Are You Buying Less Or More Dlc Now?

Just a thought and perhaps of use to DTG.

Historically I have been a day 1 buyer of all dlc on pc. More recently though (not through funding) I have become more selective of what I buy and when I buy it and I've realised there is a distinct reduction in spend. Now to set the scene I am an advocate of the sim, play it regularly, have clocked up 1100 hours plus so consider myself well invested. I attend all road map and dev streams too and try to engage constructively with the community.

My reasons for slowing up are as follows

1. Same or similar rolling stock
2. Routes too short
3. Routes not of interest to me personally
4. Too much backlog of fixes and pres crew work which has locked my wallet up as i'd prefer to play a finished route.

I'd like to try and keep this constructive in the absence of a poll function (Thanks Poll trolls) and not turn into a DTG berating fest.

So the question; - Are you buying more or less dlc now?

• Yes - why?
• No why?
• Indifferent

DTG Natster would you be willing to open this as a poll on my behalf??

 

I so far have everything TSW have issued and have already preordered Harlem. Unfortunately I won’t be buying Rivets Swiss route because I was so disgusted with their effort with the scenery in WCL and believe they will again make a route that looks more fictional than actual. It’s doesn’t mean I won’t buy it, at £17.99, it is a good preorder price but will wait until Christmas, when it has 40% or more off. Horseshoe Curve and Steam will be my next purchases. Then I may lay off for awhile and be selective as I have more than enough to keep me occupied.

 

No route of interest for me now. I have around 80% of dlcs at the moment (routes and locos) but after DCZ dlc no one has my focos now. Also also harlem and luzern don't take my hype. Too shorts and just 1 train for luzern, ok a new one yes but without layer in others route at the moment it can be stay there for me until a great discount. Also the Dlc limit on ps5 (my platform) it's very stressfully, expetially if you like german routes and Layers are divided between various routes that takes "space". Also with the new roadmap routes and locos will be annunced only "near" the release so no long-term hype too. So yes. I will probably wait until the summer release. Routes too short, without nothing interesting and i have no interest for steam too (unleast a very, very, very good timetable).

 

I used to purchase everything day one but rarely do now. I used to purchase routes I would not have done in TS1, ie the German and American content as it comes playable out of the box and I enjoy many of the immersive features of TSW.

The main reason I don't purchase nearly as much DLC is because I keep going to back to TS1 as I find that for my main period of interest, i.e. 1950's steam to the end of BR it offers a much more realistic and immersive experience, plus there isn't a huge amount of this period for TSW. It seems that DTG seem to bend over backwards to make modern routes realistic but seems to make far less effort to create an accurate portrayal of a bygone era, see Great Western Legends and the layers on WCL for example and even in their bespoke BR routes they have made some decisions regarding content I would not have done.

Whilst I enjoy the immersive element of being able to ride on the trains and being able to explore, rather restrictively the "world" the relative shortness of routes, lack of additional DLC and the slow pace of releases means I don't feel particularly excited about TSW at the moment. Spirit of steam will be a day one purchase, however I expect that to be a flash in the pan and I will be back to driving steam on TS1 again afterwards.

 

I'm buying way way less than I used to. I have decided to always wait for discounts, or to outright avoid a particulat third party, but even so, I really find it hard to buy anything.

We still have the same bugs from five years ago, with new, never seen before sound issues. Pair that with the rather lacking quality of DTG's QA... Most of the time when I start TSW I do not enjoy playing it, so it's taken a back seat. I hope Spirit of Steam will breathe some new live into it, but I am already dreading the bugs and shortcuts it will inevitably come with.

All in all, the main reason why I stopped buying DLCs is the quality. It has been consistently going downhill, with some notable exceptions here and there, only for the next release to come out without the novelties of the earlier one.

Moreover, I am still waiting for the fixes for the preserved collection. I do not like the way DTG is handling them and treating its customers, so I am much less willing to part with any money for newer content.
I would really like the new German route with the DMU, but I will wait for a significant discount. Hopefully by then the preservation crew will have fixed it. I just can't trust new releases anymore. I only just bought BML and DRA a month ago.

TL, DR: DTG's low-effort new content makes it harder to reach down to my wallet.

Edit: chieflongshin I thought you were all polled out

 

For me the ps5 limit has closed the wallet. I don’t want to fight with downloads constantly as my internet is slow though not limited.

a second reason and probably more helpful to dtg is that as a casual enthusiast I’ve got plenty of what’s being offered now and don’t need anymore.
I’m waiting for spirit of steam and I want to build up a good collection of any steam and historic routes that might be offered to bring more variety to the sim.

so yes, definitely slowed up purchases at the moment.

