First Class Ticket Price Rise - What to?

Dear N3V,
This advert just presented itself in my TANE.

First question, what is the price going up to?



Indecently to all those who Pre-Ordered TANE and got your 6 Month FCT like I did, don't you feel like you've just been given a backhand across the face that less than a month after release you can now buy the same product with a free 12 Month FCT. Come on N3V, that's doing a dirty on all those pre-ordered members who supported you to do that so soon after release. A poor marketing tactic in my opinion.

My next question is this. In MyTrainz, under Download Tickets, its saying there is a Lifetime Subscription available.



Please don't tell me it no longer exists, you have had plenty of time to remove it from the website if it doesnt, it says its available (and its false advertising if it isn't) and therefore I might be interested in purchasing one if the price is appealing.
As it seems it cant be bought from SimC anymore, you are welcome to PM me or email me with information about purchasing one or an invoice.
At the current exchange rate, a 12 month FCT is costly enough for me to keep renewing year after year without factoring in a price increase every few years. And I cant afford to purchase 20yrs of 12 month FCT before the price increase.
I look forward to your email or PM.
Cheers
Ian

My hats off to this comment..........
Pay To Play and Now Going To Cost You More............ No Thanks moving forward........... Will buy one FCT before the price increase and then no more FCT's for me........

Furthermore, N3V makes their import process when a new version that comes out to not handle properly already downloaded DLS Content and requires you to redownload........
Been harping on this aspect since TS12, but of course it will never be changed. Get where I am going with this?

Really hope Content Creators start to utilize Cloud Services or Local Cloud Distribution moving forward..........
I am in agreement that the content should also be on the DLS if you so choose and prefer, but Cloud Services surely help the less fortunate who may not be able to afford the "FCT: Pay To Play" needs......
UltraScenery has since been doing this and shall continue as long as UltraScenery can afford the said costs of such options.........

To be fair to N3V, the prices have stayed the same for a while, and it helps to pay for the ongoing costs.

In terms of the Lifetime one, that may just be an oversight.

Shane

shaneturner12 said:

To be fair to N3V, the prices have stayed the same for a while, and it helps to pay for the ongoing costs.

In terms of the Lifetime one, that may just be an oversight.

Shane

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Lifetime Disappeared over a year ago in SimCentral, so I do not think this is an oversight........
To Be Fair To The FCT Purchasers, I can sustain 4mb/second downloads yet the FCT I get max maybe 1mb/second and my pings are within tolerable margins for the distance traveled.........

I never noticed the half year free FCT after buying the game, i bought a year for 24,99 after the release and now find out they give it away for free for people who didn't free-order. Yes it felt like a slap in the face...

Thanks for the post and I totally agree. I got this email last night and thought the same thing. Yes, my cheek is red...I just purchased the download two weeks ago. Was also wondering about the lifetime FCT missing. Guess we'll see.

Did I read this correctly? You are going slower with the FCT?

The only time the speed is slower with a FCT is if someone doesn't activate it properly.

Shane

It could be the ticket is going up from Free back to the usual $25.00 AUD?

John

shaneturner12 said:

To be fair to N3V, the prices have stayed the same for a while, and it helps to pay for the ongoing costs.

Click to expand...

Yes, I have no trouble with fairness and I don't mind supporting N3V if Im financially able to. I would have been part of the kickstarter project had I had the finances at the time to be able to buy into it. And I can even understand that they are scratching in every nest looking for more money and this is one way to do it.

It does however get to the point when I have to think of cost, not only purchase cost, but ongoing costs of playing the game. My money doesn't grow on trees being self employed - in fact my accountant often tells me im better off on the dole lol. So as I said, I would at this time, like to buy a lifetime subscription as it stays its available for purchase and I cant afford to buy 20yrs of FCT's before a price increase. And wont buy one after the increase as Im spending as much as Im able to now. And putting it through as a business expense would probably receive a few strong words from my accountant lol.

