I think they may be referring to the fact that every year or so a 'new' version of trainz comes out with very little change.
Railworks 3 to be released in september
- Thread starter raildumper
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I think they may be referring to the fact that every year or so a 'new' version of trainz comes out with very little change.
Nobody said Steam would close down. Some of the biggest, healthiest companies in the world have up and decided to change their marketing strategy, leaving their users with worthless purchases they cannot use. Microsoft, Yahoo, Walmart, etc. Oh, and Amazon went around remotely deleting purchases on their customer's Kindles. So much for security.
Hi Everybody.
You are quite right RRSignal stating that any company can go to the wall and with steam it is quite possible that Railworks users would be left with nothing. However, let's not get carried away it is only game software and nobody would lose anything more than their favorite games or their hobby.
However, much important data and documents in the commercial world are these days stored on private company servers in the form of cloud technology. I myself now keep almost all my business documents in that form through several servers.
It is possible that Google, Microsoft or any of the giant companies that offer cloud services could go into liquidation tomorrow leaving many businesses including my own in dire straits. I could decided that risk is too great and keep all my documents and reports stored on my own computers in the office. However, the office could burn down or get flooded wiping out the computers and I would be in dire straits again.
With an occupation in workplace health and safety the first thing you learn on commencement of training is that everything we do in life is a risk. You can only assess those risks and minimize the dangers to the lowest possible and carry on.
So it is with cloud technology and within that steam. Yes there is a risk in using steam but there is a risk with discs and downloads in your own computer. without doing a full risk assessment, I would say metaphorically speaking that you could get burned with either choice.
Bill
You are quite right RRSignal stating that any company can go to the wall and with steam it is quite possible that Railworks users would be left with nothing. However, let's not get carried away it is only game software and nobody would lose anything more than their favorite games or their hobby.
However, much important data and documents in the commercial world are these days stored on private company servers in the form of cloud technology. I myself now keep almost all my business documents in that form through several servers.
It is possible that Google, Microsoft or any of the giant companies that offer cloud services could go into liquidation tomorrow leaving many businesses including my own in dire straits. I could decided that risk is too great and keep all my documents and reports stored on my own computers in the office. However, the office could burn down or get flooded wiping out the computers and I would be in dire straits again.
With an occupation in workplace health and safety the first thing you learn on commencement of training is that everything we do in life is a risk. You can only assess those risks and minimize the dangers to the lowest possible and carry on.
So it is with cloud technology and within that steam. Yes there is a risk in using steam but there is a risk with discs and downloads in your own computer. without doing a full risk assessment, I would say metaphorically speaking that you could get burned with either choice.
Bill
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perry_weekley
New member
Mkay I'm stable now, I think.
Anyway, that might be true, but Steam is eight years old. They've found their marketing strategy which is every winter, spring, and summer to have sales where you can buy big name games for low prices. Railworks was eight dollars, a pack including all Valve games, a pack valued at over a hundred dollars was forty dollars, today isn't even one of their big sales but Civilization V is seventeen USD. Their marketing strategy is very firm. Also there has been no announcements of games being taken off of someone's purchased list. EA took Crysis 2 off due to conflicting views with Valve but anyone who bought the game before they took it off still owned Crysis 2 on Steam and even if they uninstalled it could still reinstall it.
I spent two year at a trade school where we had on the job training of repairing computers, be it a hardware or software issue. Not once was a virus caused by Steam. Every time we received a computer with a virus or trojan in it it was because of the, as the internet says, pron in it. Never did we have an issue because a server made to deliver content and sale content messed up with a trojan.
I'm trying not to be a Valve Fanboy or poster child for Steam but, I've used the service, repaired computers, even built one myself, and I find you're more likely to get a virus from Norton Security Essentials than you are from this gaming application.
P.S. Norton is the worst out there as we found out. We received more Norton secured computers with trojans and virus' than anything else at the trade school.
Mmm Train simulators and rivet counters.
Very true, Laddie. This is again is not unusual in the software industry. How many new versions of Adobe CS have come out in the past year or so?
It's interesting though. The new versions of Adobe CS have very few new features. They add a button here and there to give redundant access to the same feature found elsewhere, fix a little code underneath, and some special affects feature somewhere else, and then call it a new version. And, to make matters worse, charge a lot more than N3V does for their so-called upgrade!
John
Since this train has already gone down this side track, lets go a bit further. The fact that Steam is eight years old and that they have cooperated with a law enforcement agency is besides the point of my and I think most other's objection to Steam. It is that Steam decides if I can use the game I bought. Sure, today they are stellar upstanding citizens. What if tomorrow they have problems and they decide that you have to pay a small fee to access their authentication server. Then RW will not work. Farfetched? Tell that to the people who had their account info sold by reputable companies who in the end saw that data as just another asset to sell.
