Pricing For Tsw Dlcs! [dtg Answered]

Yes, I also noticed that too all the past DLC in TSW7 became on 200 rubles more expensive((

 

Still many bugs unfixed in TSW 6 DLC I've bought, I shan't be purchasing as much as I used to that's certain.

Last two times I've played it, I've ended on a crash.

 

Same thing as happened when Rush Hour came out. Was suddenly unplayable on XBox.

 

I did feel a bit worried after seeing the new features being PC focused. It did get me thinking if this could be the first sign console support could be getting dropped in the future.

 

it’s one of two things: either consoles support will end in the near future, or they’ll just leave it in this shitty state until the next-gen launch

 

Gonna be honest, I don't think they'd do that, and I'm the person who made a thread saying they should

 

The game has been in such a bad state for so long, and now the prices are being increased, and people are defending this because of "inflation". At least DLC's in 2020 didn't have blurry textures, never mind every other problem that does not get fixed - there are many. I don't even buy DLC or get blurry textures in my game, but honestly this has just offended and annoyed me a lot. In my personal opinion anybody who thinks it's okay to raise prices in this current point in time and situation with the game is actually delusional.

Choosing to do this now, at a time like this just seems so wrong to me. How about fix the game first and then think about asking for more money. DTG never fails to surprise me with this stuff, and for that is why I cannot give them any of my money ever again.

 

Id just like to point out, nowhere in Alex's message does he say "ALL future routes will be £32.99 going forward". He is clearly referring to the TSW 7 core routes being £32.99 each.

Misinformation spreads like wildfire

 

They ported a UE5 plugin so we could use DLSS and made DirectX 12 the default for PC (Xbox series users have been using DirectX 12 since the console was released). Then they made the Epic settings available in the game menu instead of having PC users manually modifying an ini file.

The image quality high end PC users will get is much better, but it didn't take them that much development time to do it. Other things like the live weather, haul mode, etc ... are where most of the development time was invested by a large margin.

Fixing the blurry textures is a difficult problem to solve and it's going to take time to fix, but it is not because they are focusing most of the development time on improving the PC experience as many think around here.

 

Fair enough but in past TSW releases the price of the individual DLCs was the reference price of all DLCs going forward for that year. You can't blame anyone for thinking that it will be the same this time.

 

Mine's gone up just under 30% as opposed to that 32 and a half of inflation.

 

Newsflash: DLC in 2020 had TOD 3, almost no layers, worse scenery and a lot less features. You want to return back to TSW 2020?

 

Newsflash: Games evolve over time but usually don't become more unplayable over time thanks to this.

Like most of the time, we can look at ETS2 to see it done correctly even if it isn't a direct comparison. Adding things and making the game more complex is no excuse

 

of course no one wants to return to that, but the state of the game doesn’t match the material quality of 2026 dlc

 

It’s very simple. While this game has blurry textures I don’t buy any DLC’s. If they can’t be bothered to fix a fundamental issue with the game like that why would I pay premium prices. I would advise everyone else to follow suit.

 

They are never going to drop console. Thats their cash cow. There is market for this game if it’s just a niche PC game like TSC. I dont know why people still don’t get this. They cannot drop consoles.

 

Remember when the Series S was £250? The new £430 price point for that "entry-level" console is an inflation-exploding 70% increase!
DTG don't have a choice of just waiting for the next gen consoles, the mooted £700 price point is going to make that an arduous slog to getting any kind of decent install base that can justify dropping this generation

 

Shrinkflation is real. There are tons of products they have lowered the amount you get but you pay more now. Cereal, Soda, Cookies, popsicles and stuff like that.

Seems to be the new norm nowadays

 

Okay, but what's a TSW7 route in Freddos by volume?

 

I don't know we don't have those in Canada to measure our inflation with.

We measure ours by the cost of a Tims coffee eh.

And they just raised the prices by a nickle but the cup size is 10ml smaller.

 

I’m not going to lie, i have had no excitement for TSW 7 at all and this might just be the nail in the coffin. This time last year i had the Deluxe edition of TSW 6 pre-ordered but haven’t given a thought into TSW 7. I remember the day when DLC was 30 and then raised to 40 and it wasn’t so bad. but 43$?? Next thing you know premium priced routes will be 48$. I will most likely get the base game and the GP49. I will no longer be getting DLC day one for full price. Absolutely shameful.

 

Love this argument that so many people seem to come to it. "This product isn't a life necessity so it must be made cheaper." Chocolate is also a choice and a luxury. As is a pint, or a steak. Do these get cheaper purely because they aren't considered essential to life? Of course not. Pricing is determined by the manufacturing cost, and inflation is inflation and affects all things in equal measure. Neither of those things stop because the product at the end of the process is a luxury and not an essential, and in TSW's case I don't think they should be expected to.