 

I’ve been purchasing less only due to the PS5 DLC limit issue. There are some DLC that if they were to come up in a sale now I would buy to get the discount and some more old content could be relegated to the waiting room to make room for it until the fix for the issue is released. For me, most DLC has had something new or different in it that I like so the actual content hasn’t stopped me from buying, just the DLC limit and the usual available funds limitations. I do love variety and that can be from new stock or old stock on a new route it doesn’t really matter.

 

I am also buying less, but I will be buying the Haarlem route when its released, what has frustrated me is the issues with the Playstation, I can't use creation centre even though `I have logged in and out several times. I cannot play anything on 4K, my fans on the PS4 Pro go nuts every time I load the game, even on low res. I just wished DTG would do something about the playing experience. Don't get me wrong it has potential to be very good, but the issues for me are out weighing everything, and that is why the last route I bought was London Commuter. For me I have kept buying routes to a chosen few.

 

I am very selective of the DLC I buy. It's not for financial reasons as I do want to support DTG and regularly watch the roadmap streams. The routes that I have bought for tsw2 are HMA, SEHS and Thardnter Rampe. I have also bought the Class 313. The reason why I haven't bought much dlc for tsw2 is either because of bugs or the route/loco in question doesn't interest me. So for example an American freight route or a historic route doesn't interest me.

Now on to bugs. If a route has extremely bad issues even if it's a route that would interest me, I won't buy it. So rush hour for instance. I didn't buy Boston Sprinter because of the bugs (ATC bug in particular) and the route simply not fitting with the rush hour theme. All of the traffic is at Boston South Station only. The rest of the route is not very busy and simply doesn't fit at all with the rush hour theme. It's basically a high speed route. Not a good choice if your trying to make a busy route.

The cut of the branch to the Airport in Riesa Dresden along with the fact that the route has stability issues (game crashes) has made me not buy the route. Since London Commuter crashes more than a drunk driver on console I have not bought the route since I don't want to spend money on a route that will just simply crash.

Route length is another factor. I didn't buy LGV because services are simply way too short. I don't want to buy another HRR type route again in which services are simply too short compared to real life. I don't buy any third party content and probably will never do so considering how Rivet and Skyhook have handled recent releases and have yet to fix certain outstanding issues. I'll keep an eye on Just Trains though.

I would get the 465 and the DB BR 101 but the reason I won't is because the 101 doesn't come with the cab car and the services on the 465 for sehs are simply too short. A route extension for sehs would make me get the 465 but since that won't happen, my wallet will remain closed for that train.

I do see myself getting Harlem but I'll only be spending $6.99 on it since I have game pass and a $20 gift card. Frankly that route isn't worth full price in my opinion. Overall I don't see myself buying that much dlc down the line. Quality issues, bugs and preservation updates that still haven't released is keeping my wallet closed. Now if there were sales on the 101 or the 465 for instance, I may consider it but until then my wallet is staying closed until DTG get their act together.

My money is better spent buying other games to be honest

 

I've bought all the UK routes as that is what I want to play. Until there are more UK routes which are not steam (not interested) then I won'[t be buying anything

 

When I previously owned TSW on the PS4/5 I had most DLC excluding German content & Arosa. I've since moved on to the Xbox Series X and picked up TSW with 6 routes for less than £9 which was a bargain. Tbh, I've hardly touched it since buying it, played a couple of the BML Scenarios, that's about it.

I don't plan on buying new routes anytime soon as nothing interests me and even then, I'll wait for a sale before handing over my money. Though I am looking forward to see what Just Trains will be working on, whenever that may be..

 

Less. DLCs are basically all the same and there are too many of them.

 

I was buying most, if not all, DLC as it came out. I’ve lost a lot of interest of late though. The PS5 version of the game has been a disaster. DLC limit. Trophy limit. Crashing. Stuttering. Poor. Very poor.

 

I only started playing TSW2 back in July (whenever the game landed on Game Pass). I tried it, loved it, and then scooped up as many of the deals I could at the time (big sale on TSW2020 bundle with some preserved routes, and a few TSW2 DLCs). I think I have 10 total DLC routes (which includes the 3 Rush Hour routes due to that Season Pass deal) and 1 loco. The only stuff that I've bought since then has been the Expansion Pack, due to liking the 3 base routes, and its relatively inexpensive price. I'd buy everything that TSW2 has to offer if there were ever Xbox sales, but there haven't been, so I begrudgingly wait for sales. For the most part, I also do not play the Preserved routes that I do own, since I keep waiting for the Preserved team to get their updates out.

