NRO - What is the real truth!!!!

Ed Martin, Jim Sokoloff, Dave Matson Papyrus: It would really be refreshing if someone could really tell us the truth about the NRO and its pricing. And let me state that I dont think we care a hooter about TEN, NRO, PAPYRUS SURCHARGES or CONCENTRIC. Those charges are necessary. At Least TEN has told us to sign up with CONCENTRIC to beat that .95 cent an hour surcharge. We all get this message about January 97 NRO update from Ed Martin of Papyrus. He tells us all this stuff about how NRO is going to be cheap. You know I might agree with you if I live in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles or New York City, but I dont, I live in a small town 180,000 people that isnt close a Concentric SuperPop or an Enhanced Server. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN.. LET ME MAKE IT SIMPLE FOR YOU.. ITS CALLED LONG DISTANCE. I care about LONG DISTANCE charges and the fact that PAPYRUS refuses to address the fact that this is really gonna be the real cost. I can see why it doesnt concern you as you never played HAWAII anyways, Your just a SUIT in management, but I have spent over $3000.00 on HAWAII and so far there is no PAPYRUS/TEN/CONCENTRIC solution that will cut my communuications cost. Let me make it simple. There is no 800 dial-in number or local access numbers and most of us dont live next to a major city. THE SIMPLE FACT IS THE NRO IS TARGETED TOWARDS BIG CITIES AND THOSE CLEINTS. THE NRO WILL NOT BE AFFORDABLE TO THE MAJORITY OF THE PEOPLE THAT HAVE SUPPORTED HAWAII AND ARE FROM RURAL AND SOUTHERN STATES. Eventually the NRO is going to be available and I predict it will be a hard landing. PS. Yes.. I guess I am one of those people you refer to in your first paragraph. PS. Why cant you give us the NRO rules... Don Wilshe, IVGA The statement below was cut out of the NRO 1997 letter from Ed Martin.. ======================================================================== First on the hit list is pricing. Although I spend a lot less time on rec.autos.simulators than I used to, and I rarely post up there any more, we do monitor it. One of the most "interesting" subjects up there since the TEN announcement has been speculation on NRO pricing. Wow! Oliver Stone's got nothing on a lot of you folks! I've seen some postings up there that estimate the pricing of NRO to be higher then the GNP of many small nations! Let me try to clarify... Here is my exact quote from last month's letter: "We have not, and are not yet ready to announce the pricing for NRO. Yes, TEN has announced their pricing, but that is not necessarily indicative of what NRO will cost. All I can tell you for now is that it will cost a lot less than the long-distance charges that you are currently paying to dial into Hawaii." Folks, don't try to read too much between the lines. All I'm saying is that NRO pricing is not yet announced. Period. People making assumptions about surcharges for NRO over basic TEN pricing apparently know a lot more than me about the NRO. That's a little unlikely. Don't jump to ridiculous conclusions, and don't just make things up. The simple fact is that we (both Papyrus & TEN) are not yet ready to announce pricing. That should in no way be misinterpreted as some announcement that NRO will cost more or less than anything else on TEN. All it says is that we have not yet made the pricing public. That announcement will not be made until we get closer to release (this spring). Can anyone guarantee the pricing of anything a few months in the future? Although I can't say more about NRO pricing, I can say something about TEN pricing. TEN has announced their pricing plans. One of them is $29.95/month for unlimited usage. As some have noted, that $29.95 does not include unlimited use of TEN dial-ups, though. Well, TEN uses Concentric as their primary ISP (www.concentric.net). although TEN has yet to announce anything regarding an "all-you-can-stand" plan which includes unlimited TEN dial-up access, worst case, you can sign up with Concentric for an unlimited usage plan. So, the speculation over per-hour surcharges for TEN are incorrect. ============================================================================= Blah Blah Blah. THERE IS NO 800 NUMBER OR LOCAL ACCESS NUMBERS. ITS LONG DISTANCE FOR MOST OF US.............................

Geez, I really hope this doesn't become another long, drawn out thread. Email your misgivings to one of the above directly, Don. No one here can help you. Bill.

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>>Ed Martin, Jim Sokoloff, Dave Matson Papyrus: >Geez, I really hope this doesn't become another long, drawn out >thread. Email your misgivings to one of the above directly, Don. No >one here can help you. >Bill.

Why not discuss the issue of TEN connectivity? Don is absolutely right in his assertion that it will be long distance for most of us. I have been investigating the matter for some time now and toll charges to TEN are a major concern of mine. Ed hasn't addressed that issue yet. Imo a good healthy discussion of this issue is in the interest of those who will be racing NRO. Will it change anything? Maybe not. I've e-mailed Concentric with the same concerns as Don. I got a form letter pledging nebulously to "install more lines". I've spoken to TEN tech support at length about which ISP's have the best connectivity to TEN, how many hops my ISP should make , that "enhanced" phone numbers are going to be the best way into TEN. Are these not pertinent issues? Ed Martins' last newsletter addressed issues brought up here, so why not give him something to write about next month? Hell, a Wilshe thread is a hell of a lot better than reading 50 flames of some poor guy who asks the wrong question. Regards, Gavel

As I understand it, there are actually two ways in which to connect to TEN...1) Dial TEN direct, thus gauranteeing a clear connection, but may cost you in LD. 2) Enter TEN through the 'net (like most do), and play on the system as though it were Kali, Khan, etc...I'm sure they'll have a password in order for you to log on in either config... Best Regards, Marc Marc J. Nelson Sim Racing News - USA http://members.aol.com/simracing

Hi Marc, In order to dial direct to TEN and race in the NRO you'll have to use one of their "enhanced" numbers. These numbers are provided by Concentric Net. You'll be lucky if they are a local call. In my case, (I live in the suburbs of Sacramento, hardly rural) the call is a toll call that works out to be $6.37 per hour with TENs' .95cent per hour fee tacked on and NOT including the $15.00 per month "unlimited use" fee I currently pay to TEN. While this is not "the GNP of some countries", it is more than I pay to race on Hawaii per hour. If you're lucky enough to have Concentric as your ISP AND a local enhanced number you're cruisin! If you're me you have no local access to Concentric and thus must pay the above toll..or Use your own ISP, but it better get to darkride.ten.net in less than 10 hops or you're not gonna have a very good time. TEN tech support says it has the best luck with Concentric and Netcom customers. The above costs are not wild imaginations, they are the published prices of the services mentioned. Ed has asked that we not speculate on NRO fees or pricing, so I won't. I'm concentrating my efforts now on finding a stout ISP that'll get to TEN below 10 hops and hope that Concentric doesn't end up being the de-facto method of racing on the NRO. Hope this helps someone. Regards, Greg Gavel on Hawaii,TEN,Kali and Kahn P.S> for those on the West coast, Pac Bell and TEN often have connex probs. according to a source at TEN. Many ISPs' out here lease Pac Bell routes. Investigate.