As was said above £25 in 2020 is about £32 today, so TSW's pricing is about right. This may be a controversial take but I don't think that should be expected to change just because your petrol has also gotten more expensive at the same time. That same petrol has gotten equally as expensive for the developers, so if anything the inflation of other things makes the development cost even more inflated as a result.

Also one more thing I personally keep in mind. £25 in 2020 may be equivelany to £32 now, but TSW routes were £25 as far back as 2017 if I'm not mistaken. So accounting for inflation, TSW routes have gotten cheaper anyway.

 

In my opinion, this price of 40 euros could be justified, but not given the game’s current state. If I’m spending 40 euros on a DLC, I expect it to work properly. I think it’s a shame because there are so many great routes I’d like to buy, but as the core problem still persists, these routes end up having bugs, blurry textures, and so on. But that would actually be the least of my worries. There are tracks in this game, such as WCMLS, which crash on me every other time I play them. Yes, I know I’m playing on PS5 and this is a DTG track, but it’s the same underlying issue. I’d play that route so much more often. Trent Valley or Nuremberg–Ingolstadt, for example, don’t have these problems for me, and I can put up with blurry textures to a certain extent, Frankfurt–Fulda, for instance, isn’t too bad. A CTD is a real pain, because it takes 10–15 minutes for the game to load, and sometimes an hour’s playing time goes to waste. It just feels wrong, the game in its current state. They’re welcome to raise the prices. I understand that, but then I think you’re entitled to expect a bit of quality, like on the Czech route, for example.

 

DLC was also £25 in 2022 for TSW3, and allowing for inflation from then the price would only be £29 odd, so we're above inflation if we're working from that.

I think most of the issue isn't so much the price increase as the fact that the DLC won't be well optimised on console and people aren't getting the same experience for the same price, if not more than people end up paying on PC given all the sales Steam users get compared to XBox. Yes, the costs of things increase, but I'd like to think that for that extra money I'd also get a product that works properly, which doesn't seem to be the case.

 

But the bugs are just as abundant....

 

for me, the issue is this.
Dovetail are increasing the prices of 'core dlc' (they say its just Core, but they also say a lot of things that dont end up being true now dont they) but have done nothing towards solving the many many issues console players are experiencing with the core game as well as many DLCs, and still have made no comments to say anything contrary to this, and do its doesn indeed seem to be true that Dovetail are focused on the PC segment and are abandoning the console segment.

some may say "but why would they do that, its where most of their income comes from" and i would reply to those, well the lack of updates, features, fixes, routes theyve sold us with objectively less content than the PC segement for the same money... these things dont really lend to Dovetail giving any F's about console players..

Dovetail are happy to come here to clarify what a "user eperience" manager does to help stop missinformation... but still STILL have said nothing about console... so is it REALLy missinformation? theyre not clarifying or correcting, theyre not stepping in to stop "wild rumours" theyre still sat there, quiet as a church mouse.. hoping we will all fall for thir deceptions and lies for another year...

There is nothing wrong with inflation related price increases, but surely i am not out of line for expecting the game i have sunk thousands of dollars into, on a platform that apparantly accounts for th majority of TSW players.. to work as advertised... is that too much to ask for?

 

they dont, but it makes as much sense as the comparison of Dovetail and TSW to a supermarket.

If a supermarket was pulling the same fluffery as Dovetail, there most certainly *would* be people up in arms about it.
Asda sells one person 500g of beef for 10 quid but sells the next person in the queue the same package, less 100g because reasons, for the same 10 pounds, in the same package...
and yes, the sales clerk isnt the one setting the prices that is a truth fact. but in this analogy the sales clerk is the MS or PS store. Dovetail Games is the supermarkets mangment, and they ARE deciding to withdraw those 100g from that specific customers package for reasons, they are the ones deciding the right and propper thing to do is not fix the game, increase prices and hide behind inflation as the reason.

Does inflation also stop you from fixing bugs, crashes and blurring textures? must be some mighty powerful inflation.

 

I quite appreciated the TSS take on the situation in his recently posted YT clip - voice of reason (as opposed to me). However even he stated it will probably lead to buying less content in future and fully agree with his assertion at this point we need some clarification from DTG with regard to what Alex stated on Discord.

