An interesting thread .. but can we all try to keep a goodly sense of humour and good cheer generally ... those who are competent will be recognised by others of competence after a few posts and accorded an appropriate level of professional respect and courtesy ...
If I may add several comments -
(a) some years ago I was involved part time in a particular 737-300 training program.
On a couple of sessions, I was able to take two maintainer colleagues who worked for me in my day job. Neither had pilot licences, as I recall, but both were very knowledge aircraft folk and dreadfully avid flight simmers .. with whichever programs they used.
During the breaks, I put each in the seat, in turn, for a few minutes of push and pull famil and then an ILS. To say that I was more than amazed at the ability of each to drive the box (full flight) to the ILS minima and do a passable landing would be about spot on ... Of course, they would have been all at sea with abnormals and emergencies but the basic speed with which they settled into the seat still causes me to shake my head somewhat ..
(b) I am sure that no-one seeks to equate MSFS and similar software with the high end "real" simulation kits. However, they do have a potentially significant value in, eg, maintaining scan rates and procedural comfort for those whose jobs for the time being don't get them into the real aircraft or real sim ...
Be interesting to see this thread get into the meat of simulator evaluation and certification ... ?