Disappointed

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rick1958

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I've been busy with real world issues, problems and concerns and just resently opened trainz after a long hiatus and discovered 2022 has been released. Exciting!
Although my excitement soon dwindled when I discovered Surveyor 2 isn't included in the standard package which comes in at $69.99 BTW! Really?
I guess I am out. It saddens me for Trainz, but it took about 5 seconds for "Greed" to fill my thoughts. Surveyor 2 is just the newest carrot to be dangled.
Rant is over...Back to '19. Carry on.
 
I agree. If you have stumped up the purchase fee - like myself - because I prefer to own things rather than perpetually renting them, then you expect all the features that have been newly released to be included.

N3V is obviously completely oblivious to the reality of the geo-politics going on in the world in 2022. Many people in the West are struggling under rising inflation and having problems meeting the cost of weekly fuel in their vehicles and affording energy and food prices. The first thing to go in such times are the monthly subscriptions. Trainz is already a niche product and many of the users of it tend to be older more mature people - many who are in retirement on fixed incomes. Although not having any access to the information that N3V holds about how many subscriptions they have, I would be willing to bet the numbers will crater as we move into the autumn and winter. Much better to own pay once and own forever.
 
What is this nonsense about "geo-politics" and "greed"? N3V are staffed by people who do live in the real world, they pay their bills, they put fuel in their vehicles, they shop at the local supermarkets and experience the same rising cost of living expenses that everyone else does. So you are saying that they should go without fuel, food, power, the necessities of life so that you can play a game for less? I am also retired and my income has not increased at all over the last few years, in fact it has gone down since the start of the pandemic but I have still taken up the Trainz Plus Gold subscription and have not been disappointed. Everyone's needs and circumstances will be different and individual experiences will vary.

My views, opinions and experiences.
 
Agree (Antares)...I'm 64 who had to take early retirement to tend to my disabled wife who, herself, had to retire early from teaching and go on disablity. $120+ a year just isn't in my budget for a "game". I think $70 is a fair price to get a complete simulator. Trainz is a pass time for me between tending to my wifes needs. Life will go on and I'll live with the old Surveyor until they decide to stop support and force me to upgrade...again.

Pware, I'm glad your retirement pays you will enough for such things. Unfortunately, Mine does not.
 
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Plain Plus without the Gold is somewhat cheaper at $69.49 inclusive of the FCT cost, if you have a Lifetime FCT from when they were available then the annual FCT cost of £34.69 also gets deducted.

Gold Plus gets the new features to play with, FCT and the DLC, Plus just gets the features and the FCT, no DLC. With both you also, assuming you don't have TANE and TRS19, get access to them plus you can also download TRS22, the ordinary version if you want. Probably a good incentive for a new Trainzer who is just starting I guess.

Also retired here, now 69, I can manage the subscription, I don't subscribe to the likes of Netflix Disney and such, plenty of free streaming options no need to pay for it!
 
I would of liked a box edition offered for 22 as well as the subscription so people could of had a choice to pick from. I'm not a fan of subscriptions and when mine runs out I will probably not renew it. TRS22 is ok but so far not really impressed that much even though i'm building routes in it. Digital is the way things are going and trainz may never produce boxed versions again which is sad.
 
Whilst I've been busy campaigning for a floppy disk version of TRS22, I've also been complaining to Sky satellite TV because my monthly subscription doesn't include Sky Sports, even though it never said it was a feature of my subscription to Sky.

These ongoing whines about a lack of Surveyor 2.0 in a version of Trainz that specifically doesn't mention that as a feature are getting very boring. In my view, people need to get with the times a little, learn to read and be more reasonable...

Cheers,
Paul
 
Paul, you are spot on there. There is this persistent "gimme" theme where some people expect that they should be getting the "deluxe" subscription features for the "basic" price. If I want the top of the line model new car with individual touch screen entertainment systems with full bar service on each passenger seat, then I would expect to pay for that. If I can't afford it now then I will wait a few years until those features become standard, by which time some new luxuries will be included in the top of the line model.
 
Don't you mean the 21,000 x 3.5" floppy disks version? ;p

Of course that's only 416kg of disks so roughly a pallet load.
(Or did I get my bits and bytes messed up?)
 
Well if we assume a full install of ~60 GB including routes, I get 40690 3.5 HD DS floppies at 1.4 MB per floppy which at a mean weight of 18 grams per floppy would be be 732.4 Kilograms or 1611 pounds. If we assume a read time per disk of 1 minute then the install would take 28.25 days. It would be cheaper to fly to Brisbane and copy the install files to a flash drive. Of course, you would have to buy Tony a pint for his trouble.
 
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pware - are you some kind of f*-king moron mate? Some kind of i-diot? Perhaps you need to get out of your N3V fan boi armchair and your little bubble and take a look out in the real world. If you live in the US or in UK or in Europe you will know that every day living expenses due to inflation and the Russia-Ukraine conflict are spiralling out of control - some people are now skipping meals to save money and deciding whether to pay for fuel or electricity. If you live elsewhere perhaps you haven't experienced that - good for you. I am not the only one who sees the inherent greed in the way N3V and indeed other tech companies and software vendors have chosen to market their software apps - SaaS as of late. I paid the full price for the god damn game so did not ask for it to be cheaper - nice strawman argument you made there. All I stated was the full feature set should have been included in the price of the purchase of the game. For god sake the promised new locomotive content hasn't even been released yet (Tornado, HST etc) despite the full game being released.

Sure N3V are real people too and yes they need to pay bills, which is why in current conditions they should think more long term about the sustainability of their model or this will be the last version of Trainz to exist. Perhaps you have a nice little nest egg stored up and are comfortable paying your yearly subscription - lets hope that when the real world effects that are facing others starts to hit you, you will still be singing your same tune and can still afford your yearly subs. Right now we still have the opportunity of a little bit of light entertainment and a distraction to play some games. For some for the first time in their lives are now having to tread water just to stay afloat.