 

Comes and goes in waves. I scooped up several at the New Years' sale because of the bargain-basement prices that really hadn't and didn't interest me, but for 5 bucks what the hell. In one case I was pleasantly surprised: I quite enjoy Cane Creek, which I think got worse press than it deserves, although I can understand that not everyone has the patience for drag freight I do. But the scenery!!!!!! OTOH, I bought Rapid Transit for pennies but haven't played it once; I only bought it so I could get the BR 182.

 

Definitely less, I used to be an avid day one purchaser, I was very much interested in building my collection and diversifying my rail interest across the multiple countries, rolling stock and duties. However now it seems most the content is basically the same, 5 years of TSW and we can’t get past electrostars, Dostos & 143’s. When we do get something different to those, it’s usually something we’ve already in seen in TSW2020, so yeah it’s hard to be interested.

Then we have other issues, sounds, scenery, performance, insanely short routes that are devoid of gameplay & rolling stock.

We are seeing a serious lack of loco DLC, which would put life back into routes, add more to them, or simply add some variation of trains.

Fixes are too slow, PC releases are in shambles.

PS5 limit actually stopping me from playing any new routes if I were to buy them.

A serious lack of consistency between DLC’s. To put this into perspective, Tharandter Rampe, the only DLC I’ve purchased since Rush Hour, is £24.99, the upcoming MNR route will be the same price, yet the quality isn’t there, the rolling stock is basically the same, and the route length is halved? Seems like a bad deal to me. Seems like I’m paying £24.99 to get the M7 & M3 fixed and the way they should be in LIRR.

Rivets new upcoming route is another example of not much track and only 1 piece of rolling stock, the redeeming qualities with this one are that it’s a Mainline in a different country with a new significant EMU, but still it’s not really going to offer much gameplay for the same price as other routes.

There are a couple of bits of DLC I’ll pick up on sale, once the PS5 limit is overcome, but I’m a long way from where my enthusiasm used to be for TSW.

Matt is a great enthusiast, but his words often result in 0 fruition of action, and it’s hard to believe anything DTG claim anymore. Since Rush Hour all the routes seem to be nosediving in value once again, Tharandter being the exception.

I feel like if I were to buy any DLC, it would only be to cover the development cost of steam, something which I am not interested in, and frankly it’s not very fair that all other content must suffer just to get steam in.

 

Careful what you wish for

For me, more, but that's mainly because there's been more things of interest to me. Route length honestly doesn't bother me much.

 

I have no problem with a short route if it's well done. I like HRR. And even a short route with only one train, if it's really well done. Cathcart is a gem. If I want to drive for an hour, I'll simply do two services.

 

At the moment, I buy all stuff day one but I’m finding I buy all this additional content, play it for a few days and then put all my hype into the next big release rather than focus and play what I own. I have all this content and some of it I’ve barely touched so I want to change my habits and actually complete stuff before moving onto the next big thing. It’ll save me money in the long run since I can take advantage of sales more rather snapping everything up at full price at launch.

I plan to focus on historic British content after Spirit of Steam releases. Historic UK routes and locomotives will be my only day one purchases going forward.

 

I think it's the same as always for me. Well I've never been a day one buyer. I would like to be, but sadly the state routes launch in rarely worth it. I always get hyped, I keep saying "oh this looks good, probably will get it at launch", but then first day reviews and bug reports turn me away from the routes.

Also many add-ons just don't interest me. I find british stuff boring, german trains would be interesting if we got some older stuff (I really liked the BR 363 and the BR 155). I would love other countries or more loco add-ons to extend on what we already have. Similar looking british EMUs and modern rounded german traction is just ain't my thing. So I mostly just play US stuff.

With the upcoming Harlem Line I'm on the fence right now. I will hold until the PC review on thursday and see what it's like and what changed from last week. If the passenger volumes are still not up yet, then I'll wait for a patch. No fun in driving in ghost town...
Same for the Swiss route. Looks interesting so far, I'm looking forward to see the preview to see if it's really good or not.

