What Do You Think About Micro Transactions In Tsw (winter Survey 2025)

Was anyone else alarmed when they saw mention in the survey the question about an in-game store?
Lets see how the remaining community on the forums feel about this? Up to 2 options can be selected.

Personally DTG can expect to lose any future custom from me as a result, but perhaps Im in the minority.

 

I answered no. As to whether I would walk away, it depends on how intrusive the in-game store is.

 

Aren't those (micro transactions) illegal in the EU? I know the UK isn't in it.

 

Loot boxes are banned under gambling laws in the EU as far as I am aware and there's restrictions around virtual currencies to confuse consumers over the real cost of items but microtransactions themselves arent banned.

 

I voted Option 2. Not going to flush £100's (more like several £1000's) of content down the drain. However I don't want or need micro transactions in a game that already verges on the expensive side of buying DLC content.

 

Doesn't bother me if they just wanna sell cosmetic LOVE

Edit: the profanity filter is ridiculous- a five year old wouldn't even get in trouble for that. Can i say "cosmetic junk?"

There's no multiplayer, so if people wanna cosplay while driving trains good on them lol.

Can't see myself spending any money there, but who knows

 

It’s a slippery slope and I’d be worried no matter how it started. It’s not a huge leap from “cosmetic only” to licenced liveries locked behind paywall IMO

however, to provide some balance, I was pleased to see questions acknowledging both the core issues with the game and also that people may want increased realism and complexity.

 

IIRC that's how the very first Auran version of Trainz was conceived, The content would be released in plain or in house colours with actual liveries locked behind a "collectibles" paywall. Fortunately, at the 11th hour wiser heads prevailed and a more conventional approach was adopted.

The lady dog of it is, if DTG put their minds to it they could make an absolute mint selling us the much requested content in the Suggestions forum (start with some more BR Classic traction) than coming up with these weird money making ideas.

 

Depends on what the in-game store consists of and how we are expected to buy this stuff.

If it's some sort of game currency you earn through simply playing the game, I have no issue with that.

If it's a shop that involves spending real money then I'm not interested because we already spend enough paying for DLC releases.

 

I posted about this somewhere yesterday.

It is already a cash grab, but if it becomes a shameless cash grab, then I am out!!

Have enough DLC to keep me going for years anyway.

 

Anyone thinking ‘yes’ or ‘I don’t mind’ etc, needs to seriously consider where the time will come from to make such items.

Either they’ll lock things we already have access to behind paywalls, or they’ll remove even more manpower from current development to work on the mtx.

In either case regardless of you buying them or not, you’re still paying for them, it just becomes a case of dilution of content vs money.

Of course not to overlook that DTG could simply bring in more devs to work on such things, but with the state of the game at the moment, I’d want any new man power to sorting the current mess out.

There have always been controversial options in their surveys, but this year it feels like someone’s gone out to look up the most disrespectful development ideas & ask us which ones we want.

Thousands of pounds of content is released each year, all of it is buggy and/or unfinished & not one option in that survey is one that respects their customers money. It’s all “what can we sell you next”.

 

Where do Micro transactions come into TSW?
Are we looking at a TS Marketplace type of thing? Stand-alone livery packs? Decals for LD?

Or just a ramp up in gameplay packs (I suppose this falls under the Marketplace idea) calling them "micro-transactions"?

 

I don't understand anything. Microtransactions for what?
New trains or something else?

 

It will be allowing us to buy pink fluffy headphones, or cat ears for our avatars kind of stuff I imagine.

Got to give the people what they want.

 

I voted no, but for curiosity I'm interesting to know how many Tsw player are we? Microtransactions probably is profitable if there are many players, i Always supposed this is a niche game, but in reality i don't know the size of playerbase.

 

definitely no

 

If they replace gameplay packs charging £13 for a glorified new livery with just the livery for cheaper it'd be fine.

But this is DTG, they'll nickel and dime users.

 

Not only no, but LOVE no!

