Where Will You Go Once General Discussion Is Killed?

Hi,

as DTG decided to disband the community over here for the good of the community, I am wondering where will you go?

 

I and other members will continue to speak our minds. No matter what happens.

 

I see no place to go to.

 

discord is bleh to me
i am on it very rarely

 

Discord - Not for me. Haven't the best relations with some members (from years ago) and a lot of the patter is juvenile.
Community Discords - Maybe. Some of them are alright but I don't really use Discord enough to get active.
Reddit - No.
3P - Don't know of any and they won't be the same.

The latter option speaks to me more.

I'll be on the forum occasionally to check the PC Editor space but that's about it.

 

I tried using the DTG Discord and found it to be a complete mess. I won't be going there.
The only Discord server I use now is for shipping as I'm a moderator on a YouTube channel and need to have contact with the owner and other moderators. It's much more organised into several sections for shipping and then a user can have their own section for posting interesting things about their lives etc.

 

they are not dissolving the whole forum, just changing the general sections/divisions of the forums, and will enforce stricter moderation

 

It sounds petty and a bit melodramatic but I'd take an extended break from the entire game and this shambles of a decision... Got to have some integrity with your opinions.

To be honest I'll be over on GTA5 in the RP community online... (And GTA6 once that happens).

 

ehm, to quote dtg_jan:
"What changes are we making?

• Removal of General Discussion and Off-Topic subforums for TSW section
• Removal of Off-Topic & Introduce Yourself subforums for TSC section
• Removal of CATAN and Fishing forums, instead redirecting to Dovetail Support
• Removal of the TSW Tycoon, TSW VR & CTS forums
• Merging of the Formation Designer and Creators Club subforums into a single section
• Stricter moderation of toxic, inflammatory, or quarrelsome behaviour going against our Code of Conduct

What won't be changing:

• Feedback: Official, dedicated open feedback threads will continue to be shared for all releases in our feedback channels
• Troubleshooting: Help and game troubleshooting will continue to receive our support
• News & Announcements: The latest news & articles will continue to be shared as before
• Suggestions: Our suggestions forum will remain open for game suggestions and ideas
• Creation Hub: All creative designs and content sharing will remain open for you to share and participate"

so basically, for off-topic discussions you can still use lets say community pages on Facebook and elsewhere, and for general discussion, the same... feedback will still have its section here...

 

You are going to stop playing a game because they have closed a forum?

They clearly see no benefit of having the forum. It's hardly been the best place to be recently, you started a discussion about it. I would have missed it immensely more three years ago than now.

How many actual nice discussion threads are there. Look at the update thread, that might go someway to in explaining DTGs decision.

 

Yes but there are many discussions which are perfectly valid that don’t fall into the Feedback or Troubleshooting forums which are perfectly valid. Should not be forced to go elsewhere because DTG are too timid to accept a bit of criticism of their game. I mean, what happens in a Feedback thread under the new regime when talk inevitably turns to the rotten state of the core being responsible for an issue rather than the DLC itself? What happens to the, “Well I don’t think this is worth £30, I’ll wait for a sale.”? Oh hang on, that’s probably the type of thing they are trying to hush up.

The short answer to the Poll is that I don’t know at this stage. Assuming the stupidity goes ahead, there are too many variables. Ranging, as I said, how much latitude will be exercised in the remaining forum areas, through to just deleting the sorry excuse for a train game, counting my losses and moving on.

 

As I've alluded to in other threads, and stand by, I completely advocate for better etiquette. But to have this nuclear option to obliterate the whole of general discussion is to extreme in my opinion. Advocating for better etiquette is one thing, declaring the nuclear option and killing general discussion off in its entirety is another.

All that was needed was a stricter moderation system to keep people who infringe the rules and who were being rude and unhelpful. What isn't needed though is washing their hands of it completely.

For all its faults, deleting general discussion in my opinion atleast, will be at the detriment to the game. It has always shaped it for the better, despite its niggles. Look at WCMLS for example when it was released? If it wasn't for the criticism it faced in General Discussion I doubt it would have even been improved beyond a few light touches.

It's about getting the balance right. As I said in my original thread, people need to take accountability for their actions and learn better etiquette, and moderators also have a role to play. But I also said valid criticism and open discussion is fair too, and I equally advocate to keep that alive.

DTG could of completely avoided the closure proposal by having stronger moderation, or alternatively like other forums I'm on, selected members of the community can apply for moderation roles to keep things in check. This nuclear option of stifling general discussion is just a step to far in my opinion and overkill.

And it is something that would cause me to walk away, as this forum shapes the game, without general discussion it will be at the detriment of the game and essentially only allow basic comments and feedback. For all its niggles and issues general discussion makes the game what it is and offers vast conversations about it.

It's about finding a balancing act, and this is just an extreme decision for me that would turn me away because I feel it would have a vast knock on effect.