 

I think it's interesting to look at the responses divided by platform, because I'm seeing almost a universal trend to "yes, I'm buying less", but with two different common threads:

1) Low quality, indentikit routes, which is a universal concern relative to all platforms.
2) DLC limitations and performance and stability problems on consoles.

Point two can be further divided:

2a) Inherent limitations, like the DLC limit and lower detail and performance, which are an innate aspect of the often inferior hardware in a console.
2b) What seems to me, from my reading, to be greater stability issues on the consoles than on PC.

The first one there you really can't do much about -- it's a fundamental law of gaming. If you want top detail and top performance, get a good gaming PC. Consoles will rarely be the "best" platform in that way.

The stability, though, is something that feels like it could be due to less intensive testing than the PC versions get. I feel like, unlike many game ports that go the other way, TSW2 is "PC first", so it makes sense that the console ports may have a sort of second-class status. Regardless, the quality issues for both PC and console could be addressed with more energy put into testing and post-release maintenance. That's traditionally always been a weakness for this platform, and we all know it. It will probably always continue to be so, but hope sprints eternal. I know that that big oranged "MIXED" rating that so many TS/TSW titles have on Steam due to the constant quality issues is probably not conducive to the best sales.

But getting past that gives us the big numero uno, and the main reason I, too, have been buying less DLC: too many similar routes, too much similar hardware. It all tends to blend together and leaves you going "meh, so what?" when the next one comes out. Hopefully we're starting to see an end to this, with Spirit of Steam coming out soon as the first sign. I really hope that one is not a flash in the pan -- I'd encourage DTG to look at it as just the start of a longer-term project to bring a wider variety of environments, especially vintage routes and hardware, to the fore.

That's going to be the ultimate answer to what seems to be a universal malaise.

 

The last releases, especially since and including Rush Hour, have left a very bitter taste for me.
First: Signalling on Boston is broken, trains and PIS on Dresden are still broken, London has no rush hour passengers and other performance issues, the overhaul of the passenger system was a complete disappointment (for me it breaks immersion even more than before), Chemnitz was released in a state it should never have been (problems with services, locos, performance, missing level crossings, and so on).
Second: There have been so many releases where broken things were supposed to get fixed right after release (LGV, LBN, 313 to name a few where we were promised immediate fixes). I have trusted DTG to do this, and out of so many times it only happened arguably once (on Dresden, to fix some issues but not everything that was acknowledged, and Boston signalling is still broken even after fixes).
Third: Preservation crew fixes are not addressing the serious issues some routes have with signalling, train pathing and so on, but focus on scenery fixes and implementing rail road crossings (which in my personal opinion are a waste of resources). I appreciate the PIS coming to stations and trains, but this sometimes seems like a half-hearted job and doesn't really convince me, not even getting started on LZB. And that is also just things we were told, because most of it has not been released yet, which is also a major problem in my opinion.

Now that you post this question, I reflected a bit on the situation, and noticed that in the last weeks there have been times where I did not spend a single minute in TSW, which hasn't been the case for the last two years. And I'm less active in the forums as well. I am a train fanatic, and I want to support DTG and TSW, but because of the points mentioned above I will no longer buy anything until I see improvements. I have believed and trusted the things we were told since TSW2 launched, but this is exhausted now and I will move on to other things. So I have certainly been buying less, I have been getting into TSW less, been less active in the forums and ignored most of the streams. I will stay around to see how it is going, and I will keep supporting TSG for sure, but other than that I will not buy anything more until DTG delivers.
There was no (monetary) motivation for fixes so far, and DTG is certainly not going to care about what I do, but nonetheless: I will only invest more money into TSW once all preservation crew fixes are released and new routes fulfill some certain minimum standards. There you have your business model and motivation, what you make of it is up to you.

 

3 > No routes are being released which I am interested in...

This forms a few responses so far which are not addressed in your response, and it isn't a criticism. There are millions of track miles over decades of history that could be made and some people may have a narrow view of what interests them (I'm one of them), so for me, because DTG and third parties are focussing on areas and times which don't interest me I am not going to pay for those DLC.

When DTG or others bring along a DLC aimed at where and when I want to be driving I'll likely buy it

 

Yes, I was a day one buyer up to and including Rush Hour last year. Those three routes gave me hope that TSW was on the path to greatness, even though all three had issues.
But when those issues went largely unacknowledged and unfixed, I lost a lot of my enthusiasm. And the almost total absence of new rolling stock is very disheartening.