When the Steam client has a bad day and I've lurked enough on RW type fora to know it happens often enough, your RW doesn't work.
At least with Trainz, I update if and when I want. I can use it online, offline, anywhere I feel like. Even when the Auran servers are busy or offline, I can still use Trainz and if ever there comes a day when the franchise is no more, I will still be able to use it. Even the DLS is not absolutely required to run Trainz, just makes it easier to find new objects.
So if they ever release a stand alone version, I would give it a test. A ball and chain, even if someone offers to carry it is still an anchor if they drop it.
Cheap software, like everything else in life, usually comes with a catch.
(Agreed that Norton's is horrible, though.)
shaneturner12
Tutorial Creator
Steam has an offline mode that can be used if the game is up-to-date patch wise.
It's in the Steam menu, Go Offline option.
When this is enabled, it should not need to use the authentication server, nor does it require an internet connection.
To reverse this, repeat the process, but click Go Online.
Shane
It's in the Steam menu, Go Offline option.
When this is enabled, it should not need to use the authentication server, nor does it require an internet connection.
To reverse this, repeat the process, but click Go Online.
Shane
You still need to activate upon installation, so, at best, your software will last as long as your computer.
Also, on trainsim.com, Sniper noted from somebody else that the offline mode is not unlimited - it still requires an occasional check-in, I think weekly IIRC.
Also, on trainsim.com, Sniper noted from somebody else that the offline mode is not unlimited - it still requires an occasional check-in, I think weekly IIRC.
perry_weekley
New member
I've never had the issue but that's because I'm a rare case that has no bandwidth limits or issues being online 24/7. Actually my router never turns off. So I never see an issue with an online check. But when I have been forced to play games without steam online I've never had an issue like those described. Usually steam is already up on my computer and I just jump into the game, the authentication servers can be down but as long as you are in steam before the servers go down. And usually the servers go down at least once a month for maintenance.
So is Steam gonna charge for getting on an authentication server? I'm not really the most well read person on this but I believe there are laws about putting up a gate in the form of money to get on a service or in a store to buy products.
Saying Steam is going to charge you to get on steam is like saying Walmart will charge you just to enter and browse their store. The authentication server is the login server from what I understand. Which at 6 AM in the morning after pulling an all-nighter, I might not understand anything.
I'm off to go shopping, and sleeping in the car. May there be enough steam in your pistons to carry you till the next "Upgrade." Be the upgrade from a Stanley Steam to the new Prius or something like an 08 Prius to an 09 Prius. Good luck with your new updates be it Railworks 3, or Trainz 2013.
So is Steam gonna charge for getting on an authentication server? I'm not really the most well read person on this but I believe there are laws about putting up a gate in the form of money to get on a service or in a store to buy products.
Saying Steam is going to charge you to get on steam is like saying Walmart will charge you just to enter and browse their store. The authentication server is the login server from what I understand. Which at 6 AM in the morning after pulling an all-nighter, I might not understand anything.
I'm off to go shopping, and sleeping in the car. May there be enough steam in your pistons to carry you till the next "Upgrade." Be the upgrade from a Stanley Steam to the new Prius or something like an 08 Prius to an 09 Prius. Good luck with your new updates be it Railworks 3, or Trainz 2013.
I strongly disagree with regards to photoshop.
Everytime I try a new version there are major differences in the user interface, features and performance.
However, I feel the same cannot be said for trainz especially with regards to performance/stability.
Pricing cannot be brought into this arguement as trainz is a game and photoshop is software that is used by a massive array of companies. The pricing will more than likely be based on the fact that Photoshop is used for commercial purposes.
TBH, i've owned a few different versions of trainz, and to date I still think that TRS2004 is the best one. I had the odd issue with 3rd party content but it never crashed, etc quite as dramatically as the likes of 06 and 2010:EE.
There are no laws against "putting up a gate", and you agreed to the EULA whether or not you read it.
As for "Walmart will charge you just to enter and browse their store", are you familiar with Sam's Club? It's owned by Walmart, and they do just that.
IsambardKingdomBrunel
Joined June 2001
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IsambardKingdomBrunel
Joined June 2001
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Is it that bad?
Guess it all depends on your definition of very little. I see many changes, not the least being much better performance. Someone must be upgrading the underlying code cause it isn't all at my end. Sure I have a better computer than when I started with Trainz but I don't upgrade every year.
jointedrail
Official N3V DLC Partners
Thank you Hert. Erik only comes here to do just that. In fact he used to email us on a daily basis begging for us to create content. When we told him no, he threatened myself, my team, and my family. Today's email was one of the funnier ones....
"Just thought i would let you know
Man you all have people bagin you all to make payware for RW over the the RW Forums i really wish you would all would respect the Train sim group and make some more stuff."
Thugging ain't easy, especially on the interwebz. LOL! :wave:
Mike
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