Yet Another Blow to the Retro Community

I recently came across this decision:

Now for most users, this won’t be of concern. I fully understand the vast majority of Infinite Flight players exclusively fly or prefer the latest aircraft/livery currently in operation.

But for some of us, few as we may be, one of the biggest joys of Infinite Flight is our ability to experience aircraft that are no longer in the air. It’s the beauty of Infinite Flight - Being able to do something we otherwise could not.

Naturally, being a small part of the Infinite Flight community, we’ve come to expect and manage with only a few classic/retro options. We understand that. We know why. Resources have to be devoted to what most people want.

So when there is a promising opportunity to get something historic, we rejoice hopefully.

Those hopes were shattered by the decision to not even consider the American A330.

The purpose of the Features category is to express interest in a proposed development. However, if a feature isn’t even going to be considered, regardless of the number of votes, because it is no longer in service, then this has major implications for the future of Infinite Flight.

Are we to expect all historical livery requests to be closed now? If liveries are not allowed, what about aircraft? Will all those requests be closed too? And if not, why?

I see no reason in allowing requests to be open for features clearly off the books in terms of development.

All of this is to say, I hope we are not witnessing the end of historical options in Infinite Flight. We Classic Airplane lovers have to live constantly with a limited scope of Aviation Enthusiasm in the community, one that seems to be focused on Modern Pax planes and not so much for Private, Military, GA, and Retro.

Which is fine! People can like what they what, and should be proud of it! But when a fair number of people (60) voted for the historical American A330 livery, we had a real reason to celebrate the possibility of getting an old paint job. Those hopes, and the thin hope for more like it, have been dashed by this abrupt decision.

If you’ve made it this far, I sincerely appreciate your patience in reading my thoughts. This is not a knock on staff, or the community. It is merely an appeal to at least consider the repercussions of this decision. For some of us, it means a lot more than you may think.

Many thanks,
George

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So, why was the Itapemirim A320 added after the airline went defunct ?

Check this:

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Yes. So that is in direct contrast to the OPs line of questioning is it not ?

I just answered your question, simple.

Oh. I do apologise.

To be honest. Not adding liveries if they are retired doesn’t make that much sense to me.

Because its really all luck, if the A330 was reworked in a time when the AA A330 was in service (before 2020) chances are we would have it. And having no compensation for this (TAP A333 was done with a TAP A339) only makes it worse. And retired liveries on aircraft, they don’t get removed. Why? I don’t know.

To clarify, I dont even want this livery, but i understand the frustration.

Though this should rather be in General

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The decision is made because (in my opinion), the A330 itself is not “retro” at all. It is still widely used around the world, with many current operators not included in the game. Therefore it’d be unreasonable to prioritize a retired livery over current ones.

If you look at some actual retro aircraft, like DC and MD, B757, B767 and B747, whose passenger variant is now very rare or unexist, it’s impossible to exclude retired liveries, or we could have little to no livery to choose from. So your concerns about retro aircraft restrictions are unnecessary.

I’m not commenting on whether the rule is good or not, just to be clear.

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Well, the stars could align and we could get some more retro liveries, but we’d probably have more success creating a perpetual motion machine. The novelty bug is real, and unfortunately, it makes it exceedingly hard to get some aircraft, many of which are still flying, albeit with cargo or charter operators instead of major airlines. What would Anchorage be without Everts Air Cargo’s MD-80 freighters admist a sea of heavy metal? Or Kai Tak without 747 Classics, DC-10s, MD-11s, and Tristars? Or with the addition of more and more 3D airports in California, the Pacific Northwest, and Montana - the heart of wildfire country - the world-famous Fruit Bat (which is the British Aerospace 146: One airplane, Four engines, Needs six), if only so we can have another firefighting aircraft besides the DC-10, let alone all the places in Australia you could fly it?

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I guess people use “retro” and “historic” differently.

This is the current livery of an airline that’s not being placed on an aircraft because it’s not being used anymore.

To me, the other AA liveries, so not the current one, are historic and retro.