 

Hello everyone,
to me, it all sounds as though DTG wants to charge the original price for these sales.
Let me give you an example:

(Please just replace your currency with the euro prices)
Let’s take a route for example that used to cost normally €29.99 and is currently in -30% sale.
0,30 x 29.99 € = -8,997 € -> 29,99 € - 8,997 € = 20,99 €

Let’s now take a route with the new prices at €39.99 and is also currently in -30% sale.
0,30 x 39.99 € = -11,997 € -> 39,99 € -11,997 € = 27,99 €

29,99 € - 27,99 € = 2,00 €

So you’re only saving 2 euros compared to the previous prices.
So we’re back very close to the original prices, even though the price has already been reduced.

I think this could be a very strict calculation on DTG’s part to ensure they don’t lose any more money whilst the price is reduced.

And those who say, ‘If it’s too expensive for you, just don’t buy it!’ have no idea about business. It simply means that DTG has less revenue and therefore no longer has the resources for new products. Which, in turn, could mean fewer products or even the end of the entire franchise. They rely on that money.

 

If they rely on that money the least they can do is provide a product that works properly and is worth the money.

 

If you are not satisfied with the quality of the products in a store and the store's other behavior with customers, then personally I would stop going to that store. My money would have gone to someone else. But it turns out the mice cried and pricked themselves, but kept eating the cactus... It seems like you and I don’t live in the USSR, where there was no market and you had to take what you were given.

 

but TSW is the only train sim game of its kind on the console, so please tell me which other market i can take my money to?

 

also "you dont like company dont buy from them" discounts the fact that Dovetail keep promising that these issues are "important" and are an "ASAP kind of thing" or that theyre "working on it" - so i dont think its unfair to ask them to finally show their work.

again, if you had a supermarket of the type we are relating DTG to, you would go elsewhere AS WELL AS attempt to warn others of the shoddy practices and (at least in my case) try and force better.

Why should it be a matter of "if you dont like TSW or DTG then take you money somewhere else" placing the onus on me to do something, and not DTG actioning the promises theyve made and actually fixing the issues theyve said they apparantly are?

 

Isn't this polish sim on ps available since a few months? I never bought it but I think many do like it

 

again TSW is the only game of its kind. there is SimRail if you want to (no offence intended) play just in Poland - this isnt my area of interest.
i quite enjoy the availability of North American and UK content that SimRail (and no other console game right now) offers

 

Route DLC for TSW3 were actually £30. When the TSW3 core routes became standalone DLC they were also £30. TSW2 routes were £25.

Fun fact number two, this price increase for DTG routes actually happened in March with the Stamford route, which was £33, and contrary to some commentary was not a ‘premium route’ (a concept that has never existed for DTG routes) but a normal route DLC. Some third party routes released after it were £30 but that is irrelevant. Those routes were probably priced up and costed by the developers before the DTG increase.

 

But you don't want to solve the problem, right? What if I tell you there are other games, not necessarily about trains? What if I tell you you can change your gaming platform? You won't like either answer. You'll rightly say that this requires expense. Who's arguing? If a problem can be solved with money, it's not a problem, but an expense. I'm sorry, but this is some kind of childish thinking that I want something and that's it, the whole world must turn inside out to fulfill this "I want". The entertainment industry is a marketplace governed by market laws. Consumer rights are protected; if they are violated, you can appeal to someone to protect them. Therefore, I sincerely do not understand the reason for the shaking caused by price increases.

 

Strange that we’re having this conversation now as TSW DLC has always been overpriced in my opinion. Older DLC is particularly poor value for money, given that it lacks many features which are standard on newer DLC but is nevertheless still listed at its original price. At least PC players get regular sales, but XBOX players don’t even get that. I can buy 2 or 3 whole premium games 2 years post launch for the same price as one TSW DLC from 2 years ago.

 

And yet they can constantly do sales on other platforms. It's almost like that platform's owner that is the issue...

 

it isnt the price increases alone, its that those price increases are being put forward at the same time as Dovetail is doing nothing to fix the issues that they themselves have said they were fixing. and that these fixes couldnt take months as they were needed ASAP.

my issue is that promises have been made, and they arent being kept. but at the same time we are being asked to cough up more money.

i have no issues paying a few dollars more for a piece of DLC, but it seems only right and propper that Dovetail should be keeping thir word at the same time. which isnt happening, which is where my problem is.

sure, you are right, i could absolutely buy a PC for TSW and change platform to Steam or EGS.
sure, you are right, i could absolutely play another game, not train related, like CTS2026 or ETS2 or The Bus. and i do in fact play CTS26 on the sony and ETS2 on my computer. but that also doesnt discount the promises DTG made to console players and i dont think its fair to ask people to forget those promises made just because, reasons.. i *can* play on another platform so Dovetail should be released from the commitments theyve placed themselves into?

