Where'd all the Trainz fans go?

[Dermmy]

Barney's gone?
Oh man, I had no idea.

Not sure if this is ot or not but whenever I hear of a Trainzer passing i put a memorial on whatever route I'm working on at the time at whatever place I was working when the news broke. I don't hear about enough, but there's a memorial for Beanpole (Alastair) on Clovis at Madrone, there's one for Ricky on my (unreleased) Tralee & Dingle and - case in point - one for Barney on the last EVWR release a couple of kms in from the Evansville Portals.

It ain't enough....

 

[psycho_aussie]

Some of us "old guys" are still here, though not a frequently as we used to be. I've moved away from a lot of 3d modelling, and gotten re-involved with model trains, to the point where I am building a small N Scale layout in a spare room in my unit. I still pop in from time to time, I'm just not as active as I used to be. Modelling wise, I haven't wrapped my head around bump mapping, and LOD takes a bit of effort (you are essentially making a separate, lower poly count model for the LOD levels), but I take a look at my locos, mainly the QR 2800 every now and then...

You can't completely get rid of me... I like Trainz too much

 

[clam1952]

Angelah was getting up there in age and she had health issues. She was very nice and helpful to me. I miss her too.

Angelah is fine, now living in Wales and keeps in touch with us occasionally in TCWW, not doing anything with Trainz though.

 

[cressjl]

...Keep in mind that program developers, users, community members, and so on, all come and go. It's part of the product's lifecycle and a company's lifecycle. Just like any company, N3V/Auran started from a thought, grew up, matured. If we think about it, it's just like life...
John

Good points there, John. I am sure that many die-hard community members have lost interest along the way. I provide a parable for any who might be interested...

I was one of the early supporters of PG Music's Band-In-A-Box program. Realize that this application was first released as a DOS application before Windows was even released. This makes BIAB one of the oldest third-party applications still in existence. It would be in N3V's interest to study the longevity of this company's starship product.

I followed Peter Gannon's software with interest, finally jumping on board in the 90's when the software began to provide features I no longer had the time and ability to program myself. Remember that at that time, if you knew enough to develop content for T:ANE today, you would have had the computer savvy to program your own applications back then (and I did) that could compete with the best software available at the time.

I jumped on the forums, becoming one of the primary support members, accumulating thousands of posts. I also provided many ideas that ended up on the upgrade list for the next release. I beta-tested new versions when they came out. I also invested several thousand dollars in upgrades in addition to the beta versions that I got to keep for "free."

However, three things dampened my enthusiasm:

1) Peter allowed a change to the forum engine without forwarding members' statistics. This wiped out all of our post counts. That may seem ridiculous, but post counts stand for something on forums. I felt that all the time I had invested in supporting others was now wiped away; I no longer felt as committed to respond anymore.

2) The company began to change direction, chasing after revolutionary ideas that were not important to me, without fixing core problems that had existed from day one. This is without a doubt one of the major nagging points with the charter (oldest, let's say) members of any software community too. Some even here may still be waiting for basic functionality to be fixed--issues that will not even show up on the accomplishments list, but would make the core software work. You know you will die waiting...why? Glitz sells. There is never time or budget to fix problems...new features are required to sell more product. Meanwhile, you stand "as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on a hill," sounding the alarm that no one cares to hear. I think this is probably an issue with every software product other than open source (there you can fix it yourself!).

3) Finally, the forum community changed as new members crowded in, guys with big mouths that thought they knew everything. They were quick to insult those who had been helpful from the beginning, and since the moderators failed to take sides, which is understandably hard to do, the old farts like me simply moved on...

I still keep the latest BIAB software on my laptop. It is a software package that has a base niche of supporters that keep the company viable and moving forward. However, the forum community has definitely changed...

 

[kin3]

Could be that people got tired of all the negative talk. I just skim the forums now if it's negative then I don't even read it. I want to know how someone fixed this or that or or having problems with something. I think Tane is the best yet and it's getting better all the time.

 

[ish6]

I'm not sure but I wonder about Euphod. If I remember correctly he lived alone in Chicago and mentioned some health problems before his disappearance. I fear the worst. I liked Ed. He posted really nice comments in my Frisco High Line thread weekly.

.

Hello, sir

Wasy back there was a thread "off-topic", where trainz users with diabetes, among other diseases revealed what they had, like myself, and Ed was one of these folks -- I recall sharing ideas with him on combating diabetes -- It's a tough journey, and at sometimes can become a mental problem as well -- Anyway, hopefully he's doing well, but I have not seen a post from him for over a year, plus, etc ...

Like I said, hope he's well ... Diabetes is a pain in the butt to deal with everyday!

Ish

 

[Barry]

In reply to the title maybe they have changed to Blender Game Engine ship fans as the seas on Trainz wern't rough enough. B

 

[boc61]

In reply to the title maybe they have changed to Blender Game Engine ship fans as the seas on Trainz wern't rough enough. B

There's a blast from the past.

 

[CPRailSD40-2]

BNSF50 Is alive, I talked to him not long ago, you know, the guy who makes crossings!

 

[narrowgauge]

Cressjl

It is amazing how your experience parallels Trainz history although we kept the post counts and lost the join date. If I was cryer, there are times I could weep for Trainz.

Peter

 

[Willem2]

Still following the forum on a daily basis, have not done anything much in 3DMax for months.
Nearly 13 years of Trainz for me and it has served me well over the years, enjoyed most of it.
Have the latest TANE but real life gets in the way to do to much with it.