 

Hard no! I wouldn't drop the game completely, but if it got to be annoying and intrusive then I would for sure walk away.

 

Depends what those "micro transactions" are.

If for instance we could pay a few pounds for a loco or some rolling stock to populate layers instead of having to buy a whole route which we don't want then that'd be OK.

Or maybe additional liveries - I'd have no interest but others might.

 

If it's just for unimportant things like avatars or cabin goodies, they can do it, but I won't buy anything.
If it's more in direction of layers/liveries/services, than it's a no go

 

KEEP. MICROTRANSACTIONS. OUT. OF. TSW.

 

I voted No/ignore. It's what I already do with the cosmetic stuff available in the Elite Dangerous store. I have though paid for early access to certain ships, rather than wait and use in-game credits, and I'll admit to having dropped a fair bit on World of Warcraft mounts and pets. Interesting that recently there was a backlash in the ED community about the prospect of a particular space station being available only in the store rather than eventually for credits, which was reversed after a few days.

Generally-speaking, I don't mind cosmetic stuff being available in stores for those that want, but gameplay should never be.

 

All it needs is for someone to hack the profanity filter and add the word "microtransactions" to the top of the naughty list.
Then DTG will forget it even exits. (That's why passenger behaviour never gets tackled).

 

I doubt Loot boxes are banned in the EU. As someone from the EU playing World of Warships, I can say there's plenty of loot boxes for sale. However, not too long ago the game devs had to be more transparent about the chances of certain drops in these random boxes. I've also read repeatedly that loot boxes aren't for sale for Belgian players, so they actually seem to be banned in Belgium.

 

When DTG adds microtransactions to TSW, I'm done with it. I'm already quite done with the gaming industry and also DTG because of their practices, shameless copy/paste and low quality products for high prices. The gaming industry mostly lost their passion for games, it's all about the money. With low effort, making as much money as possible.

I have already issues with the way DLC are sold now, for a busy route you have to own other DLC to get extra trains, some are even for AI only. Also selling extra train add-ons on the day of a route release, is just keeping out a train from the route to sell it for extra money. Those train add-ons are EUR 17,99, the half of the cost of a route. Leaving out the Pendolino from WCML and sell it as add-on, is one of the worst as I've seen. This train is important for the rail scene on this route, and should be included. Also not including the BR1442 on Dresden - Leipzig, but forcing people to buy Rapid Transit, an old buggy route with a terrible sounding train, is big no go for me.

 

Correct, there's no EU-wide ban. But some EU countries (notably Belgium and the Netherlands) have classed them as gambling under their national laws, so restrict them accordingly.

 

I'm from the Netherlands and still able to buy loot boxes.

 

I'm fine with microtransactions in Elite Dangerous, where they sell the base game at every opportunity discounted to like 4 euros, and it's a non-subscription live service. The servers cost non-trivial money to run, and future development has to be paid from something.

I'm not fine with microtransactions in TSW, where a single addon costs 40 eur, requires two additional 30 eur addons for enabling at least all major types of services, and five more 30 eur addons to get a full, complete experience. And as the addons are mostly released in their late alpha, early beta state, the money is clearly just disappearing somewhere, and definitely not going into any stable future of the game.

 

Indeed, hence why I said "restrict" not "ban". From what I've read, there are restrictions around being able to buy them in Euros only, not in-game currency, and that probabilities for specific items dropping must be disclosed.

 

No, TSW isn't made for that kind of thing, the game itself is already expensive and requires payment for each DLC.

After I might even quit the game ? Maybe because TSW is starting to bore me for several reasons. So adding that on top of everything else wouldn't help.

 

Gran Turismo 7 has micro transactions and I enjoy the game without paying anything. However, you can still buy everything, you just have to grind for it.

If the items from micro transactions are exclusive and can't be earned in any other way then it would make me consider whether I want to continue to support DTG.

