Here is a little history as to why the TWO FORUMS were created.
Simviation has always been a BIG supporter of Freeware Addons! Our library consists of thousands of free aircraft, scenery, utilities and many other programs that give the flight Sim enthusiast a never-ending selection to chose from.
The Screenshot Forum was introduced by Pete to give us the opportunity to share our images and experiences with one another. This forum was started before Payware Companies even existed.
As the Payware companies became a growing part of the Flight Sim community, Payware images started becoming more and more frequent among all the great freeware shots.
Simviation has always been focused on offering the community FREE ad ons to enhance their simulator. It has always been Pete's goal to keep Simviation a site that caters to the many developers that want to share their products with the Flight Sim Community for free.
Since the Site is based on Free Add Ons, people should be able to view the Screenshot Forum and see what great free add ons they can add to their Sim. It allows people to say, "Wow, I can get that aircraft and scenery too and it does not cost me anything!" It stays true to what the vision of the site is and what this site is about....
"Over 60GB of Freeware Add-ons. Providing 2 Million Files Monthly to Flight Simulator Users Worldwide!"
The decision was made to split the Screenshot forums into 2 separate forums,
The Freeware Screen Shot Forum & The Payware Screen Shot Forum.
This way it gave the user a choice to view what the two different types of add ons had to offer. It also eliminated the constant question of, "Is that Payware or Freeware?"
By splitting the Forums it gave the Freeware user a forum of their own to share their images with everybody else who could get the same add on simply by downloading it.
It also gave the Payware user a separate forum of their own to share their Payware images and show what type of Aircraft & Scenery Payware Products had to offer.
Besides the obvious Payware Aircraft & Scenery add ons, a few Payware utilities have arrived. Payware products that do not "promote" the Aircraft or Scenery itself, but offer the viewer a different perspective of the image!
The Payware in question would be Active Camera or Walk & Follow.
From the PM's I constantly receive, many think that it should be allowed in the Freeware Forum. The shots are of Freeware Aircraft & Scenery but the shot has been captured with a Payware product. The person posting the shot is not showing you something you need to purchase but giving you a unique perspective of their shot.
Remember, the forums were split to separate
Freeware Aircraft & Scenery from Payware Aircraft & Scenery.
It never had anything to do with image capture programs.
This should not be about, "Hey, that is Payware, it does not belong here", because of how the shot was taken!
There are so many great shots in the Freeware forum and many talented people posting them.
Do you really want to lose some really unique shots in the Freeware Forum because somebody used a "different lens on their camera to take the shot"?
By telling people that they need to post their shots in the Payware Forum because of the "way it looks", is really a loss to The Freeware Screen Shot Forum itself, IMHO.
SINCE THE POLL OPTION IS NOT WORKING AT THE MOMENT, PLEASE START YOUR RESPONSE WITH
YES OR NO and maybe post a comment on how you feel about this, Thanks
We leave it up to you.
be allowed in the Freeware Forum?