What I mean by this is... what if DTG (and/or 3rd party developers) had their own way to suggest things to the players as a "hey, what do you guys think about this?" Nothing committed, just to get reactions and feedback. I know it goes one way (although we don't hear much back usually), but why not the other way? Not saying they WOULD make anything suggested, or that it'd even have to be anything specific, could just be gauging opinion and support. For example: "It's been suggested we do more of the Midland Mainline. What parts would be the most interesting to you as players?" "We're thinking of doing something based around Chinese HSTs, can you suggest an area to focus on?" "We have a lot of reference materials on X route area, but we can't get licensing for branding. Would you buy it if we made it but had to use unbranded stock?" "We are building this new loco, but could use some help on making sure these features are accurate..." It seems like it's so on-way a lot of the time. There's an "use vs them" but that can lead to a lot of disconnect between the customers and the designers, so that things the creators think will be big aren't that popular, or are missing crucial elements. Or, worse yet there are huge conspiracy theories about why certain things are done... or not done. I think better communication would lead to better results for both sides.
In my opinion, 100% this needs to be a thing. That's something that is missing from the forums.....Especially the suggestions segment. Also, some feedback on Route suggestions, especially those that have a bit of effort, information & fit the "LAMPOIL" segment.
Certainly an interesting proposition but I can see from DTG’s point of view, raising the possibility of a particular project would inevitably lead to some assuming it’s a done deal. To some extent they do a more broad based exercise already, with the periodic player surveys.
Yeah, great idea! Never really thought about it, but that sounds like a great way to really give the community what they want, that way DTG will make money as it would be a highly requested DLC that is released and would make customer appreciate the consideration of DTG actually consulting the player before diving too deep into something no one or a very limited amount of people will buy.
Agreed. Just the prospect of, for example, a subscription model in the survey (which in turn was because it had been discussed on the forum) led to various "DTG are going to bring in subscriptions!" threads. People assume if a thing is mentioned then it's actively being developed, and just the merest mention of a potential route will eventually lead to "I heard DTG said this route has been announced!".
The issue is, how much does this forum represent the wider player base as a whole? For example, BR Blue routes are popular here, but (if you believe dtg) they apparently don't sell. If that's not what the wider player base who don't use the forum wants...
That's not really an "issue" though. It's how most companies work since you don't get to talk to every customer. Sales are one metric. Polls are another. "Focus groups" are another. it's not about one thing in a vacuum. It's about having access to more decision making information. Not one in place of the other.
Yes, but this idea would let them know what only WE want, not want EVERYONE wants. I suppose you could say we are the ones engaging, so it's natural we get heard more though
But again... that's another data point. Why would you not ask the people who play the game the most and arguably buy more content? if you want to be biased towards a group, the more involved players who buy more would be the group to be biased towards. Otherwise you by default are going to have a self-reinforcing loop of "just do what sold good last time" without asking why it sold. Just blindly making content because you have a "hunch" that people you haven't talked to 'might" want it is not better by comparison. As I said, sales figures are one way (but no feedback) Polls are another way (but have narrow, one-way feedback on predicted questions) Focus groups are more open and you get more in depth feedback. Having less data points doesn't mean a better product. Even for example if you did get the finding "whoa, people like BR blue stuff".... you could then ASK people in real time "ok, who bought this... why or why not?" etc. Then have a discussion about what sold and what didn't. They might find that it's NOT what they assumed all along at all. If the forum feedback doesn't match sales figures, it might be they can fall back on the sale figures... but it might be that there are reasons WHY. For example (Please for the love of GOD do not make this whole thread about "steam" please)... BUT as one EXAMPLE if SOS didn't sell well... was it the "steam" part... or was it the empty timetable part? If DTG are JUST looking at "steam doesn't sell" because of one route not selling well... then they might not see that it wasn't "steam engines" people didn't like... it was the empty timetable. That feedback would not come from strictly sales or a directed poll with "yes/no" answers. You would simply never get that feedback or nuance. Now maybe the 80-90% of people NOT on the forums in fact don't like steam engines (who knows, can't ask them) but it at least can't hurt to get constructive feedback just in case. As I said, more information is usually better to make decisions with. Those decisions aren't always the one you WANT (can't make everyone happy) but better information does tend to lead to better decisions.
Okay....not sure what you just said there since it was vague enough to mean both one thing and the opposite at the same time.
So, another reason for multiple people to start different threads on the same topic? I'll say no. Interesting idea though.