By the way if you are man enough come on over to Gab . com where there is no censorship and you cannot hide behind forums rules and ban hammers and you and me can discuss it man to man if would like.
 
pauler - Another strawman argument, you people really need to think before your spurt your nonsense. Sky Sports was never marketed as part of the core TV subscription it has and was always been an added extra. Surveyor has always been an integral part of the core Trainz game that has come with every version. Now however despite this core part being updated and improved N3V have decided to put it behind a subscription paywall - SaaS.
 
Also retired and sole income State Pension, Gold membership user. I have news for you Antares1275, buy any software including Trainz outright.

You still do not own it, you purchase the right to use it for as long as the vendor decides.

Read the small print of any purchased software.

Mike.
 
Peter is a valuable member of the Trainz community as a content creator and for the hundreds of additions he has made to the wiki. He gives of his time to answer hundreds of user questions in this forum and also seems to have the patience of Job when dealing with people. He doesn't deserve the abuse you are hurling at him. He is entitled to his opinion regardless of whether you agree or not.
 
rick1958 - I am so sorry to hear about your wife and your current circumstances. I agree Trainz, like any game is just a pass time a little distraction from the every day. Many of us (currently) can probably justify a one time purchase fee to pay for a game that we can play 'forever'. Some may currently be able to afford a yearly sub - but I suspect many will have to start to think twice in the coming months. More and more people in the West - even those who previously considered themselves comfortable are now starting to feel the pinch and having to make some touch choices.
 
I don't remember asking pware for his 'valuable' opinion and for him to answer my response. When more and more people are struggling to put food on the table and having to turn electricity off due to the cost and can't afford to put fuel in their vehicles just to get to work, then no I am not interested in pwares opinion. When he has lived it and is experiencing such things then we can talk.
 
Surveyor has always been an integral part of the core Trainz game that has come with every version. Now however despite this core part being updated and improved N3V have decided to put it behind a subscription paywall - SaaS.

Despite the nature of your responses to both pware and I, I'm happy to provide some assistance to help you understand my point.

Surveyor 1.0 has indeed been an integral part of every version of Trainz (including Trainz Plus today). You must currently subscribe to obtain access to it's upgraded version, Surveyor 2.0 (but only for now).

Sky Sports in standard definition (SD, or version 1.0 perhaps?) is the "basic" Sky Sports package, albeit you must pay for this 'feature' on top of a standard Sky TV subscription. It's upgraded (or "deluxe") version, Sky Sports HD (or version 2.0?), which came along many years after the SD version, is extra on top of that, currently understood to be £82 per year (this has been the case for years with no end in sight).

Sky TV is (as you say) not marketed with Sky Sports SD or HD included. Sky TV users have no right to expect Sky Sports as part of their package. Sky Sports SD users have no right to expect HD.

TRS22 is not marketed with Surveyor 2.0 included. Those that purchase TRS22 have no right to expect Surveyor 2.0.

People may well moan that about this, but that is how N3V have decided to do it, akin to what Sky have done with their sports packages, in my view.

Paul
 
1. I don't see how the state of the world economy is NV3's issue. They have to work with it just as we all do.

2. I don't look on Trainz as a game. For me it is a way of modelling railways, but virtually. Here in Australia the average price of one (ONE!) HO scale model loco will get you three years of Trainz Plus subscription (with Surveyor 2.0 and included DLS access).
 
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Antares1275, ignoring the thinly disguised bad language, your anger issues and threats, I am quite happy to provide you with some answers. Yes, I am well aware of the hardships that people worldwide are facing because of world events (pandemic and Ukraine) and the likelihood that things will get much worse. A Europe-wide war or worse is certainly one of the more unthinkable possibilities.

N3V is not a charity, they are a business that must at least break even if they are to survive. If they are to grow, with newer and better products, then they must make a profit. If they can find customers, like myself, who are prepared to pay a premium price, or an annual subscription, for a product with more features then that will help them survive and grow. Tony has already stated that the uptake of subscriptions has given them the financial security to employ more programmers and that will be a benefit to everyone, not just to the subscribers.

Ever since these forums first appeared posters have been predicting that the (then) current version of Trainz will be the last version ever and that the company will go under unless they immediately follow the posters ideas on how a software business should be run. The company is still here, with a change of name and ownership, after 20+ years. New versions of Trainz have appeared at regular (or irregular) intervals throughout those years.

It is not unusual in the industry for software products to be released with components missing - you mentioned the Tornado and HST. I have no doubt that these will be added to the product through free DLC updates, something that has happened before. The alternative is to keep everyone waiting indefinitely while the creators of those products (who are not N3V) finish their work.

So you paid the full price for a copy of TRS22. Good on you. In my personal opinion, which I posted in another thread, it is worth the upgrade price from TRS19 (Standard), which you have in your timeline, but perhaps not so much from TRS19 Platinum. But that is my opinion, others like yourself, may have an equally valid but different view. Looking over the list of TRS22 features on the Trainz Store Portal (link at the top of this page) I noted that Surveyor 2.0 is not included, something that N3V have never hidden or tried to disguise. Right from their first announcement of the new Surveyor feature (S20) they have made it very clear that it is a Trainz Plus subscription only feature that may eventually make it into a future retail release.

The current S20 is still very much a "work in progress" and it will evolve and improve with new features before it reaches a retail version. It still does not have all the features that are available in the original Surveyor interface which means that users must, for the time being, switch between the two Surveyors.

I wish you well. TRS19 and TRS22 are both excellent products and should bring you many happy hours of Trainzing.
 
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