downfall (and quite rightly so); and now the four founder members of the torrent site are in court, PSS reappear again. A little convieniant, eh??

Rgds

Ben

2 + 2 = 5? Seriously Ben, I'm failing to understand how the founders of the Pirate Bay (one of many torrent sites in existence) being in court would suddenly prompt PSS to re-build their business. You'll have to elaborate further.

petermcleland wrote:Best thing they could do commercially is to invent a new name

Quite right! They have a very good heritage going back to the FS2000 and FS2002 days, but unfortunately most people won't remember their fantastic 747, 777 and A320 from all those years ago. What they will remember is their shocking business practices in recent years.

alemaobaiano wrote:In their heyday (FS2002) PSS produced some of the most advanced simulations available

Absolutely! If I recall correctly they were the first developers to produce a decent FMS with their 747-400 back in the days of FS2000.

alemaobaiano wrote:but they were really left behind in later years and produced some "less-than-excellent" aircraft

You know, their panels were actually very good right the way through to the end, the problem is they didn't iron out all the bugs before release! Their 3D models were outdated and sub-par as far back as the A330/A340. Their flight models also started to become very ropey at the same time. We had A330s and A340s that nosedived into the runway during an autoland, and a 777 that flew like a fighter. It wasn't until they contracted Rob Young to remake the 777 flight model and make the 757 flight model that PSS finally got decent flight models for their products.

alemaobaiano wrote:Their biggest problem will be overcoming the customer disaffection caused in their previous incarnation, as a previously frequent customer (A320/A330/A340/DHC8/Vulcan) they will need to demonstrate a higher level of customer care than before, IF they want me to spend my money with them.

Over the years I purchased from PSS:

777 V1 (FS2000)
Turbine Bonanza (FS2000)
747-400 (FS2000&FS2002)
777 V2 (FS2000&FS2002)
A320 (FS2002)
Dash 8 (FS2002&FS2004)
Vulcan (FS2004)
A330 & A340 (FS2004)
777 V3 (FS2004)
757 (FS2004)

The final years of PSS were very damaging for their reputation, especially among long term customers. If they wish to restore their credibility within the community they will need to do an awful lot:

i) Before anything else they should immediately re-establish their download servers for all their customers so they can download their products again, along with a full and frank explanation of what exactly happened last year (ie NO EXCUSES!).

ii) Set about fixing the remaining issues with the 777 and 757.

iii) Start producing aircraft that stand up well to their contemporaries and have a feature set that reflects the price tag, with a consistent level of quality in that package - i.e. the panels are very good, so make sure the 3D models and flight models are also very good!

iv) Make sure all the major bugs and problems have been fixed BEFORE releasing the product! Don't treat your long term, loyal customers like beta testers!

v) Stop treating customers like idiotic cash cows and begin showing them some respect.

Hi Guys

Graham Waterfield was a mate (helpful contact anyway) at one time many years ago.
lost contact.

Had their 747 & Airbus models years ago and the free Bulldog model which at the time they where all the best available.

Not had any problems with PSS personally ;-)

Nice to see them back again for me

Regards
Rick

Chris H wrote:

Ben Hartmann wrote:What I do find remarkable is they always blamed torrent sites such as The Pirate Bay for their downfall (and quite rightly so); and now the four founder members of the torrent site are in court, PSS reappear again. A little convieniant, eh??

Rgds

Ben

2 + 2 = 5? Seriously Ben, I'm failing to understand how the founders of the Pirate Bay (one of many torrent sites in existence) being in court would suddenly prompt PSS to re-build their business. You'll have to elaborate further.

Sure:-

Antony Waterfield wrote:
PSS have experienced severe difficulties both of a personal and financial level that unfortunately at this time cannot be remedied. The financial difficulties are mainly caused by the individuals who preferred to use sites like pirate bay instead of paying to support the growth and continuation of PSS and then clogging up our forums with technical support queries for products you don't actually own , You know who you are! As a result of this former CEO Graham Waterfield has been left with no alternative but the closure of the company and early retirement.

However, I Antony Waterfield son of Graham along with an investment consortium are in the process of establishing a new company and acquiring the rights, intellectual property & existing customer base from PSS in order that we may keep the company alive and progress it to a higher level. This will include but is not limited to the following:

Improved more user friendly web site/ product catalogue.
Improved technical support sytem including knowledge base and ticketing.
Upgrade existing products to FSX where possible.
Development of further Expansion products for Fs2004/FSX

In the mean time a limited version of the former PSS web site system will be available shortly so existing customers can gain access to previously purchased products and we are taking steps to reintroduce a basic temporary technical support system.

I would like to personally thank the Avsim staff, Tom Allensworth, Robert Kirkland along with John Room, Rob Elliot, Ben Jones etc. for their continued effort supporting the users of PSS products in the forums during this outage.

Key points highlighted in bold for you Chris

I just find it peculiar that the moment TPB is about to shut for good, the rather toasted Phoenix sticks its burnt feathers back on and flies out of the furnace

Once again Chris, not that we'll ever know the real reason as to why they bothered coming back, bit odd during a recession too, buy hey, I suppose by boxing up your products and sticking a "Just Flight" sticker on it pays the bills.

Rgds

Ben

Sadly i wouldn't write the pirate bay off.......they are stomping on the prosecution.....

Half the charges have already had to be dropped.... :o

Tony

Sadly i wouldn't write the pirate bay off.......they are stomping on the prosecution.....

Half the charges have already had to be dropped....

I suppose that the prosecution have had to accept one plea that payment on some software is likened to the Sherriff of Nottingham with his taxes.....charging too much.....and that they are just doing what Robin Hood would have done had he still been around. :roll:

Nigel.

Whatever the outcome of this trial, piracy is here to stay, with or without Pirate Bay. It is a sad fact of life for any software company today, especially in the poorer countries like Brazil. I'm considered very strange by friends and colleagues because I won't use something I don't own, even businesses here use "alternative" software.

However, back to PSS. Everybody is pirated. Every new FS release appears on the torrents within hours of release, so why is it that only PSS had to close it's doors? As a customer I saw their support and quality up close and got to the point where I wouldn't be buying anything new from them. As paying customers had a hard time getting effective support, the argument that pirates were clogging up their support boards doesn't wash. It is a reflection on PSS that I found the unofficial support forum much more effective and friendly.

I would be happy to see them back, but they need to change their approach if they are to reconquer some of their former customers.

TTFN