Just Trains Tfw Class 142 And 2019 Timetable

While yes, I would count that as getting it for free, its still very different to people who get keys from DTG. Those who refund, could literally say whatever they want and it makes no difference to anything.
At the end of the day, people who get keys, while some are honest and I appreciate them for that, they still have to care somewhat about their relationship with DTG. Then there's some certain ambassadors who will never say any bad about anything because they get free stuff, and I hate that.
Its difficult really, so many 'reviewers' are either way too positive or way too negative, even ones who have paid for the product.

 

I would question why someone buys a product to review and then refund? That doesn't suggest they are an enthusiast and unbiased, and presumably are making money from their channel. I would take their opinion with an even bigger pinch of salt.

What is their motivation?

 

I mean you stopped them being allowed to show off console builds as previews.

In any case I don’t really care for this argument, leave it to this forum to try & tell you that people getting thousands of pounds worth of content for free, aren’t biased.

 

I feel like there's a misunderstanding about what constitutes "not biting the hand", it doesn't mean literally never criticizing the game. I've read some reviews from sites dedicated to certain consoles, or even official magazines like Nintendo Power, it's not like they don't criticize things at all. The issue is that they play "softball", they say "Oh, that's not great, but it's not so bad", both because they're biased, but also certainly because they don't want to annoy the company they're getting goodies from.

A lot of a review (and really a lot of other things related to writing) is prioritization and tone. and frankly pretty much all the one's I've seen I'd describe as lacking teeth in those regards.

 

Going slightly off topic, but I recall years ago magazines like PC Gamer and PC Format gave Frontier First Encounters glowing reviews and 80%+ ratings. Yet the game was a buggy unfinished mess, which eventually got a patch you had to request on disc from the publisher which still didn't fix things.

 

IGN are still at that sort of behaviour today, everything they review seems to score at least 7/10.

It’s to the point where they get games internet famous for scoring below 7.

 

No kidding? Like DTG's lawyers called mid-stream?

Is there a link for this?

 

I agree with redrev1917. I occasionally watch an Ambassador stream just to look at the content and see if I like it. Some of them are much more detail- oriented than DTG's own streams. Occasionally, they even show night driving, which DTG almost never does.

However I don't believe that someone who gets content for free can ever be truly objective, so I would never base a purchase decision on such a review. After all, " He who pays the piper calls the tune. "

The best movie and theater critics buy a ticket and go to a performance anonymously. And the consumer magazine I read buys all it's own review products.

Anyway, the word " Ambassador " speaks for itself. It describes someone who represents a particular entity. Maybe DTG should call them " reps " instead. They do perform a useful PR function, after all.

 

Exactly my point thank you!

 

Oh yes, I've had a taste of how it works in the music industry. Having done some freelance writing for magazines, booked bands for festivals and also been a local radio DJ.

I can say with certainty that if you annoy certain record labels with an honest but negative review you will stop receiving products to review from them. Or they'll offer freebies at high profile concerts in return for giving the artists they spent the most money on a positive review. And don't get me started on commercial radio stations playlists and the amount of input record labels have on what plays on our local and national radio stations. I turned down a fairly well known modern band for an event because they took to long to respond to my invitation, the event co-ordinator got a threatening call from the label who said he'd never work with me again.

The film industry has similarly sharp practice around how they expect their talent to be presented to the public. If you won't trust a PC game review, you'd best stop reading and watching all product reviews.

 

Wowwww!! That's pretty shocking tbh!!

And Athena has totally disappeared as in a puff of smoke, correct?

Glad i never bought that one

 

I would say if people find the ambassadors biased, check out TrainSimulatorDriver's video on the Santa Fe pack by High Iron he did not hold back his thoughts.

I have ambassadors I like and some I don't but TSD (Paul) is my personal favourite.

 

Tbf I was surprised by BA's cargo line video as he was quite honest about it not being his thing because of the inaccurate time periods etc which was refreshing to see.

But I do like TrainsimTV and find Toms content quite balanced and fair. Have watched a bit of TSD too who's also good!

 

Also worth pointing out that as far as I could see, Paul (Train Simulator Driver) was the only ambassador talking publicly about the Epic Games Store situation back in the beginning of TSW6

And to be fairer still, he's the only ambassador I've seen making videos about the blurry textures on console calling attention to it and trying to (as far as he can at least) figure out if there's a cause.

So while people may want to rubbish other ambassadors, imo Paul's a different breed

 

Going back to the actual add on (lol), anyone got a similar issue to me where occasionally the guard buzzer is sticking on? Recycling the doors seems to sort it mostly.

 

Had pass from me since the basic timetable runs like poop, audio popping every 5-10 secs and the occasional lag spikes that last anywhere between 1-2 seconds.
The route is too short and isn’t worth the price tag. I wish this route wasn’t included in the special edition, I’d happily trade it for another route that I don’t own.
(PS5 Pro)

 

Or maybe honest?
Lets face it recent dlc has been nowhere near the level that Just Trains or TSG release, if they can do it why not others?
It may be an old fashioned concept but day 1 buyers pay the highest going rate possible for dlc so they should get the best quality.

 

Yes and it's pretty obnoxious

 

I've got to be honest, it feels so wrong to drive this timetable, see so many 142s and not a single 143. I hope one day we get a 143, or even a 144 that can be made into a 143.

