Facts
As I see this, a few facts :-
1. No content (as far as I know) will be removed from the DS. Older 2004/06 content is used in later versions within the bundled routes. This being the case, it will still be available for downloading.
1a. So users with all versions will still be able to download content for whichever version they possess.
2. No new Uploads will be accepted after the September date for versions other than 2010.
2a. This means that any new content created for older versions will have to be hosted on external sites, including my routes.
3. Auran thereafter will only support their latest version, which at the moment is 2010.
3a. Support for older versions will I assume still be available via the forum, where most of it is found now anyway.
4. In the eventual case not a lot will change on the DS apart from only 2010 content being Uploaded. All other content will still be listed. There are a few assets that have already been discontinued as I have discovered when releasing new sections of the WCL so I try at avoid using these now.
4a. The upshot is that you will all still be able to download exactly the same content you can now. What will change is there will be no new assets for any version other than 2010 or later.
Well surprise, surprise! Auran is a business, not a charity. They need to work to some kind of profit margin to survive otherwise they will also vanish into the ether as well as the older versions, and none of us want that, do we?
They have offered us, over the years, a great service. Okay, it fell flat on its face a few times and squirmed on the floor for a while, but they got it up and running again without giving up on us, even though there was a sea of moans and some quite impolite posts on this forum. I don’t know of any other gaming zone program that offers anything like the things this community gets, especially so in a railway sim, yet all a lot of the people on here do is complain (with exceptions). All those that have used these alternative sims soon came back to Trainz. Yes, it has faults, nothing in life is perfect, but we sort ourselves out, dust it down and in the vast majority of cases get the program running.
What can be suggested is a practical alternative that might appeal to the Auran top brass, one with money in it for their continuing support of an older version while not affecting the sales of their latest one. Pleading here will not make any difference to the decision that has been taken at boardroom level. As has been stated in previous posts, a great deal of thought has gone into this move before general notification. It has probably been a hard choice.
It has been mooted that Auran set up a separate site for the older versions. Fine, but who’s going to pay for it? There isn’t a web site fairy that gives them away for free. Has anybody on here set one up? If so, they will know the costs. But to do that would require a powerful server to support it and that again would increase costs. Revenue will have to come from those that want the support to continue for a defunct version(s).
So who is to pay? If you want it then you pay for it, simple. Maybe by buying an Access Ticket for older versions site? A figure for the costs to be worked out. That would be on top of and separate from a FCT. How many would grab this chance? Goodness knows. It seems people want something for nothing and that does not work in business.
And why has the decision been taken in the first place? Most likely the cause is that sales of 2010 are not as good as expected with folk sticking to older versions. Solution? Buy 2010, I did. I haven’t used it much because I still create in 2004, but I will one day. The important thing is that Auran got support and income. And by the way, I am retired and a pensioner.
Yes, 2004 is a stable version, but it took quite a few patches to get it there and quite a few years to do it. So it was not an immediate success, it progressed and improved, slowly. So why should 2010 be perfect right away? The truth is it won’t be, it will also need several patches to fix the problems found during end user use.
It is just a pity Auran used Speedtreez.... and got the naming conventions mixed up at the same time.
If you want Auran to listen, be practical, offer something in return, then they might just take time out to start a conversation with the community. If you don’t, then forget it.
Angela