Since then I haven't seen anything to rekindle my excitement and, in fact, what I've seen of the Harlem route leads me to think that Rush Hour was a false dawn, that the trend is flat rather than upwards, improvements are flashes in the pan never to reappear and consistency of quality is just a chimera. Promises are made and simply forgotten or drag on for months, years. Streams are simply exercises in smooth talk and PR, not fun and interesting like they used to be. I'm beginning to doubt whether there is a firm hand on the tiller.

So I haven't been buying much recently and I probably won't until SOS appears. Shame really because I still love the game, the concept. Just isn't really floating my boat like it used to.

Fortunately, I have months, years even, of routes to play without buying anything new.

 

I have slowed down my purchasing lately due to lack of new content that excites me. If I am really excited about a route, I buy it day one. I sometimes take advantage of the pre-order discount even though it's really only pennies. I just wish there was more variety. Although I am Canadian, and LOVE Japanese rail, I have grown to like UK rail in TSW. I don't see anything on the horizon for UK asides steam which I am not interested in.

Another issue is variety.... at first it's exciting to be collecting until eventually you notice besides the routes being 90% from the same three countries, the rolling stock does not differ much. We just get different versions of the same rolling stock with slight differences.

I feel I get a more complete product when I buy routes for Train Simulator. We get longer routes with more rolling stock. These days, it seems like Train Sim World routes tend to come with only one train. This is unlike WCMLS in TS which came with 6.

The Harlem line looks nice despite its short length and use of two trains which are nearly identical to LIRR. Then again, they have to use trains that run on the line in real life, so it makes sense. I may pass on the discount and wait until I watch video of the route upon release. After that, I see nothing in the pipeline due to the "roadmap".

If they would start releasing routes in different countries or even completely different rolling stock, I would buy day one. I am waiting for a simulator which has the same gameplay as TSW but a better variety of countries. If one appears, I will bid this sim goodbye.

 

Less (much).

For one I have bought pretty much everything in the collection which is of interest. Might rebuy West Cornwall if it got a heavy makeover both the route and the 150, though even then probably only in a sale.
Apart from Spirit Of Steam, none of the upcoming routes is of any real interest. Harlem is another sawn off East Coast US commuter route and HSC already done years ago in Trainmaster 4 and of course the TS version. Besides, DTG presentation of US freight railroading on a 40 mile route with a mixture of random pointless switching and A to B runs doesn't really fulfil the potential.

My money is currently going on Run 8. Just bought the Bakersfield Sub to flesh out the western routes, next up I want to get the Florida A Line, then Waycross and the Fitz when the latter releases.

Spirit Of Steam will probably be a Day One purchase but if DTG want to see more of my money this year, they need to up their game. Not going to buy another third rail Electrostar route in the UK, or another German commuter line with red ElectroKarts and Dostos. Bring unto me the Devon Banks with a Class 42 Warship, or the Rhine Valley in the 80's and my debit card will be getting some exercise...

 

Its interesting to see everyone's view. Thank you for all of the above. As per my original post its not about getting into an excrement throw (no one above has) but I do think the rose tinted glasses are more on the DTG side at the moment. I really want to fall in love with this game again but there are a significant amount of unanswered concerns above.

I think DTG need to be brave again, need to pull a new country out the bag with new trains and really need to get rush hour passengers implemented, Dresden lighting sorted and find a commercially viable way to start joining routes for those that have been for a significant time feeding it back as well as catering for the short snappy routes others like.

 

Four waypoints I think DTG need to place on their map, if they are not going to find themselves dealing with declining interest:

1) Increase, reform, reorganize, replace, something dramatic with their QA personnel and procedures. At present the process seemingly takes forever but still fails to flag even major, gamebreaking bugs and omissions. Ditto the beta team, whose portfolio is more concerned with things like inaccurate PIS and poor modeling than QA's tech focus. This is, or should be, Job One: the primary reason for customer dissatisfaction is bugs, glitches, and malfunctioning systems, and to a lesser extent inaccurate or underdeveloped settings.

1a) For things that slip the net prior to release, fix bugs and release the bugfixes PROMPTLY, not months or years down the line. A Week One patch for each new route should be de rigeur and planned for.

2) Take a pair of stone tablets and upon them inscribe Commandments for minimum content for both new locos and new routes. "Four steps forward, three back" isn't going to cut it; if they know how to implement, say, a functioning EOTD and airflow meter on US freight locos, they should always be included on every new US freight loco. Same with LZB, Rush Hour passengers etc etc etc. -- not to mention proper track sounds, which are wildly inconsistent loco to loco.

3) Commit to including at least one all-new loco/MU with each route. Rolling stock sells routes! Recycling is one big, big reason for customer ennui.​

Nor should DTG's Top Men shrug this off with a complacent "Hey, the stuff is still selling." I would suggest that DTG need to have reforms in place before Simrail comes out, because I think that is a potential threat to TSW's market not to be underestimated.

 

This is certainly one thing that has driven me away from the streams. Often the mood is "too good" and completely in contrast to how a situation should be handled. And concerns are shrugged away or "will be looked at" aka nothing happens. Or we get teased with all the nice stuff the preservation crew has done, and then we don't get them.
There has been one stream, which Sam joined, and it was obvious that he was the only one aware of the gravity of the situation, while everyone else was happily joking around. This is a sad trend I observed recently, and I believe that this is inappropriate - recently streams are very much PR focused, lost all the fun, information and interest I had in them before (And I'm not saying that DTG shouldn't do this, I guess that is the real goal of the streams, it was just different and more enjoyable for me before)

And all of that ultimately also reflects on how I perceive TSW and DTG, and how I look forward and what I can expect.

 

You have to give Nat credit for poking some sore spots on streams. Just not as pointedly as Sam does.

 

At the moment I have all the DLC, but it's becoming increasing difficult to justify a day one purchase. DTG are losing my trust, with the number of issues we see at release including simple things such as the incorrect number of collectables. Issues that never seemed to be resolved. The delay in the preservation crew updates is disappointing, I do understand the reasons, but lets not forget some of this content was promised to us this time last year.

I could sort of accept the delay with the preservation updates, if it was just free updates to the routes to include new features incorporated into the game since the route was first released, however as we all know, there are also many outstanding bug fixes to day one issues that we are all waiting for.

I might be in the minority, but I do find the timetable/service mode, pretty boring, Often there is little variety apart from end to end driving. I know that's train driving in real life, but with TS classic I can download a scenario that has some narrative to it. That's why it was disappointing to see the scenario planner 2.0 improvements being delayed.

I accept the consoles are an important part of the customer base, but I do think the one size fits all, is starting to hurt the development and the "vison" for the game going forward on all platforms. It does feel the PC version of the game is being held back, whilst some console uses are having an appalling experience because the older consoles can't cope.

I want to buy more DLC, but DTG you have to give us a reason, give us something new, not the same old, same old.

 

I'm probably buying less DLC overall, but where Is pick up the latest DLC and then a couple of older ones in a sale each month now I'm just buying the newer routes on preorder.
There's still some older routes I don't own but like many having to tighten the belt a little.

I've still need to see some preview streams of Luzern to see if I'll be picking that up as well. But I've pre-ordered Harlem line.

It's highly likely I won't be buying Horse Shoe Curve on release. Sherman Hill just doesn't get played that much so I'm hard pressed to buy yet another US freight route at full price.

 

I'm buying a lot less now but this is primarily due to lack of new content. I'm mostly interested in UK DLC (and I'll buy German routes if they're well received) and there's hardly been any since BML (West Cornwall was a bit lifeless even after the layered additions - probably didn't help that it came out in relatively close proximity to the super-busy BML, and I'm not convinced that the route selection was a particularly wise one).

No interest in the expansion pack as it didn't introduce any new trains (if for instance they'd added a 378 for Bakerloo then it would have been a day one buy). No interest in Creator's Club either so to be honest I've not played much since I put Dresden - Chemnitz down.

Really looking forward to Spirit of Steam but as I've said elsewhere I'm concerned that it'll end up being a bit dead due to the lack of appropriate motive power for some tasks. Can't understand why a Thameslink DLC hasn't been prioritised to capitalise on BML either (generally loco DLC has been extremely lacking which is disappointing).

I can't say I've had the same experience as others with regards poor quality (bugs) but I'm playing on a relatively powerful PC so some things don't affect me. There have been some but none I'd describe as game-breaking - although some I struggle to replicate (for instance I've never been stuck at a permanent red light at any point in TSW).

 

I personally this far down the line would like to see Nat push more for release dates here. Matt said before summer. Unfortunately summer ended in October, November for the Brighton release before. I want to buy more but I also seek more confirmed clarity, variety

 

I’m not buying anything anymore, in fact I barely ever play the game either. I’ve spent a fortune on TS1 & TSW and been very active with both, but I’ve just reached my own brick wall with both games.

