With the release of version 24.2 in February of last year, Infinite Flight announced an update to the grade requirements for server access—particularly the Expert Server (and possibly the Training Server as well, though I’m not entirely sure what changed there). The intent behind this change was to make the climb to higher server access more feasible for the average user.
In the spirit of honesty—which is what this post is really about—I’ll be the first to admit that this change has benefited me personally. I’m a student, and I can’t always be consistently active on Infinite Flight. But when I do find time to fly, I’m still eligible for the Expert Server, thanks to the removal of the previous 90-day flight time and landing requirements. I can almost guarantee that I’m not alone in appreciating this flexibility.
With that being said, there’s definitely some cons.
Since this change, I’ve noticed a growing trend that’s hard to ignore: the quality of behavior on the Expert Server has declined. While I understand that Infinite Flight is, at the end of the day, “just a simulator,” it’s also one that people pay for and one that many of us take seriously. The server names aren’t arbitrary. There’s a purpose behind having three distinct levels: Casual for introductory flying and experimentation, Training for learning and training, and Expert for realistic, real-world conditions and flying.
But lately, the boundaries between those servers feel increasingly blurred. Previously it would be pretty uncommon for crazy maneuvers near airports and fighter jets intercepting you at cruising altitude, but that happens to me now almost every flight. At this point I think it would be more “expert” to just fly on the Casual or Training servers, which is ironic, given the kind of flying those servers find appropriate. Has it ever been or will it ever be perfect? No. But the way that people flew, I feel, was much more appropriate to the server pre-24.2.
The numbers show something, too. At the time I’m writing this, nearly 1,700 users are active on the Expert Server, while the Training and Casual Servers have only 352 and 259 users respectively. It feels like all three servers have morphed into one—and that one is the Expert Server. Now don’t get me wrong, this is great. We’re seeing more and more pilots get to the level of expert server. But the problem is that they are there because requirements were dropped, and they aren’t piloting in ways that the Expert server was meant for.
I really want to be clear here this post isn’t meant to sound elitist or suggest that I’m better than anyone else on the platform. I’m just voicing a concern that I suspect many others also share. Infinite Flight is an incredible simulator, and the community behind it is passionate. But if the Expert Server no longer reflects the discipline and realism it was designed to uphold, then what makes the Expert server “expert” anymore if you get what I mean.
Maybe I’m just complaining, and maybe I’m the only one who finds this to be something of a problem, but I thought it’d be worth while to come here and say something…