This reminds me of Compute!, the Commodore/Amiga publication, where amateur programmers would submit their programs to the magazine, only to discover that their programs were locked in copyright by the magazine after submission, and could not even recover their own program without permission. Fine, developers can send their submissions to Auran DLS, which charges for downloading, but in my mind, this is simply feeding a corporation with free products which they appropriate for their own profit. What are the people that offer these products getting for their submissions? Looks like a great money making racket to me.
Auran Developments News
- Thread starter Lance_Jago
- Start date
This reminds me of Compute!, the Commodore/Amiga publication, where amateur programmers would submit their programs to the magazine, only to discover that their programs were locked in copyright by the magazine after submission, and could not even recover their own program without permission. Fine, developers can send their submissions to Auran DLS, which charges for downloading, but in my mind, this is simply feeding a corporation with free products which they appropriate for their own profit. What are the people that offer these products getting for their submissions? Looks like a great money making racket to me.
I do not think you will find more than a handful of companies that are not in it to make money.
Non-profitable ventures get capped real quick.
narrowgauge
92 year oldTrainz veteran
CasyJ
Last time I looked, downloads from the DLS are free, what you pay for with your two-cups-of-coffee-a-year-$10 ticket is the ability to download faster. The provision of this bandwidth costs money and that is what you are paying for. There is no compulsion to buy tickets, just accept the free downloads at a reduced rate.
Further more, submissions to the DLS are voluntary, Auran do not own the copyright, and if there is a good enough reason for it, content can be removed.
The DLS concept is what has made Trainz such a great program with an intensely loyal following (with some exceptions), and it benefits Trainz users more that it benefits Auran.
It seems that you are not fully aware of the true situation.
Cheers
Narrowgauge
Last time I looked, downloads from the DLS are free, what you pay for with your two-cups-of-coffee-a-year-$10 ticket is the ability to download faster. The provision of this bandwidth costs money and that is what you are paying for. There is no compulsion to buy tickets, just accept the free downloads at a reduced rate.
Further more, submissions to the DLS are voluntary, Auran do not own the copyright, and if there is a good enough reason for it, content can be removed.
The DLS concept is what has made Trainz such a great program with an intensely loyal following (with some exceptions), and it benefits Trainz users more that it benefits Auran.
It seems that you are not fully aware of the true situation.
Cheers
Narrowgauge
Completely agree with you narrowgauge and an earlier posting here regarding how cheap it is to get faster downloading. My first brilliant find on coming across Trainz was that compared with trying to build my present project on Microsoft was impossible. Then discovering a company was providing a basically free download station with tends of thousands of excellent items a great extra surprise. If it was twice the present for a ticket would be still a brgain. Most of us waste a bit and we are getting a DLS at a great cost. Trainz is better than the long time medication I am stuck on! If Train Anonymous was needed I would be an early joiner!!
amigacooke
Well-known member
I hope that Auran makes it through present problems as I think that no-one else has the gravitas to keep the Trainz community whole.
Trainz minus Auran would survive, but fractured into its national/team/interest components. In short, no-one else has the restraint required to keep this unruly bunch more or less together.
Trainz minus Auran would survive, but fractured into its national/team/interest components. In short, no-one else has the restraint required to keep this unruly bunch more or less together.
I don't think you understand corporate finance. To Auran Holding Pty there is no loss, there is a tax write off against earnings. According to other stories about AHP on the Internet, Auran Games is doing very well in the chinese market. The very reason for their structure is to reduce risk for AHP. It seems they have done this very well. It saddens me that good people lost their jobs and I worry that Trainz might not be profitable enough to continue but I don't take any joy from the situation as you seem to do.
William
Tax write offs are just that -- you pay less taxes. AHP and Auran Games will probably survive, but their money structure is still weaken because profits are more beneficial to a company then write offs.
It also appears that all games, this includes new and existing games, were place in one company and not only for their development, but also for their day to day operations.
This is why, even with all this rallying around the pole atmosphere, I'm still concern about Trainz future development. Because if everyone remembers it was only a week before the collapse that Tony was stating everything was normal. I expect, in his position, he will always state the rosy side of the picture.
atsfrr3000
New member
Well, sure...he's the company spokesperson.
I'd take anything a spokesperson says with a grain of salt, especially if their company is in financial trouble.
atsfrr3000
New member
amigacooke
Well-known member
I take anything said on these boards with a large pinch of salt.
Hi Dru. No longer in self imposed exile then?
Hi Dru. No longer in self imposed exile then?
Not really. But I still like Trainz even tho it is still off my laptop. So when I got dozens of Auran's and Trainz's news story alerts, it is only natural that I visit the forum.
And the reason I'm posting is because I still like getting deep into finding the actual truth. You know me, I like to dig.
PS. Still miss the forum railroad flatcar with our registered versions. :'(