Some people are not truly happy unless they are moaning and whining about something. Just gives me a good laugh reading the cr**.
I mean, yeah. All i do is b*tch and moan about the Subscription service without offering any real criticism...except i did. I made a whole post about my experience with TRS19 so far.
I get it: constantly explaining why i have problems with the game, the services around it, and the responses i've gotten apparently makes me seem like i'm nothing but an arsehole that hates everything to do with Trainz. But, as with many other games, i criticize Trainz so heavily because i want to see it improve.
Similar to pware, when i first got TRS2006, i followed up with TS10, TS12, T:ANE, and now TRS19 when i could afford it (and when i had a PC that could run them). I still enjoy playing Trainz, but pointing out and commenting on its flaws is what keeps the game fresh. If every version of Trainz was just TRS2006 with a new coat of paint every year, not as many people would be buying it. But i keep buying products in the Trainz series because every game improves on the last, to a certain extent.
I don't "moan and whine and complain" because i hate Trainz. I do it because i want Trainz to be as good a product as it can be. Hence why, in a post a few days ago, i went over most of the praises and issues i had with TRS19 so far. I want TRS19 to be the best version of Trainz, just as we wanted TS2009, TS10, TS12, and T:ANE to be the best versions of Trainz when they were new. However, that involves a heavy amount of criticism, both about the game and the services surrounding it.
I know i'm usually pretty harsh when i criticize Trainz, and that moreso comes down to how i talk as a person, but i still try and offer valid criticisms based on what i personally believe to be "quality standards". QUality, as a whole, is largely subjective, and discussing the problems people have with new games is what helps those games improve. TRS19 is no different.
IMO, speaking nothing but praises for a product can prevent that product from improving, but you can go too far in the other direction too. Following that ideology, i was as objective as possible when first opening up TRS19. There were things that i liked, and there were things that i disliked. For example, i like the option to control the overall Brightness of a scene in the Environment Controls. On the other hand, the draw distance of the built-in TurfFX assets is pretty bad. TRS19 has both good and bad qualities, and so far, the good outweighs the bad (opinions on the Subscription Service and Trainz Plus not withstanding; i'm referring TRS19 as a game, in this case).
As much as i despise it, those that have responded to me are correct: no one
has to buy into the Subscription Service. Vouching for the Subscription Service or buying the $70 base game alone is entirely the choice of the consumer, and honedtly, that's great. The only reason i bought TRS19 as early as i did was because i had the
option to just buy the base game and leave it at that. If anything, the fact that the consumer can choose how to pay for their game is a positive. But the Subscription Service (and Trainz Plus) both have issues that, to me, make them the less favorable ways to purchase the game. If TRS19 was only available via a subscription service, i would not have bought the game at all. Luckily, that is not the case.
Yes, my tone is usually harsh and unforgiving, but criticizing TRS19, and any product in general, is what helps the product improve. I just hope that TRS19 doesn't become the downfall of N3V, as long as each game from here on out improves on the last. It took T:ANE a service pack and a few hotfixes to make it the "best version of Trainz" in my opinion; i truly hope that TRS19 is the "best version of Trainz" on Day 1. And so far, it isn't. But that is definitely subject to change between now and it's formal release date.