General Discussion Is Gone

for those who haven’t seen, as of next week the general discussion sub-forum will not exist. i see no reason why the most-used section of the forums should be removed, all this will do is spread discussions to other random parts of the forum and make things more disorganised. what’s the point of doing this??

 

DTG, are you also removing the general chat channel on the Discord server, or is it just the forum which is having this function taken away?

 

As an aside, I'd much rather DTG moderated their own duplicate threads in the Dovetail Live Article Discussion sub-forum; it would save on duplicate discussions if, say, the Coming Soon article for a release was closed when the Out Now thread is started, or renamed so that discussion remains in a single thread.

 

So Discord users can post in a general channel about this, that and the other, but forum users won't be able to? There are a ton of useful threads that have been started here in the past that have brought things to the attention of users (Jetwash's lighting mod, to name one off the top of my head), which now won't be allowed.

Not impressed.

 

Well, that's all folks. It was nice chatting with everyone. I hope it's worth it, DTG.

 

Well this sucks and there are not gonna force me to use discord. I will post in other threads. I have had so much useful information from the general discussion thread . There reasoning is nonsense.

 

manage discussions, or eliminate them? because that’s what’s going to happen. where are we meant to discuss things like performance issues, the next iteration of tsw, ask questions about what routes people would recommend? these discussions will now be impossible, and please don’t direct us to the discord server

 

it seems that expressing indignation or dissatisfaction with how DTG treats TSW and its consumers will be prohibited, huh?
perhaps (and only perhaps) this means that something will happen with TSW7 that will most likely displease everyone

 

Removing the General Discussion really feels weird, as it harsly limits the discussion topics that are allowed on the forum. Every game forum needs a general 'this doesn't fit any of the other areas, but it is still about the game' area. You're basically killing discussion about anything else than strongly moderated feedback...

But Discord is not a forum, it's a chat. It's not a discussion area in the same sense, than a forum is... Having more than two topic discussed in a single channel on discord is already a mess, and when you close discord, you're basically leaving the conversation.

You cannot come back to discord after two days and check what's new on the various topics you were interested in... and possibly reply to people involved in the topics. You can just check what's being talked about currently, and that's that.

But what's the point for us, who contribute to the community, to share it here, when you're limiting the audience of people interested in the forum, as the discussion they can have here is limited?

 

Sounds like the beginning of the end for the Forums.
I am a user of Discord but think it’s just a bunch of kids making silly noises about nonsense most of the time…more so than the Forums - if that’s at all possible!

 

So what about all of that discussion and those posts that were removed from the feedback threads by moderator's and put into the discussion posts?

This is a pretty poor idea if there is nothing else to replace it with? Are DTG trying to sensor the community? Especially as one CM said they'd had more recent moderation issues on discord that the forums?

 

This must of been a long term ambition of DTG... I even posted a thread about forum etiquette and respect to DTG staff (so secretly feel somewhat responsible! Even though the decision has probably been in the pipework for months).

But I'm totally against this decision, I think it mutes valid criticism. I'm not going to disagree I have noticed more hostility over the last year, but to delete one of the most attractive and interactive parts of the forum is an awful decision in my opinion. General discussion has offered some interesting and varied thread, and limiting them to just the other categories feels very restrictive.

I do feel it will be muting alot of valid conversations, and a lot of light interactive conversations. I feel DTG should very much reconsider and backtrack on getting rid of general discussion as it is one of the key parts and interactive parts of the forum.

I really hope DTG re-evaluate and reconsider reinstating General Discussion... It is a important and key part of this community!

 

very well said. this is the biggest sub forum and removing it with no alternative reflects very badly on dtg, who’ve insisted for months that there’s no censorship at all

 

Saw this coming as soon as discord was launched. The new social media rules in the UK around U16s was probably the nail in the coffin.

it’s been fun and I’ll stick around to see how these changes actually turn out but a sad day

 

as far as i’m aware you have to be 18 to create a forums account so if dtg are using the social media ban as a leg to stand on then that’s not acceptable

 

actually, there is, discord

 

It's always one step forward, two steps back with DTG.

Implement a new feature? It's broken on release, and half baked (Guard mode, Dynamic weather).