Life is good and I am enjoying myself with other things.

Cheers,

Bill.

 

[davesnow]

Still following the forum on a daily basis, have not done anything much in 3DMax for months.
Nearly 13 years of Trainz for me and it has served me well over the years, enjoyed most of it.
Have the latest TANE but real life gets in the way to do to much with it.

Life is good and I am enjoying myself with other things.

Cheers,

Bill.

OH Bill! I forgot to add your name to my list!!! Shame on me! The guy who taught me everything I know!

Glad to see you are still around. I miss your posting.

Cheers,

Dave

 

[hotgrove]

I haven't seen paulzmay on the forums for ages.

The creator of the excellent Bridgehampton route and the inspiration behind my own projects.

I was sure his absence meant he was busy building an even better light rail route and was going to unleash something special but it never happened unfortunately.

 

[bnsf50]

Hello everybody
Yea I'm still alive and kicking. And I thank you all for thinking of me. I pop in every now and then to scan the post's and see what everybody's up to. I've gotten interested in trucking Sim's lately and have been playing Euro Truck Sim ETST2 and now American Truck Sim ATS.

 

[Matt3985]

Another member who I miss is wva-usa. He was very active last year but has suddenly stop posting. I enjoyed listen to his stories about his days on the railroads. He was a nice guy and I miss him. Good to see your still around there BNSF50. I still use a lot of your content still especially your D&S coaches.

 

[pfx]

3) Finally, the forum community changed as new members crowded in, guys with big mouths that thought they knew everything. They were quick to insult those who had been helpful from the beginning, and since the moderators failed to take sides, which is understandably hard to do, the old farts like me simply moved on...

This pretty much sums up my feelings on the forum these days. Gets harder to sort the wheat from the chaff each week. Still some useful and reliable people around though.

 

[wholbr]

Hi everybody.

This pretty much sums up my feelings on the forum these days. Gets harder to sort the wheat from the chaff each week. Still some useful and reliable people around though.

Hit it right on the head there pfx with the above posting. Nobody can see into the future to know if this forum will ever be the place it it once was. I have now gone back to Trainz 10 from Trainz 12 which was always the best for me personally (straightforward and simple). I have enough downloaded content to keep it going for the next 50 years if necessary (LOL) and now feel settled again in Trainz as a hobby.

Will wait and see what Trainz Next brings, but let us all hope it does not put hobbyist against hobbyist as Kickstarter and T:ane most certainly have done.

Bill

 

[pware]

Nobody can see into the future to know if this forum will ever be the place it it once was.

Nostalgia can be great but it never reflects reality. Times change, along with people and ideas.

I have been in these forums since the very first version of Trainz and have seen it move through a number of phases and cycles. While many of the original forum members have moved on (some to the great engine shed in the sky) over the years, new blood has always come in with new ideas and new ways of communicating - and not always to the liking of us "old timers". Recently I put one persistently annoying poster on my "Ignore List", the first time I have ever used that forum feature, but possibly when I first started here some of my posts may have been viewed in the same way. I sometimes read the comments posted on other far more widely known and used forums such as YouTube and IMDB. The language and extremist views of all shades that are all too common there make the "robust discussions" that sometimes break out here look positively tame by comparison - thanks to the moderators. Perceived issues with these forums can sometimes be a matter of perspective.

Yes, there are posters here who have an axe to grind, real or imagined. There are those who simply will not listen to any opinions other than their own, or who will never be convinced of anything other than the absolute correctness of their pet conspiracy theories. There are posters who will never be happy, no matter what happens, and lets not forget the much loved and perennial "gimme pigs". That is life!

None of this behaviour is new to the forums - the names of the actors may change but the cast of characters goes on.

 

[wholbr]

Hi everybody.
Pware, I can agree with much of what you have stated in your posting at #58 of this thread. However, in all the years of this forum there has never been so much "furore" amongst members as was brought about by Kickstarter followed by the subsequent release of T:ane. There had been "disagreements" before but not such as led to the setting up of an alternative forum or N3V having to close this forum for a period and revise the C.O.Cs to stabilise the situation.

Yes, as has been stated people have always "come and gone" within the Trainz forum community but without doubt many have left in regard to their disappointment with T:ane to which many had donated to so generously through Kickstarter. However, the forgoing is now "water under the bridge", Trainz Next is on the horizon and the world moves on.

N3V no doubt have their problems in future development along with the platform that T:ane is contained within by way of Microsoft having their own problems.

As I have stated, I have settled once again in Trainz by way of going back to an earlier version prior even to Trainz 12, but I will see and wait for what Trainz Next brings for us all to appreciate and "possibly" support.

Bill

 

[amigacooke]

Pware, I can agree with much of what you have stated in your posting at #58 of this thread. However, in all the years of this forum there has never been so much "furore" amongst members as was brought about by Kickstarter followed by the subsequent release of T:ane. There had been "disagreements" before but not such as led to the setting up of an alternative forum or N3V having to close this forum for a period and revise the C.O.Cs to stabilise the situation.

Yes there has been. In my opinion the bad feeling generated when TRS06 was released was far worse. There was a running battle between the 'sunshine blowers' and the 'holdouts' for a couple of years. Alternative web forums have been set up virtually since the Auran original forum was released, but have always struggled to survive as the official forums will always tend to be the new users first port of call.

Besides, what will kill Trainz is not furore, but indifference.