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Thanks for in depth post. I have remained with Auran - N3V with first purchase of UTC. Some may think I am foolish to continue support. I did keep up membership of British Legion and chess subs but now only an online chess one. I shall keep up support through Plus until the fat old ticket collector beckons.The company was never this distant. Up until pretty recently, it wasn't uncommon to see some kind of interaction from the CEO Tony Hilliam or the lead developer coming in here to see how the community is doing, in particular after a product release. It was a totally different environment, I agree.
I became a Plus member when it was offered through TRS2019. Back then, there was no exclusive club and beta-testing was a sign-up type thing or they contacted us because we beta tested previously. We did get to put our 2 Schekels in on new product improvements though, but testing was still done through a sign-up process. In my opinion, this was a far more diligent testing method because people were there to beta test and not get the latest program version as happens a lot as we see on Steam. It was after we had gone through the testing cycle multiple times that the product went to public testing and we put in our 2-cents and more before it moved to the final stages. This is how TRS19 became a really stable product compared to T: ANE which seriously was released too soon. TRS22 started this way then they went to the PLUS-members-only beta scheme and that hasn't been good. To be fair, there is some internal testing of new products, but it's not the same as having multiple parties test the product before a public testing which PLUS-members-only really is.
Today, there's a real disconnect from the users. It never used to be this way and I don't know why this changed. I do know that they spend most of their time over at Discord but many of us don't spend time there, and what we perceive as no interaction is only applicable to the forums. While I am a member there and with other servers, I find the interface tiring to read and disorganized even with the sub-channels due to how fast the threads move.
Anyway, I've been involved with technology since at least 1980. I am retired from IT and worked in that aspect since 1988 when I moved from a hardware technician role to MIS where I managed 4 VAXs, two Sun Server clusters, and a bunch of Unix based servers. After that it was Novell and later Windows NT, OS/2, and Linux along with performing senior tech support as a network administrator. As a hardware technician, I repaired everything from video terminals to modems using oscilloscopes, DVMs and automatic test equipment. This was before surface mount became commonplace and components could be easily seen and manipulated on circuit boards.
I some ways, I miss the tech world, but I don't miss the constant stress. In my final position, I supported nearly 720 users with 680 in-house and 37 in the field. I was closing 350 tickets a week and I was told I wasn't keeping up and was going to be terminated due to 50 tickets open in my queue. With ongoing health issues, I used that opportunity to throw in the towel.
So, as far as PLUS being an exclusive club with direct access to the developers, I don't see it that way. Things have just changed internally in the company.
I already have some subscriptions with one being much, much more expensive. This is for Sibelius, an Avid product for music editing. The subscription pays for their support and "free upgrades", which of course is free like the so-called "free DLC and FCT" offered for PLUS.
Unlike many users, I don't see these offers as "free" but as part of the package just like Xfinity offering HBO and some other exclusive channel together as part of a package. In today's world, free doesn't mean the product is free. There's usually something else attached to it. We see this with everything these days including totally free checking accounts where the offers come with an asterisk leading to a 4 point sized footnote about the account being free of fees only if a certain balance is met.
True, Classic is a lot easier (and simpler) than S20. I find S20 to be far more powerful and productive than Classic, but that is my opinion. Yours is just as valid.only always with Surveyor Classic. I personally prefer it better. It's a lot easier, and not as complex as "S20".
S20 sometimes even causes my game to start glitching, and so far, after I got Trainz Plus Gold, I only used it for a few minutes because I didn't even know how to place much down. S10 (Surveyor 1.0, as what I call it) is just pretty much WORTH it.True, Classic is a lot easier (and simpler) than S20. I find S20 to be far more powerful and productive than Classic, but that is my opinion. Yours is just as valid.
S20 does have a steep learning curve after years of using Classic but, for me at least, it was worth the long climb.
I must say, I hate it when companies use the term "free".The subscription pays for their support and "free upgrades", which of course is free like the so-called "free DLC and FCT" offered for PLUS.