 

no one forced Dovetail or anyone representing DTG to say anything or make any claims/promises/statments on fixes coming to consoles.
they have done that by themselves, and once a promise has been made it must be kept, otherwise what are we? i mean, if something of little actual consiquence like this can be easily lied about then it makes you truely wonder what else could be. i mean, if you cant keep a relatively simple promise then what hope have you for the more serious and important stuff?

A die once cast must be obeyed.

 

All they have to do is reach out to their Microsoft Contact and say they want to run a sale.

 

The pricing already got ridiculous back when they raised the default route price from 30€ to 35€ a few years ago. Since then, I‘ve only bought two routes at full price (Niddertalbahn and Mittenwaldbahn, both of which were absolutely worth it in retrospect). This is just insane now lol. I already basically stopped buying individual DLCs during the TSW6 cycle, and this won’t improve the situation. Even on discount, they’re simply not worth it.

I really believe TSW DLC pricing (especially routes) is completely illogical compared to the wider gaming industry. Routes have supposedly gotten easier to build because of procedural generation, AI etc., but the default (€) route price has risen by a whopping 33% over just 3-4 years. What in the world is going on with their margins to justify such a price? I could buy two of these routes — or GTA 6, which has been worked on for over a decade at this point, for the same price!

 

Prices may be going up (especially in the UK.)
The same person on the forum will say that they don't get paid enough and that prices are crazy for them for groceries,etc....then complain when DTG has to pay its employees a rate to keep up.
I get it. People don't always take the big view and it's natural to think of their own lives first.
That's human nature.
However, if prices are going up for YOU to eat....maybe it's also more expensive for DTG employees to eat?
And condescending tone aside, Der Uni has the economics correct. If they don't sell then it'll mean scaling back what is offered or eventually closing shop.
You can keep buying things on sale if you want, or not buy them. That gives them a "price point" to decide what things will sell for too.
After all, it's a video game. Video games are not a staple. They're not food or shelter. You can live quite well without video games, or more realistically... replaying the 100+ DLC already released that you already own.
Most of what is made now isn't even DTG, they are core and marketing/sales. Most of the content is by third parties who can set their own prices. I don't think you'll see a sudden shut down by DTG, you'll instead see the third party companies dry up first as they move onto more profitable projects.

 

well that seems to put a kink in the whole "blame Microsoft" argument that always comes around - it IS Dovetail who sets the sales up, because of course it is.

 

Yes Microsoft has claimed that repeatedly.
Does that make it true?
We have evidence to see which claim is better.
1-Other companies have said Microsoft have NOT been good at letting them do sales.
2-DTG has regular sales on other platforms.
Given that evidence I'd say it's probably Microsoft being less than honest.
After all they didn't say "impossible" to have a sale they said Microsoft "made it difficult."
So Microsoft can be entirely truthful that DTG CAN "call" them... they just don't always get too far or it's a cumbersome process.
So TECHNICALLY Microsoft can be technically honest... but also the problem by omission.

If you've ever had to call a corporate help line to get assistance you'll know just what I mean about being "able to call" but also getting no help in the end.

Call it whatever "bias" you want, but I don't trust EITHER company. The evidence points one way however. With no incentive to trust either, I'm going to go the way the evidence seems to go. If you want to simply mistrust DTG because you trust Microsoft more... for some reason... go right ahead. Doesn't mean it's backed up by evidence or rational, but emotions rarely are. Part of what makes us human.

 

I do wonder whether there's more to it, but publishers on XBox also have to sign an NDA. It may be that while the price of the product can be reduced the amount Microsoft take cannot, or thru tale a larger cut. There could be a lot of things at play, and we've already had a telling off for speculating about things the other day. I'd hate to think this discussion is distracting the folks at Dovetail from properly optimising console versions of routes and locos.

 

i trust neither of them, but Microsoft isnt promising to fix the issues with TSW on console. thats DTG. and they arent doing that despite their promises. so if i use the metric of "what company is actively deceiving the console player base" DTG doesnt win that one.

edit: also, there is no lack of reasons to distrust Dovetail games. i mean the DID refuse to remove that class 90 from sale, even in the absolutely broken state it was in, forcing players to use consumer protection. when the honourable and correct thing to do was to remove it from sale until it was fixed or at least in a working state. does that seem like the actions of a trustworthy company to YOU?

 

They would need to first, actually be taking those issues seriously. which their inaction proves they arent. and secondly, be actually already working on those issues, see point the first.

why promise what you know you cant deliver, or have no intentions of delivering.

 

Promises are just that—promises—you're not obligated to keep them. At least not from a legal perspective, only from a business reputation perspective. As far as I remember, they never gave any specific deadlines, maybe something went wrong, who knows?
After all, TSW 7 is once again offering a free starter pack. No one is forcing anyone to pay. It's entirely up to you.