When a new aircraft is released, would the current livery of an airline that used to fly that aircraft, but not anymore, for whatever reason, be labeled as historic or retro?

To me those labels apply to liveries that have been replaced and not aircraft.

I know you just would like to get this livery on this specific aircraft.
Stating it’s “yet another blow to the retro community” doesn’t seem accurate or fair though.

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Yeah I was pretty sad when I saw the American a330 get closed.

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So when there is a promising opportunity to get something historic, we rejoice hopefully. Those hopes were shattered by the decision to not even consider the American A330.

Woa historic? The AA A330s were retired like 3-4 years ago and they were in the modern livery. It is NOT a classic livery. Many other liveries actually flying around in 2024 are not present in the game and should be prioritzed.
Hopes shattered?
AA has about 20 liveries in the game anyways and a part of them are retro liveries. You should be grateful because many airlines do not have that many liveries let alone one retro livery.

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I agree with this 100%

I was also really disappointed when the AAL livery got skipped from the ERJ-190. Yet they add liveries that no one really flies. It is actually disappointing. There are plenty of us, including myself, that know exactly what routes the AA put their A330s on and which hubs they flew from.

They add the old retired liveries such as the good old AAL livery to the B772 and even the 757-200 that got added a few months before the A330-300 rework. So just because it is retired that is no excuse not to add that livery.

I hope this post gets recognized more maybe the more people who want it the better of chances they might add it. I can understand the need for prioritization but like saying “no never happening” is total BS.

I am still hoping for AAL one World to be added to the 737-800NGs so I won’t have to fly the 737 MAX 8 😂

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Isn’t that exactly what prioritizing means?

Choices have to be made.
Even when you don’t agree with them, there are good reasons for the choices made.
Complaining about it and calling it BS won’t change that.

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Prioritization is choosing what gets done first not give up on things entirely. The prioritization is to convince people infinite flight is worth investing into. So adding more options gives people a reason to invest into the flight sim.

So adding things like an amazing livery shouldn’t be forgotten all together. Instead working on things like the 737 MAX 8 is more important than the adding the American Airlines livery to the A330-300 at the moment doesn’t mean they should never add it in the sim but rather add it in the future.

You call not adding a livery to an aircraft type in a sim just because it is retired a good reason? If so why add all the liveries to the A380 that they did such as Global Airlines? That livery doesn’t exist yet. What about the old AA livery being added to the 777-200ER, 757-200, 737-800NG? Why keep the MD-11 and DC-10 in the sim?

If you are going to apply that reason into not adding the AAL to the A330-300 then you apply that same reason to other similar things. An excuse is not the same as a good reason. It is just not.

I feel like have the U.S. Airways liveries on more airplanes would be nice. Like this one, for instance.

I’m just tossing this out there…

The American 330 was officially retired in 2020. Now, my question is, why was it never added in the first place? We have a fictitious A350 in United livery. It doesn’t exist yet at all? I see a bit of palaver going on here. The older planes are the older planes. Maybe create an all new segment with ATC like the expert server where only the oldies can play. Just an idea. I think it could be fun loading up JFK with a bunch of L1011’s, DC8’s-9’s, DC-10’s, 747’s, MD80’s, 727’s 737’s & maybe a goonie or two and of course the grand lady herself, the 707! Wouldn’t that be a gas!
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Nothing says more options like a fourteenth instance of the same American Airlines livery!

We’re writing ~400 word essays over a paint job? A paint job that exists in Infinite Flight 13 times already? For an airline that already has 8 retro liveries in the sim? An airline who stopped flying this A330 + Current Livery combo 4 years ago?

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I think this whole discussion can be summed up to the retro/historic/classic/retired livery fans (community members) want consistency across the board regarding livery decisions.

I can totally see why some members are frustrated given the previously mentioned inconsistencies. I also understand Infinite Flight’s perspective… Its all a balancing act in which it is impossible to please everyone. Unfortunately, at times, these decisions affect you, and you just have to roll with the punches.

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Would be funny if someone makes a 10 page essay about this… wait?