New route? It's half baked and requires a million other DLC to have a semblance of a timetable. (Insert any DLC here)

New patch addressing bugs? It may not work and the most requested fix won't be included. (Insert any DLC here)

Feedback sub-forum? The occasional response from a DTG employee, who will ignore any follow-up questions and leave everyone none the wiser. (Last few posts on the MAC feedback thread)

Userbase growing restless? Hint at an exciting announcement that's a massive anti-climax (Metro rivals).

Userbase growing tired of poor communication from DTG? Insist they listen and that it's popping off in Discord (citation required)

Create a community? Move it to Discord so conversations are disjointed and impossible to track the latest news, but ensure the forum isn't going anywhere even though it'll basically be dead. (This garbage).

I hope Just Trains, All Aboard Studios etc. goes it alone and builds a challenger to TSW.

 

that’s not a solution, discord is just a jumbled up mess of people saying things that get lost and forgotten in minutes. the forums are the only reasonable place to maintain a conversation

 

Well, after next week and these changes, I probably won't be around on the forums much.
Discord is just a disorganised mess and extremely difficult to keep track of who is talking about what.

 

I agree with you
I was being sarcastic
I'm the last person you'll see here going to discord or choosing discord over the forum

 

DTG, I don’t really think the decision to simply close the General Threads section is a good idea.

No matter what game it is, or even on other forums, there’s always a general discussion section, because in my view, it’s necessary.
Why do you want to get rid of the general discussions??

I think the general discussion section is a great way to chat with other users about general topics relating to TSW, mods, apps or anything else.
By doing this, you’re simply taking away the most important section of the forum. And where are we supposed to post such topics in the forum then?

Sorry, but I just think this is a bloody awful decision you’re making.
To put it bluntly, you’re trying to shut us up.

 

Absolutely terrible decision by DTG. As is said already you can't follow a discussion on Discord. It moves too fast.

Can't believe that with all the community managers you can't even manage a fairly low traffic forum.

My cynical side says they are doing this before the announcement of TSW7 to prevent the forum outrage of a new version of a broken game. On Discord it'll go crazy for half a day and be lost.

 

There’s a big difference between banning U18s and implementing control measures and verification processes. I might be barking up the wrong tree of course

 

Unfortunately, Discord is of no use to me, as I don't speak English and there's no translation function on Discord (like in a browser).
Mir nützt der Discord leider nichts, da ich kein Englisch spreche und auf Discord keine funktion gibt (wie bei einem Browser) übersetzten zu lassen.

 

that’s true, but either way i don’t think that constitutes the closure of a sub forum

 

Ah yes, the absolute chaotic discussion and activity in - checks notes - the Troubleshooting sub-forum.

 

i’m sorry, but that won’t do. the general discussion section looks hard to moderate sometimes, but that’s down to the people; the actual structure and content of the subforum works fine. i’d like dtg to reconsider whether shutting this subforum down will really fix much? i don’t think it will, as the same people will still be causing trouble, just in a different part of the forum

 

hands down the worst subforum on here. i’ve put multiple things in there over the years and it’s a miracle if i get so much as a single like, let alone a reply. it’s completely redundant engaging with that area

 

You maybe leaving them open but this is the most popular thread where we chat amongst ourselves help eachother with route/loco problems and so on

 

I think this is a massive mistake and you are killing one of your oldest and most established communities.
You can claim the forums aren’t going anywhere but in reality you are slowly killing them one cut at a time.

 

@DTG Harry
That’s really nice of you to leave these two sections open.

What’s your problem with the General Forum section, and where are users supposed to discuss general topics then?

Does DTG really think you can get users to switch to Discord like this?
Someone from DTG actually wrote themselves that you have more work to do on Discord because things aren’t running as smoothly as you’d like there, whereas here on the forum you don’t have to put in much effort at all.

 

Unfortunately for me there is absolutely no justification no matter how it is put to make General Discussion obsolete... This is an awful decision on behalf of DTG and is making the forum a highly restrictive place and will be muting criticism, social interaction amongst users and making the forum such a basic and unpleasant environment that useful contributors will evaporate.

As I've said this decision needs to be back tracked and overturned, it just isn't on.

 

Another bad decision from DTG, why am I not surprised!

 

The off-topic section is also a good place to go to talk about things other than TSW including:
Real railway news/videos/pics
Model railway stuff
and more.

 

Terrible decision, this is the best forum here.

It smacks of censorship.

 

What DTG have done here is run down the end of the pitch kicked the ball in the back of the net and gone "Hang on a second I recognise that keeper... it's mine".