So N3V, no word yet regarding my invoice to pay for a lifetime sub or info regarding purchase of one. I look forward to either a PM or email as to where I can purchase my lifetime subscription as advertised on the website.

Thanks
Ian

The lifetime option was removed over a year ago. Any remaining links to it are oversights and will be removed until we reintroduce the option.
The preorder customers also received two free DLC items worth $40 - whether you wanted them or not, a straight comparison to the new offer is unfair.
Next, sales offers change all the time. It appears Yu are suggesting that any future offer better than any previous offer us a slap in the face - this strategy indicates that sales offers must decrease over time whereas in reality they go in cycles.
Each offer made needs to be evaluated - will the next deal be better or worse? Make your decision and move on.

in terms of future costs, we will be introducing new options and a more equitable discount structure. The 12 mth fee is double the 3 mth - it is a legacy pricing structure that we will be adjusting while still providing good value - less than 10cents per day.

Ar, ok, that explains everything. Thanks. Yes, Im making my decision as we speak and contemplating my future with Trainz in general. So far its not looking wonderful. Trainz is becoming a rich kids game that not everyone can afford and I was hoping that as a lifetime subscription was advertised as available, it would be a good idea to purchase one and make Trainz a bit more affordable long term for me. An "oversight" wouldn't be an acceptable excuse over here and you would be in court facing a false advertising charge pretty smartly as you have no intension of delivering what you are advertising. You are still advertising it as available, therefore it is available. So yes, as N3V has made TANE virtually unplayable for me because I cringe very time I open it (if it even stays open that long without crashing to the desktop), I will probably go back to TS12 and enjoy myself until my FCT's expire and then likely move on as suggested. Thanks for helping sway my decision against any future support of Trainz.

Regarding your sales strategy, actually, I have just learned something, I thought the pre-order offer was that we were pre purchasing to give money to help build a product that we believed in and your way of saying thanks was to offer the FCT and 2 locos, but I have just now realised it wasn't something as meaningful as that, it was nothing more than a sale, and all those who paid over months in advance thinking they were helping out, are nothing more than a dollar amount in your annual accounts.
Now, getting back to the sales strategy, I realise TANE will go on sale, I also realise that using a FCT as incentive is quite good marketing because while it costs you little, it does have monetary value to the recipient, the issue was how soon it was offered for sale after public release and after all those who thought they were helping out by handing out money up front. But as I learned, it wasn't like that at all.
When I thought I was pre purchasing to help out and thought I was being thanked for my fronting up in advance by a company that valued its customers, it is just another sale and marketing tactic, and a cha-ching on the cash register, well, I fell for that one. Silly me, we live and learn.
And for the first time, I now actually understand what all those people in the TANE forum a while back were on about when they said they will never offer money to N3V in advance again, I never understood why, but now I do. They already knew what I didn't - until now!!

So once again, thank you for taking a valuable moment of your time to reply and help me see the light, and help decide my future with Trainz, I appreciate it.

Tony_Hilliam said:

The preorder customers also received two free DLC items worth $40 - whether you wanted them or not, a straight comparison to the new offer is unfair.

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If you don't want the items they aren't worth $40 dollars to the customer.

Harold

A better idea would have been to give a choice of several things of equal value I think.

I'm sorry you are disappointed with the current offer. The sale results suggest that many people are happy with the opportunity to save money. I'm not sure why you would like us to charge more - it seems that we can't win. On the one hand we're supposedly an evil money grabbing company and on the other we're providing a deal that is too cheap. I'm not sure which way to go next.

There were a range of items for the Kickstarter backers - those who got in first. The preorders also received a 20% discount so the current deal still doesn't equal the preorder deal.

In terms of providing products in exchange for money, I'm pretty sure that's what companies do. One of the benefits of preordering was to gain early access to help us identify issues that required fixing and that feedback was valuable, but cash is what pays the bills.

If you want to tell us where there is a link to the lifetime ticket, we will remove it.

Tony - check the Download Tickets page within MyTrainz.

Shane