[Idea] Gimmi some motivation!

[Eoin Motherway 1315348]

It's been a while since I actually enjoyed flying on VATSIM, or in the sim in general. I just can't find any reward or gratification in completing flights.

I noticed VATNZ has an Achievements system (https://www.vatnz.net/achievements/), I know those logbook programs like ProjectFLY might have something similar, but then that's just another program to open, another account to maintain, and overall makes flying in the sim more cumbersome.

It'd be cool if VATSIM had a sort of built-in career or rank system which would actually encourage people to fly and control more. Thoughts?

[Kirk Christie]

People should fly/control because they want too, not because there is an award on offer. 

[Martijn Rammeloo]

S1 - C3 is good enough for me.

[Andreas Fuchs]

Obviously, quite a few members would like to get some feedback on how they are doing and I understand this. After having flown EDDF-EHAM for the hundredth time, it's getting a bit dull. That's where virtual airlines come into play, I'd say. Have you used SimToolKitPro? That's a very nice application with logging functions, you can research realworld city-pairs with name of airline, flight number, type of aircraft and more info.

For VATSIM, I would not mind such a career or achievement system. It would cater for those members who would like to use it, all others don't need to pay attention to it, simples.

Edited September 27, 2020 at 09:24 AM by Andreas Fuchs

[Evan Reiter]

I don't feel the VATSIM network should have achievements baked in. The existing Pilot Ratings and Virtual Airline structure has this concept covered. To me, anything the network were to do would simply be a re-creation of what's already available through either of those options (or many other third-party systems like ProjectFly). 

[Alistair Thomson]

22 hours ago, Evan Reiter said:

I don't feel the VATSIM network should have achievements baked in. The existing Pilot Ratings and Virtual Airline structure has this concept covered.

+1

Also, there is the question of what makes something an "achievement." For example, hand-flying an ILS approach may be an achievement for some, but old hat for others. I'd be a bit unhappy for anyone to decide on what is and what is not an achievement for me. I resigned from a virtual airline because what they decided was a successful flight was in my opinion a disaster. I could hear the passengers screaming as I turned on a very VERY short final, banking at 60 degrees and pulling 2G. The fact that I got her down on the centreline without rolling into a metal ball was good enough for the VA.

[Tobias Dammers]

Just make your own challenges. Find some challenging approaches, fly "interesting" routes, fly IFR procedures in a Cessna, land a DHC-6 at Saba, fly into and out of Isafjördur, whatever you think might be fun.

And if you don't enjoy the flying anymore, then just don't fly. It's not a job, you're doing it for fun, so if it's not fun, stop. No shame in that.

[Robert Shearman Jr]

One thing that has worked for me has been switching genres.  After five years on VATSIM logging airline flights, I started learning GA IFR.  Once I got comfortable with that I started trying my hand at VFR.  Within the last year I've started getting into back-country bush-style flying.  It's helped me to keep things fresh and also gives me lots of things to revisit, giving me more overall variety. 

[EJ Davis]

2 hours ago, Robert Shearman Jr said:

One thing that has worked for me has been switching genres.  After five years on VATSIM logging airline flights, I started learning GA IFR.  Once I got comfortable with that I started trying my hand at VFR.  Within the last year I've started getting into back-country bush-style flying.  It's helped me to keep things fresh and also gives me lots of things to revisit, giving me more overall variety. 

Agree with Rob. Switching things up can brighten your mood. When I started upping my flights to Asia and Africa, I found myself enjoying the experience a bit more. ProjectFly is a good tool though. Yes, it's another app to run, but I think it's better than having VATSIM do all that development for something that already exists as a freestanding application.