I miss the good old days

[Hawkeye07]

I knew this would somehow devolve into a "them young whipper snappers ain't no good" thread. And it did. Doesn't every generation say that about the next? My 13-year-old son has access to my FSX and, when I used it, X-Plane. This summer I even took him to Aviation Camp in Louisville, Kentucky, where he got to take-off, fly, and land a Cessna. But the interest isn't there, and he's smart enough to know airline corporations pay peanuts and treat pilots with little respect.

This really hasn't devolved into a "them young..." What I was saying was that the younger folks didn't grow up with black and white, only 3 channels TV and Am radio.
I for one am glad those days are gone. The younger generations, especially the teenagers now, have been hard wired to expect instant response and super graphics which they can get in many other sims or games on the web or in XBox or Play Station. It's what they grew up with and they haven't experienced an environment that had less. Older generations (I'm 65) learned patience simply because we had to wait for the post office to deliver our order form and then wait for snail mail to deliver our package. Now we can sit in North America and purchase an aircraft for FSX from Australia and have it downloaded in a matter of minutes. Amazing!
So what is there to draw younger folks to FS9 or FSX? Nothing unless they really love aircraft and flying because it sure the hell is a lot cheaper than going for a real private pilot's license. Besides what private pilot gets to fly an F-14 in zone 5 burner at tree top level?

As for the airlines paying peanuts and treating pilots with little respect. I don't know about that. Which airline(s) are you talking about? I worked for NWA for 13 years as an aircraft mechanic and it seemed to me that the airlines paid the pilots pretty good. But of course you had to "pay your dues" to end up in the left seat of a B-747, DC-10 or A340 and make a six figure salary. I know a couple of top level captains who flew the Minneapolis to Narita route and they admitted that flying the overseas routes was the absolute "top of the heap" in every way. Respect? Other than the usual contract negotiation fighting the airlines higher ups know that the pilots can make or break them quick. A mechanic strike will slow an airline down quite a bit but a pilots strike is a "dead in the water right now" scenario. When was the last time you saw or heard of an airline pilot quit the job because they didn't give him enough respect? Quite a few, but definitely NOT all, airline pilots act like Prima Donnas.

Thanks for the in depth view of the train sims. Pretty interesting reading.

[BigTruck]

Thank you all for your responses, I wasn't trying to say our current members aren't here when we need them, and I do get it that most questions involving the hobby have been answered, and that hobbyists do move on...I was just reminiscing the good old days and trying to reignite the fire that used to burn here.

Life goes on, I used to be here every single day for hours on end, but I have kids now, and a job that takes up my entire week. I'll be honest I only get to fly on the weekends, usually when my wife is at work and my kids are asleep. I used to get on FS everyday after work, now it's a procedure to get some time on the sim, but I do, I finally have the computer to handle it and I am gonna use it dammit lol.

Young whippersnappers have nothing to do with the lack of activity, if they weren't here before there is no reason to expect them to be here now. It's just a matter of people moving on from the hobby, finding something new, and good on them. I was just saying I miss the good old days, and making an effort to get them days back, even if it's just a part time thing. Some members turned out to be no good for the site, some members have passed away, some members have found new hobbies, and some are still here with us. I think what I miss the most is the "community" feeling we had here. There was "go to" guys for certain questions, there was active simpit projects getting shared, people keeping us updated on their "other" hobbies, and there was people doing photography in areas none of us had access to. (Mictheslick)

I know the forums aren't meant to be all about screenshots and photos, but that used to be the bread and butter here. There was a lot Q&A when Microsoft released a new sim, and everyone shared their personal tweaks and critiqued others tweaks, and I imagine most of those questions are answered now. But there used to be so much activity in the media sections, everyone showing off their artistic flare. I loved that, and still do, I'll admit that is the first section I visit every time I log on, even before I visit the "Dungeon." (that's the Mod section for you newcomers)

I love the fact that we are still SimV and Pete has done an amazing job KEEPING Simv what it has always been. Thank you for not selling out, Pete. I still download 99% of my aircraft and scenery from the main page. I do believe we are THE top freeware site in the hobby now. I browse others and they just don't compare.