Not to start another "open letter" thread and steal the idea, but I really didn't want this getting buried in the swarm of posts coming in right now in other threads (especially those where this would either A) be off topic, or B) buried under arguing) and I'm not great at coming up with titles so here we are.. Anyway, I'm really trying to get excited for TSW3, but every time I read something new about what your game plan is going forward I lose more and more. I still stand by everything I said the other day (here: Is Tsw2 Dead In The Water?) about your communication/PR with us being very close to what it was a couple years ago. I said enough there so I'm going to move on... I understand the reasoning why TSW3 was a new title (for those that haven't seen JDs comment - its because a clean slate was needed to do training center). But the way you've handled this transition is quite poor. I understand the update from TSW1 -> TSW2, you effectively had a 6 year old game engine with code from when you were still figuring stuff out. This time around, removing training center from the equation, what I'm getting from you is basically "we've messed up TSW so much we need to start over again" except you threw your mistakes on to us by making us pay for the fixes - and I don't want this to be a thing so that if TSW3 flops we get TSW4 in two years with the same thing. To be clear, I'm not opposed to paying for updates, nor do I expect all updates to be free, but when problems are completely ignored and issues are allowed to compound and things get into the state where TSW2 is - that's where I have issues with the locking fixes behind a paywall as now you're placing your incompetence on customers. The pricing model for TSW3 needs some better thinking. Why is only the deluxe package allowed the pre-release discount and not also the standard or even the other tiers? My only guess is because the standard package is going on gamepass, but that's a pretty sorry excuse for the rest of us not using Xbox. I really think this is one of many things right now that needs reconsidering. There's enough about this elsewhere on the forums, moving on... Briefly going back to the communication thing, however, the way comms about TSW3 has been handled is not great. A lot of questions from yesterday, and even still coming in today, could've been answered by simply releasing all information yesterday instead of stringing us along for 3 days. Not only that, but the community team's job would be so much easier. Early on yesterday the comm team's position was just "wait for the roadmap tomorrow or Thursday for your answer" and then they finally started giving some answers - but there's still some of the latter going on today. Why do you need to keep so much a secret? You're not doing yourselves any favors by incrementally releasing this information - which could clear up a lot of confusion. Right now I'm still on the fence about immediately purchasing TSW3 and what I read in today's roadmap doesn't help at all... You're pushing fixes originally meant for TSW2 out to 3 first before TSW2? Wow that's some backwards thinking right there. TSW2 should've been prioritized before TSW3 release to get the game into a "stable" state - this includes everything still stuck in the QA queue. Basically your saying with this move, these updates we've promised you are coming, you can get them now if you give us money for the new game. Considering TSW3 is at the top of the QA queue right now, sticking with TSW2 probably means at least another month or two post release for these fixes in TSW2. Save game function This is something that has had issues for years - something that until recently you failed to acknowledge at all. Instead of making it a priority to fix, you instead press forward with the longest routes you've ever done, pushed the fix to the background, and disabled it on our end entirely. That basically means for people like me, I have no incentive to play the new routes. What's the point if I can only do half a journey? I'd rather take my chance with the save function as it is now tbh. Not to mention, this fix is now a TSW3 thing - so that rules out sticking with TSW2 (if you want to have a functioning save game feature in the future) to get something that should've been fixed a long time ago. But, why wasn't this a core thing for TSW3? It seems your prioritization of work right now is either A) new DLC/routes, or B) software crashes. You need to start seeing beyond just those two as issues that need to be treated as class A bugs. This goes for a number of things not just the save game feature. The preservation crew: So if I understand this right, the preservation crew as it exists now will cease to exist and essentially updates to old content will stop? Wow - we still have unreleased content because you couldn't be bothered to get your crap together to get these updates (which should've happened 2 years ago by the way) out in a timely fashion. What happens if there are still outstanding issues that need fixing, or the changes bring about new issues (like the original LIRR fix)? I guess we're stuck. What about the Rush hour routes that you said fixes were being worked on? Are these being swept under the rug too? In fact I recall you (specifically I believe it was JD, either in a post or roadmap stream) said this lull in DLC release was going to be for looking at rush hour routes in particular to get them to a better state. Instead, we've had 3 months of silence until yesterday when its all eyes on TSW 3. I don't think you lied to us about this lull as some others have said, but I'd like to hear more about what this plan is going forward - not "wait till the stream" or whatever - something as part of the big announcement with FAQs. Again, communication is key here and you still can't get it right. At some point old routes are going to hit a "archived" state and no longer receive fixes as DLC count climbs as it will be impossible to keep up. But to throw everything old into that box in one go is not a smart decision or doing right by your customers. More recent TSW2 content deserves the opportunity for fixes for a while, and the stuff that we've been waiting on to release needs an opportunity to settle to make sure you didn't get it wrong again. Since you've made it very clear the main teams focus is producing new content, who will be responsible for this stuff in the future if the PC has a new focus. We've really returned to old times if you're going to do the release and forget pattern again. Anyway, I really try to keep my cool on these forums and think rationally like an adult. But this transition to TSW3 and how its been handled on your part hasn't been sitting well with me. I really hope TSW3 will be a better era for this franchise. Not just in terms of quality of content and QA, but also in terms of improving on your communication with us as has been said not just in my recent posts, but in various other threads in the last couple months. Not just having a roadmap, but willingness to respond to questions without the roadmap cliches, and not waiting until the last minute to announce something because you got burned last year.
Logically wouldn't it be the opposite - if TSW3 does well, that means that biyearly paid upgrades are a successful model and TSW4 is assured...
The statement I've seen is that the preservation crew will stop doing "preservation work" which was defined as "bringing TSW1 content up to date with TSW2 features", but they would be deployed elsewhere, and I haven't seen a definition of this. I have read that TSW2 DLC won't be brought up to TSW3 spec as was the case with pres crew stuff previously, but I haven't seen that no new dev will be done on those routes, only that pres crew won't do it automatically (as they completed their initial remit as per my earlier comment) Does this mean we will see any updates to TSW2 DLC in TSW3. We don't know... Hopefully DTG continue to support content going forward and not end up like TSC where they cannot forge forward because old DLC get orphaned as they do. They did that already with the american route in TSW1 so hopefully they've learned that lesson
They have strongly implied that TSW2 loco DLC will be delinked from TSW2 route DLC, but other than that nothing has been said.
I would imagine that route updates for older routes will continue- but only in the TSW3 context, not TSW2. Just like the PrC updates to date never applied to the TSW2020 versions
What I got from the stream, which was much better worded than what was written, is that Adam's team will primarily shift focus toward expanding the new training center, but still be responsible for looking after bug fixes in all old/released content. So while existing TSW1/2 routes won't necessarily be updated to include new TSW3 features, they will still look after bugs. Which adds some reassurance - though I think there's still a bit of uncertainty around the priority of this in the "queue of stuff" but I guess we'll all just have to see how that goes. Also, if I understood Matt correctly, fixes for old content will be done on the TSW2 version and then ported into TSW3 as needed (but they won't be diverging here, i.e., releasing fixes for both TSW2 and TSW3) so at least for now they plan to continue support of TSW2. How long that lasts? Who knows.
Well said What happened to the dysfunctional testers?... can’t wait to see all the bugs in tsw3. The logo also sucks. Looks too informal and conveys the game is low quality and babyish. Just look at its integration... People with poor sight could struggle to read the white text with the grey background.
