Let me begin by saying I totally understand the reasons we have Action Points, and I really enjoy leveling up. I usually only have the opportunity to play once a week or so for a few hours, but I've made it to level 115 playing only the American routes. I often imagine the Action Points from a completed service as monetary compensation instead. It adds another interesting perspective for me as I look at the services by pay scale. Southbound Local services on Peninsula Corridor are worth 26k+, and are a good example of a 'better-paying' job. I find it kind of (extra) fun to tell myself this is what I'm being paid, so I try to do the best I can. Then I began to wonder if this could be an interesting addition to the game? What if completed services 'paid' you some amount into your profile, building wealth? What if your wealth could then be applied to real discounts or purchases of DLC or some other rewards? Some other use perhaps? Action Points are great, and so is the User Level... But once you earn them they have no further use. I think it would be nice to (also) earn something tangible, no matter how significant, for your efforts and attention to quality service.
No. Action Points are useless and any kind of levelling system doesn't belong in a simulator. It's something that belong in arcade games. The good thing is that Action Points and Levels are completely pointless in TSW, you don't need them, so they can simply be ignored for those who just want a relaxed drive (which is the whole point in simulators for me). Problem is, once you start adding rewards to the action points and levelling system (other than shiny pixels depicting medals), it suddenly becomes in some progression based arcade game. People would play those specific servies or scenarios that award most points vs time invested, rather than play the services or scenarios they enjoy. Plus, if rewards are anything meaningful, like discount on DLC like you suggested, it means the price of DLC needs to go up. After all, DTG needs to earn a certain amount of money to earn back their investment and thus being able to survive as a company. Even other rewards need to be developed which always comes with a cost. A cost that we as a customer have to pay, in one way or another. As an extra challenge, all services and scenarios would need to be balanced, so that the action points gained in a certain time is roughly equal. As it stands now, freight services reward considerably less action points than commuter services do. And then there's the optional safety systems, which can only cost you action points in the current system. I see you like playing American routes. But imagine in order to unlock certain rewards you'd like, you'd be forced to play German or UK routes? What if German and UK routes tend to provide you with a faster gain of action points than the American routes do? Would you still enjoy the game as much as you do now? Would you still load up routes like Sand Patch Grade, which can take 2 hours to complete but gaining you little action points? Or would you just grind Bakerloo Line to boredom, just to get those action points as fast as possible in order to unlock some reward? Any rewards should be pointless and purely visual. We've got achievements, medals and levels if you like those things. You can see ingame stats on how much you've driven each route and loco. And there's collectibles, if those are your type of thing. The beauty of those things is that can be easily ignored without any punishment (and IMO being able to unlock meaningful rewards at a slower pace just because you like a particular playstyle would be a punishment.)
I agree with Purno. The fact that action points are actually pointless (no pun intended) is a bonus in my opinion. It's good that they're there for those who are looking for a more "gamified" experience, but it's also good that they don't have a point for those looking for a simulator experience. All of this is not even mentioning the troubles such a discount system would bring from a revenue and balancing point of view which have already been discussed.
“You’ve just been awarded some Action Points” is the most annoying thing about starting a new dlc. I hate everything about AP and if you don’t care about levelling up (why would you in a “Sim”?) then they add absolutely nothing to the game. DTG like to call it Train Sim World but the “Sim” part should be used in the loosest form possible.