I’ve waited in vain for the fundamental problems with this sim (in particular) to be fixed and it clearly isn't going to happen, at least not anytime soon. I live in hope that one day that might change but for the time being utterly broken lighting, rubbish object draw distance, scenery pop-in, poor shadows, poor shadow draw distance, broken timetables, broken scenarios, broken sounds etc are just something I can no longer be bothered with. Given the glacial pace of everything TSW it’s clearly not changing soon.

An illustrative example of one of my many final straws…I cannot believe that this far into the game’s life, the sun is still able to shine through the cab roof and reflect off the inside of the window. Pathetic, and painful to look at.

Ironically (before seeing this thread) I fired it up yesterday ‘just to see’ and had a go at a L2B journey service which happened to be in light snow. About halfway in I braked a little late so went from step 2 to 3 to recover. Well, the train immediately derailed and it booted me back to the menu. This sort of thing is just completely unacceptable, and it shouldn’t still be happening. The game simply doesn’t work.

I’ve lost faith in the game and DTG’s ability to improve it.

 

Personally, I'm buying less, but that has more to do with the cost of living squeeze than the game. I have plans to get the remaining DLC I am missing soon, but it will be as and when finances allow. So far I am 1350 hours in to TSW2 with the 250 hours I put in to TSW2020, that makes about 1600 hours in - This has cost me around £540 for most of the content currently available (missing Sherman Hill, the G6, the Rhb anniversary, Tharandter Rampe, and New Journeys expansion, I have everything else). Its cost me about 34pence per hour so far, which all bugs niggles and inaccuracies aside I consider value for money.

 

I too am playing on a pretty high-end PC, so I'm not running into gameplay bugs like so many other players, especially consolers.
But it doesn't matter how good your hardware is, it can't add passengers, can't add AI or new stock to a route, can't add new loco dlc, can't solve lighting and sound issues, can't add missing features that should be standard, can't add landmark buildings and forgotten structures and can't add pedestrian and vehicular traffic that no-one thought to include in a " rush hour " route.

 

I am a regular now. Usually pre-order for the 10% discount, if available. But I am reconsidering that strategy, atleast for the third party developers. I have been burned atleast 2 times by Skyhook games putting out LOVE. So, they are a wait and watch for a sale list for now. DTG routes, after Munich-Augusburg have been decent. So no regrets there, but with them shortening the routes and pretty much stopped developing locos, they are on a watch list for now.

 

I buy everything on discount and that if it´s 50% or more.
I chose to do this because they seem be putting half effort into the faithful representation of the route both through rolling stock and route creation.

I never aimed to get all DLCs and never will. Even if they chose to give some away for free I won´t take them as I am not interested, such as NA freight for example (no offence, it´s just not my style).
I have 50% of the DLCs.

To sum up, my buying habits depend exclusively on sales campaigns, I never buy DLCs full price.
I only bought at full price once when TSW 2 was launched as I wanted to try out the ICE.

Speaking of sales, there is one right now, anniversary related I think.

 

Less, I haven't even played the game in a while. Not a "boycott" as such, but I have played and bought a lot of DLC in the past for the game, but lot of the recent content hasn't either interested me at all, or I'm simply waiting for a sale because they are not a "must have" ATM. And the big sale they had on Sherman Hill so soon after it's release kinda gave me a bad taste. And I play a lot of other games as well, though this is the only train game I have.

They really should look into "fleshing out" the older routes with more loco DLC and releasing those damned preservation updates. I'm sure the steam route will be interesting and finally something truly different so I'm glad to see that's coming, but they really need to reveal more of what their plans are for future content soon.

 

I only buy stuff in sale now, normally look for at least 40-50% discount. Cleaned up what I wanted at Christmas so probably won't buy anything now until next Christmas.

I said in another thread things seem to be slowing down or even petering out, just my opinion of course but it doesn't seem as lively or vibrant any more.

This is always the risk with the same 3 countries, the same types of routes in each country. I generalise, but to me the US freight are very similar, the German commuters are similar and the small UK routes are also quite similar (big Diesels, Dostos, Electrostars). Rivet make swiss stuff or old UK stuff.

Just needs a big step up IMHO, unless they are willing to embrace the WCML/ECML and new types of loco like the 68, 70, 700, other ICE types, different US locos things will just get stale, each new route seems...not so new.

