A new Auran/N3V: anyone in on this who would like to share?

[bl4882]

"Did you know that we're building a new online portal? Coming soon, we will be
relaunching our online digital portal auran.com,
and aiming to bring you more features and better service. On one hand we will
have the shop, whose new name will be announced soon, which will cater to
simulation fans in every genre. You'll still be able to get the latest Trainz
goods and DLC, but we'll also be stocking the best bits of simulators from
around the globe.

"The second half, Trainzportal.com, is where we want to bring all the
Trainz Fans together under one digital roof. You'll be able to find all the
latest news about upcoming expansions, community events, and everything else
Trainz Simulator related. We look forward to being able to better improve our
services to our great community, so be sure to let us know on the forums if
you've got any suggestions!"

This came on the latest Auran/N3V poop sheet. Does anyone know if it means there will be something new, or is it just a reorganization of what already is available? It sounds like a politician's campaign promise, but I'd prefer to think it is going to be a real improvement in the Trainz info center. Anyone have inside info they'd care to share? I'm looking forward to it and would like insights from others in the know.

Bernie

 

[Euphod]

Well Trainzportal has been around for some time now, so I expect any changes to be to the Planet Auran site, which is overdue for updating anyway. I don't expect anything new, exactly.

 

[Cratey]

Hi,

Thanks for your interest in this. This is the current project that I'm overseeing here at N3V Games and I'll try to give you a little more information.

This is quite a large scale task for us. As mentioned in the newsletter, we're looking to first redo our shop, currently referenced to as the 'Auran' store. Our new store will be placed to provide simulations goods and equipment and products for all areas of the genre. We've taken all of the feedback that's been sent in over the years about the current store, and making lots of changes. The main difference you'll find is a completely new look and feel to the store. Our aim is to streamline the stores user interface to make navigating at easier.

There's a lot of new features that will be coming as well, but to start we're looking to keep things relatively simple. As for what's mentioned about Trainz Portal, turning this into the portal for all things Trainz community and news related is something we've wanted to do for a long time, and these changes will happen after the changes to www.auran.com take effect.

 

[VinnyBarb]

Thank you Cratey to fill us in BUT the most complained about part of AURAN/N3V's operation is the DownLoadStation and the state this is in. When can we expect any sort of improvements with the DLS as one only needs to see and read the constant stream of complains about it. I would have thought that would be AURAN/N3V's first and foremost priority to fix.

Care to elaborate on this?

Cheers

VinnyBarb

 

[big_b]

Thank you Cratey to fill us in BUT the most complained about part of AURAN/N3V's operation is the DownLoadStation and the state this is in. When can we expect any sort of improvements with the DLS as one only needs to see and read the constant stream of complains about it. I would have thought that would be AURAN/N3V's first and foremost priority to fix.

Care to elaborate on this?

Cheers

VinnyBarb

The DLS doesn't generate income.Therefore I don't think it may be at the top of the list.
As for the store probably the least visited place for me.
Member for 8yrs/8 purchases. Each one nearly worked right!
This quote
"The main difference you'll find is a completely new look and feel to the store. Our aim is to streamline the stores user interface to make navigating at easier. "
should have the word "store" replaced with "DLS".

Dave

 

[wreeder]

Hi Cratey,

Thanks for the update. Here is something you might want to take a look at. The floating ad at the bottom which remains stationary when the page is scrolled in the store doesn't work correctly in the browser of the Kindle Fire. It appears correctly when the page first loads but then it moves the the middle of the screen when you scroll the page and remains there blocking most of the tiny screen. I know it is a browser problem but it makes the store unusable for Kindle Fire users of the Android version.

If the DLS doesn't generate revenue, what do you call all those first class tickets?

William

 

[bendorsey]

I must (respectlfully) disagree that the DLS doesn't generate income. DIRECT INCOME = no. INDIRECT INCOME = yes. Problem is there is no way to confirm either. Yes - - - it costs N3V $$$ (AU) to mainaintain the capacity to host the items on the DLS but to me that content is the biggest assest N3V has OR WILL EVER HAVE!!!. No other sim/game/(whatever) has anything even remotely compared to it. I can't count the times I've mentioned what I do (as a content creator) and some 10 to 12 year old young man (and yes a few young girls) haven't said "what"! Then I mention the DLS and its tons of free content and they go bonkers. Can I prove this = no. Can anyone disprove it = also no.

To be blunt - - - the DLS is N3V's greatest asset. When it dissappears so will N3V).

Ben

 

[RRSignal]

I must (respectlfully) disagree that the DLS doesn't generate income. DIRECT INCOME = no. INDIRECT INCOME = yes. Problem is there is no way to confirm either. Yes - - - it costs N3V $$$ (AU) to mainaintain the capacity to host the items on the DLS but to me that content is the biggest assest N3V has OR WILL EVER HAVE!!!. No other sim/game/(whatever) has anything even remotely compared to it.

^This times ten^

 

[frogpipe]

DLS is great from a corp standpoint. Auran's out of pocket cost for content = $0.00 since it's all community made, so each ticket sold is nearly pure profit. All they spend is money to maintain their website and gear, which they would mostly do ANYWAY for the online store and website. (not to mention what they "save" for the content they use in the game it's self)

 

[KrisDeagle]

To all concerned parties,

We intend to overhaul the Download Station, however, due to complexity issues, it will come once the shop and trainzportal.com have received their changes.

Don't worry, we would not forget about our Download Station, it's a very valuable asset.

Kris

 

[RRSignal]

DLS is great from a corp standpoint. Auran's out of pocket cost for content = $0.00 since it's all community made, so each ticket sold is nearly pure profit. All they spend is money to maintain their website and gear, which they would mostly do ANYWAY for the online store and website. (not to mention what they "save" for the content they use in the game it's self)

No, they spend huge amounts of money on server space and bandwidth; it's anything but pure profit.

 

[frogpipe]

Good point.:Y: