Potential loss of the Platinum expansion

On Nov 17th N3V sent me the following e-mail:

This is an important announcement about changes to the Trainz Membership options.

Your existing membership plan is no longer available to NEW members.

If you do cancel, you will no longer be able to renew on the same plan. However, you can remain on your existing plan as long as you like, and there is no requirement to change plans.

If you are interested in the new Trainz Plus features, you can switch to Trainz Plus Standard or Gold. Simply log in to MyTrainz.com to upgrade your account and begin enjoying the very latest Trainz edition.

Click to expand...

I get that N3V is trying to evolve to a beneficial business plan. It is also clear that they will permit me to use TRS 19 with the Platinum expansion without any action on their part to take it away from me.

But what if my laptop died and I had to download 19 again from MyTrainz to re-install it on a new laptop? It sounds like the Platinum expansion would not be available in that case. Is that interpretation incorrect? Would my local backup be sufficient to re-install the Platinum expansion on a replacement computer?

I worry what would be equivalent to me 'cancelling' my plan. Which gets me to my final point: I would be extremely unhappy if I lost something that I paid for. Other than eventually ending support for TRS19, which is an obvious reality, the Platinum expansion was not promoted as a temporary product.

Thanks in advance for any clarifications to my worries.

Dave,

I doubt that is considered a cancellation since you are already an account holder. If you were to let your subscription lapse, that may be a different story.

So long as your plan is active in your account you can reinstall as often as you want. Cancelling means you go to your account page and cancel, N3V have no way of knowing what Computer you are using or if it still exists, For example I have TRS19 installed on two PCs an Old one and New one, I just copied the files across, no need to reinstall anything and both still work, obviously you shouldn't be using both at the same time to conform with the EULA.

Actually its more complicated here as I have TS12, TANE, TRS19, TRS22 and Trainz Plus installed on various PCs. My TRS19 did change into Platinum on the last update, a bit strange as with a Gold Plus Account I already had access to everything anyway, however in my Time Line it's only showing as TRS19, yours is showing Platinum. Did you actually buy Platinum in addition to a Silver account? In which case you have nothing to worry about.

Basically it's your account that provides permissions to use whatever subscription or purchased versions you are using not what you are using them on.

John and Malc,

Thanks for your replies. I bought 19 Platinum several years ago. I have not purchased Trainz+, Silver or Gold access enhancements.

I also have multiple versions of Trainz -- 2006, 2009, 2012 twice, tane sp1, tane sp4 and 19 -- on my computer as I like running some of the old routes. And have done some silly route merges in the older versions. (Hawes-Tidewater-Dresden) Some of the routes have been available on the DLS, but I still haven't removed the older versions of Trainz.

That makes the email you received somewhat puzzling as the only thing they are ending is the Silver Subscription, Have a look at My Trainz > My Memberships and see what it says if anything there?

That was a good idea. It says:

Membership Includes:
Content Vault: Requires Trainz Plus Gold
Trainz Store Discount: Requires Trainz Plus Gold

First Class Ticket: Active <---

Preview Pass: Requires Trainz Plus Gold
Trainz A New Era: Requires Trainz Plus Gold
Trainz Railroad Simulator 2019: Requires Trainz Plus Gold
Trainz Railroad Simulator 2022: Requires Trainz Plus Gold
Trainz Plus: Requires Trainz Plus Standard or Gold

It also gives an annual renewal date and the last four digits of my credit card. I did buy an FCT last year. I don't remember signing up for recurring payments. This is more likely what they were writing about, but the email was received after the renewal date, which doesn't make any sense.

So the email I received had nothing to do with my Platinum enhancement. I wish that companies would be more specific in their messages. This type of situation has happened to me before, where I've totally mis-read what a company was trying to tell me without being specific.

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction ...