Train Sim Society Covers What Is Happening On The Discord

Purely personally I wouldn't have thought it was that important, something nice to have rather than essential. In a single player game where all the other trains and signaller are controlled by the AI, having the train radio tuned correctly is only for those who are sticklers to detail. In the real world, drivers and signallers are not nattering away to each other anyway, it's for essential safety critical comms, or to hit the "E" button if a major incident unfolds.

 

Well I thought people wanted more realistic features so it feels more like a simulator and not an arcade game

 

If TSS is the one I'm thinking of, I find his videos tiring to watch as he edits out the natural silences in speech. What you get is just a bombardment of constant talking. Keep it natural, please!

 

As others had said, it’s just another thing that lends to the authenticity of the simulation. Real trains wouldn’t operate without it.

The train horn for example doesn’t do anything in game either, other than make a sound, should we get rid of those too?

As I alluded to above, it’s one of those things that is often part of a package of a generally more detailed train, as opposed to a stand alone feature. Something as whole which seems to be proving more popular on account of more devs putting more into the trains.

The 86 & 87 for example are full of odd little bits that make the locos that bit more special, most people probably don’t touch those either, but for those of us that like that detail or opportunity to play with the trains a little more, it’s a great addition.

 

Yup.
Then see if people buy routes with those features when offered.

 

In Switzerland, SBB, BLS and other Swiss railway companies use locomotive radio to communicate with train dispatchers, among other things. The radio is also used for other purposes.

So, in my opinion, this is a very realistic feature that fits well with a train simulator.

 

Yeah, nice but who exactly are you going to talk to in‑game? It looks very realistic, but its actual use in the game is extremely limited. Look at the 101 Expert… it has a full‑size GSM‑R, but do you really use it? No! Apart from entering the train number, it’s purely cosmetic and nothing more.
Sorry, I don’t want to sound negative, but this is the same as the often‑requested toilet in TSW. Just remember: the more of these kinds of features you add, the more performance they eat up.

 

No, I don't take that negatively either.

But the radio in the train is something the train driver can use, and I don't know to what extent that can be implemented in TSW.

To be honest, I think requests like that, along with a walk-in train toilet, are nonsense.
I also find these AP points pointless, as well as the medals you can earn and many other aspects of TSW.

As a train driver in a train simulator, I'm not really interested in things like that, nor am I interested in the expanded map where you can even see the signal numbers. That could also be slimmed down to save resources.

 

Couldn't agree more - once the basics are done to a decent standard, then it's maybe time to add extra 'features' but the question "who are you going to talk to?" was the killer for extensive GSMR implementation for us.

However, we have done a full GSMR implementation with voice for a client recently using separate software, but there is no way we would look to bring that over. We absolutely do not want the moderation headache. That said, I think Firefly are making something which looks like it could strike a nice middle ground. It'll be interesting to see what they come up with

 

From experience (because I own the BR101 Expert), I can say that a full GSM-R really adds nothing extra, except that you enter a train number, which otherwise contributes nothing. At most that is interesting in a scenario, but I would rather see other things being done instead of features that only make the game weaker than it already is. Everything that gets added costs performance or creates bugs.

And yes, GSM-R is a telephone you use it to call someone and since you can’t really do that in-game, I completely understand the statement: “who would you even call?”

 

He has zero knowledge about software development, which leads to him making a compete ass out of himself at least 5 times per video.
"It's better to be smart, beautiful, healthy and rich, rather than stupid, ugly, ill and poor". This is as deep as his "analysis" goes. Or what was that one with Marie Antoinnette? "Lady, the peasants don't have bread to eat!" "Let them eat cakes, then!"

 

Matt, great comeback video to being called out. Keep making great videos ✌️

 

But it could contribute if it would be integrated into gameplay. I.e. I would really like a change of the gameplay loop for the freight services, where you spawn into a cab and get immediately dispatched, without having time to properly set thing up (which I expect to be more of an hassle with comming freight focused expert loco).

What if instead I would spawn into the loco, and only after I feel I'm ready, I would call the dispatcher to let him know I'm there and there and I'm ready for departure. With AI voices you can have it even voiced. The dispatcher system would already support this, becsause you can actually do this gameplay loop with a spawned train. Prepare it, and once ready set a route, and the dispatcher will correctly route you...

And what if, before you have a stop instruction on a sidding, to let a faster service pass, you would get a dispatcher call telling you what his plans with you are. It can be 100% scripted and static, and baked into the timetable, but would still do a lot for immersion.

One of my favourite routes in TSC was West Highland Line Extension, where you actually had a functional Radio Electronic Token Block, with radio communication, it was 100% static and prerecorded, but it did sooo much for immersion...

Yes, if it stays at entering a train number, and calling it a day, then it is worthless. But I don't agree that there is nothing it could add to the experience... And all this basically boils down to one of my core issues with TSW.. that the core gameplay loop is basically unchanged from Heavy Haul...

 

Yeah, that’s correct and I fully agree with you! But as I mentioned already, that’s more scenario‑based stuff. You can see that with the 101 Expert Gameplay Pack. I’m not sure if things like that are even possible in timetable mode. So I’ll stick with the current situation that’s what I was pointing out. Whatever they might do in the future is pure speculation.

 

Everytime I hear his voice I can only hear that 'burger King foot lettuce' video.

 

It would definitely need work and improvement on the timetable side... But I don't think it needs to be restricted to a scenario. In a way, there is not much difference between this and a station annoucement... just a static action that gets played before you arrive to your next objective...
But in the current state.. yeah, I agree, not much gameplay in it.

 

And on consoles 6th January.

 

If your review isn't already honest by default, then you're not to be trusted, and shouldn't need to be putting it in the title of your video.

Seeing it there always makes me cringe.

 

But, sadly, that's what works. On youtube you can actually run various thumbnails and titles, and youtube will serve them randomly to people (and provide statistics for each group).. and quess which kind of title / thumbnail always attracts more audience? Yep, the clickbaity ones... so hate the game, not the player.

It is effective even when there isn't much difference in retention rate (how long people keed watching the video) between those groups...That means both groups would find the content attractive, it's just that one kind of thumbnail attracts more people.

And when it is your job, and what brings food to the table.. then yeah... sadly you have to play the game. Basically, every successful youtuber has to use this tactic. I don't like it.... But I understand why people are using it.

In a way... it's why we're playing TSW 6, even though it is basically the same as TSW 5, and TSW 4.. and TSW 3... annual releases attract more new players... And majority of people don't like it either.. .but... hate the game, not the player

 

Exactly what i envisioned when AABS next route got announced. All the moaners suddenly change attitude and now its the next best thing again.

 

When I see something like "brutally honest" then I avoid it. I don't need Youtubers to tell me whether I should buy something (or anyone on this forum either).

I watch youtube videos of TSW for research and get a feel of the DLC in a relaxed manner.

 

Well ambassadors will always tell you to buy something they are showing that they get for free. I will never watch an ambassador streaming nor will i ever take anything they say as the truth. Same with the streamers who get free keys if I see they have a key giving for free will find another channel.

 

Why are we arguing about bloody Youtubers ffs!!!!

 

I agree I don't trust people who give reviews to things they get for free.

But at the same time I have other reasons I don't like TSS either. Personally I find the information he gives is old all he seems to do is repeat what is said in the forums and some of his info is just plain wrong or hearsay. Or how he flip flops, the game is terrible and needs fixing, their releasing too many DLC's but then he claims to be excited for more DLC's.

Not all but some of his videos just come across as whining particulary the too much DLC were the main concern he said he had was how people are going to afford it all. That to me came across as whining.

I also don't trust the fact he doesn't play anything live ever it is always prerecorded.

I will watch DTG preview streams and I can make my own desicions from there, I don't need to be part of a flock.

 

They give an opinion just like any other I don't recall any ambassador saying buy this. Even if they did I make my own mind up

Why do we have to be spoonfed people's views, whether negative or positive? We managed before the Internet, however social media seems to have made it harder for people to think for themselves.

 

There is only one opinion the will give and that’s a positive one. They get the content for free they won’t say anything negative incase that comes to a stop

 

British Ace was getting negative about the blurry textures on the Crewe to Birmingham route. Train simulator driver can be negative as can dadrail.

I watch them as they are relaxing and dadrail is interesting being a real driver. It doesn't matter whether they like it or not to me.

 

I'm not a fan of many ambassadors, but Train Sim Driver is one of the better ambassadors and he's done a lot for the community with tutorials etc (anyone else remembers his RailDriver overlays?)

Train Sim Society is one of the most click-baity irrelevant youtube channels in existence. He claims to be a full time youtuber which seems unlikely given he's less than 10K subscribers, he also claims to be an avid TSW player yet to him DTG ruling out multi player is hot of the press news despite that being DTG's position for a number of years. To be honest from what I've seen he just regurgitates things he's read on the forums or on discord and presents it as fact and his own opinion.

TSD would have been better not responding but I can why he felt the need to. TSS comes across as like many current politicians insofar as he can only be relevant by attacking the game and other youtubers rather than producing quality interesting content that doesn't rely on clickbait and misleading titles.

 

That’s the model for much of YouTube now. Theres several of them for each game genre an it’s always some negative title followed by 8 minutes of “explaining how they got here” followed by 1 minute of discussing what might be the issue with a final minute about their channel.

It’s never anything of actual substance, doesn’t provide actual constructive criticism, and unfortunately people gravitate to it and they get more and more clicks. This isn’t about TSS, just more a general feedback of what I see on YouTube these days. It has to be done that way to get clicks since it’s what YouTube promotes now anyway.

 

I’m still new to a lot of train sim things, but it sounds like GSM-R is like ATC for flight sim?

If that’s the case, it becomes a little complicated but you can put some basic options for limited communication like MSFS has for ATC. You can ask for pushback, taxi, takeoff, approach, landing, gates and other instructions, but its options you can click so it limits what can be selected.

Again I don’t know anything about GSM-R so I have no idea how it works, but similar things have been done. As has been said though, it does eat up performance and MSFS had issues with it on console when the original marketplace add-ons were released because both a modded plane/airport was eating up resources used by the ATC.

 

GSM-R is nothing more than a telephone connection that allows communication with the train dispatcher, conductor, and shunter, etc. It can also be used to issue a warning to other trains in the area in case of danger. There are a few other forms, but in essence, it remains telecommunication.

 

Yeah, that was a hmmmmm.... moment for me to be honest.

 

He has 230K on his Pixelade channel where he does the same thing for the Sims. I guess though since the Sims is dead or dying he is expanding here.

I agree his videos are completely just what is said on the forums. What ever the hot topic over the last few days has been. And he seems clueless to anything before TSW5.

At least others show the game live and the bugs they are talking about. And their videos are not edited to high hell, using AI I believe.

Wouldn't surprise me to find he is using AI to search the forums and come up with a script.

And yes clickbait is a way to get your videos seen by more, but it just shows that you don't have anything substantial to add that you need to use "Fake News" to draw people in. Which is dishonest.

But as I said before I can think and read for myself and don't have to be spoonfed how I should feel, think or know whatever was already posted 2 days ago.

Besides as he said in his response video that he does things for the money. So not out of love for the game. He is no different than DTG and is all about the Benjamins.

There seem to be too many amateur reporters/wannabe experts on every subject on Youtube these days.

 

I'm 100% on Train Sim Society's (Matt) side here. What bugged me the most about Train Simulator Driver's (Paul) video was how he blatantly lies about the inability to leave comments on Matt's Youtube videos. There isn't an ounce of censorship happening there.

 

And the clickbait works on the other hand of this recent issue in the community Train Sim Driver has used clickbait in his upload as well the title currently stands "brutally Honest Response to Train Sim Society Ambassador Dishonesty Claims"

Having watched both videos to make head and tail about the issue. TSS never mentioned ANY ambassador by name in his video TSD is referring to so tbh they are both as bad as each other. HOWEVER the ambassador should be more professional in his video and shouldn't have reacted to TSS as at the end of the day he represents DTG and should know better. Reacting how he did isn't really professional in my opinion and neither is making stuff up in his video. The comments on his video seem to say the same thing in that he was wrong. I imagine DTG would have a few words with him about this and tell him to just ignore it in future

 

I'm not a fan of either but after rewatching the TSS video it appears he has cut out/edited the part that he mentions Blu Games and Taruga on it.

I heard it too when he within an hour ofnhis video posting.

He even mentions Blu games as an ambassador in his response video and mentions that TSD even said Blu was an ambassador. When in fact on TSD's video he said Blu and Taruga are not DTG Ambassadors.

And its not the first time there was an edit to his videos post release.

His video was originally titled DTG closes the Door on Multiplayer..then all the comments came in that that was announced years ago and not new he changed the video to Buyer Beware watch this before buying DLC. And edited out some remarks he originally had.

Sounds trustworthy to me.

And for him to say Ambassador are in it for the free keys like he implies, well he's in it for the money( even said so in the response video) so that is really no different.

They are all in it for the views and like you said TSD should not of respnded in the first place.

So they are both wrong in my opinion.

 

Blu Games i believe was a DTG ambassador. Not sure if he still is. DC has never been.

[EDIT] Blu Games is a DTG Ambassador

As for the multi-player vid, that was because on the Discord Q&A, DTG firmly shut the door on Multiplayer officially and he simply repeated that news. Some players especially new ones may not have been aware of that.

 

There are also people that don't go to here to the forums or the discord channel, so for some people, You Tube may be their only source of news.

 

Seems like TSS shared some opinions as fact, TSD took some offense and defended himself with a few shots at TSS, TSS then highlighted that they were just opinions afterwards.

As someone that follows TSD for the tutorials and some of what TSS says, my only opinion here is that I can’t believe we have some Train Sim Internet Beef!

 

I see this a lot, and it for me demonstrates that people really don't understand where money comes from youtube. Making people clicking on your vid doesn't make you money. Them staying and watching the content + ads, and then possibly subscribing and returning is.

If the only thing you provide is a clickbaity title and no substance, people will leave, not return, and you will not make money. Simple as that. But even when the content is good, less people will click on the vid if doesn't have a catchy title. That's just how consumer on youtube behave (and in general, packaging sells the product, even when grocery shoping, a bland packaging doesn't sell). I've heard several content creators, from various areas (technology, automotive, gaming..) complainig about this. But the bottom line is, if there is no substance to vids, you will not make money, because people will not stay, return, and will not watch ads. And without view number you will also not attract 3rd party sponsorship.

And for people like me, who don't have time to be glued to the forum / discord 24/7 he actually brings value. Having someone who plays various services of a new DLC, then looks through the feedback thread, and gets the general feel the community has for the DLC, distilles it and brings in a well produced vid is actually of a big value to me. That same goes for Q&A on discord, newsletters...etc.

I haven't heard him to say that ambasadors are there for the free keys, but that there is a conflict of interest. And while the DTG ambasador program is nothing special, and is something that exists for a lots of games, the nature of it is that it is the dictionary case of conflict of interests - the ambasadors are benefiting from the goodwill of a subject they are scrutineering. That doesn't immediately mean that they are lying, or that there is pressure from DTG to bring good reviews, it just means that there is potentiall risk of this to occur, and we, the consumers, need to be aware of this situation. There has been cases where companies tried to exploit the one-sidedness of this relationship.

And as a final note.

This doesn't make any sense... You don't compensate one of the most popular games of all time 'dying' to move to a freaking Train Sim. The 24hour peak for Sim 4 is 27x of TSW6, current player is 50x.. on just steam alone... Yeah, no... If it's just for the money, then it just a terrible financial decision

 

To be perfectly honest after Train Simulator Driver’s video and public and personal attack on TSS DTG Alex and co should be really asking themselves if this is the sort of ambassador they want promoting their content. Whilst an ambassador is not a paid role, they get DLC keys and ultimately represent DTG. To be quite honest, I wouldn’t want this sort of person, who should know better than making school yard bullying comments about another streamer, representing my company or my products! There are surely far more deserved individuals on their waitlist waiting to become DTG Ambassadors?

 

Hey all, just wanted to pop back in.

Firstly, thank you to everyone who's continued to say kind things here, on both sides! It means a lot to me. I've been taking a bit of a break from DTG spaces (Forums, Discord, TSW FB group). Given the scope of what I cover and how I cover it, engagement in these spaces has gotten a bit intense over the past couple of weeks/months. I'll still be lurking and keeping up with things, but I probably won't be as active with posting and engaging with stuff.

With that said, I have been reading the feedback, and want to address the clickbait conversation again here directly. Going forward, I'm going to tone down the titles a lot. I'll still keep some suspense in there because that's just the reality of YouTube, but they'll lean less on curiosity gap and emotional pull and more toward informative hooks instead.

As for the recent situation, that video wasn't something I wanted to make. The last thing I want is personal drama or "beef" with anyone, and it's unfortunate as I really looked upto him. But after both being tagged in it and hearing the claims, how personal it got, and what was being insinuated, it felt like an attack on my character, and I felt like I had to defend myself. If it had just been constructive criticism about my content, I wouldn't have even acknowledged it, but it crossed a line and was incredibly unprofessional for anyone who represents DTG, whether an employee or not. It's also disappointing to see this narrative being pushed that I don't understand how creator programs work. I didn't bother addressing it in my response for the sake of not rambling, but I was part of the EA Game Changer program and left after my own experiences. I know exactly how it works and what the work entails, but I digress. I'm sure you guys understand.

Anyway, appreciate you all.

P.S. GERMAN STEAM?!!! WOW. YES!

Spoiler: A few things I want to touch on:

Nah, I just love both games, but actually hold TSW higher in terms of passion. Most hours I've put into anything ever.

I'd push back on the 'fake news' framing. My titles absolutely did lean into curiosity and emotional pull. That's how YouTube works. But the content always delivered on what the title promised, even if the title was more of a reflection of my opinion or how I was feeling or the dramatics of such. There's a pretty big difference between video promotion that hooks you & content that blatantly lies to you. But again, I hear the feedback, and as I mentioned above, I'm shifting toward more informative hooks going forward (still keeping a little suspense, but that's rule #1: don't give all the info away in the title, because then that defeats the purpose of watching the video). But to be clear: clickbait and fake news aren't the same thing.

I think being honest about YouTube being my job doesn't mean I don't love the game. Both can absolutely be true. I'd even argue that being transparent about the business side is more honest than pretending otherwise. Also, being compensated for my time and work doesn't make me any less passionate about what I do. You can love something AND want to be rewarded for the time you dedicate to it. There's really no contradiction there. That's just how work works when you're fortunate enough to do something you care about.

 

Youtube was and still should be a creator platform. And honestly TrainSimSociety is not a creator based on his current channel, I didnt even know about his Sims channel venture, as I am really not into that genre.

He is a politician, with all the hallmarks of modern politics, especially the modern USA political culture (which as far as I know fits since he is from the USA region), clickbaiting, loud voice, exagerated critical oppinion against the "system", and content that nowadays can be churned out by AI at an astonishing rate.

Take this into consideration: It could even be an AI voice reading an AI generated summary overaid on a video taken from DTGs channels, edited with a mostly automatic process. It is low effort content. If this is what you support then be it, I will not judge, just dont be surprised when DTG pulls the plug on the game due to the pitchforks winning. TrainSimSociety will not make a new game, will not fix bugs on existing content, he will just move on to a new game and create more of the same.

Too bad that youtube went this way, and overall content creation on all platforms went this way. Just compare it to the 2010-2015 era. What you have to realize, that he, or any such "creator" is not in it for the building of a helpful community, they are just hunting fame and building more of a cult, and their personal goals.

Off topic example: In F1 recently one of the drivers made a mistake on track and was passed by one of the other drivers that was in championship contention. His competitors team accused him of letting the guy past on purpose, leading to the driver with no fault getting social media abuse, death threats and as such from the "cult" followers of the other guy. It was in the end covered up with PR statements to limit the damage.

Probably many of the Ambassadors indeed use their status to get content for free which they would never otherwise purchase or get reach in the community they would otherwise never had. Who really watches trainsim videos of the same thing over and over again, its only premiere content that has any chance of a revenue, and even then you have 10+ people to choose from. If they criticize or step out of line their agreement might be terminated, we never know what is really in the NDA Beta testers or Ambassadors sign unless you see the legal document.

TrainSimSociety on the other hand can be the "good guy" in the eyes of many, going against the flow, as he has no real legal agreement to abide by.

 

Train Sim Society is a breath of fresh air. I have watched a few videos lately and they are generally constructive, balanced and presented with a positive outlook. I have found them quite useful to keep up with TSW events when I don't have time to read the forums etc.

He is showing that you don't have to be a DTG lap dog to be successful, and maybe that's why he draws a lot of unwarranted criticism from certain quarters. Keep up the good work.

Also, I am happy to see Multiplayer has been put to bed. It is totally out of place in a train simulator.

 

I see Matt has just posted while I was writing my message. I just want to make it clear I do not condone personal attacks either on him, TrainSimulatorDriver, DTG staff or whomever the pitchfork squad selects as their victim. Pitchfork squads exist in all camps and their voice is always louder than the majority.

I also expect DTG to take action on their Ambassador programme member lashing out publicly, but this might never become a public information unless both parties decide to handle it this way.

Regarding sensational/emotional content as TrainSimSociety publicly admits doing. Yes it works, yes that is what drives views, but what you cannot ensure that that also drives retention barring a short timespan, where people are offered that content on the top of their feeds until preferences change. Subscriber count shows how many people actually take the effort to press a button that costs nothing but show a minimum interaction. And a lot bigger people have been burned by this, enterprises (Linus Media Group) could have been brought down completely by clickbaity/defamatory content overnight, and require a big PR effort to recover, if even possible at the scale of the creators we are discussing here. There is always people who take sides so in essence both are losing the chance to reach out to the other persons audience. I have just reminesced of what creators I have watched that are active in the TSW/TSC space over the last 5 years.

- Megasim - was good to get the news but nothing more, and got uninteresting quickly
- DadRail - I enjoyed his perspective as a driver more than the TSW Ambassador things, and still watch if something intresting pops up.
- DTG Matt/TSW - for the special/charity streams, Roadmaps cannot excite me anymore since you can read in 5 minutes all that you find out in 2 hours. Preview streams only for content I am really really intrested in.
- ATS Alan's streams - TSW sceptic content, and pub style rants/chats. Now that they are developing for TSW it is kind of lost the charm
- TrainSimSociety - filled the same role as Megasim in the buildup for TSW6 release basically, and kind of ended up similar, besides seeing the constantant negative narrative in the content vs the constant positive content
- TrainSimTV - probably this is what I watch the most, and also appreciate their contributions in the JT TSW 3rd party team. Less pro than DadRail but there is still some real knowledge and long history of producing DLC gives a different view.

So basically none of these people really captured my intrest to the level of retaining my viewership. And probably its 80% live streams 20% videos watched, so video only creators are at a clear disadvantage in the space.

I sincerely hope TrainSimSociety can diversify their content and delivery style and that might win me back, since I have no issues with the substance of the content, its more so the delivery style that seems rather not to be constructive. I would enjoy watching a livestream and have live reactions videos rather than manicured news content.

Also anyone who has not worked on any kind of add-ons for TSW or its predecessors, should not be telling what developers should do or not do, I would let that to people like ATS and TrainsimTV from the current community if they want to explain the difficulties and possibilities publicly, but I highly suspect that is also legally bound as compared to freeware TSC content development streams.

 

I really appreciate that response. More than fair! To clarify, my approach most of the time is offering feedback as a paying customer and giving voice to community concerns. You don't need to ship DLC to have valid opinions on a product you've paid for. As for livestreams, it's just a different format that doesn't fit my workflow (mostly due to my horrible upload speed where I live lol), but I get that it's personal preference. I honestly can't wait to move back to an area with fibre internet, I do miss the streams and chats I used to do regularly years ago. Either way, thanks for keeping it civil.