It's bad enough that I don't have time to play enough to get the mastery rewards. But I'm not paying extra to get such things. The moment something requires paying for that affects my enjoyment of the game, then I'm out. That's easier for me to say as, much as I like TSW, my primary enjoyment of Train Simulators is still from TSC. I honestly wouldn't miss TSW that much.

I also question the morality of micro transactions in general. It's like putting sweets by the checkout in supermarkets where kids see them and pester their parents for them. I've seen it with friends children always wanting things for their games and then getting annoyed when their parents won't give in. Sadly the days are gone when you paid for a game and that gave you access to everything without further payment.

 

Tolerate...yes.
Enjoy? No.

They're fine if it's cosmetic stuff that's unnecessary to play the game.
Liveries, etc.
I did think the "customize your cab" idea was potentially genius.
It would be limited of course (cabs aren't that big) but it wouldn't take a lot to make happen (just a "box" to place an item on the dash or other seat) and there's enough people who like to "customize for immersion" that they could make a few bucks off it.
More money from that stuff (in theory) means more overall income, so less pressure on making money on the DLC themselves "or we go broke missing payroll" so maybe DLCs can "cook" a little longer before release.

As long as it's a) optional and b) more than pays for the extra work and extra person hired to manage it....then I'm fine with it.
Could be used for BOTH a mastery/credits in game AND paid DLC so it's double duty.
Say for example there's a cute teddy bear with an engineer hat that's a parody on certain famous bear named after a railway station.
(New DTG mascot?)
You could put it in a few locations around the cab like in European Truck Simulator. (dashboard, other seat, etc)
Anyway, you could "earn" it in game with set achievement tree or in game "cash" or you could just buy in the store for a dollar or something.
The use of "cash" or "points" as a generic tracker is a lot easier than having each thing tied to a specific achievement. Instead of HAVING to do one you don't like, you could do the achievements you like and just earn "points" to spend on the "souvenirs."

All entirely voluntary, relatively easy to program, and can make in-game purchases and store DLC more useful.
Also ridiculously easy to just keep introducing more "stuff" in the store for even interns to make for practice. I'd rather they get experience working on a new new posters or a potted plant for the cab than jump right into texture modeling something that will get people up in arms over.

There's a lot of benefits to this if done correctly.
If done wrong... well, it doesn't really screw the core game up so it's relatively low risk.

 

Micro transactions in a Train Simulator is just weird… just stick to regular DLC… that’s getting unnecessary… leave Micro transactions for games like GTA and CoD….

 

releasing thomas the tank engine content into a train simulator is strange enough, but that didn't stop DTG from going ahead with this stupid idea
in other words, we should conclude that the fact that it's strange won't stop DTG from going ahead with (yet another) stupid microtransaction idea

 

We already have them.
A "microtransaction" is just cheap DLC.
When you buy the heritage livery pack or a loco to run on a route in TSW, that's a "microtransaction."
I think by definition a "microtransaction" is any DLC that isn't an "expansion" (basically a route in TSW terms, a map or quest in an RPG)
Anything that adds content to something else already in game, usually for a lower price than the expansion hence the "micro" part.

So all the DLC we have that aren't routes DEPEND on those routes to work. (Can't drive a train without rails)
They're all microtransactions.

You can't say you "don't want them in the game" since they're already here.

The survey was just asking what more DLC/microtransactions we wanted on top of what we already have.

 

Sounds like another cash grab to me. For stuff we should already with a route considering how

 

What specifically should you "have with a route?"
If it's a loco for example...wouldn't that just increase the cost of the route to include a loco not everyone would want? Wouldn't that result in LESS choice for players?
If I want to buy just the WCMLS and don't want the 390.... currently I can do that.
If it's required to be bundled "because it's there irl" then that price would make the whole bundle more expensive.
That denies player choice and you gain nothing because if you WANT the 390 you can always just buy it and use it.

The "danger" of microtransactions (in other games) is to make it basically "required" to buy that content to complete a game. ("Pay to Win")

I don't see how that can really happen on a train sim.
You aren't competing with anyone but yourself.
What would you "win?"

