As someone that's digging into session creation to share with everyone, I have something to say.
I have Trainz+, so anything I'd build will be restricted to a likely small part of the community, but I could download T:ANE or TRS19 or TRS22 and start from there. All is good.
But....
Other than jumping from CM and Surveyor windows, how can you make sure the content you're using is DLS only or else?
That's a big stopping moment for me.
Right now, other than very old stuff, every single route I've donwloaded required one DLC or 12.
All the filters and replace content commands in this world won't change the fact that the average user just wants to download something and play, and maybe doesn't even have the knowledge to understand the difference between DLC and DLS.
For example, even being a TRS+ user I must go to the Content Store and download the required payware routes by hand, as the CM won't do that for me if a DLS route requires a payware package, and unless the creator gives hints in the description you won't even know what DLC you need too.
So you're stuck to download E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G from the store, or you're SOL.
The simplest solution is: everyone on TRS+, download everything Store related, and who cares about the poor souls who still use TRS12 or even T:ANE.....
That's what I see coming from N3V, I'm not buying the "users complaining about slow speed" trick; I use other simulators and there is a big site that caps downloads to non-paying members at 50 kb/s.....FIFTY KILOBITS/SECOND!!!!!! And very few complain, if at all.
I can understand this stance from N3V, people need to eat someway, but that's creating a lot of gripes for many others.
At this point, I would just remove all the versioning and mantain the TRS+ stream only at a slightly lower price, and everyone willing to play Trainz will need to pay the subscription fee and forget about buying a new version every X years.
Everyone will be able to use everything, MP will always work (unless locally modified stuff...but that's on the user and local versions can be disabled in MP if N3V wants) and creators won't have all these headaches.
After all, we have a lot of perks: old stuff works, 600.000 assets to use on DLS only, interactive industries, very easy to use build tools etc, comparing this to other simulators is a lost battle for them sometimes.
As it is now, it's just a mess for everyone, either simple users or advanced creators.
Yes, pay-for-play isn't really ethical, but when it's coupled with a great offer there's nothing against it; N3V just needs to market that offer the right way.
Just my 0,02 euros
Luca