ORIGINAL: cfossa
ALL of the sims have their pro's and cons. This forum tends to favor AFP, but you can learn to fly on any of these programs. I like G2 because I do not like to have my Tx turned on to fly the sim ... the controller box on G2 is good enough. I also like that G2 models many of the Great Planes kits and ARFs ... they fly like my real planes. As you will read here, G2 is not that great for 3D flying. It that's what you are looking for, then AFP is the ticket. Also, those who want to use their real Tx prefer AFP.
You will find folks who bash the sim they don't use ... they are all worth the money if they save you even one crash. Take the plunge with AFP or G2 depending upon what you are looking for and you will not be sorry.
I agree with most of your posts, except...
You can buy AFP with the "Game Commander" and therefore you don't have to use your own TX.
AFP has an better all-around physics engine(I've used both extensively). Until RealFlight updates their physics engine, afp is the best choice. If you absolutely have to have multiplayer, then G2 will be the one to get (not currently supported with AFP).