Can't wait for us all to get banned for discussing things in the feedback threads

 

Reading between the lines, I suspect this is part of cost cutting measures - scarcely any first party content anymore, Metro Rivals cancellation, now this.

 

Removing the most used part of the forum?
The only really suitable for general discussions (as it's name suggests)? Are they LOVE stupid? Or did they get tired of the constant criticism? If you can't have general discussions, what is the bloody point of having the damn forum in the first place?

 

The removal of General Discussion also means the loss of the Awesome Services spreadsheets. These have been maintained by dedicated community members over many years (myself included) to help players get the most out of each route. They represent exactly the kind of player-driven resource that makes a game community worth being part of.

This isn't a minor inconvenience. That work will simply be gone, with no alternative home provided. If DTG genuinely values community contribution, this decision needs to be reconsidered. Removing General Discussion will destroy one of the most practically useful resources.

 

I don't know, if it were a matter of cost cutting, wouldn't it make more sense to shutdown the forum?
to me, it's just censorship of valid criticism

 

Yeah, I'm an adult, so the Discord cesspool is gonna be a 'no' for me.

 

Ironically probably going to create more of a workload for the mods since I imagine a lot more "off-topic" banter will now end up happening in things like the announcement threads. If you can't make threads to discuss those other topics I don't see how else you're suppose to bring up topics that don't fit neatly into recent threads. It will also probably increase hostility, since more than once I've seen a general discussion thread will end up being a outlet for people more critical of products. While the less critical hang out in the announcement thread, or other similar cases.

Lot of the other changes I can get, but general discussion makes no sense in anyway for these reasons. Frankly getting rid of off-topic is in a similar vain, I at least can somewhat see a case due to those forums not being heavily trafficked. That said with them shutting down the Catan and TSW VR sections it would make a lot of sense to merge the two off-topics and keep it open just to house those threads going forward if nothing else. Plus some threads like the Simrail thread are genuinely somewhat active and should not just be tossed aside.

 

Well. No more general TSW discussion, the biggest area of the forum by far, and no talking about anything that isn’t TSW because there will be no off topic discussion allowed. It’s a silly decision if you ask me but nobody did ask me and even if they had they wouldn’t have listened to what I had to say anyway.

Full evaluation of this will not be possible until the new style forum actually starts and we see what is allowed and how much we won’t be able to talk about. If we can’t talk about general TSW things, there will still be opportunity to talk about upcoming releases in DTL articles and roadmap threads, as well as give feedback and post troubleshooting threads, but less conversation means less engagement means less sales. We might not be able to actually talk about the forum changes once it has happened. It will be off topic.

It will be less fun and I’m sure there will be more threads being closed because they are ‘general discussion’ which there won’t be a correct place for and it will likely result in bans for people who just want to talk about their hobby. As for no more off topic talk, that means no talk of other sims, other interests, no talk of real world events on the railways or model railways, nobody talking. It will kill the forum.

I’m fine with more moderation in general and how that goes will also need to be evaluated.

Anyway, I think it’s daft and will actually result in more work for the CMs as they will be constantly having to tidy up because they took away the cupboard space. But what do I know? I’ve been here longer than any of the CMs and most of the people making these decisions at DTG and I’ve seen all the previous changes to the forum. I predict this will end badly.

 

Well, this is a classic move in reputation control. Especially after the posting in the anouncement this feels like, the PR-Team might not want to handle the forum as before. Discord is now the main channel for feedback for the PR-Team. It is not searchable via Google, it is not open and not accessiable via browser. Recording and preserving is not possible.
I loved this forum. Troubleshooting or issue flagging was easy here and people with the same issues could find the information easy through the forum. But it hurts the online reputation of, DTG, TSW and all the other companys attached. Closing it might fix that in the short and in the long run, and growing frustrations with the game will stay and will swept under the rug.
Or with the next TSW we will get something that might spark a lot of rage among the forum users, that the PR-Team might not be able to manage it or just don't want to mange it.
So, another tick in a box not to trust DTG anymore. Sad and disappointing but true to the trajection the company went in the last four years.

 

Agreed - I dip into Discord every now and again but I can't follow any sort of conversation on there, it's pointless for anything that needs any thought and back and forth.

There's no good reason for the chopping down of this particular forum - it's useful for all manner of discussion that need to happen at a slower pace. Please re-think this decision DTG

 

DTG, just accept you've made a howler and admit it.