 

Shouldn't there be a less emotional and hyperbolic option to the poll?

Something like: Get on with my life and still enjoy driving trains!

 

I guess there's still the Steam forums. They have a General Discussion section.

 

And what did your discussion change?

Did users suddenly think, oh yeah I'll stop with the hyperbole and be a bit more adjusted? Not that I can see. Most probably thought you were being over the top or just plain wrong.

Very few people post on the forums compared to the player base. DTG wouldn't be doing this if they thought it was a bad move.

If someone likes the game they will keep playing it. If they say they won't then I suspect they hardly play it anyway or frankly are not being wholly truthful with themselves.

 

Nah, there are a lot of local railway enthusiasts on this forum who are very knowledgeable. While on Steam it's like, "There's a railway in the UK? No way!"

 

It wasn't aiming to change the world in a day, I was just advocating for people to have better etiquette! It also said it didn't want to stifle valid criticism and discussion aslong as it wasn't abusive.

If people are happy with the decision then thats fair enough and I have to respect that. But it doesn't invalidate the opposing side of that argument either.

A better balancing act could of easily been established as an alternative option to just completely abolishing it. That is just another form of extreme unnecessary action.

 

I don't hang around here often, so I'll probably be on the PC Editor/Creation Hub subforum, as usual, checking the progress of some creations.

 

Spam all the feedback threads with general discussion until they ban me

 

I was going to reply but you pretty much nailed it. It’s the attitude of DTG that sucks, we don’t like what people are saying about our game, it must be responsible for the declining sales, let’s kill the forum for other than very strictly controlled areas of discussion. Not, in fact, the truth which is the quality of our product is declining, the core is increasingly unstable and we are pushing out poor quality or poorly tested content. That is contempt for your customers - like many I have until now sometimes been critical of DTG and TSW but generally supportive of the game. However a company which now just wants to put its hands over their corporate ears and go “la, la, la” is no longer worthy of support. Yes I may be cutting my nose off to spite my face, but I have a wealth of games (transport and otherwise) which will fit nicely into the 500 Gb TSW currently occupies. TSW can be good, but it’s not *that* great.

And Transport Fever 3 can’t be far off.

 

The writing has been on the wall for a long time. I predicted this month's ago. People won't change they just ruin things for other people, they are protected by being behind a keyboard.

This might not even be the reason, maybe it is purely commercial. However there is far less input from staff including Matt and many posters have disappeared also.

 

I wouldnt feel so dramatic... there is most probably a finite pool of people available to moderate the content... I am sure the general discussion will survive just fine

 

I was on Discord and Reddit in the past. I don't like at all how Discord works and the Reddit community is not my cup of tea.
So I don't think I will go anywhere, most likely I will lose my interest in the game over time. I was already disappointed in the state of the game and now we get another slap in the face.

 

But for TSW it's more like a new General Discussions forum created every year with the old ones being forgotten. I stopped following them after TSW2.

Well, I lately actually enjoyed driving trains in Running Train without the need for discussing on any of TSW forums (except to leave a note in the off-topic thread that it indeed works on Steam Deck).

 

This is exactly how I feel. I don't want to be all dramatic, saying I'm going to quit the game over this or whatever, but that is what I feel will happen over time. I already don't play the game every day (I literally check these forums more often than actually loading up the game), and there's multiple other games that constantly pull in my attention to get limited time items and so on… Its not unrealistic that I stop playing the game without any way to feel a part of the community.

 

This. I fear now that with TSW7 just around the corner, if the core routes end up having huge issues with them, DTG would have less of a reason to improve it as they wont be paying attention to the feedback as much with no General Discussion thread. Obviously I'm hoping this isn't the case but its a possibility.

 

I’ll play my collection, pick up the odd DLC which offers something new and generally bob along. But I won’t be abreast of developments so any new DLC will be purchased with hesitation and the first issue will result in refund

 

Please can we add another option to the poll, which is reduce playing TSW and buy less content.

I don’t play the game much compared to most players, and mainly play older routes. I do buy an awful lot of content though, as I enjoy layers and just watching trains.

The amount of content I have is already feeling like a problem. I was looking at my Xbox Series X earlier, and the amount of content I have is now taking up too much memory and is difficult to manage.

I get a huge amount of pleasure from TSW. I am not prone to knee jerk reactions, however I am beginning to feel Dovetail take the community for granted. I also feel less valued as an Xbox player, and while I’m generally a happy clapper, I am getting more and more disillusioned with the experience on Xbox.

These forums are where I come to read and get excited about new content, and also an invaluable source of advice. I have no interest in discord, and it sounds like there will be nothing available that will replicate the value I get from these forums.

While I doubt I will give up TSW entirely, I would imagine the result will be I will play less, become frustrated when I have problems as it will be harder to get advice. This will mean I will end up buying less and less new content, and be less aware of new releases.