 

candacedtg FYI - something to log ^ - presumably easy fix in first patch...

 

So this isn't actually a bug, it occurs when the door key is in on both sides of the train.

 

Thank you, I am suitably admonished :P

 

Been watching a few of the streams and reviews and a bit conflicted over this add on now. It seems well done but the view coming across is definitely overpriced for a rework of an existing train and new timetable. Watching the DadRail stream he commented on some sound issues with the 142 - a delay in engine sound on pullaway and the vigilance alarm aliased to the door closing warning. Another reviewer also noted a collision detection issue with exhaust smoke in the passenger saloon.

And while DadRail (just) got it up to 75 MPH between Heath Jn and Queen Street that’s still the only section where you can get the thing going properly. In fact a couple of the reviews stated what many of us have already expressed, this should have been accompanied by a 2.0 extension of the route to Rhymney in the north and Barry Island in the south.

I did like the accent and “deep” voice of the announcements though. Reminds me of one of the old managers I used to work under. Just a shame they still have to trigger manually. And I can live without them being in Welsh, too.

So if this gets to a sub £10 price in a sale, will probably grab it and hopefully by then JT will have got round to sorting some of the quality issues.

 

In regards to Welsh announcements I did a good bit of research and it didn't seem like the guards did Welsh announcements on the Valley Lines.

 

Word to the wise, Vern; I buy JT routes from them directly to get a Steam key, as they get more of the income than via Steam. Also you get reward points from purchases on their website, and the points I'd accrued from a couple of purchases knocked the price of this pack down to £10.44.

 

I use Steam exclusively to fund purchases via Wallet gift cards.

 

Probably contrary to what the bilingual obsession would have you think, Welsh is actually spoken very little in South Wales at least. I lived in the area from 1997 to 2006 and can honestly say I heard Welsh spoken conversationally less than half a dozen times.

 

The only problem with that is, if you’re unhappy with a purchase you can’t refund it.

 

As someone who recently spent 4 years in North wales recently for University it definitely grew old working part time in a co-op (Llanfairpg of all co-ops) and having elderly ladies walk up to you and start talking at you in Welsh only for me to reply "Pardon" in the most English accent I could muster! The amount of complaints we got that some of us couldn't speak Welsh were far higher than they should've been too!

TFW services up that end did use bilingual announcements tbf. Even the 805 I was on up to Llandudno this weekend just got used them from past Chester

 

Oh yes, fully understand that. I remember years ago we drove across the mountain road from Abergwesn (sp) to Tregaron. At Tregaron we popped in the shop to buy a couple of snacks and the people in there were conversing thoroughly in Welsh. Got some odd looks when I said "Hi" and "thank you" in English! But South Wales, generally seemed exempt from that sort of thing though of course a lot can happen in 20 years. Still, standing on Cardiff Central station a couple of months ago most people looked bemused at the Welsh first announcements over the PA.

 

To clarify the announcements, you won’t hear any train staff making them in Welsh IRL, only the automated ones are Bi-Lingual (and you’ll hear them in Welsh first, English second).

 

A little background as to why Welsh is not widely spoken in many parts of Wales

https://www.felinfach.com/pages/welsh-not-welsh-knot

 

Well I had to do a google search after reading that to make sure it was not a wind up!!

 

There's a certain irony that we used to abuse kids for speaking Welsh, now we abuse them by forcing them to speak Welsh...

 

Just so I am clear, are you trying to say teaching children their native language is a form of abuse?

 

As the wife gave me a Steam gift card earlier (what’s she after?) decided to swallow my resistance and give this a try - though mainly to support JT, not DTG and Rivet’s lacklustre presentation of the original route. I’ll report back in the feedback thread in due course.

 

See if you can do the 1st job in chapter 3 in journey mode. My son is saying he cant get passed the red signal .

 

That's a surprise!!

 

I did 5T00 okay, not sure if that’s the one. I will try and check later but have broken off now to fire up ETS2 and Nordic Horizons!

 

I beg to differ, as a frequent user of the TfW services between Manchester Airport and Newton le Willows there are a couple of guards who manually do announcements in all known languages, including Welsh. It is quite amusing watching foreign tourists getting on at the Airport then hearing Welsh for the first time

 

That sounds more like showing off than anything official. And whether in Wales or England, IMHO the English should always come first to accommodate the 99% who don’t speak Welsh!

 

Are announcements in French on a Eurostar to Paris at St Pancras "showing off"? Which announcements should come first, English or French?

 

English in Britain, French in France. However misses the point that Welsh is not that widely spoken even in certain parts of Wales. I mean, you don't hear announcements in Gaelic in Scotland or (AFAIK) Irish Gaelic in Ireland.

 

So if I get on the Eurostar at Paris as a non-French speaker I'm not going to know if the buffet is open until I am half way through the Channel Tunnel? That's a funny way to run a railway.

Whatever non-Welsh speakers think of the use of Welsh in Wales, its use in Welsh life is prescribed in Welsh Law and TFW's commitment can be read at https://tfw.wales/about-us/our-culture/community-partnerships/welsh-language

 

Well if you have the skill, flaunt it. It's the same when I am working a flight to Greece, Germany or The Netherlands, I'll do my PA's in English but then follow up with the local language. (We can actually get paid for speaking other languages however I am not fully fluent so have never taken the test, I do it to be helpful - and show off).