 

i still buy everything that comes out

 

I really want to buy more, and was looking at the Cornwall route, but I'm not giving Rivet a penny until they sort out the 150 sounds. I'd happily buy that instantly if they did. I don't trust them as their underground train has god awful sounds too.

 

Of course I wrote about how I have been purchasing less lately.... only to go and see a post about the latest sale... and now I am purchasing the one Canadian route I don't yet have... Yellowhead Pass!

But like I said earlier, I have not been buying as frequently as before. I hope to see more Canadian and Japanese routes. Unfortunately TSW2 only has one Canadian route which came out during TSW. At this pace, I can foresee 10 years from now... there will be 2 Canadian routes for TSW2 and maybe 7 for TS (as long as Milepost keeps creating them every few years). Oh yeah, there will be no Japanese routes for TSW and a couple more for TS.

I am off to enjoy the mountain pass and some shunting.

 

Am I buying more or less DLC than I was a year ago. No Not really.
I will buy the DLC when its released. Thats me. That's it.
I currently can use the PS4 version of TSW on my PS5 (as well as the PS5 version) So I kinda get the best of both worlds. the only difference with every bit of DLC for the PS4 version on the PS5 is that its not as good as the PS5 version and some of the limitations that are attached to the routes, namely layers.

Personally my main concern is the fix for the PS5 DLC limitation on how long it will take to perfect and release. Yes I understand its a big fix but its taking its time. So I will keep buying DLC as and when its released and as long as I can afford it, as I am currently not working. So I am currently being paid by the government & putting there money to good use lol (well at least I aint organising parties lol).

Regards
Hentis

 

Things went very wrong during the Rush Hour release. It’s quite clear to me that it was ‘rushed’ to try to meet an arbitrary release date. Realising, oh poo, the quality is not great, they then hurriedly split the Rush Hour release into three. As a result, the three Rush Hour releases are very poor in terms of quality and work to resolve the issues is taking way too long than be considered reasonable. I’ve barely played anything since then, because of the quality issues, then the DLC issue and the trophy issue on PS5. I was looking forward to Harlem, and whilst the route does look and sound pretty good, there are clearly glaring faults (no passengers, which is pretty essential for a busy commuter line). The amount of issues is getting beyond funny - what the hell is going on in the company to have created such a mess. I really do think we are being taken for fools to a certain extent. Promise after promise. Warm word after warm word. It means nothing.

 

If a DLC interests me i.e. if it's more modern-based, especially UK ones, then I'll buy it. Over the years I've come to accept that annoying, but non-gamebreaking bugs are a common feature in TSW, and I try to still enjoy the game. Although frequent game crashes were about the most annoying thing I've ever encountered on London Commuter when I used to play on the older-gen console - totally unacceptable. But, I still bought the route because it interested me and I still had fun while it worked.

Going forward, West Cornwall was my last DLC that had interested me - but unfortunately, that was a route I was very disappointed with overall for several reasons. At the moment, what's on the roadmap vaguely interests me. I was a bit underwhelmed following the Harlem stream, however I'm slightly interested in what the new Swiss route has to offer I admit.

And, Spirit of Steam, well totally not interested. I do hope people enjoy it though considering how long this looks to be taking, hopefully not at expense of others routes though!

Couldn't really have said it better myself for the most part.

 

Used to buy new routes at launch. But now I cut my budget on TSW2. I feel I’ve become “price elastic” on TSW2 products maybe because of losing interest and worries of the quality.

Personally I hope DTG can make more high-speed lines and routes in mountainous region.

 

(No difference between now and then)

I've been with TSW since it first launched nearly 5 years ago, and while it's been a rocky path, things do feel like they're improving from what was once there. I don't have every DLC, but I do own a little more than half of them. The only two things I (kinda) regret buying is Tees Valley (well made route, but not quite my cup of tea), and Penninsula Corridor (I don't like doing stopping services that take close to 90 minutes to complete).
I've definitely found that my playtime compared to how it was back then is still roughly the same, though of course now I'm playing the latest routes, especially from Rush Hour.

Looking forward, I'm 99% certain about picking up the Metro North Harlem Line route assuming no major issues, and the new Rivet route also has my interest, and will be the first Rivet product I might pick up, again assuming if there's no major issues.
In the coming year, what I'd like to see from TSW is further improvements to gameplay packs, dioramas, faster releases for Preserved Collection routes, faster bug fixes, and perhaps a new high speed route, maybe something like a French TGV route or something similar, and of course I'm definitely looking forward to Spirit of Steam

 

Just kidding Trenomarcus