Every route you buy has trains on it and you can use those trains to complete any "achievements" you feel the need to do. The route is entirely playable with what it comes with.
Yes you can add layers if you want, but they aren't needed to complete anything.

What do people here think they will be "forced" to buy in order to "win" what?
This isn't Call of Duty.

The things you could "buy" mentioned thus far were a) "cabin collectables" and b) "mastery" awards. Neither of those are necessary at all. Entirely cosmetic.

If someone can buy say the October 2025 "Monthly Mastery" or you can buy an achievement on a route... I honestly don't care. It doesn't affect other people at all.
It's up to them if they want to buy something you can do in game to save doing it.
There might be a particularly onerous mission or using a locomotive you don't like that someone might feel it's worth paying a buck or two to bypass to get the achievement.
Again, it doesn't affect anyone else's game. No one else even knows since the game is single player.

 

If this opens up the opportunity for loco enhancement packs, liveries, sounds etc then so be it. What I don’t want is a Call of Duty/Fortnite format where you get hit in the face with a barrage of chargeable content as soon as you log in.

 

Except another question asked how we feel about ‘additional services’ being unlocked by mastery.

in other words we could pay for the route but only have access to 75% of the services and either have to grind or pay to unlock the remaining 25%.

 

In an indirect way yes...and no.
They didn't ask for more timetable per se.
So you'd get the complete timetable for a route.
What you'd be adding is "layers" that don't normally go on it.
The Class 52 railtour for example on the Riviera Route is added if you have the 52.
Or you'd unlock a "Christmas Tour" with mastery achievement.
Those aren't part of the normal everyday timetable.
Those are additions to it that aren't normally there.

I get what you're suggesting is technically possible in theory, but it's not what was said.
You can already as I've said download DLC to add to timetables or add new timetables (with the Cargo Packs or the XC 170 pack or the Railtours, etc)

None of that is new, and that's what they were saying.... just that instead of DLC you'd be able to unlock some of them by "mastery challenges." So... unpaid earning them in game.
Then later they mentioned being able to "buy" those achievements.
But that's still not changing that they're not "part of the timetable" for the route.

Those are additional "layers."

Are we objecting to the idea of additional "layers" on routes now?

 

It depends on how intrusive the microtransactions are, if they aren't shoved in your face 24/7 and are completely optional, then I'm fine with it.


But for now, I'm going with the majority, option 2.

 

Most timetables come with rail tours already without having to grind or pay to unlock them.
Maybe I’m cynical or maybe I’m just a realist when I think that these “additional layers” will just be held back and gated after all there’s only so many paths available on any given route and some specifically single track ones already have zero available paths (even SEHS is probably is close to zero). If when devising timetables devs are told they have to keep 10% capacity back for mastery then it’s not extra layers it’s layers which we have already paid for.

 

Dtg will have to release a Indian railway route before they can start selling train decorations.

 

You can buy extra passengers to go on the roof.

 

we already get short changed with the passengers we have, i only get about half of em now (the other half is stuck through the platform)

 

As long as everything is earnable through in game progression then I'm ok with anything they throw at us, particularly on the cosmetic side. I'm glad to see posters now on the monthly mastery, I would happily spend an in-game currency unlocking things like additional scenery tiles.

There is also so much untapped potential in older routes for new scenarios, I would happily let those who blindly buy anything from DTG spend real money for extra scenarios that I can grind to unlock.

 

Sounds should be right from the very start though. We shouldn’t have to pay a penny to have new sounds. Don’t give DTG or Rivet ideas lol. They’ll see this and think it’s ok to start making sound pack DLC’s at ridiculous prices… £10 for updated Class 385 sounds… never.

 

I do see your point, but if they released the Armstrong Powerhouse enhancement pack for the class 37, I’d happily pay £20 for it. Same with the HST Valenta and so on. Things need to change, I mean we can’t even edit the livery for many of the BR locos.

 

This product just doesn't lend itself for micro-transactions, since base-price for DLCs is already pretty steep. So a definite no for me.