This is quite a rant for me, but if we have no community space to openly discuss the game, it will be a huge loss to me.

 

None of above. I've to think about it.

 

I understand what you mean, I'm also not dramatic about it and I will also not quit the game today. However in the long term, the disappointment in the game and DTG itself will make me losing interest.

I played a lot of Farming Simulator in the past and this game also has it's problems. New editions of the game did not add that much and there where a lot of bugs, especially after release and they also take their time to fix them. I was pretty active on their forums, but after a change of the forums it became pretty dead and I lose my interest in the forums and with that, also interest in the game. I never bought FS25, not watched streams of vids anymore and in the end I rarely play the game.

 

On the bright side atleast GTA VI got a bunch of new screenshots today.

 

Running train looks and I will get it one day.

But I suspect very few people are going to stop playing TSW with myriad routes from different countries and different time periods and only play Running Train with one fictional Japanese route.

 

Uh oh, can't have that here, it's another thread spiralling off topic. General must be closed immediately! /s

Is that going to happen in the future now on a reduced count of threads where discussions will definitely wander off a bit from time to time?

It might be the toxic heat right now and my having quit smoking very recently, but when I look back to my posts from a year ago and compare them to today's.... man, I had spirit in me. Glass half full etc., updates did get pushed every two weeks and stuff (not all of course, but at least "day one/release" patches), didn't have to worry about game breaking bugs on new releases for long....
It since has become more toxic around here. Even I got miffed with product quality at release, state of the game, patches that break more than they fix (moved floating bin on platform 2 whilst blowing up the core PIS system /s).

It's gotten a bit better recently, as some have pointed out. And recently more patches are finally leaving QA limbo and get pushed out. Hm.

As the old saying goes: It takes a long time to build trust, but it can be lost very quickly and takes time to build up again, if deserved.

Looks to me, trust is being build back up. Takes time. Much time. Too much time so the heart of the forum needs to go silent?

Come on DTG.

 

Can we add Steam forums to the options please, as thats where I'll be going.

 

I'll still be around to watch for news and bug reports, but there's honestly no other point now to contribute to this forum if it's getting nuked. Truly, it's a shame, as aside from the occasional bad apple, most folks here are decent and fun to chat with, and it's nice seeing what else everyone is interested in beyond train sim. It develops a sense of community, something the world needs now more than ever, and that's all going away for the sake of ignorant corporate shortsightedness.

I do also post to railroad.net, which is a decent community for railroads and railways in general (with a sim section), but to be fair this was my preferred place for socializing about trains and other things in general.

Thanks for the fun times everyone!

 

Probably just invest more time in the likes of Planet Coaster 2 - a complete contradiction to TSW5/TSW6, where the original release was badly flawed, but each new update and DLC (including the very promising looking Parades Pack) actually improves the game rather than making it worse.

 

I spent most of my time in the Train Sim Community discord and Reddit so I'll just go there full time, I only go to the official discord to leave feedback and share my screenshots

 

Past about a dozen users in a friend circle, Discord gets unmanageable. It really does not scale well, as with any live chat service.

 

nowhere. I ain't using Discrap

(I'm not involved in any community for other games I play, so I'll survive. I'll just have to come to the forum every so often when a DLC releases to see whether it's worth buying)

 

I think the main thing people are missing about certain peoples behaviour on the forums is, you can just ignore them, or block them, why do we need a so called specified role for something as simple as saying to yourself, well that's an idiot I'm not going to listen, we seriously need to start drumming common sense back into people.

 

At this point it's clear that whoever is actually taking these decisions, behind the faces we actually see of the forum staff, clearly just has intentions of killing off the game for good. Getting rid of the community is quite an effective way, I have to agree. Hats off to the mysterious puppet master(s?). Quite unfortunate that it had to be done in such an obvious way for anyone currently here.

Once those subforums are gone, it's likely none will stick around just to post in the absolutely ignored-by-the-devteam-anyway feedback threads, and eventually the forum will just die out, but it'll always be apparent that it was just gonna be the natural result of the head getting severed next week. Not a particularly slick move.

Either way, if anything I already own the game and have made the account, so I'll mostly stick around if anything to be on the lookout on what bugs I can be expected to find in the game...

To all fellow train hobbyists be it in real life or virtual, keep at it, it's a wonderful hobby.

To the staff, thanks for the experience. Of paying you, and getting spat in the face for years, and then told by *you* that now it's been too much and we need to be quiet.

 

I am not usually the more optimistic guy, but I say, lets not read too much into this... I dont think they intend to kill off the community, most probably they are looking to restructure the forum so it is easier to manage and keep track of... lets not jump into conclusion if we dont have more detailed info than what we got now... they are probably going to post more stuff, going into more detail so as to not light the fuse more

 

Away lmao

 

Same, I have it to chat with a few online friends and play in a post-by-post D&D game, other than that, it does nothing for me

 

I don't even know what discord is?