I've been reading the forum discussion here and I have a few things i think should be brought up here.
Firstly seeing as its a hot issue in this discussion, i will say i am a third party content creator for Trainz, releasing DLC for the Store, however I am not employed by N3V, i am under no obligation to defend them or to tow a company line. So before that comes up like it did earlier with H222 who is in the same position as i am, I want to make clear all my opinions here are my own.
I think the complaints about the state of the game and comparing Trainz to other sims, some with bigger markets and bigger dev teams, is a little bit unfair, especially when the complaints about the subscription model being used for this DLC when subscription income is what pays for the development of the game. I mean if you want the game to have better features help fund the development of the game by getting silver and gold and in return getting great benefits like access to all DLC with gold and unique to gold packs like this.
Packs like the BR Blue Diesel pack simply would not exist without the gold subscription, to create 3 locomotives and a entire set of mk1s would take me working 5 days a week 9-5 easily 4-6 months of development. And as far as I'm aware N3Vs content team is a few contactors and a single staff member. (though I might be incorrect about these specifics i do not work for N3V nor do i speak for them) So the investment of resources here has been massive and I can tell you from doing this myself as a outright DLC the cost of development would not be earnt back and the pack would make a loss if it was released without gold. This means not only would a pack like this not be done again but the game would lose money which would affect development of the game etc.
If you don't want to get gold then that's fair enough, if your only interested in one DLC and paying the cost of gold for only one DLC is too much for you I think that's perfectly fair and you can do that! but that doesn't mean N3V should change their business model to meet the needs of a single customer who isn't interested in the gold subscription. Especially when this new subscription model is both allowing development of big DLCs like this last one, allowing users who want to use multiple DLCs huge savings and helping content creators like me be supported by a wave of users who wouldn't outright buy a DLC but would give my content a go with gold, which in return helps grows our UK community! I mean I know multiple users who have come into the UK Trainz space because of this very thing.
In regard to the sounds, i have used the locos from this pack a lot both during beta and currently now their released, the sounds are lovely, the models are mostly good, there are a few errors, but no ones perfect everyone's misses things myself included and they are things that I'm sure N3V will get onto and fix. But in regards to sounds, I mean N3V is a Australian company, idk how you could expect them to get new sounds sourced for these locos, without a great expense which like I mentioned previously they would most likely lose money on. If the sounds from the DLS are of high quality like they are and sound good, I really don't see the need to complain, Its unnecessary.
I have to say overall, and this is not just related to this thread, but the overall negativity from the UK userbase towards N3V the past years has been really unproductive and unhelpful, N3V make mistakes, as do i and others, these mistakes should be pointed out of course, so N3V knows and can fix the issues, which they've always tried to do. This is a really positive attitude and yet they still get a lot of heated complaints thrown towards them. The UK community has really suffered this past decade from creators moving to other Sims, This attitude is a big factor in why, if all we have to offer is intense negativity without a shred of positive feedback as well, why would N3V spend their own money and time making models for us, Why would creator like myself move into this space and create DLCs for the UK userbase? The Packs N3V have made have been brilliant both from a artwork standpoint and the performance friendly nature, they've made mistakes and got things wrong which is annoying and frustrating but they do make patches and update and fix things. And we as a community could be far nicer about feedback. I mean there's complaints N3V haven't been as active on the forums lately but when its majority insult complaint without even a little bit of positive feedback for DLCs which are majority of great quality, its no wonder their less active.
I think the complaints made often have a fair point but i think the community at large needs to create a better atmosphere to where we are less hostile with feedback and more supportive of pointing out where fixes are needed but keeping a positive atmosphere where we show we are happy that N3V are putting time into making content for our community.
Kind regards, Barney
