Enough Is Enough Thomas And Friends Edition

Okay I see your point. I’ve said this in a previous comment, but maybe they will have an easy mode/kid friendly option for young players.

 

You know it makes me a little sad that out of all the good DLC’s we’ve got and ones upcoming this is the one that’s probably be getting the most attention for a while (and not positive attention either). When you search TSW you won’t see the best of what TSW has to offer like the E 101 or Preston - Carlisle or any other decent DLC but a Thomas & Friends pack, that’s not what I want TSW to be know for.

 

See Holiday Express DLC. My 5 year old gradson was playing it just fine when it came out. It was dumbed down enough.

 

To anyone suggesting a kid can't comprehend TSW, play a Mario or Sonic game, they're not especially hard, but they require much quicker reflexes and precision than anything in TSW. If anything I'd almost say the fact that TSW is much slow paced might actually be the bigger issues with appealing with young kids than it being too hard.

That said given the fact that they're going off the CGI era to me it seems clear this is catering more to nostalgic teenagers and young adults than the young kids people seem to be thinking of here. Furthermore I view TSW kind of like Modern Marvel's, a show that contains no adult content, and is perfectly fine for a kid, but isn't nessicarily aimed at them.

 

Because it was hyped up for weeks and the majority of the playerbase are not little kids. We wanted a Class 91, or a new route. Not this bullcrap.

 

That’s good feedback. So it is possible then for kids of that age to enjoy TSW.
You know one dlc I’ve never played. Bought that a few months after it came out, but I’ve never once loaded it up. I might try it over the Christmas period

 

There's also like no 3rd parties so content will always be on the low end. Even if dtg focused only on US passenger content moving forward, they would eventually run out

 

The reaction to this was quite interesting. Thomas is a major IP for children. Growing up in the early 90s Thomas was at his peak. Many fond memories of visiting Thomas at the Nene Valley Railway. Had various Thomas VHS and the ERTL and Hornby range. Thomas is a large reason why children get into railways and engines/locomotives. He is most likely the main reason why train enthusiasts are still going generation to generation. Thomas is the main reason I became and still am interested in steam and heritage railways. The original Railway Series in particular is a timeless and classic piece of British literature, created by a true die-hard steam enthusiast for anyone fond of railways.

The reaction to this interests me in the sense that, why wouldn't making something for children to get them into TSW and the railway scene be a good idea? Who is forcing those who don't think it's a good idea to buy it? Without children and the next generation, who is going to take up the hobby when we're all gone? We've seen what's happening to Hornby and the model railway scene.

 

I assume you obviously ‘proverbial’ in your cornflakes to save milk as well don’t you?

The fact you’re willing to accept this as a credible DLC for a simulator is very worrying indeed and on the verge of rage baiting

 

It’s not the fact that’s it’s Thomas that’s the issue for folk here, the issue is the fact it’s been hyped up for 5 weeks and this was the big reveal

 

Nevermind eh, I'm sure we'll survive. Not as if anyone is being forced to buy this DLC.

 

this sort of selfish and blasé attitude is the reason why DTG have got away with murder in terms of some of the rubbish they have released over the past few years. It’s not on at all

 

Because it's for children under 10 and this is a simulator? The 200th anniversary of railways is a far more significant event and would have been a better option... Thomas The Tank engine as a grand reveal? Need I say more? Would have been far better being released as an entirely separate game in my opinion as it feels like this is a step towards having kids add ons in TSW.

Each to their own, if people want to get it, it's upto them. Certainly not for me...

Reminds me of a time when I was at a model railway club and someone tried introducing a Thomas the Tank engine set to a 1980s Southern Region themed layout... Not on my watch! A weathered 4CEP was run and Thomas was left in the sidings and people pointed in the right direction for the kids based layout on opposite side of the room!

What more can I say? I think most of the criticism is out there now.

 

You do have a point, but I guess everyone is just a bit down as they were expecting a genuinely interesting and “special” reveal, and the majority do not see this collab as that.

 

Whose fault is that?
It could have meant literally anything , to what the reveal was. People are more peeved off because it wasnt what they wanted it to be.
We got at least two new locos, a new route revealed as well. Plus updates on work in progress. Which to be honest I though was fair enough. As well as the "majority of the playerbase not being little kids" but does that not mean they cant cater for the younger generation?
To quote the age old term.... you dont have to buy it.

Hentis

 

Incredibly selfish thinking of a younger or potential new audience. How dare they try to get a younger generation into the sim or railway hobby. How dare they force this onto us. This little blue fictional steam engine. How dare they

 

Quite possibly why the big hype and leave it as the grand reveal at the end, its a well known brand and to work with Mattel to secure the licensce for Thomas The Tank Engine. Thats a majorly big deal for Dovetail. So why not kinda shout from the houses about it and hype it up?

 

I don't think that's what people are saying... I think you've deliberately misinterpreted that.

What I take from the criticism is, this is a simulator, not a stupid novelty fictional game. Maybe it would have been a better idea creating a separate kids game like they did with TSW VR, and Roblox, not using it as a grand reveal for a simulator add on.

 

PZB no. Thomas isn’t German. He’s from
Yorkshire.

 

It's a DLC, for a video game/"simulator", that features a children's fictional locomotive character, most likely intended for children or their parents to buy them, to get them into train sim world and possibly into the real life world of trains. Is there any other way I could have taken it? Other than over reacting to something as harmless as Thomas The Tank Engine?
No one is being forced to buy it. It is not being forced onto those who don't like Thomas. I imagine anyone who does for some reason have an intense hatred for Thomas will no doubt just forget this ever happened and carry on playing. One piece of DLC aimed at a different audience does not suddenly change the entire demographic of a game intended for those above the ages of 3+.

 

Exactly, I think this is massive for DTG. I’ve said elsewhere that if this came out when I was a kid my Grandad would have been straight on it. My cousins kids still love Thomas today.

I just don’t think the 20 day reveal which was primarily pushed to the community was the right audience.

I’m not upset, I expected nothing and that’s what I got. I’m excited for other things in the reveals.

So 10/10 to the licencing team. 1/10 to the marketing team (not just for this but also the awful video production).

I hope this brings TSW to new audiences.

I won’t buy it, but I realise that not everything is for me. Besides that Thomas had regularly featured on heritage railways, so it’s not like it’s entirely unrealistic. (However - do Ivor the Engine and you can count me in).

 

Big deal for Dovetail as you say not for the players.
What players expect in a big reveal for TSW which is a realistic and serious simulation game is realistic and serious simulation and since it's the big reveal it has to be a huge thing for the players , it would have revealed that in a separate thing or in one of the previous revelations not the big revelation.

 

I won't speak for anyone else but the way the final reveal was staged came across as:

#1 You absolutely don't know your fanbase

Or

#2 You were actively trolling your fanbase

I find #1 very hard to believe to the point of absurdity given how active ya'll are around here, so i'm left with option #2.

I personally find it pretty entertaining, but i do think it was a bit mean-spirited to pull the rug out like that at Xmas. I think it might have been more successful as a summertime promotion. Maybe.

I also don't know much about the Thomas IP, but it's hard not to see it as a cash-in when there's not even a dedicated route for the toy trains- they're just plonked down on WSR for some reason, right? You have to respect even that young of an audience- are the trains voiced and animated properly? Is the supporting cast there? Do they give the player a storyline or context for what they're doing?

I have a nephew turning 10 in a couple months who already loves trains, so if it's done well i might gift him a copy- I'm not just hating!!!

But, ya know a pretty bad first impression IMO.

 

All well and good, but release it on a specific children's aimed TSW game, with a childrens world and map like Sodor to cater for that. Not as an announcement to be proud of in a adult aimed game...

I'll say this as a prediction now, this is just a gateway of possible silly novelty things to come that will not be overall beneficial to the game, but to generate more money and cater to a toddler age demographic at the expense of diluting the overall game.

Does that seem an exaggeration and over the top? Quite possibly. But it doesn't change my mind I'm afraid.

 

Think you missed the point there. A keyword in the abbreviation ‘TSW’ is simulator. I think you missed that too

 

Does Thomas not attend railways in real life? Would that not be a simulation of those days? Do we know if Thomas will have 100% authentic controls to still make it a simulator? TSW has off the rails as an optional feature to create unrealistic and fictional scenarios. Not very Sim like is it?

 

"Enough is Enough Thomas and Friends edition" is an all-timer thread title and arguably the only thing of value that will come from this thread.

 

TSW is about as much as a simulator as my imagination. I can literally break the 'realism' wall and put something German into something British. Not realistic, but it's still there.

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The amount of people angry over a DLC that A - is not mandatory to have in your install, B - is not fundamental to your personal gameplay experience and C - is something to grasp the audience of younger generations to get a simplistic viewpoint of a railway, it's really something people need to take a step back and think 'Is it worth acting like this?' and it's really a new low of a person to go beyond that and start either hassling or berating people (or worse...).

Get a grip some of yous.

 

Do you normal think of pseudo-intellectual dross like that to support such a silly idea of dlc for a simulator.

I swear now you’re just going on now purposefully for the sake of it because you find it hard to back down and, accept that the majority of TSW community are far from happy with this rubbish.

 

Last time I checked, Thomas is a fictional character based upon an southern region E2 locomotive

 

Just struggling to understand the outrage really mate. A simulator that let's you create fictional scenarios as a feature, yet adding a fictional train is a step too far. Nevermind though, we'll all live and survive Thomas Gate. Unless it's so bad everyone boycotts the game like most say they do when a badly received DLC is announced.

 

Everyone does exactly that to justify weird layers in the game e.g. TGV on SEHS. If it happened then I think there is license to recreate it from a simulation perspective.

 

Attitude in this thread

1000023993 by parder#4923 posted Dec 20, 2024 at 2:55 PM

 

Except the TGV on SEHS is clearly made to represent Eurostar. If we had an actual Eurostar train in the game then TGV probably would not have been included as a layer on SEHS

 

When children think of Thomas, they’re not thinking about how to run/ operate him lol. This will be interesting. I can see someone getting tired of this and starting their own projects/ simulator.

 

DTG JD, but otherwise you're still doing well, aren't you?

Since TSW5 is out, nothing works as it should. But you'd rather spend your time on such rubbish than on good patches.

There are also heaps of German tracks that could be remastered, but no for what.
Because there's no time for that.

Just like there's no time to build new locomotives or freight wagons for DTG's new German line.

TSW is a simulator, not a children's toy!

The German community is hardly interested in DTG anyway, judging by what you have seen in the Advent festivals.

For British things, there are new routes, new locomotives, new rolling stock, etc...

And now you're coming up with such rubbish!

 

Genuine answer: you've every right to be excited - you're hoping to draw in an entirely new customer base, after all. But surely you can understand why your current customer base is going to be, erm, underwhelmed. We're into TSW because it's a SIM. We're not kids. Most of us are way past the bedtime story stage. We don't share your excitement. For you to think that we might is a little bit confusing, to say the least. And for you to pitch it to us as if you think we should be excited is quite insulting.

Personally I'm not part of the outrage gang, but I do feel a bit stupid today. I got caught up in the hype, but I won't in future

 

It's taking advantage of the Eurostar's absence but it's happened before. Same as the ICE - that happened too.

And, just like those layers, this is an option at the end of the day.

 

The way I see it, train simulators are not unsuitable for children. I picked TS2013 at 12 years old and by age 14 I knew how to drive a ton of trains with AWS, TVM430 and PZB. I was also very familiar with the routes I had. Oh and the "tutorials" were just Matt Peddlesden rambling on for an hour on a £12 gaming setup. That or 30 page route manuals in English which I did not speak yet.

The route building feature was so fun that it set me on a path of infrastructure design & engineering for the rest of my life, I reckon. Anyway, I don't completely disagree with you, but I think children are much more capable than we give them credit for and TSW is already a children's game. My little brother loves it as well and he loves revisiting real locations that he's been to in the game.

To me, infantilising the game even more seems pointless, but hey that's just me and you're welcome to differ.

 

Well, looks like I have a mental age of 10, then, because I strive for realism, spend a lot of time driving the BR 101 Expert, and reading up on real ops, and yet I'm super excited for this DLC. Stop assuming.

 

FFS

 

Good thing i just was being sarcastic then

 

I mean if the shoe fits...

Well I'll know what birthday cake to get you next year won't I? And it won't be a 101 that's for sure...

 

A cake would be great. Very kind of you. Unless you can be too old for a cake? A nice trip down memory lane of my childhood visiting Thomas and because of him, getting my Grandad to sign me up to make donations to our heritage railways in Wansford.

 

The Holiday Express F7 was pretty much the same as the Clinchfield/ATSF F7 and not really dumbed down at all.

 

Every heritage railway I've visited has a Thomas & Friends day. WSR has one so they'll probably get loads of sales just by promoting it when they hold their events.

 

I'll get you a bottle of Matey bubble bath to go with it don't worry...

I'll have a whiskey and some cheesecake and I'll get you a Thomas themed cake and a glass of lemonade!

 

Very generous indeed you are. A strange combination of birthday cake and bubble bath. I probably need to be of a older generation to appreciate that

 

Thank you, I can be a diamond geezer when I want.